Chapter 46: Sights Along the Road

46. Chapter 46: Sights Along the Road

Before the sky had darkened, Zhao Jin, wearing a suit of bamboo armor, headed home in high spirits. Once made, this getup looked very much like a real set of armor, and wearing it made him look imposingly majestic. Zhao Jin seemed to have rediscovered the joy of wearing a military uniform with a big-visored cap as a child.

Upon arriving home, He Cuihua directly dismissed it as "wasting money" and called him a "spendthrift wastrel." Zhao Zhentang, however, was quite interested. He stepped forward, looked it over from left to right, and cursed with a laugh, "Zhenxing's silver has all been squandered by you, you little brat."

While everyone was eating, the family's pet monkey snuck over and put on the helmet, making the whole family burst into laughter.

That night, Zhao Jin lay there as usual, letting his thoughts run wild, trying to recall anything useful. But his mind was filled with that set of protective gear. Just before falling asleep, Zhao Jin suddenly jolted into clarity. From that barrel-like protective gear, he made a connection to armor — not the bamboo armor of the Japanese pirates, but Western plate armor, the kind made of several iron plates.

He still remembered that in the set of books his friend read, it was mentioned that this type of armor could be manufactured on a large scale thanks to the application of water-powered machinery. Although the craftsmanship was very simple, the protection was quite complete. Arrows could not pierce it, and it could block spear thrusts and saber slashes. Specialized tactics even emerged specifically to counter this armor, such as striking the unarmored parts or using blunt weapons to smash and hack. The spiked hammer on the Swiss halberd existed precisely for breaking armor.

However, this kind of armor had no way of defending against musket fire, to say nothing of cannons...

He wondered how much silver it would cost to have a blacksmith forge a suit of armor like this. The Great Ming already had trade with the West now; he wondered if it could be bought from merchants. He absolutely had to write this down tomorrow — this would be useful. Thinking these thoughts, Zhao Jin drifted into dreamland.

Early the next morning, He Cuihua unexpectedly prepared a large amount of food. She said she was going back to her maiden home today and made these meals in advance so that at noon, Zhao Jin's father or second uncle could come over to heat them up and eat.

Normally, returning to one's maiden home meant bringing the children along, but He Cuihua seemed to be going to handle some matter. Zhao Jin vaguely remembered this happening several times every year. Zhao Zhentang had already made the arrangements; the horse cart had arrived outside the gate early, waiting to depart.

Speaking of his mother's maiden home, the image of a stout, heavyset old man surfaced in Zhao Jin's mind — that was his maternal grandfather, Butcher He. There was also an exceedingly honest middle-aged man, his uncle. He remembered being very happy every time he visited; his grandfather would always bring out fried lard scraps for him to eat.

Although his second uncle had massaged it with medicated oil, the spot where Wang Zhaojing had stabbed him yesterday still throbbed with a dull ache. During martial arts practice, his movements went off track several times. Zhao Zhenxing immediately understood what was going on, applied more medicated oil to Zhao Jin, and did some loosening-up exercises. The morning martial training was thus halted.

Since there was no more training, Zhao Zhenxing went back to his room to rest and tidy up. Zhao Jin seized this opportunity to enter the shop, go to the counter, take out the paper and brush hidden in the corner, and record what he had thought of the day before.

At noon, he went back and had lunch. With He Cuihua away at her maiden home, Zhao Zhentang simply went off to drink with colleagues. Zhao Zhenxing heated up the food and also fed the monkey outside. Uncle and nephew ate lunch together. Zhao Jin noticed that his family's monkey was extremely well-behaved around his father and uncle, and was only rambunctious with him alone.

When Chen Sheng came by to find him, Zhao Jin wore that suit of bamboo armor and protective gear and went with them to the goods yard. Zhao Zhenxing specifically warned him not to spar, lest he get injured.

The three young companions walked very slowly on the road, because the brothers Chen Sheng and Chen Hong were utterly enamored with Zhao Jin's bamboo armor. It would be no exaggeration to say their eyes shone and they drooled. They had behaved themselves a bit at the Zhao house, but once they had walked one street away, they clamored for Zhao Jin to take it off so they could try it on.

But the two brothers' body sizes were far too different. Chen Sheng could not fit into it at all. After struggling for a long time, he had no choice but to give up dejectedly. Chen Hong eagerly stepped up to put it on, but it turned out to be far too large, as if he were draped in a bamboo basket.

Seeing the disappointed looks on the brothers' faces, Zhao Jin laughed and told them how to make it and where to go to have it made. The two brothers immediately grew much more excited. This was also Zhao Jin's thoughtful consideration — he had gone to that bamboo weaver first to have one made, establishing a pattern and routine, so it would be much more convenient for anyone else who needed one made.

Just as they were happily chatting, they heard a burst of noise and clamor up ahead and immediately looked over.

Zhao Jin's house was not far from Chen Sheng's. They all lived in the northern part of Xuzhou City, the area where the wealthy resided. The commerce in this vicinity was also quite thriving. The street where Zhao Jin and the Chen brothers now stood was lined on both sides with shopfronts; by all rights, it should have been very bustling.

However, the thriving bustle was a thing of the past. Zhao Jin vaguely remembered that this place used to be full of people coming and going, with shops on both sides of the street open and welcoming customers, their goods a dazzling array. But in the last few years — roughly since the opening of the Jia Canal, as the elders spoke of — the entire Xuzhou had fallen into decline. This street was no exception. One shop after another closed its doors and ceased business, some moving to Yutou Town near Pizhou.

Now, at most one-fifth of the shopfronts on this street were open, barely surviving. It was usually deathly quiet. The adults felt disheartened seeing it, but the children felt nothing of the sort. Instead, they thought that with so few people around, this place had become their own world, where they could talk, laugh, and play loudly. In truth, places like this were everywhere within Xuzhou City.

For such a desolate and quiet street to suddenly erupt with clamorous noise naturally drew attention.

"Master, Master, please grant a few more days' grace." The middle-aged man's voice was frantic with panic as he pleaded repeatedly.

"Grace my ass! You motherfucker, are you going to pay up or not!" A full-throated, angry shout rang out. The sound of smashing and banging came from within the shop, as if someone tried to intervene and then took a few hits.

Zhao Jin and the others saw a middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper stumble out. He tripped on the shop's threshold and sat down hard on the ground. Next, they saw someone who looked like a shop assistant bowing frantically at the doorway, then suddenly his body bent sharply and he was flung out, rolling on the ground clutching his stomach — it looked like he had been kicked out.

Two people followed right after. Seeing these two, Zhao Jin and the Chen brothers were all momentarily stunned. Earlier, they had heard "Master, Master" being called from inside and found it puzzling. Now they understood why — they were two monks.

In his impression, monks were all compassionate, pure, and serene in nature, but the two bald heads before him were completely different — thoroughly fierce and brutish, both with greasy, shiny faces and rolls of flesh piled on their necks.

As soon as he saw the two monks follow him out, the shopkeeper-like middle-aged man scrambled to his feet in a panic, crawled forward a few steps on his knees, and pleaded with a face full of misery, "Master Runan, this shop's silver is all tied up in goods. Xuzhou City is so desolate now, there's truly no business income coming in..."

"Who the hell wants to listen to your rambling!" One monk stepped forward and delivered another kick, sending the man straight to the ground. Stepping on the merchant's chest, he said, "Paying debts with money, principal plus interest — that's the law of heaven and earth. Just tell me, are you going to pay or not!"

"Master Runing, this lowly one can recover a debt in three days, but your esteemed temple raised the interest during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Now with interest compounding on interest, this lowly one truly cannot afford to repay. Could it be possible..."

Before he could finish, he was kicked rolling again. That monk Runan pointed at the shopkeeper and cursed furiously, "Earning money for the Buddha, and you still dare to haggle!"