Chapter 56: Time Flies Like an Arrow (2)

But Wang Youshan had his own advantage: on the road to the capital, he had rescued a family of refugees on the verge of starvation. This family was also heading to the capital to seek relatives, so he brought them along. Unexpectedly, they turned out to be relatives of a eunuch from the Imperial Household Directorate.

Normally, scholars and eunuchs always drew a clear line between them, but Wang Youshan was broad-minded and reasonable in his dealings, treating this eunuch no differently from anyone else, which earned him great favor.

After serving as a censor in the Chief Surveillance Bureau for a few years, another opportunity for official reassignment came up. That eunuch, whose power was immense, directly found him two postings: if he wanted high promotion, Surveillance Commissioner of Education for South Zhili; if he wanted wealth, Salt Inspector of the Lianghuai region.

But these two positions had long been eyed by a certain faction at court. As soon as they heard this, they grew anxious. It was said that a certain second-rank official paid a personal visit, using both threats and inducements.

In the end, no one knew exactly what happened, only the rumors: Wang Youshan gave up the chance to become Provincial Administration Commissioner of Huguang three years later and resigned from office to return home.

That eunuch, however, was thorough in his affairs and negotiated terms on Wang Youshan's behalf: of the annual tribute the Lianghuai Salt Inspector received, ten percent would go to Wang Youshan for six years; and the man who took the Education Surveillance Commissioner post swore brotherhood with Wang Youshan as a sworn sibling of a different surname, pledging to remember the favor and look after him.

Ten percent of the annual tribute amounted to tens of thousands of taels of silver; the care of an Education Surveillance Commissioner was the personal favor of a high official. Lacking neither money nor influence, Wang Youshan returned home in grand style.

Yet no matter how it was told, Wang Youshan's return home still left people puzzled, because those difficulties could all have been resolved simply with a bit of flexibility. No one understood why he had come straight back.

But all this did explain one thing: why Wang Zhaojing was so confident about passing the provincial exam. With such connections, placing high was only to be expected.

At the age of thirteen, Wang Zhaojing had already passed the county exam and become a Xiucai, creating a minor sensation in Xuzhou at the time. Moreover, what Zhao Jin heard from his own father was that everyone in the yamen marveled at Wang Zhaojing's talent and learning, believing that even without anyone's patronage, he would have passed steadily on genuine merit alone.

The man truly deserved the appraisal "adept in both civil and martial arts." In parallel with his smooth examination path, Wang Zhaojing's martial skills also steadily improved. His martial arts teacher in the capital was a master from the Imperial Horse Stables Guard, skilled in swordsmanship. When the Wang family returned home, they brought this teacher along at great expense. Zhao Jin and the others had seen this man at the goods yard before — a composed, steady-tempered middle-aged man.

It was from Wang Zhaojing that Zhao Jin learned that these few youths who practiced with weapons actually had very little time for leisure each day, only coming to the goods yard for sparring; the rest of their time was spent in diligent study and hard training. After learning this, Zhao Jin increased his own training load once again.

Unlike Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng, who grew lean, sharp, and composed, Wang Zhaojing, as the years passed, increasingly lived up to the phrase "a jade tree facing the wind." Later on, when everyone sparred at the goods yard, bold young women and wives would often watch from a distance. Eventually, even carriages and sedan chairs appeared, their curtains parted just a crack to glimpse this Young Master Wang.

Because of this, a rumor spread through Xuzhou City about the so-called "Golden Lad and Jade Maiden": the "Golden Lad" referred to Wang Zhaojing, and the "Jade Maiden" to Mu Shulan — though those who truly knew understood it was not like that at all.

Apart from sparring, Wang Zhaojing began carrying a bookcase with him, taking out books to read and recite during breaks in the matches.

When Wang Zhaojing recounted the stories and principles from his books to the youths at the goods yard, the only one who could keep up the conversation was Zhao Jin. What's more, Zhao Jin could tell even more exciting stories and explain deeper, more accurate principles, which both shocked and impressed Wang Zhaojing.

In Wang Zhaojing's impression, Zhao Jin trained in martial arts every day and had no opportunity whatsoever to read or learn characters. Yet occasionally he discovered that Zhao Jin seemed able to understand the books in his hands, though apparently he did not recognize all the characters.

But even this was no simple feat. Wang Youshan traveled several times a year, and Wang Zhaojing occasionally accompanied him. He was well-traveled and knew firsthand that a person confined to one place, if they did not read, would have an exceptionally narrow and parochial outlook.

Yet Zhao Jin was different. His understanding of history was not very clear, but he knew a fair amount in scattered fragments. He was quite clear on the geography of the realm, the local customs and products of various regions, and even had some knowledge of overseas barbarians. One must understand that many people still did not know where Japan, Korea, or those Franks actually came from.

Beyond this, Zhao Jin was more proficient than most in the principles of investigating things to extend knowledge. He could explain clearly various mechanical ingenuities and the principles of heaven and earth and nature.

Wang Zhaojing had also probed indirectly and sent servants to observe. Neither Zhao Jin's parents nor his uncle were scholars, and Zhao Jin normally had no time for reading. There was no way to tell how he had come by this knowledge. Later, Wang Zhaojing even grew suspicious of Mu Shulan. Mu Shulan indeed knew characters and read books.

But even that could not explain it. The reason Wang Zhaojing settled on was that Zhao Jin had learned to read at the village school and then read books on his own — otherwise he would not have borrowed paper and brush from him. This too was rather forced. Fortunately, Zhao Jin's performance could only be called outstanding, nothing earth-shattering. In the end, Wang Zhaojing chalked it up to the capable being capable of anything.

Sun Dalei was still very fat, and his movements were still very slow, but his strikes grew increasingly powerful. This was because his family had promptly relocated their businesses and shops to Yutou Town, which had become the new north-south junction of the Grand Canal and one of the centers of trade and transshipment. In recent years, far from declining, they had grown wealthy.

Because they had made money and were rich, and seeing that their once lazy and useless fat boy had actually devoted himself to martial arts, the Sun family spent money to hire him a teacher. With diligent, uninterrupted practice and the teacher's guidance and supervision, Sun Dalei also improved continuously.

Originally, because of the business rivalry, Sun Dalei had been a bit awkward around Zhao Jin. Only later did their former relationship recover.

Xuzhou City grew ever more dilapidated; only a couple of streets still had any sign of life. Sun Dalei's parents also began spending the entire year in Yutou Town running their business.

Normally, when parents and children are separated for years on end, with a bit of family wealth and parental indulgence, it is very easy for a child to go astray.

A few months after leaving, Sun Dalei's parents returned, planning to take him with them. Unexpectedly, because Sun Dalei was motivated by the sparring matches, he had no time each day to dwell on other things and trained diligently all day long. This made his parents feel their son had matured considerably, so they took Sun Dalei's younger brother and sister to Yutou Town instead.

With his parents living elsewhere and ample monthly allowance, Sun Dalei was especially generous and open-handed. Now, when it came to sparring prizes, he contributed the same share as the others, and he often brought good food to share with everyone.

Moreover, the Sun family did one more thing: they spent a small sum to buy up the goods yard and the surrounding shops, keeping them as they were for the children to play in. Because the area had long been abandoned and Xuzhou City was declining along with it, it cost very little. After buying it, they did no renovations, just left it as it was. In any case, the children would clean and tidy up the goods yard themselves.

The frequency of Shi Manqiang, Ji Xiang, and Liu Yong's visits decreased as they grew older. The reason was simple: they could now be used as labor.

Still, the few of them would come by regularly. The reason was also simple: they understood the importance of maintaining their relationship with Zhao Jin and the others.

With Xuzhou City in full decline, the blacksmith shop business was not so easy either. But because of their connection to Zhao Jin and the others, Shi Manqiang's father received work orders from both the Department Magistrate's yamen and the Ministry of Revenue branch office — and at high prices, with prompt payment. Of course, kickbacks and favors could not be omitted; everyone made money. What's more, because of Dong Bingfeng, the Shi family blacksmith shop even got business from the Xuzhou Guard.

Ji Xiang's family ran a simple cooked-food stall. But Wang Zhaojing had his family cook pass on secret recipes to the Ji family, and then arranged for his own household to buy from them daily. It was a small matter, but when the Wang family bought there, many others followed suit, including everyone in the Xuzhou Department Magistrate's yamen. Over the years, the business sustained itself, and even did considerably better than before.

Liu Yong's situation was different from the other two. Only after everyone gradually grew familiar did they discover that Liu Yong had no parents and had always lived with his uncle. His uncle's family circumstances were poor too; giving Liu Yong a mouthful of food was already good enough — he might not even have eaten his fill.

Shi Manqiang and Ji Xiang at least had family businesses. Liu Yong, at that age when a growing boy can eat his father into poverty, especially during the period when his appetite was greatest, filled his stomach every day at the goods yard and basically skipped dinner. Later, realizing that playing around every day was no solution, he started looking for odd jobs and casual labor each day.

In Xuzhou City's condition, even established businesses could not sustain themselves; everyone was scrambling for a livelihood. Where would any new position come from for Liu Yong?

In the end, it was Zhao Jin who helped. The five ruffians they had once beaten severely and nearly driven to desperation had now made something of themselves. In particular, that Chen Ergou, having learned prudence from his losses and working diligently, was highly valued by that Copper Head Cheng and had now become a minor headman of sorts.