Chapter 904: The Earthquake of the Second Year of Tianqi

In the bitter cold, cattle and sheep froze to death on the grasslands. This was always the season when the Mongol tribes raided south, nothing unusual about that. When Altan Khan first rose to power, the situation in Shaanxi and Shanxi was even worse — even Northern Zhili suffered along with them. But what made this time strange was that the Shaanxi Grand Coordinator and the Regional Commander wanted to suppress the matter, hoping to keep the court from finding out. Shaanxi had a population of several million, with countless traveling merchants coming and going — and they actually thought they could hide it. It was truly absurd and laughable.

"Big Brother, the court suffered a great defeat at Guangning and is locked in fierce fighting with the She family in the southwest. According to news from the Yangtze water routes, the other chieftains in Sichuan and Guizhou are growing unstable as well. It's likely the fighting will get even worse. And now Shaanxi has this kind of major upheaval — isn't this a good opportunity for us?" Wang Zhaojing said in a low voice.

Zhao Jin glanced at Wang Zhaojing and teased him with a smile, "Usually only Daxiang says things like that. I didn't expect to hear it from you too."

Laughter broke out in the room again. Ji Xiang scratched his head over there, Chen Sheng shook his head with a smile, and Ruhui and Liu Yong both wore faint smiles. Once everyone had finished laughing, Zhao Jin finally spoke. "It's not a good opportunity. The situation in the Liao garrison won't change for several months. Just as we said earlier, after the grain and fodder were burned, the Jianzhou Jurchens have no way to advance too far west. Besides, spring planting will begin soon, and the Jianzhou Jurchens have to prepare for that too — they definitely won't have a free hand. As for this matter in Shaanxi, didn't the merchants make it very clear? The Tao bandits don't touch fortified cities; they only plunder the countryside. That won't damage the foundations. The border troops are just avoiding battle — their strength hasn't been harmed."

"The Tao bandits are nomads without roots, but the Jianzhou Jurchens farm as their foundation and advance step by step, consolidating as they go. They are the true threat to the heart of the realm!" Wang Zhaojing remarked with emotion.

Zhao Jin nodded and continued, "As for the instability in the southwest, no matter how fiercely they fight, it's only rebellion in the two provinces of Sichuan and Guizhou. The court's fiscal foundation lies in Jiangnan, and its grain foundation lies in Huguang and Jiangxi. What do those places have? It will only make the court uncomfortable. So while the situation looks chaotic, the court can still free up its hands. Moreover, Xuzhou lies in the heartland — the court could even muster all its strength to deal with us. That would be real trouble. And as we've said before, with internal troubles and external threats right now, if we were to make a move, the whole world would point fingers at our backs. Why invite that misery?"

"Point fingers at our backs? The people around Xuzhou have started eating grass and dirt. Our common folk can eat meat, and our household retainers and militia are all mouths dripping with grease, living so well. Who's pointing fingers at who!" Ji Xiang cut in.

At those words, everyone in the room nodded, and even Zhao Jin smiled and said, "This New Year went quite well."

In the second year of Tianqi, Xuzhou indeed had a prosperous New Year. Xuzhou was now producing liquor in large quantities, and tribute grain and all kinds of other grain were flowing in because of the grain-for-liquor trade. Brewing produced huge amounts of distiller's grains, which were excellent feed for pigs. Elsewhere, people were eating chaff and wild greens — even the pigweed wasn't enough for people to eat, let alone feeding pigs. But Xuzhou had no shortage of grain, and the vast amounts of distiller's grains all went to the pigs. Xuzhou's live pig production increased year after year.

Many things had happened in Xuzhou the previous year, especially the court sending government troops to attack Xuzhou. Everyone from top to bottom had been on edge, but most people pulled together and held on. After a year of hard work, they had to reward themselves when the year ended.

Yunshan Trading first sent people to buy up every live pig in Xuzhou, then slaughtered and sold the pigs raised by outsiders and those from its own farms in large batches. They bought at market price, but when selling, they only asked for twice the weight in grain. This was an enormous bargain. As for the Zhao Battalion household retainers, they ate meat for seven straight days during the first month; the militia ate it for three days straight, seeing animal fat at nearly every meal. The common people, especially many poor households, tasted meat and grease for the first time in who knows how many years.

All the talk of protecting their safety and keeping promises could not compare to having meat for the New Year. "Follow Lord Jin and you'll have meat to eat" — no one knew who came up with that phrase, but everyone was repeating it. Hearts swung over all at once.

No matter how much the Zhao Battalion stressed rules and justice in its actions, to outsiders it was still an entity that went against the laws of the court. Vaguely, you could call them local strongmen with private troops, but if you spoke plainly, they were rebels. Many families followed along, but plenty of others kept their distance as much as possible. Even within the Zhao Battalion itself, from the household retainers to the clerks of Yunshan Trading, there were times when they felt their position wasn't entirely justified. But after the first month of the second year of Tianqi passed, everything was different. The court couldn't even let people fill their bellies, while this Zhao Battalion had everyone's mouths dripping with grease. Was it really so hard to understand who to choose?

"Because of this meat, before the New Year was even over, people came asking about the patrolman positions. They said that since they can't become household retainers now, being a patrolman would be good enough." Liu Yong said with a smile.

"Three thousand patrolmen. Priority selection from household retainers with injuries or disabilities, then try to select from the militia. Those who become patrolmen will be transferred to become clerks of Yunshan Trading, and we'll help them settle down and establish homes in Xuzhou. Then, the sons of the prominent families attached to us get half the quota. But be careful — don't let them serve in their own localities. Xuzhou Guard gets ten percent. The commoner households of Xuzhou and Pizhou get fifteen percent," Zhao Jin stated.

Liu Yong nodded in agreement. Ruhui smiled and said, "The master's method is excellent. The militia is our foundation. Becoming a patrolman means a stable home and settlement — it gives them a path forward."

"I will arrange for people to go everywhere and proclaim this, to speak of Big Brother's compassion and generous reward," Wang Zhaojing said with a smile.

At that moment, Chen Sheng, who was off to the side, cleared his throat. He looked like he had something to say, and the room immediately fell silent. Chen Sheng had been listening quietly the whole time and rarely spoke up.

"That martial arts tournament has really stirred up the brothers below. When it was held in the city this time, quite a few people in the barracks were talking about it. I think our brothers train all day, and every day they just patrol. Those drills are just like play-acting — we're lucky if we fight once a year. If this goes on, it'll be easy to wear down their fighting edge. Why don't we hold a martial arts tournament too, just for people inside our Zhao Battalion to compete? It'll raise their morale, and the key is, it'll give them something to do!"

Hearing Chen Sheng finish, Ji Xiang immediately grew much more excited and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Second Brother is right. We should hold this martial arts tournament too."

Zhao Jin pondered for a moment, then said, "I've thought about this too. But when our Zhao Battalion takes the field to decide victory, we don't rely on individual martial prowess — we rely on our formations and military discipline. So there's no need to compete in those martial skills and stances. Better to compete in training subjects: see who runs fastest, see who can hold a long spear and march most steadily, and compete in archery and fire lance rate of fire and accuracy. Each regiment and each company selects its best to compete."

Before he even finished, Ji Xiang was already far less excited. But Chen Sheng was slowly nodding, and Wang Zhaojing even lightly clapped his hands together and said, "What Big Brother speaks of is 'teaching through entertainment.' Once rankings are determined, naturally the training below will..."

He had only spoken half when everyone's bodies swayed. They could hear the teacups and lids on the table clinking and rattling. Everyone was stunned. Liu Yong reacted first. "Earthquake!" "Big Brother, get out now!"

The strange shaking left everyone a bit dazed, but when they saw dust falling from the roof beams, they understood immediately. Liu Yong shouted, and several people were already heading for the door. Zhao Jin did not rush to the front; instead, he grabbed Ruhui, who moved the slowest, and together with Chen Sheng, they half-carried him in great strides out of the room.

Once they were outside, they could already hear panicked shouts and screams nearby and in the distance. Dogs were barking madly, cattle and horses were neighing — all mixed together. But by this time, everything was still. There was no more movement.

Their suspended hearts did not settle. Who knew if it was just a single tremor or if a great earthquake was about to strike at any moment.

"Someone, go inspect every location — the barracks, the market, the warehouses, the civilian dwellings. See if there is any damage. Go to the prefectural city and the county seats to ask what has happened. Dispatch fast riders to the Second Regiment, the Third Regiment, and the three large battalions to ask if there is anything unusual. Dasheng, Daxiang, and Xiaoyong, you three return to your units immediately and tighten security. The Personal Guard Company is to move near He Village, stand by, and prepare for battle. Move quickly!" Zhao Jin gave the orders sternly.

It was precisely at times like this that people would seize the chance to stir up trouble. Preparations had to be made promptly. Everyone understood the gravity of the situation and immediately accepted their orders and left.

Ruhui stopped a household retainer and gave him a few urgent instructions before returning to Zhao Jin's side. Zhao Jin had already called for his personal guards to help him don his armor. At a moment like this, it was no different from facing battle — they had to prepare for the worst.

While they were methodically tightening security here, outside it gradually grew quiet. After that one slight tremor, there was no further abnormality. The buildings in He Village were mostly newly built, so there was no damage. Because the tremor was so brief, there were no casualties among people or livestock. But as for how other places fared, they still had to wait for news.

The Zhao Battalion's mounted retainers set out from He Village as the center, heading in all directions. They needed to learn the situation across Xuzhou and report back as quickly as possible.

The household retainer whom Ruhui had stopped quickly brought back word: Zhao Jin's household was unharmed, his wife and children were all safe, and the entire He Village was safe and sound. Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"An earthquake just after the first month ends. According to the almanacs, this year is likely to be troubled," Ruhui remarked.

"Nothing has happened for six years — how could there be an earthquake now?" Wang Zhaojing was still shaken. Zhao Jin shook his head gloomily and said, "Ten years, twenty years, and nothing ever happened."

News kept coming back from the surrounding estates and villages. Aside from a few long-neglected houses that had collapsed, there was no other damage. All the way until nightfall, there were no more earthquakes.

Even so, no one dared go back inside to sleep, afraid that if it shook again in the middle of the night, they'd be crushed right under the house. They chose open ground and pitched tents for the night, or just made do for one night in the cold wind. Zhao Jin's whole family did the same, setting up a tent right in the center of the main courtyard.

His tent, however, was quite particular — it was a top-quality item that Wang Ziyang had gifted him years ago. And the people pitching the tent were Mongol household retainers, true experts at the task.

Thick wool rugs were spread on the ground, and a bronze brazier filled with glowing red charcoal stood inside. This tent was no worse than being indoors. But according to the retainers who pitched it, a great tent like this on the grasslands could only be owned by nobles, and only nobles close to the Khan himself could possess one.

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