Chapter 877: Great Merchants Gather

Outsiders might be fine with it — talk of Xuzhou dragon qi, or nonsense about seeing a flying dragon at Zhao Jin's residence in the middle of the night — but the local scholars of Xuzhou were all hesitating. Should they go or not? Living in Xuzhou, they could feel the difference of the Zhao Camp more keenly than outsiders. They were constantly uneasy, afraid that their learning would prove useless in the future. And the Zhao Camp's attitude made them even more uncomfortable. Who under heaven did not respect men of letters and scholars? Even cults and rebel bandits treated scholars with courtesy and respect. Yet this Zhao Camp paid virtually no attention to scholars, especially those who studied the sage classics.

What the Zhao Camp valued most were those clerks and minor officials — the sort who spent their days dealing with yamen minutiae and shop accounts. What did they know of sage principles? How could they understand governing the realm and bringing peace to all under heaven? Yet the Zhao Camp only saw these petty arts and minor details, ignoring the sage principles entirely. How could that be the way to accomplish great things?

What was even more infuriating was that, because the times were hard, many scholars had already swallowed their pride to study yamen clerk work and commercial bookkeeping. Those who remained could only curse heaven and blame the earth, living in constant dread. And now, the Zhao Camp had also begun recruiting men of letters. Could it be they were truly planning great undertakings? Could it be that only provincial graduates caught their eye...

For the scholars of Xuzhou, this was the truly outrageous part. Xuzhou's local customs favored martial pursuits, not literary ones. The reason there were many licentiates was that they could take the exam locally, but provincial graduates were exceedingly rare — otherwise the Wang family would not have been so esteemed. And more and more provincial graduates came from the three prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, and Changzhou; for those north of the Yangtze, it was harder still. How were they supposed to pass? Thinking carefully, they really did have cause to curse heaven and earth. They could not rise through the examination system in the Great Ming, yet even a rebel leader cared about examination rank. Was there any justice under heaven...

At this time, someone also recalled the former provincial graduate Yang Zhongping, who had been stripped of his rank and now scraped by writing letters for others in Yutou Town. If that man had stayed until now, he might well have been of great use. Given Yang the provincial graduate's utterly shameless and unscrupulous conduct, perhaps the Zhao Camp truly did need him.

"Just receive him as you would. Is my third brother personally receiving him not enough regard? How is that a slight?" Zhao Jin said with a smile.

"Elder Brother, our Xuzhou now flourishes with great vitality. Civil and military talents come from all directions to serve. This is of immense benefit to Elder Brother's Zhao Camp and Elder Brother's Xuzhou. Elder Brother should still treat this with due gravity." Wang Zhaojing spoke very seriously.

Zhao Jin waved his hand. He swept his gaze across the room and found that the others all wore expressions of agreement — it seemed they all thought Wang Zhaojing's words were correct.

"Of all the people coming to our side now, the most valuable are the merchants. They let us earn money and bring all kinds of goods and supplies into Xuzhou. The second most valuable are these martial men. They can be recruited by the Internal Guard and Yunshan Trading House to fight and die for our Xuzhou. The third are the travelers and passersby of every sort. They see Xuzhou's prosperity and spread the word, drawing more people here. As for this provincial graduate, I don't see what use he has." Zhao Jin answered very earnestly. He deliberately spoke with sincerity, otherwise Wang Zhaojing might think he was making veiled insinuations.

"Zhao Jin, if he is a man of talent, then we must not slight him. In the end, it will benefit our Xuzhou." The one who spoke was Chen Sheng.

The smile faded from Zhao Jin's face. Sternly, he said, "What, do you think this situation before us wasn't won by our own blades and spears? That it came by luck? And that we need some true talent — just like in the operas, where Liu Bei had to find Zhuge Liang before his great enterprise could succeed?"

Before anyone could reply, Zhao Jin continued, "Those martial men who loiter on the streets, strutting about or putting on airs — give them armor, mounts, and weapons, and in single combat they might gain some advantage. But if our household troops march out in formation, do they stand a chance? Can they survive? Yet if you tell them to take up long spears and train in formation, who among them is willing to obediently do it? These martial fellows are each arrogant and conceited, making a great show of themselves. Do you think they are more useful than our household troops?"

Chen Sheng and Ji Xiang nodded slowly. Liu Yong looked thoughtful. Zhao Jin went on, "Where did our Zhao Camp's wealth come from? It came from the managers, bookkeepers, and clerks in the trading houses working diligently. It came from the estate stewards on the farms being earnest and careful. They rise early and sleep late, calculate meticulously, follow the rules, and dare not let a single error appear in the accounts. How do all these operations run? They run on those men trained in clerk work, traveling back and forth, liaising and planning. How do they avoid mistakes and errors? By our layers of strict oversight and supervision, so they dare not slack off."

By now, Zhao Jin had risen to his feet. With a solemn expression, he said to each of them, "We have reached this day not by luck, but by our own blades, spears, brushstrokes, and calculations — fought and built by our own hands. We simply worked harder and kept better discipline than others. It is not some mandate of heaven, nor do we need to rely on some hidden dragon or fledgling phoenix suddenly appearing. We don't need to change anything. Just keep walking forward step by step, and we will surely obtain what we want."

Within the Zhao Camp system, Wang Zhaojing, Ru Hui, and Zhou Xuezhi could all be counted as educated men, but the only true scholar among them was Wang Zhaojing. The other two were more akin to the role of chief stewards.

After Zhao Jin finished speaking, Wang Zhaojing sat quietly for a moment. Everyone watched him — they all knew Zhao Jin's words were directed at him. Not long after, Wang Zhaojing shook his head and smiled. "It seems I was too impatient. But a thousand gold to buy horse bones — this Mister Xin is the first provincial graduate to come to our Xuzhou. The reason I urged Elder Brother to treat him generously was precisely to attract more who would follow. Over the years, I have met many scholars, and this Mister Xin is a rare one. He has none of that pedantic, musty air. Instead, he possesses a vigorous, enterprising spirit. And aside from his solid classical learning, what is even rarer is his exceptional grasp of practical, statecraft-oriented miscellaneous studies. Only a great old family could produce such a talent."

"You can do all these things yourself. Why choose someone I'm not familiar with to come here? Besides, he's only just arrived, and if we're this eager, it makes us look terribly shallow." Zhao Jin spoke very bluntly.

Hearing this, Wang Zhaojing smiled and cupped his hands. "I was indeed too hasty. Then allow me to observe him a few more days on Elder Brother's behalf. Once we are certain he is truly useful, it will not be too late to recruit him."

"Even if we recruit him, he must start from the bottom and work his way up. In our system, there's no reason for a newcomer to leap straight to a high position. If it's so much trouble to recruit someone like him, back when Sun Chuanting arrived, why didn't I just keep him?" The first half Zhao Jin said aloud; the latter half was only muttered to himself, so softly that no one could make it out.

At Zhao Jin's stance, though a trace of regret lingered on Wang Zhaojing's face, his smile grew broader. The same was true for Ru Hui. The others in the room, whatever their expressions, all looked quite pleased. On the surface, Zhao Jin was not actively seeking out talent, but in reality, this was a guarantee of the core confidants' interests. Since it touched on their own stakes, of course they were happy.

Ru Hui shifted forward in his seat and said with a smile, "In truth, aside from the civil and martial talents coming to serve the Master, the arrival of so many great merchant houses is also a great joyous event for our Xuzhou."

When the Grand Canal still passed through Xuzhou, this place had been the transportation hub of South Zhili and the entire realm. After the canal was rerouted to the Jia River at Pizhou, Xuzhou had immediately declined. But now things were different. It had become the hub for goods and supplies gathering and dispersing across several provinces of the Central Plains. Situated by the Yellow River, not far from the two key canal transport centers of Yutou Town and Qingjiangpu — and speaking more broadly, even the maritime trade further east could connect here.

With open routes, convenient transport, sufficient transport teams, and enough strength to ensure safety and maintain order, such a place was naturally the first choice of merchants.

In the present realm, there were already great merchants whose reach was not confined to a single prefecture or province. Behind them often stood high officials and powerful nobles. With their many eyes and ears and well-informed sources, they naturally understood Xuzhou's significance.

"If we do well, they'll get rich alongside us. If we do poorly, they'll pounce and tear us to shreds." Zhao Jin saw this matter quite clearly. Still, he would not stand in the way of his own income. As long as these great merchants came solely to make money, their treatment would be the same as everyone else's.

Though it was said to be the same, in truth there were many differences. In the core market and salt exchange, there were no longer any vacant storefronts for newcomers. Even the space vacated after Wang Ziyang's livestock pens were demolished was a mere drop in the bucket for the many new arrivals. Thus, this winter, the laborers on the various estates would have extra income to earn. North of the He Estate, enough land had to be leveled, and roads to the riverbank and various locations had to be expanded. This was no small amount of work.

As for the great merchants with a realm-wide perspective, quite a few were already established in Qingjiangpu. Then there were the great trading houses from several places in Jiangnan — these were often the source of southern goods and had countless ties to maritime trade. The rest came from the capital and Shanxi.

"Gao Shenghe of the capital, and the Daxing Firm of Shanxi — these two are the top dealers in Liao goods and Tatar goods. Behind them there's at least a minister or a eunuch director backing them. The military officers over there, nine times out of ten, get their cut too." This was news that Lei Cai had sent back. Because those two firms had already opened branches in Linqing nearly five years ago, Inspector Li was very familiar with them, and it was no secret to begin with.

So-called Liao goods were mostly specialty products from beyond the passes: ginseng, furs, deer antler, pine nuts, amber, and the like. These all came from the territories of the various Jurchen tribes. Ever since the Jianzhou Jurchens rose in arms and fought battle after battle, this trade route had been severed, and the prices of all these goods had soared. Yet the curious thing was that although the trade route was cut, these goods had never stopped flowing into the interior.

As for Tatar goods, these were the specialty products of the Mongol tribes on the steppe. Trade between the border garrisons, the frontier regions, and the steppe tribes had long been conducted openly. However, those who could deal in bulk steppe products were essentially all great border garrison commanders, and they also had to have close ties with the noblemen of the steppe. The Liao goods trade followed much the same pattern — it was just that no one openly pointed it out.

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