Chapter 784: Master and Servant

"Afraid? Not exactly. It's just that the thought of fighting the imperial court's troops makes me a bit uneasy." Dong Bingfeng answered honestly.

Everyone nodded along. After Ma Chonghao led troops north that time, they truly had no fear of fighting government soldiers anymore.

"If they come, let them come. If they want a fight, we'll give them one. What's there to be uneasy about?" Zhao Jin replied with a smile. His words stirred a few people in the room, and Ji Xiang even spoke up to ask, "Big Brother, if it really comes to that, wouldn't we be doing something big?"

"Everything depends on us. If we want to keep fighting, we'll keep fighting. If we want to stop, we can stop." Zhao Jin's answer was very pragmatic, but Ji Xiang seemed somewhat disappointed.

It wasn't just Ji Xiang who was disappointed. Once Zhao Jin said this, the others also lost some of their enthusiasm. Just then, a message came from outside saying that Yu Zhiyuan had come to visit. Everyone took the chance to excuse themselves. Ji Xiang muttered under his breath, "That Yu Zhiyuan doesn't even stay home to tend his business. It's like he spends all day just waiting for Big Brother to come to Qingjiangpu."

As the captain of the personal guard, Ji Xiang had to stay by Zhao Jin's side. After the others had taken their leave and gone out, Zhao Jin said in a low voice, "I know you want to achieve great deeds and establish a career, but this sort of thing can't be rushed. You need to settle your mind."

Ji Xiang nodded and answered somewhat dejectedly, "Your little brother understands. But it's not just me who's impatient; the men leading the companies are all impatient too."

"Holding such powerful strength in your hands, yet stuck in this tiny patch of Xuzhou and South Zhili — you all can't hold back anymore, right?" Before Ji Xiang could continue, Zhao Jin spoke up. Ji Xiang nodded glumly.

Zhao Jin was silent for a moment, then let out a long breath and said, "Let's wait a while longer. Making an enemy of the whole world is too much trouble..."

At these words, Ji Xiang couldn't hold back any longer and said rather urgently, "Big Brother, didn't you also say that if we just simmer along at this lukewarm pace, our family soldiers' edge will be worn away, and when the time comes, they won't be able to fight anymore?"

"Those who lose their edge can go back to farming, help us manage the estates and properties, and we'll recruit a new batch with edge to come up." Zhao Jin replied very calmly.

"Big Brother... you..." Ji Xiang's mouth fell open.

"You need to understand one thing. Our Zhao Camp's family soldiers are strong not because this particular batch of recruits we took in is strong, but because our training methods are good, because our Zhao Camp's whole system makes them this strong." Zhao Jin said in a deep voice.

These words left Ji Xiang somewhat dazed. He was just about to ask more when someone outside announced that Yu Zhiyuan had arrived.

Although they already called each other brothers, Yu Zhiyuan was still an outsider between Zhao Jin and his close companions. No matter how many more questions Ji Xiang had, he had to swallow them all back down.

The door opened, and fine sunlight streamed in, falling on Yu Zhiyuan's face. Anyone could see that Second Young Master Yu was in a very good mood.

"Big Brother is here, and Brother Ji Xiang is here too. It's been so long since we last met." Yu Zhiyuan was exceedingly warm, his face full of radiant smiles.

"Long time no see. Come in, sit. Serve tea." Perhaps infected by Yu Zhiyuan's mood, Zhao Jin's spirits also lifted considerably.

"I heard Big Brother cut an awe-inspiring figure in Shandong. It's a pity your little brother is a useless scholar who can't even truss a chicken. Otherwise, I'd truly want to go out adventuring with Big Brother. Just thinking about it fills me with exhilaration." As Yu Zhiyuan sat down, he first offered a flattering remark.

"We're brothers here, no need for so much courtesy. You come to flatter me, but I can't think of how to praise you back. What business brings you to Qingjiangpu to see me this time?" Zhao Jin asked with a smile.

The Yu family fleet's base was in Songjiang, and now Clam Port was also a critical location. The journey from Songjiang to Qingjiangpu took several days, and coming from Clam Port took over a day as well. Although the Yu family was now very eager to curry favor with Zhao Camp, the Yu family was also busy with affairs. A visit here must mean important business.

"Big Brother's eyes are like torches. This time your little brother has come indeed on important business — an important and joyous matter. The thing Big Brother asked your little brother to find, your little brother has found it!" Yu Zhiyuan's joy came from the heart, and his tone of voice practically floated upward.

"Found it?" Zhao Jin asked in astonishment, then immediately rose from his seat. This movement startled Ji Xiang beside him, as well as Niu Jinbao and the other guards. Zhao Jin was always steady and self-possessed in his actions; it was extremely rare to see him lose composure like this. What exactly was he looking for, to be so shocked?

But Zhao Jin recovered very quickly. He soon calmed himself and pressed with questions: "Who did you buy it from? Is it new or used? Where is the place of origin?"

A brand-new firearm compared to a heavily worn one was naturally different. Moreover, according to Zhao Jin's memory, in this era, the country with the best firearm application should be Spain and its colonies. He wondered whether the war between Spain and its colony, the Netherlands, had ended yet.

Zhao Jin was very excited. He felt as if a door was about to be pushed open, and behind that door was what he had been hoping for all along. Zhao Jin even specifically reminded himself that in this era, Spain was probably called Folangji, and sometimes also called Greater Luzon.

"To let Big Brother know, what was found isn't a thing — it's two people," Yu Zhiyuan said with a smile.

Zhao Jin immediately cooled down and asked, somewhat puzzled, "People?"

"Yes. Half a month ago, my little brother's fleet rescued two people at sea. They appeared to be master and servant..."

It had been several days since he was fished out of the sea. The missionary Louis de Rochefort was gradually recovering from his initial shock. At this moment, Louis was staying in a room that, though not luxuriously furnished, was very clean. The faint, homely scent lingering in the air made him feel, in a daze, as if he had returned to the home of his childhood.

Through the Spanish-speaking translator that the master of this place had sent to his side, Louis had roughly figured out where he now was.

Although he had spent his entire life tirelessly seeking opportunities to make a fortune, even ten years ago, when he was receiving his education at the seminary, Mr. Louis de Rochefort had never imagined that one day he would actually come to the land overflowing with gold that Marco Polo had described.

Could this truly be God's will?

There was no way to know.

But since he was still alive, he had to continue striving for his dreams.

Whether as a missionary or as an adventurer, he must rise above others — Louis told himself for the thirteen-thousandth time, even though this maxim had long been carved into his very marrow.

As his name suggested, Louis was a Frenchman, and he came from a noble family in Provence, France.

However, although it was a noble family, his father was merely a minor noble.

Their family had no castle, only a small manor. Even though he had left there decades ago, Louis still remembered that manor. Countless times in his dreams, he had recalled his childhood.

Inside that manor was a small garden, dotted with a few green trees, countless roses, and flowers of every color. Directly facing the wicker gate stood a wooden building built against the neighboring wall. Its pillars were completely hidden by jasmine, honeysuckle, grapevines, and clematis. That house stood within this little garden at the highest point, and before it was an arched stairway covered in grapevines — that was his home.

In his childhood, his family had sustained themselves on that modest manor and vineyard. At mealtimes, they always had more chestnut soup and less white bread, and only occasionally could they eat some game. Papa was always very careful with his trousers, Mama rarely got a new winter coat or summer dress, and as for his sisters, they made do as best they could.

From a young age, he knew that as the youngest son of the family, he was destined to inherit not a single piece of the family property. From the moment he understood this fact, he understood the preciousness of the word "money."

He did not enjoy many years of family life.

For the sake of his future livelihood, just like countless noble families in France, he was sent by his parents to a seminary in his youth, to prepare to become a clergyman, another faithful servant of the Catholic Church. This would ease the family's financial burden, and if luck was on his side, he might one day become a source of support for the family.

This seminary was located on a small island off the southern coast of France. There were slippery rocks, granite reefs, and massive boulders that formed a natural barrier for its beautiful church — and also formed the walls of a cage. To get ashore, when the sea was rough, one had to transfer with luggage onto a small lighter, or when the weather was good, navigate through the reefs to the breakwater the monks had built to dock. Leaving was no different.

After a bumpy journey, this youth arrived at the desolate seminary and spent the remainder of his adolescent years there. Even when he had grown into a sturdy, upright young man, he still had not left.

By all reasoning, after coming to a place so close to God, a person should become more devout and let go of the pursuit of worldly fame and fortune. Yet, several years of study at the seminary not only failed to extinguish the desires in this youth's heart but instead made the flames burn ever fiercer. The various scheming and infighting within the seminary were even more intense than in the secular world, and they made this youth all the more aware of the value of wealth and power. The incantation "must rise above others" seemed to ring in his ears every second.

Moreover, although they had burned Bruno at the stake, the Church's seminaries could still be considered the most systematic centers of education in Europe at the time. Here, Louis absorbed all kinds of knowledge and nurtured his ambition. Before long, Louis had become, in the eyes of his classmates, an ambitious schemer, single-mindedly bent on advancement, aiming to become a regional bishop or even a cardinal.

And for his ambitions, this desolate seminary, so far removed from the world, was simply too small. So, from the moment his ambition ignited, he resolved to leave this place — so much so that he never seriously studied those theological subjects. To him, if God could not bestow gold upon him, what meaning was there in God's existence? To make his fortune, he threw himself desperately into studying other subjects in the library, while simultaneously doing everything he could to curry favor with his teachers.

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