Chapter 667: The Imperial Prison

With each of the companions having their own arrangements, Zhao Jin exchanged a few more words with Chen Sheng and Wang Zhaojing. Tomorrow he would entrust Chen Sheng to carry a message to Zhao Shiyi, and also have Wang Zhaojing write a letter to the Xiao County side. There were also a few instructions to give regarding Chen Hong. Everyone knew that although Chen Hong was not often together with the companions, under the structure of the Zhao Character Camp, this teenage boy held a very important position, no less than Ruhui and Zhou Xuezhi. It was not only his talent in accounting and finances, but also because at his age he already possessed an adult's focus and earnestness. Part of the Zhao Character Camp's treasury was under his management. Moreover, everyone also knew that in the future, Chen Hong would certainly be entrusted with even greater responsibilities.

After the matters were concluded, everyone dispersed. The yawning Xu family servants came to clean up, and the maidservant Meixiang brought a late-night snack. She also relayed a message from Xu Zhenzhen, reminding Zhao Jin to be quiet when returning to the bedroom so as not to wake the child.

Once a woman becomes a mother, no matter how wise and decisive she is, she will still expend thought on trivial matters. After a simple wash, Zhao Jin tiptoed back to the bedroom. Upon entering, he saw a small lamp lit. Xu Zhenzhen was dozing against the headboard, the child's cradle on one side and several account books on the other; she had probably been handling Xu family affairs just moments ago.

The slight sound Zhao Jin made woke Xu Zhenzhen. Covering her mouth, she yawned and looked at Zhao Jin with drowsy eyes. Zhao Jin nodded apologetically and approached to look at their daughter sleeping soundly in the cradle. Zhao Feng was deep in slumber.

"Does my husband find home dull, and is therefore unwilling to return?" Xu Zhenzhen asked softly.

Zhao Jin was taken aback, only realizing she was joking when he saw the teasing expression on Xu Zhenzhen's face. With a half-smile, Xu Zhenzhen asked, "If Sister Xiaolan were here, would my husband not be so busy outside?"

It was indeed a joke, but Zhao Jin could also sense a trace of hidden resentment in Xu Zhenzhen. This complaint had nothing to do with Mu Shulan; it was merely a pretext. When they had first married, Xu Zhenzhen's mind was entirely on the Xu family's household affairs and business, and there was little talk of affection or familial bond. But after having a child, everything changed. Moreover, during this period, the Zhao Character Camp's authority had grown day by day, so even if Xu Zhenzhen had no time to supervise, no one in the Xu household dared to play any tricks. Xu Benrong and Xu Housheng, father and son, had also become increasingly obedient.

Under these internal and external factors, Xu Zhenzhen's focus gradually shifted from the Xu family to her own small family. She devoted more and more energy to the child and placed ever greater importance on the family. Yet it was precisely at this time that Zhao Jin spent less and less time at home. He had gone to the capital and had to preside over matters in Qingjiangpu, busy everywhere without pause. Xu Zhenzhen was a sensible and understanding person, but at this moment, drowsy and half-asleep, her self-control was inevitably somewhat lacking.

Fortunately, Zhao Jin had grown accustomed to such words from Xu Zhenzhen. Upon hearing them, he could only smile wryly and lower his voice to say, "Let's sleep. The days ahead will be even busier than now."

Once this Xuzhou census began, aside from the matter of registering households and individuals itself, it would also serve to absorb and integrate Xuzhou's clerks and runners, train the Zhao Character Camp's own non-combat personnel, and conduct screening and selection within. It was truly a matter of countless threads, immensely complex. Yet this process was unavoidable; it was a necessity for the Zhao Character Camp's growth and expansion. Even the initial preparations were already overwhelming and endlessly busy, so one could well imagine what it would be like once it actually started.

Perhaps some coaxing would have been more appropriate at this moment, but Zhao Jin had no such concept at all. Besides, coaxing would not change the coming busyness; it was better to speak plainly. Xu Zhenzhen was not an unreasonable woman either. After hearing Zhao Jin out, she sighed softly. That night passed without further words.

The next day, everyone began their busy work according to the arrangements. Swift horses galloped along every road, and people came and went at every estate. Word of what the Zhao Character Camp intended to do gradually spread, and a collective lament arose throughout Xuzhou. The Liaodong levy was about to be collected, a matter that still weighed heavily on everyone's minds, with no one knowing how to cope when the autumn harvest came. And now the Zhao Character Camp wanted to conduct a thorough check of population and land. What was this for? Could it be to ensure that not a single person could escape when the time came?

Lament as they might, everyone could only resign themselves to fate. No one even entertained thoughts of resistance, nor did anyone consider leaving. No matter how oppressive and harsh Xuzhou might be, it was at least a place with rules. Master Jin and his subordinates were reasonable. Outside, however, it was truly lawless, a land where wolves and tigers ran rampant...

As this information gradually came back, it made everyone feel all the more that Zhao Jin's judgment was correct. There was no need to worry about the local areas in Xuzhou; they had little capacity to resist. The key issue was that the people handling the task were prone to problems. It was far too easy for them to manipulate things and exploit loopholes, so layers of safeguards had to be established, with accuracy as the paramount goal.

News also came back from Geng Mancang, who had just settled in Yutou Town. This man truly had a head for business. They had thought that going from Qingjiangpu, it would take him time to break into the situation. Unexpectedly, he had come up with an idea as soon as he arrived: the grain trade connected to the Haizhou salt industry. Haizhou was a production area for Huai salt, with salt fields all along the coast. The land inland from the coast, however, was mostly turned into saline-alkali wasteland, blown by sea winds and soaked by seawater. Furthermore, the imperial court had an explicit decree: apart from the areas used for drying and boiling salt, the rest of the land was to be used for growing grass, which served as fuel for boiling salt. Therefore, the prefectures and counties in this area had little farmland for grain, and their output was low; most of their supply relied on external imports.

Originally, the grain there was all imported by salt merchants, and no outsiders could interfere. Geng Mancang was no exception. But now, Geng Mancang was a purchasing agent for the Zhao Character Camp, so the Yangzhou salt merchants naturally could not obstruct him. Moreover, Geng Mancang had even mobilized the Zhao Character Camp's resources. In his letter here, he requested instructions: if the Yu family's sand ships were used to transport grain to the Haizhou area, the grain price could be thirty percent or even more cheaper than what the Yangzhou salt merchants procured. And Haizhou could pay with salt. Once the salt-laden sand ships reached the Zhejiang sea, countless people would be waiting to receive the cargo. It must be known that southern Zhejiang and Fujian all relied on external salt imports, and the price was much higher than the market rate. The profit from a single shipload of salt was extremely lucrative. Furthermore, exchanging it there for goods from Fujian and Guangdong, or foreign goods, and then reselling them would yield another great profit.

More crucially, Haizhou was the foundation of Huai salt, yet the salt still required people to produce it, and people had to eat to live. Being able to reach into Haizhou's grain trade meant touching the lifeblood of Haizhou. Geng Mancang's proposal truly killed several birds with one stone.

"It's quite something for this man to have figured out our Zhao Character Camp's resources so clearly," Ruhui remarked with a sigh and a smile.

Ji Xiang had never met Geng Mancang, but after learning about the assassination incident, he held no good impression of him. Hearing this, his instinct was suspicion: "Big Brother, could this Geng Mancang have deliberately infiltrated us?"

"The Yu family's sand ships, the Yangzhou salt merchants, and the estates on the grassy wasteland—these aren't things that require strenuous investigation. Anyone paying close attention could find out. And if he staged an assassination just to infiltrate us, how could he have known he'd survive being caught by me?" Zhao Jin analyzed briefly.

However, after saying this, Zhao Jin also smiled wryly and said, "But seeing Geng Mancang's ability and drive in leveraging the power of our situation, he really does look like someone who infiltrated us on purpose."

There was no possibility of rejecting Geng Mancang's proposal. It allowed the Zhao Character Camp and all affiliated parties to benefit and profit, and his own Geng family's grain business stood to gain even more from it. It was truly a situation where everyone was happy.

Year after year it grew colder, but by mid-July, the entire realm began to heat up. Even a northern place like the capital turned into a steamer.

At this time, the runners of Shuntian Prefecture and Wanping and Daxing counties, along with the soldiers of the Five Wards Military Command, patrolled inside and outside the city all day long. Whenever they saw a corpse dead of disease, they immediately carried it away for cremation, not daring to delay even a day for fear of rot causing a plague. Everyone cursed this damnable weather. Not only was the winter bitterly cold, but spring was just like winter, and then it turned hot directly—a great, blazing heat with nowhere to hide and nowhere to escape, utterly miserable.

The imperial relatives, high officials, and wealthy nobles had summer estates and gardens, and ice stored in icehouses; they had countless ways to escape the heat and relieve fatigue. Poor families had no other method besides stripping naked. They could not even douse themselves with well water to cool off. Here at the Emperor's feet, wells were numbered; how could one draw water freely for a rinse?

That said, it was not as if there were no cool places. The capital's commoners generally acknowledged two: one was the imperial prison of the Northern Pacification Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the other was the Ministry of Justice's main prison. Both were places where major and serious criminals were held. Over so many years, who knew how many people had died inside. Even in broad daylight at high noon, they were chillingly gloomy, and one could feel a cold wind blowing just by approaching. One could well imagine what it was like inside such places.

Of course, these were all just tales; no one dared to enter. Such baleful and ominous places—once you went in, how could you possibly come out?

The tales were just idle gossip and nonsense; no one truly thought about the reasons why. The imperial prison of the Northern Pacification Office and the Ministry of Justice's main prison were both built tall, grand, and spacious. Buildings like these would be cool even if they weren't prisons. And what outsiders could not imagine was that inside, it was not as bloody and terrifying as everyone pictured. This was because the prisoners here were all people of high rank and power. The friends and old connections of such prisoners were also of no small standing. If someone suffered harsh treatment inside, it was hard to guarantee there wouldn't be retaliation from outside. Moreover, the political arena was like shifting clouds, changing in an instant. Today's prisoner in the dock could be tomorrow's official in the hall. If you tortured or mistreated them in every way, what would you do if they ever regained power?

Therefore, whether it was the agents of the Northern Pacification Office or the jailers of the Ministry of Justice's main prison, they were usually quite amiable and always left some leeway in their actions. Inside the imperial prison and the main prison, if you had strong connections or were willing to spend silver, wine and meat were trivial matters. Even calling in girls from the most famous pleasure houses, or reuniting with the women of one's household—these could all be arranged. Even without silver or power, one would not suffer abuse. The cells were kept very clean, and the food and water were passable.

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