Chapter 587: Promotion (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

But after seeing how Zhao Camp operated, everyone was disappointed. Zhao Camp normally never left their encampment at all. Their only interaction with the outside world was the rotation of guard duties between the cart-hire yard outside and the martial school inside — over a hundred men marching in and out in neat formation, offering no chance whatsoever for contact.

Some also thought that with so many able-bodied young men cooped up in camp all day, trouble was bound to break out. But they were wrong about that too. Training went on relentlessly every day; who had the inclination to go out?

The only point that looked susceptible to infiltration was that "Zhao Family Martial School." The people there all came from the jianghu, and they seemed no different from the riffraff of the streets and markets in Qingjiangpu — each of them rough and unrestrained in their ways. They were often seen galloping their horses through the streets and lanes every day.

Men like that care only for silver and women; getting a hook into them was bound to be easy. Those with deeper schemes tried to use inducements to win them over, but no sooner had they made their move than, within three days, the schemer would find himself saddled with "colossal debts" and forced to sell off his family property to pay them, then sent north to work off the rest...

After this happened a few times, the people of Qingjiangpu were finally terrified into silence and obediently followed the rules.

In truth, Zhao Camp hadn't really set any rules in Qingjiangpu. It was nothing more than collecting a cart-hire fee from the various merchant firms and shops — the sort of customary cut that whoever controlled the area would take. What Zhao Camp collected wasn't even much.

What everyone found strange was that Zhao Camp seemed to place an inordinate importance on carts and horses. Not only had they annexed the Big Cart Gang, they also wanted to buy up the carts and horses privately maintained by every merchant firm in the city, so that anyone in Qingjiangpu wanting to haul people or goods overland had no choice but to go to Cloud Mountain Cart Hire. But when Zhao Camp bought up other people's carts and horses, they didn't rely on force; they paid very generous prices.

Though a few head of livestock and a cart might not amount to much, the sheer quantity made the silver paid out quite substantial. Yet Zhao Camp still paid readily in cash, which once again made everyone in Qingjiangpu recognize the formidable financial strength of Zhao Camp. No one could have imagined that Zhao Camp, hailing from Xuzhou, could have so much ready silver.

From the eleventh month of the forty-fifth year of Wanli to the fourth month of the forty-sixth year of Wanli, Wang Zhaojing withdrew thirteen thousand taels of silver from Zhao Camp without explaining what it was for.

Zhao Jin and his companions all knew about this, but by tacit agreement none of them asked, because Wang Zhaojing had told them in advance that he would explain once the matter was settled, and if it failed, he would return the silver.

Moreover, all this silver was sent by Wang Zhaojing's household servants to the capital. According to the information Zhao Jin received, Wang Zhaojing had been corresponding very frequently with his father in the capital during this period, to the point of having to borrow horses and riders from Zhao Camp's common pool, as his own household servants were no longer sufficient.

"He won't spend it recklessly, and neither will Uncle Wang. If they were going to squander money, they wouldn't have waited until now to start."

Wang Zhaojing's behavior was truly strange, and the people around Zhao Jin offered various reminders. Zhao Jin's reply was very simple.

In any case, given Zhao Camp's current financial strength, taking out this sum of silver truly wouldn't affect anything. The gold and silver piled up in the treasury was simply too much.

As the third month arrived and the greenery thickened, the farming households began to get busy. For every trade and profession, the year was now truly beginning. But Zhao Camp began to relax a little. Ever since the New Year, Zhao Camp had been on alert and tense, with every company and every platoon maintaining a state of readiness, prepared at any moment to strike at surrounding enemies or march on Qingjiangpu. By now, the situation in Qingjiangpu was gradually stabilizing.

"In this world, blades and spears are still what count most. Qingjiangpu, for all its size and wealth, is nothing before our Zhao Camp!" Although the taking of Qingjiangpu had its twists and turns, it had cost Zhao Camp little effort — no wonder Ji Xiang had come to such a realization.

Zhao Jin could clearly sense that the people around him — not just the impetuous and restless Ji Xiang, but even the steady Chen Sheng and the composed Cao Ruhui — were all growing more and more confident. After experiencing victory after victory, everyone increasingly felt that Zhao Camp was all-powerful. This troubled Zhao Jin somewhat. Confidence was a good thing, but he had to make sure it didn't turn into arrogance, didn't become uncontrollable.

It was already the sixteenth of the fourth month. Zhao Jin had shed his padded coat. After inspecting the training in various parts of the camp and going over the accounts with Ruhui, he returned to his study.

On Zhao Jin's desk sat a wooden chest. The chest was usually left unlocked. Though the maid Xu Zhenzhen sent to tidy up was very curious, she knew better than to touch it. She had also noticed that both Wang Zhaojing and Ruhui had taken notebooks out of the chest, written or drawn in them, and then put them back.

At the time, the maid thought she had seen something she shouldn't have and hurried back to report it, wondering if the two were secretly reading confidential material. Xu Zhenzhen casually asked Zhao Jin about it, and then understood.

What was kept in that wooden chest were court gazettes and news from the capital. Without punctuation or paragraph breaks, they were very taxing for Zhao Jin to read, so Ruhui and Wang Zhaojing would annotate them for him.

Wang Zhaojing had always insisted on doing this himself, even to the point of being unwilling to handle important matters like the accounts. Ruhui, for his part, readily went along with it — not only did he not contest it, but he would consult Wang Zhaojing before handling the accounts and all the various detailed affairs of Zhao Camp.

It was just that during this period, aside from planning the Qingjiangpu operation, Wang Zhaojing had devoted most of his energy to corresponding with the capital, which was why Ruhui needed to step in and handle some things.

Zhao Jin took one out, leafed through it, and put it back, finding it rather dull. There was nothing in it that he needed. Content about the Eastern Barbarian Jurchens was extremely scarce; the occasional mentions were all formulaic auspicious phrases about "the rebel chieftains are locked in internal strife, inflicting heavy casualties on one another," and "Heaven protects the Great Ming."

That moment was surely drawing nearer, but he didn't know when it would happen, and as he was now, there was nothing he could do. Waiting like this was truly agonizing. The only thing he knew was that it was coming soon.

"Is Big Brother in?" Wang Zhaojing's inquiry came from outside, his voice interrupting Zhao Jin's thoughts.

When Zhao Jin was in his study, his companions didn't need to be announced before entering, but they were all in the habit of calling out a greeting as a way of announcing themselves.

Moments after his voice fell, Wang Zhaojing walked into the room, nodded with a smile, went first to the desk to put the court gazette Zhao Jin had tossed aside back into the wooden chest, and then said, "I sent so much silver to the capital. I'm sure Big Brother and the brothers have all been curious. I must ask Big Brother's forgiveness — whether this matter could succeed was always uncertain."

"Everyone is curious, but there's nothing to forgive. You wouldn't spend it recklessly. The reason you kept it so secret was simply that you were afraid I wouldn't let you do it," Zhao Jin said with a wave of his hand. After being together so long, they truly understood each other well.

Wang Zhaojing was taken aback, coughed twice, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Was I being too clever by half again?"

"Enough of that useless talk. Since you've brought it up today, there must be some progress. Out with it, out with it — don't keep me in suspense!" Zhao Jin urged with a laugh.

Wang Zhaojing shook his head with a smile and said, "It seems I was being petty."

After this self-mocking remark, Wang Zhaojing straightened his expression and said, "Big Brother, in this world of the Great Ming, the most crucial thing is official status. With scholarly rank and official status, ten thousand strings of cash will naturally follow. Without scholarly rank and official status, no matter how great your family fortune, you can't protect it — sooner or later it will scatter to the winds. With the scale of our Zhao Camp now, for us brothers to lack this protection is truly too great a risk."

In the Great Ming, officials and the gentry existed far above the common people. With scholarly rank and official status, the law could not touch you, and you could comfortably swallow up fields and property, seizing whatever you pleased. Without these, you were meat on the chopping block. Even the lowest unranked runner in a yamen could extort and blackmail you, and you had no way to resist.

Of course, there were some local strongmen who maintained armed retinues, with able-bodied men bearing blades, who ignored the authorities and did as they pleased. But for such local powers, it was merely a matter of whether the authorities chose to act or not. If they got serious, they would request troops from the imperial court and muster local militia and trained bands — the strongmen would be crushed in an instant, utterly beneath notice.

However, an entity like Zhao Camp was a complete anomaly and could not be reckoned by the established principles of the Great Ming.

Hearing Wang Zhaojing speak this way, Zhao Jin's expression darkened, and he said gravely, "Our official status is actually not insignificant. In the Xuzhou region, who can compare to a Censor of the Chief Surveillance Bureau? And in the Xuzhou region, how many are there who became Provincial Graduates at such a young age?"

The Censor was, of course, Wang Youshan; the young Provincial Graduate was naturally Wang Zhaojing.

"Big Brother, beyond that, Uncle's rank of Centurion, Uncle Chen's post of Chief Constable, and Uncle Dong's rank of Chiliarch — these identities are also official status. With the Xuzhou Assistant Regional Commander, the various yamens in the city, and even over in Qingjiangpu, we can find connections in the yamens. That too is the protection of official status. All this is enough to shield a local hegemon," Wang Zhaojing said, following Zhao Jin's line of thought.

After saying this, however, he shifted his tone: "Big Brother, but these cannot protect our Zhao Camp. At the local level, it may not matter much — officials protect officials. But what if the Grand Coordinator sends someone? What if the secret police truly obtain an official warrant and a major decree and come openly to arrest us? Then what we have now would be far from enough. Our own fathers' and elders' power is too small; those connections would vanish like smoke. What would we do then?"

Zhao Jin's expression remained grave. He stood up and looked toward the parade ground, saying in a deep voice, "If it truly comes to that, we still have our own strength."

These words were spoken with great confidence. A smile appeared on Wang Zhaojing's face, and he said, "Of course we can protect ourselves. But for some matters, it's always better if we can avoid a major upheaval. If a few words or some silver can resolve it, why let it escalate beyond control? Besides, at that time, we might not yet be fully prepared."

Zhao Jin shook his head, fixed his gaze on Wang Zhaojing, and said sternly, "If we wanted official posts, it wouldn't be difficult. But once we have official status, our household troops become government soldiers. When that time comes, will their loyalty be to us or to the imperial court? If we can't hold onto this force, how can we protect the mountains of gold and seas of silver we have now? And in the future..."

Thank you, everyone. It feels like you're all off celebrating the holiday too. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!