Chapter 599: Known to All

The world is never short of clever people. What others could think of, Zhao Jin and his men could certainly think of too. Before they went, all the properties that didn't belong to their group had already been bought up through various means. It actually didn't cost much, because many of those were the holdings of the great merchants and their affiliates, sold at half price or practically given away.

Zhao Jin did not plan to place too many of his own shops inside this market. The few locations he selected were all key traffic hubs within the greater market area. Where the Zhao Camp truly invested heavily was outside the Great Market. The Cloud Mountain Firm and the Sun Family Trading House stepped in and bought up many residential compounds.

These residential compounds on the periphery of the Great Market would be used as warehouses, or opened as restaurants and inns, along with various other businesses of the jianghu, and even two martial arts academies.

The Zhao Camp did all this openly and aboveboard. Such matters couldn't be hidden from the neighbors anyway. Once the Great Market was built, it would surely gather a massive flow of people and goods, and all the surrounding businesses would naturally flourish along with it. The Zhao Camp was simply preparing for a rainy day. This move alone left the great merchants of Qingjiangpu quite astonished. Someone remarked, "Even if Zhao Jin didn't go out to struggle in the jianghu, he could still build up a tremendous situation right here in Qingjiangpu."

Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. The procedures for constructing the Great Market advanced step by step, yet the atmosphere in Qingjiangpu was growing feverish.

The news gradually spread, and all of Southern Zhili learned that Qingjiangpu was going to build a Great Market. Zhao Jin and the great merchants of Qingjiangpu were still very cautious about this. They didn't imagine it would become a mountain of gold and a sea of silver the moment it was built; it needed to be built up slowly. For now, all they could be sure of was that the path seemed correct. But once the news spread outside, it became something else entirely. Everyone said that as long as you had a shop there, an annual income of a thousand taels of gold was a given. That was just the local rumor in Qingjiangpu. Once it got outside, the stories grew more and more outrageous.

Setting aside how fantastical the news became out there, anyone with a clear head who thought it over for a moment could judge the significance of this market in Qingjiangpu and realize it was a tremendous opportunity to make a fortune.

People came from various places in Huai'an Prefecture. People came from Fengyang Prefecture. People came from Yangzhou Prefecture as well. People also came from Jiangnan, from Nanjing and the prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, and Changzhou. They all came bearing gleaming silver, wanting a share of the pie.

The Qingjiangpu great merchants, who had already been prepared to carve up the market's benefits among themselves, now faced ties and obligations from all directions. They could only grit their teeth and divide up their own shares to outsiders. Even the Zhao Camp couldn't avoid this custom. The Yu family of Songjiang came directly to Zhao Jin. The salt merchants of Yangzhou did the same, like the Feng family...

Besides these wealthy individuals who saw the business opportunity, there were also those who wanted to rake in money through more direct methods. Everywhere in Jiangnan, behind any wealthy and established family, there usually stood a powerful figure from the imperial court. Such people, drunk on power, naturally wanted to earn a quick profit. For example, some people, upon arriving in Qingjiangpu, didn't bother participating in the so-called Qingjiang Great Market. Instead, they wanted to build their own market, directly planning to cordon off a piece of the best land along the canal bank.

This was where the advantage of Zhao Jin taking the lead became apparent. The Zhao Camp issued a clear and unambiguous statement: without their permission, no other market could exist in Qingjiangpu. Otherwise, there would be consequences.

Some didn't believe it and wanted to test their luck, but once they inquired, they found that, putting aside the Zhao Camp's blades and soldiers for a moment, without the Zhao Camp's permission, not even bricks, stones, or goods could be shipped in or out, let alone anything else. Coupled with the fact that the great merchants of Qingjiangpu were no pushovers either, these people all dropped the idea one after another.

It was amidst this atmosphere that the news of Fushun in Liaodong falling, the government troops suffering a crushing defeat, and over a hundred officers from the Regional Commander down dying in battle reached Qingjiangpu. Aside from a few scholars who cared about current affairs discussing it, no one paid it any mind. What did Liaodong, what did the Jurchens, matters a thousand li away, have to do with this place?

"... All living beings suffer. In all these years, which year has been without drought, locust plagues, and pestilence? Which year hasn't seen corpses everywhere? And now this disaster of war has come. Do you know, the imperial court suffered a great defeat over in Liaodong. The Tartars slaughtered a full hundred thousand and more..."

At night, in a certain courtyard in Tai'an Department, Ji'nan Prefecture, Shandong, a middle-aged man in a white robe, his hair loose and disheveled, spoke with eloquence. The common folk kneeling below to listen all wore expressions of terror.

"... These are the omens of the coming Great Calamity. When it arrives, not only will the mortal world be filled with vicious disasters, but fire rain will also fall from the heavens. Those who do not perform good deeds and accumulate virtue, who do not burn incense and worship the gods, even if they escape the vicious disasters, will not escape being consumed by the fierce flames..."

The proselytizing tricks of the Smelling Incense Sect were simple enough. It was nothing more than saying the world was full of disasters and hardships, and that as long as you joined the sect, you could avoid these calamities. At the very least, after death, you could go to some Pure Land paradise, or in your next life, you could be reborn into a good family.

This routine worked very well in Shandong, Henan, and Northern Zhili, because over the years, the common people had indeed witnessed many famines and disasters, endured much suffering, and seen too many people around them die.

The Smelling Incense Sect also knew well how to strike while the iron was hot. Whenever some new famine or great disaster occurred, they would promptly incorporate it into their preaching and lyrics. Such news, a mix of truth and falsehood, was even more effective at fooling the common people.

The news of the great defeat in Liaodong, aside from those connected to Liaodong and the court officials, was something the common folk across the entire realm paid little attention to. Only the Smelling Incense Sect spread it far and wide with great fanfare.

On this matter, whether it was Xu Hongru, the Smelling Incense Hierarch at the main headquarters in Yuncheng, or Mu Shulan, the Holy Maiden in Linqing Department of Dongchang Prefecture, their reactions were identical. They all spoke of the coming disaster of war, saying that only by quickly joining the sect and seeking the protection of the deities was the true path.

The Dongchang Prefecture area had never experienced any major famines. Supported by several prosperous large cities like Linqing Department, the harvests were still passable. The Mu family branch in Dongchang Prefecture had always presented an image of compassion, so this time they did not speak in overly sensational terms, merely following the established routine.

But the various branches of the Smelling Incense Sect under Xu Hongru's control were different. They practically described this great defeat as an omen of national ruin, portraying the Jurchens as green-faced, long-fanged demons who ate people without spitting out the bones.

"This is truly the will of Heaven! Buddha be praised, Eternal Mother above, this is precisely the omen of our sect's great rise!" At the Smelling Incense Sect's main headquarters in Yuncheng, Hierarch Xu Hongru, having lost his usual calm and composure, spoke with considerable agitation.

It wasn't just him; even the subordinate leaders below reacted the same way. Although they were merely a religious sect, they were still big figures presiding over thousands upon thousands of followers. Over so many years, they had developed a somewhat incongruous air of authority and reserve. But at this moment, all of that was thrown to the nine heavens beyond the clouds.

"The harvests have been good this year. In many places, quite a few people have stopped burning incense. Those wealthy households have also started to guard against us. But the times weren't right; we didn't even have a pretext to stir things up. Truly, Maitreya above has sent down such a blessing of fortune! Big Brother, no, Hierarch is right. This is a blessing of fortune for our sect, and this is also your great fortune, Hierarch!" Xu Hongju spoke even more bluntly.

Xu Hongru nodded with a smile and made a gesture. The hall immediately fell silent. Xu Hongru swept his gaze over the crowd and spoke out clearly: "The imperial court's mandate is exhausted. First came heavenly disasters, now military disasters. What the soldiers of the Great Ming, the garrison troops of the guard posts, are like, everyone here can see. How can they withstand the Tartars' attacks? When the time comes, they will inevitably retreat in defeat after defeat. That will be our sect's great opportunity. Everyone must prepare well and wait for that time to arrive."

Everyone nodded solemnly. Xu Hongru stood up, raised his hand, and said: "When that time comes, not only will all of you be able to enter the Immortal Realm on Earth, but there will also be endless glory, splendor, and wealth. Do not miss out on such a tremendous blessing of fortune."

Joyful expressions appeared on everyone's faces, and they all praised him profusely. The atmosphere in the room became extremely fervent, as if Maitreya were truly about to descend at any moment.

When the crowd had dispersed and only the two brothers, Xu Hongru and Xu Hongju, remained in the room, the old steward also left after receiving a hint. Once they were alone, Xu Hongru no longer possessed the confidence and composure he had shown earlier; his face was full of exhaustion. Xu Hongju, somewhat nervous, asked solemnly: "Big Brother, although there hasn't been any major famine, at least something has happened now. The situation will surely turn around."

Xu Hongru let out a long sigh and simply rubbed his temples with his hand. In a muffled voice, he said: "What does this little matter count for? The capital has been besieged by the Tartars more than once, and hasn't it still endured for two hundred years? That place in Liaodong, a thousand or ten thousand li away, means nothing at all. The Great Ming is so vast; even if it just outlasts them, it can wear them down to death. Do you really expect them to come and plunge the realm into chaos?"

"Big Brother, then what was that just now...?"

"It was simply brought up as rhetoric, to give them something to preach to the lower ranks as well. Do you think Hou Wu and the others don't understand?" Xu Hongru replied irritably.

The room fell silent. Xu Hongru's hand, rubbing his temples, stopped, and his voice turned grim: "If we are truly forced to that point, we'll just have to launch our plan ahead of schedule."

July in Qingjiangpu is the hottest time of the year, and also the most bustling. This year was different from previous years. This year, Qingjiangpu was more chaotic than ever before. All sorts of goods were piled up on the docks. Laborers and horse-drawn carts rushed back and forth along the canal bank, while shopkeepers and managers stamped their feet and cursed.

In past years, busy as it was, the bustle was orderly. This year, it was a complete mess, because the best section of the canal had been cordoned off, and the widest streets had already been occupied. The construction of the Qingjiang Great Market had begun.

"They really are military household sons; they do things cleanly and efficiently." This was the assessment of Zhao Jin from all over Qingjiangpu. No one had expected such high efficiency. Now, the Qingjiang Great Market was already under construction with great fanfare.

With control of the Cart Gang, there was no need to worry about manpower and transport capacity. With the cooperation of the core Qingjiangpu business community, there was no worry about materials either. Moreover, the Zhao Camp had already made a name for itself in Qingjiangpu; few dared to make trouble or obstruct them. And since the Zhao Camp did not bully others with their power and paid the market price for everything, the work proceeded incredibly smoothly.

What needed demolishing was demolished; what needed keeping was kept. Large numbers of craftsmen and laborers were hard at work. Huge quantities of bricks, stones, timber, and waste were being transported in and out. The Great Market was under construction, and the area around the Great Market was under construction too. The best district of Qingjiangpu had become a construction site. The previously evenly distributed flow of traffic was now squeezed into other places, naturally causing chaos and disorder.

Although progress was smooth, this matter involved countless aspects. Every day brought a thousand threads and a myriad of ends, and many things required Zhao Jin to personally liaise and make decisions. So Zhao Jin stayed here. Chen Sheng needed to return to Xuzhou to hold the fort. Wang Zhaojing was going to make a round at the new refugee stockade on the Wasteland of Wild Grass. Ji Xiang was also sent back. Only Shi Manqiang and Liu Yong remained here.

There's a chapter asking for votes below.