Chapter 243: A Restless Night

By the end, Zhao Jin's voice had grown somewhat hoarse, but whether new or veteran, everyone below the platform listened with earnest attention. Originally they had all mingled together with no distinction of rank, but now clear tiers were established, each with its own rights. Once the rules were set, everything became clear, and everyone understood the direction in which they should strive.

For Zhao Jin's companions, this was a situation that pleased everyone. Ji Xiang and Liu Yong were very satisfied with their own positions, but they thought a little more than others. After hearing Zhao Jin's announcement, they both unconsciously stole glances at Chen Sheng. Chen Sheng still wore that same composed expression, staring straight ahead without a sideways glance.

After being stared at for too long, Chen Sheng could not help but speak up: "The rules are set, so we follow the rules. Zhao Jin put all of this together, so whatever he assigns us is only right. Just stop looking at me. There was nothing going on, but if you keep staring like this, people will think there is."

Even though Liu Yong and Ji Xiang were not thin-skinned, Chen Sheng's words still left them somewhat embarrassed. Coughing a few times, they both turned away.

While Zhao Jin spoke above, Zhou Xuezhi's brush never stopped, recording everything. Although his writing flowed without interruption, the more Zhou Xuezhi wrote, the more astonished he became. He had never imagined Zhao Jin would create such a structure. According to Zhou Xuezhi's original thinking, Zhao Jin's reorganization would at best be a direct copy of the regulations from the Great Ming or some other dynasty. He never expected Zhao Jin would devise new rules tailored to local conditions.

On the surface, this set of rules seemed very cumbersome—so many regulations for a force of only seven hundred men. But upon closer examination, one could discern its brilliance: motivating the new recruits, mutual checks and balances, equilibrium between large and small units, all without compromising combat effectiveness, and even incorporating considerations for personnel matters. Zhou Xuezhi found it hard to believe these were the ideas of a young man not yet twenty; they seemed more likely the work of an old hand steeped in officialdom for many years.

After the squad leaders were selected, it was time to pick the retainers for each squad. Following the order Zhao Jin read out, they went in turn to the new recruit formation to choose. The new recruits had already been lined up by height. Each person could only pick according to a set proportion, thus preventing those who chose first from taking all the tall and strong ones, leaving only the weak for those who came later.

The veteran squad, however, was different. Zhao Jin let Shi Manqiang pick first, Ji Xiang second, and only then Chen Sheng and himself. When choosing, no one thought of picking only the best and strongest for themselves; instead, they all considered the overall balance.

Although the retainers of the veteran squad also varied in height and build, they were thoroughly trained and had seen many situations. Within the entire encampment, every one of them was an elite soldier, so the differences between them were actually quite small.

The only slight exception was Dong Bingfeng's directly subordinate squad. His squad was entirely composed of new recruits, but due to differences in background, family circumstances, and experience, some knew horsemanship, others archery. In fact, the new recruits in this directly subordinate squad were not the slightest bit weaker in combat strength than the veteran squad, and a few individuals among them were even stronger. But from top to bottom, no one had any objection to this. Cavalry and archers were elite by nature and should be formed into their own squad. Having a skill meant higher pay and better treatment—this had been the consensus throughout the ages.

As for Zhao Jin and his companions, only Dong Bingfeng among them was proficient in both archery and horsemanship; the others had no proper method to train in these.

After the retainers for each squad were confirmed, they did not leave but remained in the field while Zhao Jin announced the military discipline. The rules were not complicated: desertion in the face of battle, harassing the common people, and disobeying orders were all severely punished. However, the method of punishment was not execution by beheading, but rather a beating ranging from fifty to one hundred strokes of the rod.

A solid wooden rod brought down with full force—never mind fifty or a hundred strokes, even ten or twenty could beat a man to death. The reason beheading and taking a life were not mentioned was that killing a person violated the king's law, and arbitrarily putting a household retainer to death also brought great trouble. A substitute phrasing had to be used. Everyone understood this in their hearts; the deterrent was more than sufficient.

After finishing the military discipline, Zhao Jin had the troops stand at attention in the field and await orders. He then led the squad leaders on a circuit around the He family compound. Who was responsible for the defense of each area, who should come to reinforce if trouble arose somewhere, and how to arrange the rotation of guard duties—all were laid out clearly.

Before, they had to consider how to form teams and temporarily assign leaders. Now everything was simple; they went from facing several hundred men to facing just over twenty.

"Training for each squad must be intensified. Every seven days I will conduct an inspection. Whoever trains poorly, I have plenty of replacements waiting!" The harsh words always had to be spoken first.

Once all these arrangements were made, Zhao Jin kept Chen Sheng behind. Liu Yong and Lei Cai followed at a distance far behind, while Zhou Xuezhi went on to arrange internal affairs.

"We still need someone to take overall charge of the accounts and funds. I want to establish the position of Head Steward and have Erhong come do it. What do you think?" Zhao Jin spoke up.

Hearing Zhao Jin's words, Chen Sheng shook his head and smiled, replying with a hint of resignation: "Zhao Jin, I have no complaint about being the squad leader of the second squad. In fact, I've wanted to mention this to you before—with several brothers and so many people to manage, if you don't set rules and positions, sooner or later there will be chaos and trouble. But I also knew that if I said too much, it would seem like I was impatient for a position. As for Erhong, he's too young. With mountains of gold and seas of silver passing through your hands, you should find someone older and more reliable!"

Zhao Jin also laughed and stopped walking. "It's precisely because mountains of gold and seas of silver are passing through that I need Erhong. Besides him, what other reliable person is there?"

The two exchanged a question and an answer, looked at each other, and both broke into smiles. After another moment, Chen Sheng spoke: "Neither I nor Erhong can decide this matter. We must ask my grandfather, father, and mother."

After this was said, both Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng's smiles relaxed. Zhao Jin called Liu Yong and Lei Cai over and began arranging the layout of the He family compound.

"Set up a platform at each of these corners. The platforms must have cover. As for the exact position of the platforms, go discuss it with Bingfeng—how to watch the blind spots outside, how to easily shoot at enemies outside. Then make a batch of inverted-triangle wooden frames. Hire people in the village at high rates to do it; if there aren't enough people, have the retainers help..." Zhao Jin issued a rapid string of orders, squatting down to draw diagrams on the ground as he spoke. The inverted-triangle wooden frames were essentially two rows of short wooden stakes lashed to a long stake, inverted to form a triangle with the ground, planted firmly into the earth to create a wooden palisade the height of a man.

Also, piles of bonfires were to be lit at every intersection and easily traversable path around He Village, burning bright all through the night without extinguishing. The soldiers on duty had to constantly go add firewood. If this was done every single night, the expense would truly be considerable. At first, everyone thought Zhao Jin was doing this for nighttime illumination; only after an explanation did they learn it was not.

After arranging all of this, Zhao Jin had the organizational structure of the force transcribed and sent a veteran cavalryman on horseback to deliver it back to the city.

The reorganization of the Xu An Trading Company's retainers was not kept secret, and word quickly spread through the several market towns around He Village. No one paid much attention to this squad or that squad; instead, they felt they finally knew the proper name for Zhao Jin's group. They had always been called the Zhao family's retainers or Zhao Jin's subordinates, but now they could be called "Zhao Character Camp."

Before Zhao Jin's main force had arrived, Liu Yong had already sent scouts ahead. Now there were already men doing small business in the market towns, aware of every rustle of wind and stir of grass.

Yesterday they marched in and set up camp, and everything was fairly stable. Today, however, news was reported to Liu Yong: at the mule and horse market and several other places, many unfamiliar faces had suddenly appeared. These people were nominally doing business, but they kept loitering around the He family compound, peering about.

He Village at Three Immortals Platform was originally a place where people gathered from all directions, with several large market towns and many travelers coming from south and north. Elsewhere, speaking with an out-of-town accent would draw considerable attention, but here in He Village it was utterly commonplace.

"They're scouts. Capturing them would be useless, and we don't have the men to tail them. Let them move about freely. Even if they didn't come to snoop, they could still get information from others in the village. However, today you will spread the rules throughout He Village. From this day forward, He Village is under curfew after dark. Anyone wandering about at will after nightfall will be regarded as a bandit or thief—kill on sight." Liu Yong came to report, and Zhao Jin made the arrangements.

These matters were all familiar routine. Liu Yong immediately assigned men to go about beating gongs and making proclamations. The village households and outside merchants had no objections either; business was done during the day anyway, and nighttime was merely for eating, drinking, and amusement. Staying cooped up in their lodgings did not hinder any of that.

With Zhao Jin's arrival, Zhou Xuezhi's house arrest ended. But there was still one group of people who remained confined in a courtyard, unable to go out: the craftsmen and laborers from the distillery. After Zhao Jin finished his arrangements everywhere, he went there at lunchtime.

The people from the city distillery all had looks of irritation on their faces. He had expected them to be even more anxious here, but unexpectedly, from Lu Xiangjiu down to the laborers, everyone was all smiles. Upon asking, he learned that after being cooped up in the city distillery for a stretch, coming to He Village was like being let out for fresh air; they were all quite relaxed and at ease.

"This distillery here is three times larger than ours. The workers are all experienced hands, and there's a good stock of every kind of material. As long as you, sir, see to the security here, we can start production and turn out liquor immediately," Lu Xiangjiu said with great confidence.

"First, cordon off a single still to produce liquor. We need to let those traveling merchants know that even outside the city, we can still produce Han Well Famous Liquor. Produce slowly, store slowly, and once everything is stable, then begin full-scale operations."

After lunch, the entire He Village bustled with activity. Originally, the village households and market vendors had been very worried, thinking Zhao Jin had come to squeeze them dry, or at the very least make everyone spend money on tribute. They never expected that with Zhao Jin's arrival, everyone could actually earn money. Purchases were paid for at full price, and on top of that, there were all kinds of jobs—making the inverted-triangle wooden frames, buying large quantities of firewood, the daily provisions of grain and such—these were nothing worth mentioning.

The firewood peddlers and timber merchants all made a small fortune. Sturdy young men and craftsmen from neighboring areas were also drawn over. Whether repairing the encampment, making wooden frames, or even crafting lanterns, everything brought in money. Talk was cheap; the bits of silver and copper coins in hand were what mattered. Many people came today to gauge the situation, and after seeing it, all prepared to return the next day, and even to bring along friends and fellow townsmen.

For instance, the Zhao Character Camp had already let word out that blacksmiths were welcome to open businesses in He Village. He Village would provide land and shopfronts free of charge, and once established, the Zhao Character Camp would have large-scale purchases. No matter how you calculated it, this would make money. Beyond that, carpenters, masons, tanners, and other such craftsmen were all in demand here. Coming meant earning money, and with so many things to be built, anyone willing to put in the labor could earn.

Everyone could see it clearly now: Zhao Jin's arrival in He Village was not extortion at all, but rather bringing money to everyone.

The merchants who traded in mules and horses also benefited. Although Zhao Jin's side did not purchase livestock on a large scale, the hundred-odd horses they had brought with them were entrusted to these merchants for stabling and care. The fodder and labor amounted to a small sum of money. Moreover, any mule and horse merchant with a bit of vision could see that Zhao Jin's need for livestock in the future would not be small. Not to mention that this force of seven hundred men already had over a hundred horses, and for a journey of a few dozen li, they had actually mobilized several dozen large carts to transport goods—that was also the use of nearly two hundred head of livestock. Building a good relationship now would surely mean business later, and very likely big business at that.

In truth, in just a single day, those with foresight saw the profit, and even those without foresight felt the tangible benefits. Even the mood of the He Village households gradually lifted. Zhao Jin had only just moved his people in, and already many merchants from inside and outside Xuzhou City were coming to rent houses here, very generously putting down deposits. Thinking of the future, prosperity was almost a certainty.

Still, it had only been one day. Everyone could think what they liked, but they dared not show too much enthusiasm. The craftsmen and laborers from other villages who came to work all left before dark. They also knew that while Zhao Jin had come, he had not yet firmly established himself. Everyone still needed to wait and see.

The veteran cavalrymen Dong Bingfeng had recruited shuttled back and forth between He Village and Xuzhou City, delivering various oral messages and news, and incidentally checking the conditions of the surrounding areas. They worked in shifts, each man running at most one trip a day, and all found it relaxed and pleasant. News from Xuzhou City also came back: Zhao Jin and the others had reported their safety to those in the city, and every household was at ease. Wang Zhaojing was no longer at home focusing solely on his studies; instead, he spent mornings at the goods yard and afternoons at the distillery.

But no one noticed that besides the messages these veteran cavalrymen carried back and forth, there were also travelers and peddlers with packs on their backs coming and going. These people were all very young, always arriving and then leaving again.

The sun set, and night descended. Two squads of new recruits began patrolling within He Village, beating gongs and shouting as they walked: "Curfew after dark! Anyone loitering on the streets will be regarded as a bandit—kill on sight! If there is an urgent matter, call out from within your courtyard for the soldiers to handle it."

The people of He Village all obediently complied. Even if anyone felt some resentment, upon seeing the long spears in the hands of the Zhao Character Camp retainers, they all shrank back and fell silent.

Everything proceeded according to Zhao Jin's orders. Piles of firewood were stacked at every intersection and traversable path and set alight. Once these bonfires were lit, the patrolling able-bodied men realized that these fires reflected one another, forming a "belt of light" that encircled the He family compound. Anyone trying to enter would have to pass through this belt of light and would be easily spotted by those on night patrol and watch.

The rules for night watch were: four squads of the new recruit company per shift, one squad of the veteran company per shift, and one-third of the directly subordinate squad on standby at all times. The duty hours and areas for the new recruit company and the veteran company overlapped and differed.

As for Zhao Jin and his companions, they took shifts of one two-hour period each. Although the companions were merely squad leaders of the veteran company, during the night watch, everyone was subject to the command and deployment of the veteran squad leader on duty.

He Village soon fell quiet. Only from the livestock pens behind the mule and horse inn did occasional sounds emerge. It was said that Zhao Jin's hundred-odd horses and the livestock originally in the pens did not get along; some fought, and some were restless.

The squad leaders on night patrol were each full of vigor, and the squad members behind them were equally spirited. The former were newly appointed to their posts, and the latter wanted to make a good impression. With authority and responsibilities clearly delineated, everyone knew the direction of their efforts and understood their room for advancement.

At several corners of the He family compound, simple watchtowers had already been erected. Tree trunks, stripped of branches and leaves, were nailed together with large iron spikes and could be assembled very quickly. The men on the watchtowers climbed high to gaze into the distance, but the night was deep and dark, so the range they could see was limited. They could only fix their eyes on the bonfire piles surrounding the compound.

By the middle of the night, the initial enthusiasm at nightfall had largely dissipated, and no one had much energy left. As the night deepened, the chill spread through the air, and even the men on the watchtowers could not help but doze off.

The new recruit on the watchtower on the north side of the He family compound came from the wandering world, but he knew neither horsemanship nor archery. He only had a smattering of martial arts and was a bit bolder than most, having drifted around various places outside the city for a time. His family, seeing this was no solution, simply had him join the Zhao Character Camp. This new recruit was not without his merits, however; his eyesight was excellent. On the march from Xuzhou to He Village, he would one moment spot a pheasant in the distance, the next see a rabbit dart out of a clump of grass, earning him several loud scoldings from Ji Xiang.

With such good eyesight, it was only natural to make the best use of his talents, so he was assigned to the watchtower at night to scan the surroundings.

Coming from the wandering world did not necessarily mean having real skills; often it came with a fair share of slick, opportunistic habits. This new recruit felt the cold wind cutting right through his clothes. Seeing that no one was looking up, and that the dark sky meant looking up would reveal nothing anyway, he thought about crouching down to catch some sleep.

Just as he was about to slack off, he seemed to see human figures moving beyond the bonfires to the north. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, so he rubbed them and looked again, only to discover that several piles of bonfires to the north had all gone out at the same time. The wind was not strong now; it was impossible for it to have blown the bonfires out. It had to be people—and people afraid that the bonfires would expose their traces!

"To the north! There are people to the north!" The new recruit on the watchtower yelled out at the top of his lungs.

In the dead of night, his shout was piercingly shrill. The entire He family compound was roused. From the north, someone could be heard shouting: "Don't panic! Form ranks and advance! Form ranks and advance!"

It was the voice of a Zhao Battalion retainer. Twenty-some men could be seen forming three ranks, spears thrust forward, slowly closing in toward the gap.

Because the contrast between the campfire's light and the darkness was so stark, everyone quickly found their bearings. The drowsy retainers on the other watchtowers also snapped alert, nervously fixing their eyes on their assigned sectors.

Of the four squads of new recruits on night duty, two had already rushed over, while the other two remained in place awaiting orders. At that moment, the sound of dense footsteps also rose from within the He family compound — one squad of veteran night-watch soldiers had already formed up and stood at silent attention inside the compound, and someone had opened the nearest gate, ready to reinforce at any moment.

The person on duty at this time was Ji Xiang. Clad head to toe in iron armor, a pudao blade in hand, he sat there in perfect stillness, waiting for word from outside.

The new recruit on the watchtower who had first spotted the anomaly was already breaking out in cold sweat from sheer terror.