Chapter 57: Time Flies Like an Arrow (3)

Chen Ergou had done well for himself and knew to be grateful, understanding that without Zhao Jin, he wouldn't have what he had today, so every New Year and festival he would go to the Zhao family gate to kowtow and pay his respects.

Everyone understood in their hearts that this thug was using gratitude as a pretext to build ties with the Zhao family, but having that intention at least counted for something.

Through this connection, Zhao Jin arranged for Liu Yong, who had always longed to run the streets, to join him. Liu Yong usually stayed in the south of the city and had long eyed the lives of these street men with envy. With this opportunity, he was so overjoyed he nearly kowtowed to Zhao Jin.

Liu Yong, of course, also understood who held the key to him making a name for himself, so every day he worked diligently and still came over to spar.

Speaking of everyone's strength, Shi Manqiang remained robust, and his work helping at the blacksmith's shop had further increased his power. With a few simple routines added, even Zhao Jin had to expend some effort to beat him. Ji Xiang grew ever more agile and nimble. Ji Xiang had much better comprehension than Shi Manqiang, was more outgoing, often consulted Zhao Jin and the others for pointers, and had never fallen behind.

As time passed, Liu Yong's strength gradually fell behind the rest, but he had his own strong suit — he was ruthless enough, growing more and more daring. When a man has no retreat, some grow despondent, while others grow vicious.

The one who progressed fastest was Dong Bingfeng. After half a year, when facing Chen Sheng and Wang Zhaojing, he no longer came out at a disadvantage, and he could also give Zhao Jin considerable trouble.

As expected of a martial family's son, he had tempered his body since childhood, and once he got on the right path, his advancement became very swift. At first, the two personal soldiers the Dong family raised had still accompanied him, but later they felt at ease letting Dong Bingfeng come to fight alone.

Zhao Zhentang, who normally paid little mind to Zhao Jin's sparring, gave a rare admonishment: "You can lose to anyone, just not to that boy from the Dong family."

Zhao Jin quickly learned the reason: "Dong Jike looks down on this one and that one in the garrison, but his son is no match for my son" — the words from that year had been passed down to the present.

At the goods yard, the youths who had joined the sparring at the start numbered over a hundred. Later, newcomers kept joining and old ones kept leaving. The ones who truly remained constant from beginning to end were just these eight; counting Chen Hong and Mu Shulan, that made ten.

The other youths either moved elsewhere with their families, or busied themselves making a living. Some fell ill or died from other causes. When Zhao Jin first heard news of a death, he had been deeply shaken. Later, as he heard of more, he realized such things were actually very ordinary — someone got pricked in the hand by a wood splinter and died of tetanus; someone drank cold water, ruined his stomach, and died; someone's family fell into debt and he was sold off to repay it; someone else was abducted by a kidnapper and taken who knows where.

This outcome left Zhao Jin feeling very disappointed. He had gathered these people and spent money every day, yet in the end fewer than ten remained.

But aside from gaining ten friends, Zhao Jin and his group had become very famous both inside and outside Xuzhou city. They sparred every day, and youths eager to prove themselves kept joining, but if the draw was favorable enough that Zhao Jin and his group didn't meet each other early, the final eight, the final four, the championship match, and first place were always theirs.

As the matches went on for a long time, Zhao Jin could not remain ever-victorious, but relying on his ferocity and earnestness, he still maintained a win rate of around seventy percent.

"The foremost youth of Xuzhou" — quite a few people had already begun calling Zhao Jin this.

It wasn't that Zhao Jin was truly so dazzlingly brilliant. Consider how many peers he had in Xuzhou city: children from poor families could not possibly have good physical condition, nor did they have the money or connections to hire a martial artist to teach them. Moreover, with the civil esteemed and the martial debased, children of wealthy and noble families mostly studied letters. Zhao Jin and the others, through the process of sparring at this goods yard, had honed each other without daring to relax even a little, and so naturally surpassed everyone else.

This sparring circle had the protection of each family's elders. Not to mention Wang Zhaojing's father, the families of Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng could also run roughshod over most parts of Xuzhou city, so no one dared come and disturb them, nor did any older youths or ruffian thugs come to cause trouble. It just kept on existing like this.

In fact, by the third year, the sparring had already become an internal contest within Zhao Jin's small circle. The reason youths still kept joining was that there was still hope of entering the top eight; besides, watching these strong fighters' brilliant contests was far more interesting than watching a play. Also, seeing the "Golden Boy and Jade Girl" was nice too. Because there were so many attractions, adults often appeared around the goods yard, and some gamblers even set up betting there. But the very next day after this stall was set up, men under Copper Head Cheng came and smashed it.

Watching this was indeed more exciting than watching a play. Stage combat was just hopping and leaping about; here it was real, earnest contest. In stage combat they wore costumes; here, when they sparred with weapons, they also wore armor.

As Zhao Jin and the others' strength grew greater and greater, the original protective gear woven from bamboo strips could no longer provide sufficient defense. The protective gear was damaged very quickly. Everyone began experimenting with the leather and wood boards attached to the bamboo armor, and in the end, settled on steel and iron once and for all.

This design brought business to Shi Manqiang's family blacksmith shop. The bamboo armor's frame was switched to steel and iron, then covered with whole iron plates. Though it looked crude on the outside, its defensive power was much improved. After the rough prototype appeared, someone soon used leather to decorate the exterior.

As for the bamboo-weaver's business, it had also been thriving all along. He was the best in Xuzhou city at weaving bamboo armor protective gear and knew many styles. Even families who didn't let their children study martial arts would buy a set to keep at home. Boys love martial things, and wearing it always made them very happy. There were even buyers coming from Haizhou and Yangzhou to purchase and resell it.

Most of Xuzhou city's merchants and craftsmen did not have the bamboo-weaver's good fortune. Some went elsewhere to seek a living; some saw their families ruined and members perish.

Compared to Xuzhou city's gradual decline, the Zhao family's circumstances grew better by the day. As people's livelihoods withered, lawbreakers and criminals multiplied, and so did the heads that needed chopping. Zhao Zhentang earned quite a bit from beheading. Moreover, Zhao Jin noticed that the regular allowance his father gave his mother each month grew larger and larger. Once, when Zhao Zhentang was tipsy from drink, he let slip a few extra words: "The times are bad, but business under the table is plentiful."

As shady dealings multiplied, the yamen naturally received no small amount of tribute. The Chen family was like the Zhao family, their circumstances even better.

With more ready silver in hand, Zhao Zhentang also lent it out at interest. The family bought a couple who had fled famine to serve as servants, and He Cuihua gradually found herself with much more leisure.

Xuzhou city grew more dilapidated by the day, and no one wished to come here, resulting in the magistrate having to stay on for an extra term. This had nothing to do with Zhao Jin. However, when Zhao Jin was fourteen, the Yellow River outside the city flooded, and the waters entered the city, giving Zhao Jin a fright. He had always felt that the Yellow River flooding was something far removed from him, but this time he realized that flood disaster was right at his side.

Because of this flood, Zhao Jin finally understood why the north of Xuzhou city was rich and the south poor — because the northern terrain was higher, and when floods came, the north suffered less. In front of his own house, there was only a thin layer of water, but the goods yard in the west of the city, which lay further south, was already submerged.

The Yellow River outside Xuzhou city had minor floods every five years and major ones every ten. In the past, because Xuzhou was the north-south hub of the Grand Canal, it could quickly recover its vitality after a flood, but now that was no longer the case.

When the great waters receded, many rammed-earth houses in the south of the city had collapsed. The markets saw many more refugees and beggars, visibly withering a few degrees further.

The owner of the shop that Zhao Zhenxing looked after came once in the winter of the forty-first year of the Wanli reign. For the price of ten taels of silver, he half-sold, half-gave the entire shop to Zhao Zhenxing.

Xuzhou withered; the Zhao family prospered. Zhao Zhenxing seemed to have nothing to do with these matters. He silently kept watch over the rear courtyard of that shop, which had now become his home. But the shop remained in its old state; several times Zhao Zhentang proposed renovations, and each time he refused.

Every day, Zhao Zhenxing's life was truly a straight line between two points: teaching Zhao Jin martial arts, escorting Zhao Jin to and fro. Only on the rare occasion did he take Zhao Jin outside the city.

Zhao Zhenxing grew worse and worse. Summer was still all right, but in winter, staying indoors, the time he needed to rest grew longer and longer. Coughing up blood had become routine. The couple Zhao Zhentang had bought spent more and more of their time here attending to him.

However, Zhao Zhenxing poured all his energy into Zhao Jin. After two years, Zhao Jin had completely mastered the routines; all that remained was familiarity and practical combat experience. Zhao Zhenxing began to spar against Zhao Jin, and every day recounted to him the battle examples he had encountered.

When winter made it impossible to be outside, Zhao Zhenxing would sit at the doorway of the house, with stoves set before and behind him, watching Zhao Jin train while narrating.

The more they talked, the more Zhao Jin learned. He discovered that this uncle of his had very rich experience — he had actually participated in two great campaigns: one aiding Korea to suppress the Japanese, and one in the southwest campaigning against Yang Yinglong of Bozhou. He had also fought the Tatar brigands on the Nine Borders.