Bump version to RC9

Assisted-By: Codex

Author: sonus21

build.gradle

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ ext {
 
 subprojects {
     group = "com.github.sonus21"
-    version = "4.0.0-RC8"
+    version = "4.0.0-RC9"
 
     dependencies {
         // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.springframework/spring-messaging

docs/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -18,6 +18,18 @@ foundational Spring Boot 4 and Jackson 3 migration notes; RC3 for the Java 17
 baseline change; RC4–RC6 below for the NATS backend, broker SPI, dashboard
 work, and middleware additions that build on top.
 
+## Release [4.0.0.RC9] 2026-05-13
+
+{: .highlight}
+Release candidate.
+
+### Features
+* **Global retry limit** — added `rqueue.retry.max` to cap the implicit
+  retry-forever default for listeners that do not configure `numRetries`.
+  Explicit per-listener retry counts and the existing DLQ retry default continue
+  to take precedence. On NATS, the effective retry count maps to JetStream
+  `maxDeliver` as `retries + 1`.
+
 ## Release [4.0.0.RC8] 2026-05-09
 
 {: .highlight}