Chapter 373: This Name! This Era!

After half a shichen of work, the kitchen sent over the meal. Aside from a few people like Ruhui and Zhou Xuezhi, everyone ate dry rations made of sorghum mixed with other coarse grains. Zhao Jin and his companions had a slight perk — when they ate separately, there would be meat broth.

Over two thousand household retainers plus more than ten thousand refugees consumed an enormous amount of grain. They also had to plan for reserves for the coming year and even the year after, so consumption had to be carefully rationed. Zhao Jin had taken his meals together with the retainers several times now. Seeing their own master eating the same thing as everyone else, they all felt the dry rations tasted especially good.

At lunchtime, Ruhui and Zhou Xuezhi both took their leave, agreeing to return one incense stick's time after Zhao Jin finished eating. It had become a habit, and they knew how to gauge the time.

The weather at the end of the eighth month was already a bit chilly, but when the sun was strong, high noon was very comfortable. The sentry standing guard outside Zhao Jin's house narrowed his eyes. He had just finished lunch not long ago; the food made him drowsy, and the sunlight warming his whole body made him desperately want to doze off.

Sleeping while on sentry duty meant a severe punishment of twenty military canes. Quite a few new recruits had already received this punishment, and this man dared not become the next.

"Ruhui!"

"Ruhui!"

"Mister Cao!"

Zhao Jin's sudden roar erupted from inside the house. The sentries outside at their various posts all jolted in fright, instinctively gripping their weapons, thinking some major incident had occurred.

But upon hearing that he was shouting for the steward, Mister Cao, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The squad leader on duty quickly answered, "Master, Mister Cao has gone back to his own place!"

"Call him over, quickly! Quickly!" Zhao Jin loudly ordered.

Two sentries immediately turned and sprinted away. The others looked at each other nervously. Their master was usually commanding and composed, rarely losing his composure like this. What on earth had happened? Even through the doors and windows, they could hear him panting heavily, his emotions clearly extremely agitated.

"When Mister Cao arrives, no one is allowed within two zhang of this house. Violators will be killed without mercy!" Zhao Jin issued another order. This time his voice had calmed considerably. The retainers outside steadied their nerves as well and quickly shouted their acknowledgment.

Although He Village was not large, Ruhui was busy inside and out every day, often having to go quite far to be found. After a while, Zhao Jin impatiently urged them twice from inside the room, and two more waves of sentries were dispatched before the man was finally spotted.

Ruhui was also astonished by Zhao Jin's urgent summons. Panting heavily, he ran back with the retainer. Many people along the way stared sidelong, thinking something major had happened.

"You few, be ready at any moment. If anything seems off, charge in!" Entering the courtyard, Ruhui whispered to the squad leader on duty. The squad leader's body jolted, and he quickly nodded.

"I have an urgent matter to ask about, don't overthink it. Mister Cao, please come in quickly!" Zhao Jin had already pushed open the window. When everyone looked over, they couldn't see anything unusual, but they could tell he had been agitated earlier.

Ruhui shook his head, took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and stepped into the house. Zhao Jin spoke again from the window: "No one within two zhang!"

Outside, the order was already being carried out. Inside the room, Ruhui asked with a solemn expression, "Master, what exactly is this major matter?"

Ruhui had dealt with Zhao Jin for so long now; he knew that although his master was young, he possessed a calmness and maturity beyond his years and would not lose his composure over trivial matters. Yet today he had summoned people with such frantic urgency — surely something of immense importance had happened. And since he had specifically called for him, Ruhui had already thought of several possibilities.

Zhao Jin shook his head, took a deep breath, then picked up a copy of the official gazette from the table. He flipped it open to a certain page and said, "Mister Cao, are you familiar with this name?"

It was about the gazette? Ruhui was stunned. He remembered that the ones he had marked and sectioned were last year's gazettes. What could be wrong with last year's, to warrant such grave seriousness?

Though he thought this, Ruhui still walked over to look while wiping his sweat, and even read aloud the passage Zhao Jin was pointing at: "'Zhai Fengchong, the Investigating Censor of Shandong, submits strategies for controlling the eastern and western barbarians. The troops and horses in the Hexi-Ningqian region are weary and weak. It is proposed that the deputy and staff battalions of Qiantun and Ningyuan remain garrisoned in their original cities, while the mobile corps and defense units of the central, front, left, and right sectors be relocated to the most critical border fortresses, so that coming they are easy to block and going they are easy to pursue. As for the remaining fortresses, all troops and horses who have fled or died should be fully recruited to replenish the quotas, with a slight increase in grain and fodder to support them. Regarding the goods purchased by various officials to reward the barbarians, they are of reduced price and shoddy quality; every time rewards are distributed, disputes and provocations arise. Henceforth, the funds and goods for pacification rewards should be used solely for pacification rewards. The eastern barbarian Nurhaci monopolizes ginseng for profit. The circuit intends to subtly implement reduction measures through market trade, so that merchants dwindle, ginseng goes unsold, and his financial resources become strained, forcing him to wag his tail and beg for mercy. Yet what I worry about is this: the barbarians plunder our people, seeking out the cunning and intelligent among them, originally luring them with profit to win their hearts and use them. All the strengths and weaknesses of the interior are transmitted without fail. Meanwhile, in Liao, heavy corvée and vexatious levies leave people with no recourse but to willingly follow them away. The troubles of the future will be great indeed…'"

What was wrong with this? Puzzled, Ruhui read it through again and said, bewildered, "The Shandong Regional Inspector this year should no longer be this man. These scholars just love to spout empty arguments. The eastern barbarians are over in Liaodong, and Liaodong is under the Shandong Regional Military Commission, so the two are closely linked. These arguments about the eastern barbarians do have some merit. I haven't heard much about this Zhai Fengchong's subordinates, but since he is an Investigating Censor, presumably Lord Wang would know more clearly…"

Before he could finish, an impatient look appeared on Zhao Jin's face. He heavily tapped a spot with his finger, and Ruhui leaned in to look closely.

"…Nurhaci? Is this what the master is asking about?" Ruhui asked uncertainly.

Zhao Jin nodded, his expression quite solemn. Ruhui was even more baffled. He wiped his sweat again, put the handkerchief into his pocket, frowned in thought for a moment, and then said, "…Nurhaci… this name, your subordinate does have some impression of it. The court gazettes always speak of a peaceful and prosperous age, with all quarters coming to pay tribute, so they always emphasize the tribute missions and envoys from the surrounding barbarian tribes."

At this point, Ruhui tilted his head to glance at Zhao Jin and found him wearing a rarely seen solemn expression, which made him even more curious. He continued, "For any coming from the Liaodong Garrison Region, over the past ten-plus years this Nurhaci should have been there. He must be some sort of chieftain among the eastern barbarians."

"What exactly do 'eastern barbarians' and 'western caitiffs' refer to?" Zhao Jin asked with a frown.

"Tartar caitiffs, caitiff raiders. Your subordinate dares not claim certainty about the origin of this division. Vaguely, taking the capital as the boundary, the various Mongol tribes hostile to the Great Ming are all in the west, called the western caitiffs. The east is also restless, but they still accept Ming loose-rein control, and there are also setups like guard battalions and native officials. Your subordinate has heard all this from traveling merchants; there may be inaccuracies. I beg the master's pardon." Ruhui spoke without much certainty.

"The west refers to the Mongols. What tribes do the eastern barbarians refer to?" Zhao Jin ignored Ruhui's disclaimer and simply pressed on with his question.

"Both Mongols and Jurchens, with more Jurchens. However, your subordinate has heard people say that these people claim to be remnants of the Jin, but in fact that is not the case…" Ruhui was, after all, a scholar by background, and at this point he was about to start discussing historical allusions.

But Ruhui stopped after just one sentence, because he saw that Zhao Jin's expression was very strange, as if he were stunned into a daze.

If it had been one of Zhao Jin's companions, they might have recognized that his expression now was similar to the one he had on the banks of the Yellow River when he saw the matchlock. But this was the first time Ruhui had seen it, and he was greatly astonished. Yet he dared not disturb him, only watching carefully from the side for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Master, master…"

Zhao Jin did not react, still standing there in a daze. Ruhui frowned and raised his voice slightly to ask again, "Master, is something amiss?"

"Mister Cao, could the two characters 'Nur' in Nurhaci be a mistake or omission?" Zhao Jin ignored Ruhui's question and asked on his own.

The two characters "Nur" were indeed lowly and base; it was somewhat absurd for a chieftain or leader to use such a name. Seeing this, Ruhui actually smiled and explained, "Master, this is merely the convention for referring to barbarian envoys. The original pronunciation from their native tongue is rendered into Chinese characters, using base characters and base names, otherwise how could their subservience and lowliness be made apparent?"

Zhao Jin slowly nodded, sinking back into that abstracted state, murmuring to himself, "Jurchens, Nurhaci, Nurhaci… so this is the era…"

Ruhui patted his forehead with his hand. He truly could not understand the situation today. He had come thinking some major event had occurred, but it turned out to be a trivial matter from last year's gazette. Not to mention seeing it now, even if he had seen it then, he would have scoffed a few times, saying this Regional Inspector was fond of grandiose talk just to get promoted. What was there to care about a tribal chieftain who monopolized the ginseng trade?

Yet his usually steady and mature master had become utterly crazed over this. Ruhui wondered if his master had been possessed by some evil influence, if he had lost his mind. Should he slap him? It was said that for someone just afflicted by a wind pathogen or evil, one hard strike could wake them up.

"So this is the era!" The indistinct muttering finally came out as a clear statement. Zhao Jin had already risen from his seat. Ruhui thought this was the moment and reached out his hand to slap, but before he could move, he realized Zhao Jin was no longer in that earlier dazed state and looked no different from before.

"What does the master mean?" Ruhui still did not understand this baffling phrase "this era" and could not help asking.

"I'm saying I've finally understood one thing. Studying… doing things — neither can be done carelessly or vaguely," Zhao Jin said with a smile. He had originally wanted to say that studying must be diligent, otherwise forgetting details would cause great trouble, but after speaking, he changed it to doing things.

Ruhui nodded along blankly. Zhao Jin closed the gazette, casually tossed it aside, took a few steps in the room, stopped, and said, "Originally, I felt I might be doing things too hastily. Now, it seems it's time to make some preparations."

Only then did Ruhui notice the details — Zhao Jin had not yet returned to normal; his emotions were clearly still very stirred up.

"Ever since the master rose to prominence, every step has been taken very solidly. How can it be called hasty? As for preparations, everything the master is doing now is preparation in every sense," Ruhui offered a few polite remarks.

Zhao Jin smiled and waved his hand, then directly dismissed him: "Mister Cao, go back to your work first. And by the way, let the others know that I might be late this afternoon. I need to stay here and think things over."