Chapter 415: Ding Family Enclosure

"We're in the same boat now. Don't get your priorities twisted. I'll tell you plainly — if anything really happens, you'll die before any of us." Zhao Jin dropped the threat and dismissed Yi Jinbao with a wave.

In any case, since Yi Jinbao had come clean about his little schemes first, he could still be used. There was no fear of him pulling anything strange — someone in the company was watching him very closely anyway.

Over on that side, Yi Jinbao was led away, but Qi San came over, his face full of shame. When he reached Zhao Jin, he knelt and kowtowed in apology, saying, "Master, in the past I worked the grass nests north of Shuyang City. This is the south — I rarely came here before, and after being away a few years, I don't know any of these pole-bearers well. I can't help you, Master. I'm useless!"

"Get back to your duties. I chose this road. You may not know this area, but in this wild grass and marshland, you certainly know how to move around better than we do." Zhao Jin dismissed him outright.

As for Qi San, there had never been any suspicion from the start. And in the fierce battle just now, Qi San had been drenched in blood, charging at the front. A man who fights that desperately can't possibly be a problem.

When they set out again, everyone was hungry. They had risen early in the morning, and with this skirmish on top of it, the reserves in their bellies were nearly spent. But everyone endured it, planning to eat and rest only when they reached the enclosure.

The men could endure, but the horses and pack animals could not. The cavalrymen all broke coarse-grain cakes into small pieces and fed them to the horses under their care. Hard fodder like this gave the horses more strength.

Little schemes aside, the guides did not lead them astray. When the sun was slanting west, they reached the first stopping point within the grass-nest region — Ding Family Enclosure.

The term "enclosure" was very common across Xuzhou. There were two villages that used the name Ding Family Enclosure, but the one before their eyes illustrated the word "enclosure" quite vividly.

Once they entered the bounds of Ding Family Enclosure, the withered grass was no longer so visible. There were stretches of farmland, and at the center of the farmland, a village. The farmland was divided into plots, each plot surrounded by low earthen embankments. The village houses were mostly mud-brick and thatch, and outside, a wall the height of a man enclosed the village within.

"Master, this place is mostly ponds and mud. Too much standing water. You have to enclose the land with embankments and drain the water before you can farm it." Peng Qi understood this landscape well.

It was already mid-twelfth-month, so naturally there was no busy farming. No one was visible in the fields outside, only a few children chasing each other and playing in high spirits. But the moment they spotted Zhao Jin's company in the distance, they immediately ran back inside the earthen wall.

Just as the Peng uncle and nephew were explaining, a shrill whistle sounded from inside Ding Family Enclosure. When they drew a little closer to the earthen wall, over a hundred able-bodied men wielding farm tools rushed out from inside, eyeing Zhao Jin's group with considerable hostility. Behind these men, many more could be seen craning their necks and peeking out from within the wall.

"Go and explain. We'll be lodging here tonight. Tell them to prepare food and provisions for men and horses. We'll pay the going rate." Zhao Jin spoke first to Yi Jinbao.

After giving that order, Zhao Jin turned his head and said, "Stop the wagons. Everyone mount up and form ranks!"

Over on that side, Yi Jinbao waved his arms and shouted as he ran quickly over. He was now desperate to show his diligence before Zhao Jin. Meanwhile, Zhao Jin's entire company, including the cart drivers, mounted up and formed ranks. Every single man brought on this trip could ride a horse.

Among the able-bodied men of Ding Family Enclosure, a middle-aged man also stepped forward to talk with Yi Jinbao. On Zhao Jin's side, the seventy men were already mounted and in formation, weapons in hand.

After the battle just now, everyone was still wearing their armor, some of it still stained with blood. Mounted and in formation, the cavalrymen looked especially tall and imposing. The neat ranks exuded a heart-shaking, awe-inspiring presence.

The able-bodied men of Ding Family Enclosure had been a noisy, chattering crowd, and the middle-aged man talking with Yi Jinbao occasionally shouted a word or two as well. But once Zhao Jin's side finished forming ranks, that side fell silent.

Not long after the formation was complete, Yi Jinbao and the middle-aged man handling the negotiations returned together. The closer they got, the thicker the shock on the middle-aged man's face grew. By the time he stood before them, his expression had turned completely deferential, even carrying a hint of fawning.

"Esteemed master, please come inside and sit. We'll boil water and prepare tea for you right away." He was exceedingly attentive the moment they met.

"No need. We'll camp outside the village. Prepare your stoves and boil water to cook a meal now. Everything will be paid at the going rate," Zhao Jin said from horseback.

After speaking, Zhao Jin glanced to the side. Ji Xiang pulled a piece of silver from his bosom and tossed it over. The middle-aged man caught it in a fluster. After roughly gauging its weight, the smile on his face instantly became much more genuine. He bowed repeatedly and said, "Of course, of course. Everyone, please follow me."

Being able to obtain supplies locally meant not having to use what they carried — this was also a precaution for complete safety.

Once the middle-aged man ran back, Yi Jinbao bowed and scraped obsequiously, saying, "Master, you handled that with perfect measure. When I went over to talk, these northern savages from Ding Family Enclosure were loud and brash, but the moment they saw your martial might, they fell right in line."

Southerners called northerners savages, and northerners called southerners the same. Some hint of this could be heard in the middle-aged man's accent just now. This Ding Family Enclosure was likely made up of disaster refugees and drifters from Shandong.

"These common folk are truly pitiful, scraping out a living in this desolate place, and still having to watch out for grass-nest bandits and mounted raiders," Dong Bingfeng remarked from the side.

Zhao Jin smiled and shook his head. Little Peng, standing beside the horse, couldn't help but speak up: "Master, don't think they're good, honest folk. They just don't have horses. If they did, they wouldn't be much different from the grass-nest bandits."

"If we were just a merchant caravan, Ding Family Enclosure could kill us and take our goods — who would ever know?" Liu Yong added quietly. Only then did Dong Bingfeng understand.

Even a lawless place has its rules, and the rule is that the strong prey on the weak. Zhao Jin's company had displayed their strength, so naturally Ding Family Enclosure would be polite. If Zhao Jin's company had been nothing but a merchant caravan, those able-bodied men from Ding Family Enclosure would probably have already charged over.

But for now, everyone was cordial and polite with one another. The open ground south of Ding Family Enclosure was given to Zhao Jin's company as their campsite. This spot faced the sun and was likely where Ding Family Enclosure dried their grain. The earth was hard and dry, and the snow on top had been swept clean.

The food Ding Family Enclosure could provide was very ordinary — a mix of coarse grain, bran, and dried wild greens. It could only be boiled into gruel or made into cakes. Beyond that, the village provided a few wild hares, which counted as a bit of grease and meat. There was no shortage of fodder, though. The village had its own livestock, and the surrounding area had no lack of withered grass, so they had cut and prepared it early.

Zhao Jin's side still used the wagons to encircle the camp. Once all the necessary arrangements were made, they began accepting the supplies provided by the enclosure.

"It's a good thing you put the silver out first, Master, or what they brought out would've been even worse. This place is desperately short of everything. When they go outside, they can only buy with silver, so the sight of ready cash moves them." Yi Jinbao was now chattering nonstop, desperately trying to show his diligence.

They boiled the gruel, cleaned the wild hares, chopped them into pieces, and tossed them in. With the pickled vegetables and dried meat they had brought themselves, this combined lunch-dinner was still passable.

When Zhao Jin promptly settled the silver for the grain and fodder, Ding Family Enclosure's attentiveness rose another notch. They also knew that Zhao Jin and a few others were the leaders, so they specially sent eight young girls over to serve them. These eight girls were all fifteen or sixteen years old, at best passably neat in appearance, young and lively — nothing else could be said for them.

"If Master takes a fancy to any of them, just take her with you. They'd actually see it as a happy event here. Better to go out and be a servant girl than to suffer and struggle in this grass nest," Yi Jinbao said obsequiously.

Besides the women, Ding Family Enclosure also sent over two jars of wine. The wine was very weak — it must have been watered down when they bought it. Zhao Jin and his men naturally wouldn't touch it and gave it directly to Yi Jinbao and the Peng uncle and nephew. They were camping here tonight anyway, so they could rest a bit.

Seeing the wine, Zhao Jin thought of something else. He had someone bring down two jars of wine from the wagons and told the eight girls to take the wine back and invite whoever could make decisions here to come over.

The dozen or so wagons were loaded not only with supplies but also with goods. Among them were over ten jars of Hanjing Famous Liquor, all stored by the Sun family trading house. A strong liquor like Hanjing Famous Liquor was of great use in cold weather.

Zhao Jin and his men declined the young girls' service and sent two jars of good wine back as a return gift, which naturally made their stance clear.

As the sky was just turning dark, Zhao Jin and his men finished arranging the guards and rested and chatted idly inside the tents. The tents blocked the wind, and with a fire pan in the middle, it was bright and warm.

Not long after, someone from Ding Family Enclosure came to visit. Three came in total. The oldest looked to be over fifty, but he was strong-bodied and moved nimbly — he was probably in his forties, looking old only because he had endured too much hardship. Besides him, there was the middle-aged man who had received them outside the village, who looked to be in his thirties. The other was a sturdy young man, seemingly the leader of the able-bodied youths. These few differed in age and appearance, but all were thin, wearing leather robes with clothes underneath covered entirely in patches.

"This humble one is Ding Hong. May I ask how to address you, esteemed master?" The oldest one spoke first. The other two stood behind him, clearly taking him as their leader.

"My surname is Jin. Elder Brother Ding, are you the village head here?" Zhao Jin directly used his given name as his surname and said with a smile.

"What village head? It's just that when we all fled here as refugees, I was the oldest at forty-some years, so people listen when I speak. Master Jin, those two jars of wine you sent just now were truly extraordinary. Old Ding here has had good wine a few times, but none compare to those two jars," Ding Hong said with a smile.

So he really was in his forties. That was no surprise. Among refugees fleeing disaster and scraping out a living in this harsh place, those who couldn't endure had all died. Only the able-bodied men and women could hold on.

"Good wine. Winter would be easy to bear with wine like this. One sip, and my body still feels warm now." Before Zhao Jin could speak, the young leader of the able-bodied men interjected.

The moment he opened his mouth, Ding Hong glared at him, and he immediately dared not speak again. Ding Hong shot a look at the middle-aged man beside him, who turned and went out, returning with two cured legs of lamb. They looked already fully cured.