Chapter Twenty: The Dark Clouds of War

  Chen Xin walked all the way back to Erdao Street, and it was still morning at this time. The street was crowded with pedestrians, mostly customers coming to buy scarves and hats, walking in and out of more than a dozen scarf and hat shops on Erdao Street. The traffic seemed not small, Chen Xin estimated that opening a dress shop should be doing pretty well, as for Liu Min's words about becoming like Pierre Cardin, it was unlikely, but it should be able to support the livelihoods of these people now.

  He became more and more optimistic, humming a little tune, when he suddenly saw Zhou Shifan rushing over from the south side of the street, panting continuously, looking like he was being chased by a dog. Chen Xinyi went up to ask: "Brother Zhou, why are you in such a hurry? If it's an urgent matter, do you need your brother's help?"

  Zhou Shifa had a very good impression of Chen Xin, stopped in his tracks, wiped the sweat from his forehead, took a few deep breaths, and pulled Chen Xin to the side of the street, saying in a low voice: "Brother Chen, you don't know, Jian Nu has arrived!"

  "Jian Nu?! Really ran all the way to Tianjin?"

  "No, it's Jinzhou. The Tartar chief led his troops out of Shenyang on the 6th and the main force has already crossed the Sankeshu River by the 8th. I'm afraid they've started fighting early. Minister Wang of the Ministry of War is urgently summoning Vice General Qian to Yu Guan (Shanhai Pass), and I have to follow him, leaving tomorrow. These damn Tartars, after finishing with Korea, don't even take a break, busy rebelling again."

  Chen Xin's heart tightened as he listened, and after coming to this era, in order to obtain a reasonable identity, he disguised himself as a Liaodong person who had killed Tatars. Combining what he had seen in history, he fabricated a story, and now he almost believed in that identity himself. He often looked at problems from the perspective of that identity, and the people around him unconsciously revealed their hatred and fear of the Manchu slaves in their daily conversations, which also influenced him at all times. As a person from the future, he knew how much harm the Qing dynasty's over 200 years of ignorant and barbaric rule had caused to China, all of which made him naturally regard the Houjin regime as an opposing side.

  As a generation that has never experienced war, he read some historical articles later in life, and the army and war were just simple numbers. Now, hearing about the Jin army's attack on the Ming dynasty with his own ears, a sense of depression and oppression surged up in his heart, because these armies were no longer just numbers, they were brutal people with armor and sharp weapons, they were real entities that could kill him, and Chen Xin indeed felt a fear of war.

  He hastily asked: "How many Jurchen soldiers are there? Can only deploying troops from Tianjin stop them?"

  Zhou Shifa said, "I heard that the commander-in-chief said that at least 100,000 troops are being mobilized to Shanhaiguan. The armies of all northern regions are moving. Brother Chen, I have to leave first and prepare some grain, rice, and firewood for my mother before the news spreads."

  Chen Xin hastily bowed his head: "Brother Zhou, please go ahead and don't worry about killing me. If possible, help me kill a few more Jian slaves. Don't worry about my family, every few days I will let Bao Xi go to your home to help take care of your mother."

  Zhou Shifa was completely unexpected that Chen Xin would say such a thing, and his eyes showed some emotion. He also cupped his hands in respect to Chen Xin: "I, Zhou Shifa, am not usually a good person, but when it comes to killing Tartars, I will never be ambiguous. Just because of Brother Chen's words today, I absolutely will not bring shame to Erdao Street."

  Zhou Shifa said and hurriedly rushed home, Chen Xin also hastily returned to the courtyard. After walking more than ten steps, he heard Zhou Shifa shouting from afar: "Brother Chen, wait for me to come back, we won't stop until we're drunk."

  Chen Xin hastily turned back and responded loudly, his feet not stopping. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Lu Chuanzong, Hai Gouzi and others still training in the yard, Wang Dai Xi sitting on the ground washing clothes, Liu Min You's door was closed, presumably still writing his plan. Chen Xin asked them all to stop, and then called out Liu Min You, everyone gathered around the stone table. This stone table was originally intended to be moved away, but later it was found to be convenient, so it was left there.

  "Listen up, everyone," Chen Xin said after making sure everyone was present. "Let's put aside what we're doing for now and go to the rice shop together to buy four dan of grain." He did a quick calculation in his head - there were seven people here, and assuming each person consumed one jin of grain per day, they would need 210 jin per month, which was roughly two dan. This time, Jian Nu's attack shouldn't reach Tianjin, because even during the Entrance War of Chongzhen 2, Jian Nu didn't make it to Tianjin. The Later Jin dynasty under Nurhaci still lacked the ability for prolonged warfare, and the strategic environment hadn't improved thoroughly. Chen Xin estimated that they would last at most a month or two before retreating, after which grain prices would stabilize. Moreover, he and Lu Zizi were about to leave soon, so buying four dan of grain should be enough.

  Liu Min said with a strange tone: "Why buy so much grain? Four dan of grain will cost four taels more silver."

  Chen Xin briefly repeated what Zhou Shifa had just said, and the crowd in the courtyard listened in silence, with not a sound to be heard. The faces of Hai Gouzi, Zhang Dahuai, and others showed hatred, thinking that Jian Nu had already ruined one family, and now they were going to ruin another. Chen Xin comforted everyone with a few words, easing the tension, then said: "Now let's go buy some grain first, the price may rise soon. We'll set off immediately, everyone grab your bags."

  A group of people hastily took out rice bags, wooden basins and other items, rushing to the nearest rice store on East Gate Street. The owner of this store also knew them. In Ming Dynasty cities, ordinary people's habit of buying grain was different from that of later generations. They rarely had a stockpile of grain in their daily lives. Most families only bought grain for a few days or ten days at a time, and when they were about to run out, they would go buy more. So, they came here less than a month ago and have already bought grain several times.

  Tianjin has convenient water and sea transportation, food is never in short supply, and prices are relatively stable. Apparently, the owner of this store still doesn't know the news, and the prices of rice, millet, and wheat are all one or two taels per stone. He heard a few people want to buy two stones of grain, looked at them suspiciously, but the crowd remained calm, so he could only ask his assistant to weigh it for them. Of course, that scale must have been tampered with, but this family is still considered good, selling about 110 pounds (120 pounds per stone) to nearby neighbors, which is already very conscientious.

  Liu Min had just finished paying for the grain, and the shopkeeper had just put away the silver, when a clerk rushed into the store, whispered something in his ear, and the shopkeeper looked at several people with a fierce gaze. Lu Lüzǐ smiled at him, shouldered two bags of grain, and Chen Xin and others also picked up other bags and basins to head home. The shopkeeper angrily closed the shop, hung a "sold out" sign on the door, and stopped selling grain to wait for a higher price. Several people who had just arrived at the grain store saw this and quickly went to knock on the door, but there was no one inside to answer. They were so angry that they stomped their feet and rushed to other grain stores.

  Everyone returned home, poured the grain into the rice jar, and there was still a lot that couldn't fit in. Wang Dai Xi cleared out a wardrobe and put the sacks of rice directly inside. Worried about mice, they moved the wardrobe to Haigouz's room; their room had three people, making it easier to catch rats. Now Haigouz and his family live in the wing where Chen Xin used to live, while Chen Xin has moved to the main house in Er Tun to recover from injuries.

  After all the arrangements were made, Liu Minwei asked Wang to take Xi to inform the neighbors on both sides to buy some grain as well. Chen Xin called Lu Chuanzong aside and told him about going out to sea. Chen Xin's plan was that Liu Minwei would stay behind and teach a few followers to read and write, and Lu Chuanzong knew some martial arts, which would be more useful when going out to sea.

  Lu Zhuanzong heard that he would get tens of taels of silver when he returned, and readily agreed. Chen Xin then took out the ten taels of silver given by the master, divided five taels to Lu Zizhong, and told him to keep it well himself. Lu Zizhong's eyes widened, as he had never possessed such a large amount of money before. He held the silver in both hands, foolishly asking: "Is all this for me?"

  Chen Xin smiled and said, "Of course, the master said that going out to sea is always a perilous journey, so he gave me ten taels of silver as hazard pay. If you're afraid, it's still not too late to back out now." Lu Lu Zi took the money with a nonchalant attitude, his eyebrows dancing with joy, and said, "Since it's a perilous journey, I'll go find a girl to have some fun with today, then there won't be anything to regret. Chen Ge, are you going or not? I'm inviting you."

  Chen Xin smiled and shook his head. He wouldn't bother with how Lu Ma Zi used the money, as he had been to such places many times before and didn't think there was any moral issue. The main reason he wasn't going was to help Liu Min perfect her clothing store plan.

  Lu Lu's body had never had so much money, and he was excited to see Chen Xin not going, hastily went out the door, Chen Xin thought he went to the brothel, but a while later he came back, brought several oil paper wrapped roast chicken, and hugged a jar of wine, placed on the stone table, said to Chen Xin: "Three roast chickens, only two silver coins, having money is good, five silver coins can't be used up in two days."

  Lu Donkey loudly called out to everyone, and several sea dogs rushed over, tore off a few pieces of chicken meat and wolfed them down. Zhang Da Hui ate on the side, asking Lu Donkey with unclear articulation: "Brother Lu, have you become rich? How did you have money to buy so many chickens?"

  "Your brother-in-law has made some money, but it's also thanks to your brother Chen. Anyway, just focus on eating yours, there's still more tonight and tomorrow."

  A few people drank wine and ate three roasted chickens clean, even saving lunch. Lu Luzi was full of wine and food, patted his belly, hummed a little tune and went to the brothel.

  Chen Xin called Liu Minyou up, entered the main room and told him about going out to sea. Liu Minyou was silent for a moment before saying: "In this era, going out to sea is indeed dangerous, do you really want to go?"

  Chen Xin said resolutely, "We must go, otherwise what's the point of going to the pawnshop? If we continue like this, we can only muddle along. What if the enemy really reaches Tianjin one day?"

  Liu Minyou also knew that this was the actual situation. They had to buy at least one boat in order to facilitate their escape, but under their current circumstances, it would be very difficult for them to come up with that much money.

  Chen Xin looked at him and didn't speak, then continued: "It's not necessarily a big deal, based on various analyses, this captain is an old sea dog, so as long as we don't encounter a storm, it should be fine."

  He paused for a moment: "If something happens to me and I don't come back, you take the Shanghai kids south, find an opportunity to get to Taiwan, it will be late before it falls, and that's about it for this lifetime."

  Liu Min said with a low mood: "Don't say that, maybe in a few months I'll be back. That master has been sailing the seas for years, and isn't he still alive at this age?"

  "Just in case, let's keep this from the Hai Gouzi for now. If they accidentally spill the beans, it'll be a hassle."

  Liu Min had no choice but to agree. He thought of Jian Nu's attack this time and asked, "How far can Hou Jin reach this time, do you know?"

  Chen Xindao said: "In the seventh year of Tianqi, there was a Ningjin War, which should be this time. Zhou Shifa said that there were 100,000 Jian slaves, but now Taizong has only 50,000 people at most. It seems that in the end, Houjin withdrew by himself and didn't get any important results, so for the time being, there's nothing to worry about. But this era is a chaotic world, apart from the Tartars, the disaster of bandits will soon become a raging fire, if we don't do something, one day we'll be at a dead end."

  "Alright, be careful on your way with Lü Zhi."

  "Okay, let's talk about your clothing store now."

  (Thanks to the editorial department for recommending Sanjiang Potential List)