In his letter, Zhao Ming didn’t inform Zhao Zhongyu that it was Zhao Hanzhang who wanted to buy foals. He only said the Zhao family fortified estate needed defensive strength and therefore needed to purchase horses.
Zhao Zhongyu didn’t hesitate. Although raising private soldiers was tantamount to treason, and the Zhao family’s retainers had long exceeded the limits set by rites and regulations, in such chaotic times, without sufficient military force, they truly couldn’t protect the family.
So he immediately wrote two letters. One was a letter of introduction to Liu Kun—Zhao family members could take this letter to Bingzhou to find Liu Kun.
Besides this, Zhao Zhongyu also exchanged information with Zhao Ming about their respective situations. With the Xiongnu moving south, life was difficult for the common people. Even their aristocratic great families found it hard to remain unaffected. Zhao Zhongyu hoped they would stockpile grain and accumulate gold, silver, and cloth. If anything happened, it would be convenient for them to leave.
Because of Liu Yuan’s attack on Luoyang, someone at court proposed moving the capital to Chang’an.
Oh, the Prince of Donghai had successfully taken Jingzhao Commandery. Chang’an was now under his control, but the people of Jingzhao Commandery had mostly fled. Its desolation was comparable to Bingzhou.
So other ministers at court proposed moving the capital to Nanyang instead. First, because Jingzhao Commandery had suffered from warfare in recent years, with the people scattered and displaced. Second, because it was too close to the Jie barbarians, and the ministers felt fearful and unsafe.
The emperor also wanted to move the capital, but the Prince of Donghai refused, so the matter was at an impasse.
But Zhao Zhongyu had deliberated in his heart. With Liu Yuan’s offensive, if they couldn’t hold Luoyang, they would very likely move the capital. The probability of choosing Nanyang was greater than Chang’an.
If the capital moved to Nanyang, it would be much closer to Runan Commandery. This would also benefit the Zhao family.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t think this was beneficial at all. Of course, she didn’t know about this yet, because Zhao Ming hadn’t received the letter.
Right now, she was sitting in a restaurant not far from the city gate, looking down from a high vantage point at Du Zhang and the other two wearing prison clothes and carrying stones.
“They go in and out like this, and they haven’t run away?”
Qiu Wu reported, “Not even a hint of wanting to escape. They’re incredibly obedient. If you tell them to carry bricks, they absolutely won’t fetch water.”
Zhao Hanzhang also breathed a sigh of relief. “If they’re not running, forget it. Keep them. These next few days, assign them more work. Once we’re sure they really don’t want to escape, arrange for them to do clerical work at the county office.”
She sighed. “We’re short of literate officials.”
“By the way, have you found the place I asked you to look for?”
“Found it. Following your instructions—not too far from the county town, can’t encroach on good farmland, but needs abundant water and grass.” Qiu Wu pointed in a direction. “Right over there. See that low mountain?”
“I see it. Xiping has few mountains. There are just a few scattered small hills outside. How could I not see it?”
Qiu Wu said, “There’s a river passing by there, but it’s mostly raw soil with little cultivated land. Plus there’s some wasteland, so the grass has grown quite tall. That area is extremely suitable.”
Zhao Hanzhang asked, “There are no cultivated fields there?”
“There are, but if we enclose that area, it would occupy the least amount. Other places would require encroaching on large amounts of farmland.”
Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Are those fields owned by large households or small households?”
Qiu Wu lowered his voice. “They belong to Seventh Great-Uncle’s family. Even the adjacent abandoned wasteland is under Seventh Great-Uncle’s name. Master Fu has already pulled out the land deeds. Nearly a third of that area belongs to Seventh Great-Uncle’s family.”
Zhao Hanzhang wanted to raise horses, and the ranch she was enclosing wasn’t small. She had originally thought that with Xiping County having lost so many people, enclosing such a plot of land wouldn’t be difficult. She hadn’t expected that casually enclosing an area would include so much privately owned land, and it belonged to her own relatives.
Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment, then stood up. “Where’s Erlang? Call him over. I’ll take him back to pay respects to the elders.”
Zhao Erlang had returned to Xiping but hadn’t yet kowtowed to Fifth Great-Uncle and the others.
Since there was nothing to do today, Zhao Hanzhang simply pulled Zhao Erlang along to go kowtow.
Zhao Erlang was training troops. When called, he simply waved his hand and brought his subordinates back to the fortified estate with him.
Zhao Hanzhang sat on her horse and glanced at the retainers behind him. She didn’t stop them but waited until they left the city to ask Zhao Erlang, “Every squad and every ten-man unit has tasks. You brought all your men out—if you can’t complete today’s task, will you make it up tomorrow, or will you be punished?”
Zhao Erlang was stunned. “What task?”
“The task of rebuilding Xiping. Right now there are so many things to do in Xiping—treating the wounded, building military camps, building civilian housing, autumn harvest, repairing bridges, repairing roads, providing disaster relief. Anyway, there’s a ton of work.” Zhao Hanzhang asked, “What, didn’t Uncle Qianli assign you a task this morning when you led your troops out?”
“No. Uncle Qianli just told me to take them out to play, to practice just like at the estate.”
“Oh, then Uncle Qianli probably forgot about your group.”
Zhao Erlang immediately became anxious. “That won’t do! How could he forget about us? When I get back, I’m going to find Uncle Qianli to get a task.”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded approvingly. “Once you receive a task, you must complete it.”
Zhao Erlang patted his chest, saying he would definitely complete it.
The retainers following behind: …Actually, we don’t need to compete for this honor, Squad Leader. This isn’t a good thing.
The retainers Zhao Ming had selected for Zhao Erlang were all young men between fourteen and seventeen years old, completely with the intention of having them keep him company. Let alone working, even training rarely had requirements.
Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the high-spirited young men and nodded with satisfaction. She lightly kicked her horse’s belly and called to Zhao Erlang to follow.
Zhao Erlang also quickened his pace. His subordinates could only grab their weapons and run to keep up.
By the time they ran to the fortified estate, all ten members of the squad except Zhao Erlang were gasping for breath.
Zhao Hanzhang looked at them and said, “Your stamina isn’t good. You can’t handle just two quarters of an hour of forced march. What will you do during long-distance pursuits in the future?”
She continued, “Starting tomorrow, you’ll follow Erlang here every day to pay morning and evening respects to the elders.”
Hearing this, the young men’s expressions went blank for a moment. Someone asked quietly, “Nulang, does paying morning and evening respects mean we run here in the morning and then run back in the evening?”
Zhao Hanzhang glanced at them. “No. Your squad leader has gotten you a task. After morning respects, you need to return to the county town to work. Then come back in the evening for evening respects.”
The young men looked at Zhao Erlang with lifeless expressions.
Zhao Erlang still didn’t know what had happened. Seeing them all looking at him, he grinned foolishly at them.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled while patting his head, then led him into the fortified estate. “Come on, first go kowtow to Fifth Great-Uncle.”
Zhao Hanzhang led Zhao Erlang on a kowtowing tour until she found Zhao Hu.
Zhao Hu was half-reclining on a mat with maids fanning him on both sides. Two more maids knelt before him, feeding him refreshments and wine.
The cup he used was a transparent glass cup.
Zhao Hanzhang clicked her tongue twice and stepped forward with Zhao Erlang. “Sanniang pays respects to Seventh Great-Uncle. Seventh Great-Uncle is quite comfortable.”