Stealing the Ming Dynasty [Complete] - 18

page views:1 Publication date:2023-03-24

" Sweeping Through the Army Like a Rolling Mat, Chapter 3: The Evil Neighbor

1. Governor Liu, tell everyone what's going on."

After Zhao Manxiong, Jin Qiude, Yang Zhiyuan, and He Dingyuan, his four trusted confidants, had all arrived, Huang Shi asked Liu Qingyang to give another briefing, while he leisurely sat down on a chair to the side.

"The Japanese shogunate has restricted maritime trade for many years, but in the last ten years or so, they have been relatively polite to the Dutch, the English, and our Ming Dynasty merchants. This year, the Japanese shogunate expelled all the British from Japan. Originally, this had nothing to do with my Changsheng Island, because the Japanese shogunate would still leave behind the Dutch and our Ming Dynasty merchants." "At this point, Liu Qingyang suddenly remembered a question, so he paused and turned to look in Huang Shi's direction.

Seeing that Huang Shi was still drinking tea as if nothing had happened, Liu Qingyang smiled and said to the four guards: "Who told us to sell counterfeit money? So they have to ban our business too."

"We're selling counterfeit money?" He Dingyuan's eyes widened. He turned to Yang Zhiyuan and asked, "Aren't we going to Japan to sell deerskins?"

Yang Zhiyuan chuckled dryly but didn't speak. Although this matter was shady, most of the high-ranking officials on Changsheng Island were aware of it. It was just that He Dingyuan completely neglected logistics and believed whatever others told him. He Dingyuan preferred to fool around with the soldiers, and when he occasionally came to the logistics department, it was definitely to extort supplies. He didn't seem to care how much a few tattered deerskins could fetch.

"Guerrilla Commander He, you don't need to worry about this. Just listen," Huang Shi said, coming to Yang Zhiyuan's rescue. He then gestured with his chin towards Commander Liu: "Continue."

"Yes, sir." Liu Qingyang bowed slightly and began to calculate the accounts for the group of people present. Japan's money shortage was still severe. One string of counterfeit coins could be exchanged for about two taels of silver in Japan, then smuggled back in copper, which could then produce five strings of counterfeit coins. Even after deducting the costs of sailors' expenses, the transit fees for Japanese merchants, and the bribes needed to bribe local Japanese officials, the profit from these counterfeit coins was still over 100%.

For the past two years, Kuroshima Kazuo and Liu Qingyang had taken turns going to Japan on duty. They had already purchased a small town outside Shimonoseki Port and bribed many corrupt Japanese officials; now, the profit margin was steadily increasing. This year, Changsheng Island's projected annual net profit would reach around 300,000 taels of silver. The money for buying grain in Huangshi and the copper for casting cannons depended on this income.

Liu Qingyang's expression darkened as he finished speaking. He told the officers with a heavy heart, "We at Changsheng Island have also bribed some officials of the Japanese Shogunate and the Choshu Domain. This year, they gave us reliable information—the Japanese Shogunate has decided to start minting its own coins." "Liu Qingyang then produced a sample coin. This sample was purchased from within the Japanese shogunate at considerable expense: "This is a copper coin designated by the Japanese shogunate, and it should be put into use around August of this year. "

I've already shown the sample to Huang Shi; it's indeed a very good copper coin, each weighing almost two qian (approximately 6.5 grams). Moreover, it's roughly a 8:2 ratio of copper to lead. Historically, insightful individuals within the Tokugawa shogunate recognized the importance of minting their own coins, and they began minting their own copper coins, gold, and silver coins in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign. The Tokugawa shogunate's coins were of excellent quality and substantial weight. Japan used them to drive out Spanish silver coins and Ming Dynasty copper coins, thus achieving monetary autonomy in less than a year.

"The Choshu Domain of Japan has long known that we are selling counterfeit money. However, firstly, Japan is short of money; secondly, our counterfeit money is of better quality than the genuine coins from the Nanjing Mint; and thirdly, they also know that we are Ming Dynasty military households. Therefore, the Choshu Domain has always turned a blind eye, and most of the counterfeit money we sell is bought by merchants of the Choshu Domain, who then resell it back to the Japanese mainland." "These bastards!" Liu Qingyang said angrily. The Choshu Domain's sudden order to stop the sale of counterfeit money felt like a betrayal.

The officers below watched him silently, so Liu Qingyang, unable to vent his anger, quickly continued his report: "The Nagakawa Domain has sent people. They say the Japanese Shogunate has stipulated a one-to-one exchange between their new coins and Ming Dynasty copper coins. Because they know we are Ming Dynasty military households, they were very polite, saying they'd let us keep the money we'd sold before, but we're not allowed to sell it anymore. As for the copper coins we have saved, they'll buy them all at a one-to-one exchange rate, but they have to be sent to Choshu within the next two months." "

To be honest, the Japanese were quite generous with their terms. To drive out foreign currency, the Tokugawa Shogunate mandated a one-to-one exchange rate. However, the copper content of Changsheng Island coins is only 30% of that of Japanese coins. No matter how much copper the Japanese coins have, it can't withstand Huang Shi and Liu Qingyang's relentless counterfeiting. So, after receiving the mission, the Choshu Domain of Japan came to negotiate, hoping to buy all the remaining stock on Changsheng Island in one go, thus settling the matter."

Huang Shi gestured, indicating that his subordinates sitting around the rectangular table could discuss the matter amongst themselves.

"Our coins are 1.3 qian (approximately 3.5 grams) with 4 parts copper and 6 parts lead. Their coins are 2 qian (approximately 6.5 grams) with 8 parts copper and 2 parts lead." The unambitious He Dingyuan actually thought this was a pretty good deal. He muttered, "We still have several months left. Let's make a batch as much as we can. Anyway, there will be someone to take over no matter how many we make."

Zhao Manxiong, standing to the side, directly asked Yang Zhiyuan, "How much income does this counterfeit money business generate per month?" "

If this problem doesn't occur in Japan, we should have an income of about 350,000 to 400,000 taels of silver this year, which is about 30,000 taels of silver per month." Yang Zhiyuan casually snapped his fingers, making a sound in the room. "Next year, it should reach more than 50,000 taels per month."

"What about Japan's military equipment?" This time, the question came from Chief of Staff Jin Qiude. "Well, and that... Choshu Domain in Japan."

Liu Qingyang had already analyzed the relevant military situation and sent over a prepared document. "The Japanese shogunate's mobilization capacity is not strong. From my observation, I'm afraid the Choshu Domain doesn't want the Japanese shogunate's army to cross the border, so in the short term, only the Choshu Domain can threaten us."

Jin Qiude flipped through the paper and snorted. "Three hundred to four hundred full-time soldiers."

"Jin, you're wise. In Japan, they're called samurai." "Liu Qingyang quickly added.

"Hmm, samurai," Jin Qiude read aloud, gripping the edge of the paper, "In an emergency, the Choshu Domain can recruit farmers and beggars... beggar soldiers?" He stopped abruptly, looking at Liu Qingyang suspiciously, "What are beggar soldiers?"

"King Guerrilla Mingjian, those beggars are called ronin in Japan, and they all carry knives while begging. Although they often go hungry, they seem quite fierce."

"Fierce? The fiercest people in the world are beggars who are desperate for food. Like the Jurchens." Jin Qiude nodded, satisfied with Liu Qingyang's information, and then held the paper high in front of him and read aloud again, "The Choshu Domain can recruit farmers and beggar soldiers to bring its military strength to about two thousand men. A few generals and officers have heavy armor, while the off-duty soldiers—that is, samurai—mostly use bamboo armor, and they all have iron weapons." "The hastily recruited soldiers have no armor and use bamboo spears and bows..."

"Their fighting strength won't exceed that of the Vanguard Battalion." Jin Qiude made his final judgment. He thoughtfully asked Yang Zhiyuan, "You just said how much silver you can earn in a month."

"Thirty thousand taels, at least."

"Isn't that like a child carrying a huge pile of gold and silver jewelry?" Jin Qiude shook his head incredulously: "Why doesn't anyone rob the Japanese?" "

The sea route is difficult, and there are frequent typhoons there. Once ashore, there are language and geographical problems." Huang Shi shrugged: "It only seems simple now because we have Kuroshima Kazuo and a small town where we can store food, so it seems easier. Otherwise, it's not easy at all." As

the group talked along, He Dingyuan found it increasingly absurd. He couldn't help but interject, "Shouldn't our Great Ming Army be protecting the borders and ensuring the safety of the people?"

"Not bad." Someone in the room immediately answered He Dingyuan, but Huang Shi didn't pay attention to who answered, nor did anyone else, because they were all enthusiastically discussing how many men they needed to send to subdue the Choshu Domain.

"If it's the level of the Vanguard Battalion, my Changsheng Island Firefighting Battalion only needs to send two infantry squads to defeat them."

Jin Qiude had just finished speaking when Zhao Manxiong added, "A poor family can afford to travel extravagantly, so three should be enough. And bring two cannons as well."

"The only problem is the reaction of the Japanese Shogunate, but how dare Japan, a tiny little country, compete with my Great Ming?" Huang Shi sneered. The gap in national strength between China and Japan in this era was simply too great. The war twenty years ago showed that Japan's entire army might not be able to defeat a single province of the Ming Dynasty: "However, once they discover that we are the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, they certainly won't dare to retaliate. I estimate that the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan will go to the court to complain, which would be a huge problem." "

Yes. The Taizu Emperor designated Japan as a country not to be conquered." He Dingyuan hurriedly showed off his insight again.

However, apart from He Dingyuan, everyone else had already reached a consensus on the issue of going to war. Zhao Manxiong suggested that the soldiers of the three teams be described as auxiliary troops: "Just say that they were more than a thousand sailors and auxiliary troops who went to Japan to sell deerskins and buy rice. They had some conflicts with the Japanese while doing business. Anyway, the court can't investigate."

"Hmm, let's say it like that." Huang Shi didn't intend to do anything to Japan, nor was he interested in waging a war of conquest. Huang Shi just wanted to continue this counterfeit money business. As long as the hole wasn't plugged by the Japanese Shogunate, bad money would naturally drive out good money. There are plenty of unscrupulous merchants in Japan, so Changsheng Island and Huangshi don't need to worry about that at all. "There's also the issue of an excuse. Do you have any good ideas about that?" "

Well, we can buy up those worthless coins that the Donglin Party used for land reclamation in Nanjing. I've heard that the Donglin Party in the court is having a terrible headache over this. Moreover, Eunuch Wei said that any shortfall must be covered by the officials of the Nanjing Mint." Liu Qingyang had always had a particular interest in the economic situation of the Ming Dynasty. This time, the boycott of coins by the Donglin Party was so big that Liu Qingyang had naturally collected a lot of information to study. "This kind of money must be very cheap. They can easily make up for their losses by selling it for a little money. We can transport these coins to Japan and exchange them with the Choshu Domain."

Seeing everyone around him nodding with sinister smiles, He Dingyuan asked curiously, "Those Japanese in the Choshu Domain aren't stupid. They definitely won't agree."

"They definitely won't agree, we all know that." Huang Shi thought this was a good idea, so he suggested that the civil official from Dengzhou act as a bridge with Nanjing, which would also do the Nanjing mint officials a great favor: "But if we send the money and they don't give it back, we'll take Xiaguan as collateral and make them pay to redeem it."

"Sir," He Dingyuan, though kind, wasn't stupid, and after hearing this, he understood what these people were up to. He took a deep breath: "Sir, we are government troops, Ming Dynasty government troops."

Huang Shi had always felt that if He Dingyuan were just a pure soldier, that would be perfect. But the problem was that this guy was also a half-baked Confucian scholar, always feeling that a dignified imperial army shouldn't engage in banditry or robbery, much less bully the weak: "The Japanese are human first, and then Japanese. Right?" "Yes

."

"Just like the Jurchens were barbarians first, and then Jianzhou barbarians, right?" At first, Huang Shi was just making conversation, but as he talked to himself, he gradually found a line of thought.

"Of course," He Dingyuan replied honestly

. "That's right." Huang Shi said with a smile, "Those Japanese merchants like to use our money, and they've been using it for hundreds of years. Since they are human beings, they have the freedom to choose. It's unreasonable for the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan to force them to use Japanese money. It's an infringement on their freedom."

He Dingyuan's eyes widened even more: "What are you saying, sir? This humble general doesn't quite understand." Only he was still listening to Huang Shi's nonsense. Although the others pretended to listen, they were all calculating the relevant issues of sending troops.

"Humans have human rights, and sovereignty extends infinitely until it touches upon individual rights." After Huang Shi finished speaking at top speed, he patted He Dingyuan on the shoulder. The latter clearly didn't understand anything, from the terminology to its meaning. Huang Shi solemnly told him, "This is what it means for human rights to supersede sovereignty. It's okay if you don't understand; you can go back and think about it... think about it slowly."

While He Dingyuan was still confused, Huang Shi seized the opportunity to discuss the upcoming "counterfeit currency war" with his subordinates. In short, the strategy against Japan could be summed up in one sentence: "I have no shame." The military commander was a problem. Huang Shi himself certainly couldn't go; Liu Qingyang was simply not cut out for warfare; and Kuroshima Kazuo was a Japanese-born Ming dynasty military household, so Huang Shi didn't trust him either. He Dingyuan was a suitable candidate, but whether considering his character or the need to maintain the balance of power on Changsheng Island, Huang Shi didn't intend to send him to Japan to lead the army.

"Guerrilla Commander Yang, hurry up and familiarize yourself with the troops. This time, you'll command three infantry units. We'll depart in a month."

Although Yang Zhiyuan managed the old camp very well and wielded considerable power, he was still excited to hear he had the opportunity to lead troops into battle. After all, Yang Zhiyuan had always considered himself a military commander and was very concerned about the training and tactics of his troops. He readily agreed, his face beaming with joy.

Huang Shi, having heard about the military equipment of the Choshu Domain, also looked down on the Japanese army of this era. A month later, he could send some new recruits to experience the battlefield. Using the armored infantry of the Firefighting Battalion against such a inferior opponent, Huang Shi felt that even a fool could lead an army to victory.

"My lord!" Hong Antong's excited shout rang out outside the tent. It seemed that a large number of soldiers were cheering outside, and the sound was carried to Huang Shi's ears by the wind.

"My lord, it's raining!" Hong Antong shouted impatiently again before even hearing Huang Shi's order.

The shouts immediately excited the officers in the camp; this was the first rain on Changsheng Island since the beginning of spring. The streams on the island had been much thinner than last year. Although a considerable amount of fresh water was collected daily from the island's rivers, Huang Shi insisted that all soldiers and civilians bathe every day and wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet, so the situation remained tense.

The rain wasn't heavy, but Wu Mu could be seen frantically in the rain from afar. He was jumping and leaping, his hair disheveled, his expression a mixture of crying and laughing. Wu Mu had been under considerable pressure these past few days; as the military supervisor, he had been diligently praying for rain for the entire island and Liaonan, even skipping military meetings. To show his piety, Wu Mu hadn't eaten pork all year.

Behind him, Zhao Manxiong asked in a low voice, "I heard the court will send more supervising eunuchs to Liaonan?" "

Yes, the candidates are being discussed." Previously, only two military commanders in Liaonan, Huang Shi and Zhang Pan, had supervising eunuchs. However, after the Battle of Nanguan, Wei Zhongxian, while engaged in factional strife, still remembered to send people here. It is said that Wei Zhongxian plans to send supervising eunuchs to all the camps in Liaonan, so that any merit would be guaranteed. Huang Shi said softly to Zhao Manxiong and the others behind him, "This shows that the court is paying more and more attention to our Dongjiang Town Left Assistant."

"There was no snow last winter." When Yang Zhiyuan spoke, his gaze towards the supervising eunuch Wu Mu was meaningful.

Huang Shi understood the meaning behind these words. Since Wei Zhongxian began to purge the Donglin Party last year, the people of Beizhili in the Ming Dynasty had been horrified to see that there was no snow all winter. In this era where the concept of divine intervention was prevalent, the impression of Eunuch Wu among the soldiers of Changsheng Island plummeted, and Wu Mu had been frantically performing rain-praying rituals since the fifth year of the Tianqi reign.

"No snow fell in January and February this year either." Huang Shi looked up at the sky—the perfect sun was nowhere to be seen; the Little Ice Age had lasted almost fifty years, and it would take another twenty. In

April of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, large numbers of farmers in Liaonan—whether in the Later Jin territory or the Ming army territory—knelt down in gratitude to Heaven for this sweet rain. Meanwhile, in more distant Korea and the heart of Liaodong, farmers were still waiting in vain…

(Chapter 4: Silver Coins)

Huang Shi and his men had only watched the rain for a short while when Wu Mu arrived, beaming with joy. Normally, this kind of rain-praying ritual was the work of local civil officials, but since Changsheng Island had no civil officials, they had to entrust it to Eunuch Wu.

"Eunuch Wu, you've worked so hard. This rain is all thanks to you," Huang Shi said, leading a large group of officers . After exchanging a few polite words with Wu Mu, Huang Shi earnestly suggested he take a hot bath: "Eunuch Wu, you are of noble birth, please be careful. Changsheng Island has many affairs to attend to, and we rely heavily on you."

Eunuchs are generally weaker than ordinary people, and certainly not as physically robust as warriors. Wu Mu was now completely soaked, his jaw was chattering, and his lips were purple with cold. But seeing the rain, he was very happy. He managed to exchange a few more words with Huang Shi before hurriedly leaving, humming a cheerful tune as he shivered.

But after Wu Mu left, Yang Zhiyuan sighed softly, "It seems there are treacherous people around the Emperor." Huang Shi glanced around at his men without showing any emotion and found that all his officers, including Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong, wore expressions of agreement to varying degrees.

Ever since Wanli Emperor began favoring Consort Zheng, northern China had suffered from severe droughts year after year. Since Wanli Emperor attempted to make his third son the crown prince, the drought in the north had worsened day by day. The civil officials (including the Donglin, Qi, Zhe, and Chu factions) had been attacking Wanli Emperor for decades. Consort Zheng, as the culprit, was naturally a vixen.

When the Taichang Emperor suffered a major disaster, the wicked one was Consort Li. This seductive and wicked woman, who had wreaked havoc in the harem, had been expelled from the palace by the righteous Donglin Party. However, the natural disasters continued, indicating that there were still treacherous elements within the palace or the court. The righteous Donglin Party, of course, were not villains, so Emperor Tianqi's wet nurse, Madam Ke, gloriously took on this responsibility. The Donglin Party claimed she was "of strange and lewd nature, beyond description." But as for specific actions and evidence… the Donglin Party also said, "Palace secrets are unknown to outsiders."

In October of the fourth year of Tianqi's reign, Wei Zhongxian launched a major purge against the Donglin Party. That winter, there was no snowfall in the capital and in Shanxi and Shaanxi in the north. A rumor circulated among the people that the current emperor was being misled by villains, and that the court was only targeting upright gentlemen. When there was still no snowfall in the fifth year of Tianqi's reign, the eunuch party decided to use revolutionary rumors to counter counter-revolutionary rumors. Their explanation was that the poison of the Donglin Party had not yet been eradicated, and therefore Heaven was still unhappy. Therefore, they had to intensify their crackdown on the Donglin Party to appease Heaven.

Unfortunately, at least on Changsheng Island, this rumor was clearly unconvincing. While Huang Shi's subordinates dared not speak openly, it was evident they all suspected the Emperor of ingratitude. The Donglin Party's strategy of establishing the late Emperor as Crown Prince, investigating the poisoner, and expelling the Li Xuanshi and her father (whose father was a minor military officer; the Donglin Party's great contribution to protecting the nation was turned into a storytelling performance, and in Huang Shi's previous life, it was even adapted into a Peking Opera) – the Tianqi Emperor's lack of compassion for loyal officials had clearly incurred Heaven's wrath.

As for Huang Shi himself, aside from a handful of people, he held no goodwill towards any of the late Ming Dynasty's civil officials. The eunuch faction and the Donglin Party each had their own strengths in corruption and harming the country. In the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, the eunuch faction's main accusation against the Donglin Party was corruption, but once they came to power, they weren't much better. In Huang Shi's personal opinion, the difference lies in the fact that one is a prostitute who is very particular about and good at putting on a show, while the other is a shameless person who doesn't know how to put on makeup. So, the Ming Dynasty is already sick, and very sick.

Regardless, this rain brought more water to Changsheng Island and the West and Middle Islands. A dozen days later, the skilled craftsmen on Changsheng Island had completed a new forging mold, and Liu Qingyang and Yang Zhiyuan immediately came to invite Huang Shi to inspect it.

The waterwheel drove the screw, and the hard cast iron mold of the forging press pressed against the raw material, making a squeaking sound of metal deformation. After the mold was raised, Liu Qingyang personally took the tray out of the forging press. He carefully picked it up and examined it. The

dark cast iron tray was full of silver coins. The scraps that had been forged off the sides would be melted down and recast into silver plates, and then forged into coins in this forging machine.

Huang Shi picked up a silver coin and examined it carefully in the sunlight. The mold was meticulously engraved; the characters on the silver coin were clearly visible. At the top of the obverse were three sharply defined Chinese characters: "Military Coins" (军用票), below which was "Equivalent to Five Coins" (当五钱). At the bottom was an Arabic numeral "5". Huang Shi flipped the coin over; the back had three rows of characters from top to bottom: "Great Ming," "Dongjiang Town," and "Left Assistant."

Since the establishment of Dongjiang Town, Mao Wenlong had devised various schemes to extract money from the merchants, one of which was issuing military coins. Mao Wenlong's plan was to issue military coinage to officers and soldiers in Dongjiang, who would then use these coinages to exchange for goods with merchants. Finally, these merchants would exchange the coinage for silver in Dengzhou.

This policy sounded good; the Dongjiang army could avoid direct dealings with the grain officials in Dengzhou. Moreover, Huang Shi, with his own cynical mind, suspected Mao's intentions and felt there was some conspiracy involved. As long as the military coinage could be used to exchange for grain from the merchants, whether or not the silver was received was not Mao's concern. Furthermore, Commander Mao could also take the opportunity to issue more military scrip and gain some advantage—historically, when Mao Wenlong was beheaded by Yuan Chonghuan, Dongjiang Town still owed merchants two million taels of silver, roughly equivalent to nine years' worth of military pay! Yuan Chonghuan had once accused Mao Wenlong of "acting as a thief, robbing merchants," and since Mao Wenlong was the scapegoat, this debt was evaded by Yuan Chonghuan and later the Liaodong commander, leaving the merchants who supported the Ming army to suffer.

In Huang Shi's personal opinion, many things were indeed common practice in the Ming Dynasty, but being excusable doesn't mean being right.

As for the result… it was certainly very bad. Mao Wenlong relied on Shandong Dongjiang military officers and local officials to forge a large number of military scrips, which not only severely damaged Mao Wenlong's credibility but also bankrupted many honest merchants.

In a recent Dongjiang report, Mao Wenlong shifted all the blame to the Shandong civil officials. He even filed a complaint against those officials to the Tianqi Emperor. After his complaint against the emperor failed, Mao Wenlong resorted to a blatant personal attack on Shandong officials in his official report, practically hurling insults at them.

However, Huang Shi believed that Mao Wenlong wasn't as innocent as he claimed. Regardless, those who forged military scrips were officers from Dongjiang Town, and the merchants who received the scrips were all issued by Mao Wenlong. Huang Shi personally felt that Mao Wenlong had no right to simply shrug and send those unfortunate merchants back to Shandong.

But that's exactly what Mao Wenlong did. Huang Shi felt that many of the bankrupt merchants were patriots. They risked potential losses and personal danger at sea to transport goods to Liaodong, willing to accept worthless military scrips before seeing any silver, and to supply the completely unsufficient Dongjiang Town.

Now, many merchants had been sitting idly by for months, even over a decade, without receiving a single penny. This was extremely unfair to them and to their patriotism. For the Ming Dynasty, harming these people was tantamount to suppressing the patriotic sentiments of the entire merchant class. It was also a loss to the Ming Empire. For Dongjiang Town, which was heavily reliant on Shandong's grain and cloth, harming the interests of honest merchants was tantamount to slow suicide.

Huang Shi picked up another silver coin, held the two coins side by side high, and frowned as he compared them. The forging mold used a method similar to movable type printing—Huang Shi didn't know how to make the mold more efficient. However, this batch of molds was very well made, and the two silver coins were almost indistinguishable.

Yang Zhiyuan and Liu Qingyang watched Huang Shi's expression nervously. Their superior remained silent, making them somewhat uneasy.

"Alright, from now on, the Dongjiang Left Brigade will use this kind of military scrip." Huang Shi flicked his left thumb, and the two silver coins drew a bright arc in the air. Yang Zhiyuan and Liu Qingyang hurriedly caught the coins that were tossed to them.

"Our Left Assistant Commander of Dongjiang Town has 8,000 men, each receiving a monthly stipend of ten coins, totaling 60,000 taels of silver annually." The standard pay for border troops was originally one tael and four coins, but since the Tianqi reign, the rebellions of She'an, Jianzhou, and the White Lotus have incurred significant losses. The She'an rebellion, in particular, mobilized over 100,000 troops over three years. Several protracted campaigns cost nearly 20 million taels of silver. The reserves in both the inner and outer treasuries were already stretched thin. Military towns in the interior and those not engaged in combat had been without pay for years. Although Dongjiang Town, as a frontline garrison, only had a few hundred thousand men, it was neither the best nor the worst, considered a middle-class position.

Because of the great victory at Nanguan this year, the Tianqi Emperor used domestic currency to make up the shortfall. After submitting 10,000 taels to the Dongjiang headquarters, the Left Assistant Commander, along with miscellaneous rewards, had a total of 150,000 taels of silver. Once Huang Shi's request for additional local taxes and levies arrived in Shandong, there would be another 30,000 taels in revenue. Therefore, Huang Shi planned to take over the entire vacancy and pay all the soldiers in the Left Army Corps their full pay: "Each soldier on Changsheng Island will receive four silver coins. We will send someone from Changsheng Island to distribute pay in Jinzhou, also four coins per soldier. I won't interfere with the people in Jinzhou and the Vanguard Battalion, but if anyone on Changsheng Island is found guilty of embezzlement or colluding with officers of the Vanguard Battalion, they will be dealt with according to military law."

"Yes, sir," Yang Zhiyuan readily agreed, having already considered several candidates for pay distribution and supervision. He also knew that Huang Shi would send people from the Inner Guard and the Loyal Patriotic Catholic Church to supervise.

"As for Zhang Pan, Mao Keyi, and Mao Kexi, pay them according to the Ministry of War's assessment results; we don't need to send anyone to supervise them." Huang Shi reached into the plate and grabbed some silver coins, tossing them back and forth between his hands. The brand-new coins made a pleasant sound, their rough edges still a little prickly.

The silver transported from Shandong was all pure silver with a purity exceeding 99%, while the silver coins in Huang Shi's possession were not of such high purity, with a silver-to-tin ratio of approximately 7:3. Therefore, minting these coins already yielded a 30% interest rate. However, Huang Shi couldn't obtain this interest yet, as these silver coins were theoretically only a type of military scrip. Huang Shi also stipulated that five qian of silver coins could be exchanged for five qian of silver at the Changsheng Island camp.

Even if all the merchants exchanged their silver coins for pure silver, Huang Shi wouldn't lose out. But these silver coins, in terms of both portability and direct value, were a better form of currency than silver ingots. Therefore, Huang Shi believed that as time passed and the credibility of Changsheng Island's silver coins was established, the interest would be his. Besides Changsheng Island unconditionally providing exchange services, Huang Shi also ordered that all products from Changsheng Island be traded for silver coins.

In addition to silver coins, Huang Shi also planned to mint some copper coins as subsidiary currency; of course, these would also be Changsheng Island's military scrip. By the time of the Tianqi Emperor, the Ming Dynasty's credibility had plummeted to a very low level, and many money shops had begun privately minting coins. The Ming Empire was completely powerless to stop this. Within the limited circulation areas of these privately minted coins, the Ming's copper coins could no longer compete. Officials from the central government to the local levels adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards these private coins, seemingly completely unaware of the immense harm this would cause to the country.

The Ming government's extremely low monetary credibility resulted in a situation where, apart from privately minted coins, various silver ingots circulated throughout the country. Although silver ingots had a higher credit rating, there was a significant difference in purity between official and private silver. Furthermore, privately minted silver ingots varied from place to place, causing considerable difficulties for commercial transactions. Huang Shi had ample reason to believe that once a universally accepted and readily available medium of exchange emerged, it would eventually circulate widely in the commercial sphere.

The Ming Dynasty's misfortune was Changsheng Island's fortune. The ultimate goal of fiat currency is, of course, to abolish the tael and adopt the yuan, but Huang Shi is not planning to achieve this too quickly. He and Liu Qingyang are currently focused on the credibility, convenience, and difficulty in counterfeiting of this "military note."

This silver coin also has many additional benefits; Huang Shi has two points in mind: first, it can unite the Dongjiang Left Army more closely; second, it will make it more difficult for the Later Jin to bribe spies—Huang Shi can hardly monitor how much silver merchants bring to Liaonan, but he can relatively easily track the flow of silver coins. If a merchant tries to bribe Huang Shi's soldiers with a large amount of silver coins, the intelligence department will find it easier to detect.

...

At the end of April in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, the waterwheels and forging machines on Changsheng Island were still working overtime to produce "military notes." Several waterwheels on Zhongdao Island were also completed following the reservoir, and a large furnace was almost finished.

After making a fortune this time, Huang Shi gritted his teeth and threw in several thousand taels of silver, and also spent a lot of manpower and resources to build a new large steelmaking furnace.

Previously, pig iron stubbornly refused to melt into molten steel, no matter how many people Huangshi mobilized to blow air. This time, Huangshi had more than half of the island's ironworkers and carpenters work together to finally build a massive water-powered blower. Controlled by screws and gears, the blower provides continuous and stable airflow driven by a waterwheel.

This new steel furnace also features a completely new design. Previously, the blower always blew cold air directly into the furnace. Therefore, no matter how much coal Huangshi burned, the temperature inside the furnace never rose significantly (remaining below approximately 1300 degrees Celsius). Now, the furnace's chimney is no longer a single iron pipe leading out; instead, it meanders through the furnace several times.

Huangshi painstakingly recalled his rudimentary physics lessons and designed the exhaust pipe to run parallel to the intake pipe. The cold air entering the intake is heated by the exhaust chimney before passing through the intake into the heat storage chamber. The swirling chimney pipes heated the fresh air to scorching high temperatures (500-600 degrees Celsius), which was then blown into the furnace to smelt steel.

The construction of such a large furnace and the accompanying powerful blowers caused Huang Shi's men to complain again, all clamoring that the cost was comparable to refining gold. However, under Huang Shi's unwavering will, these grumblings were suppressed, and Huang Shi explicitly told his subordinates that if they couldn't melt the iron this time, he would build an even larger furnace and a more powerful blower.

...

An envoy from Jinzhou delivered a request from the Xuanfeng Battalion; in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, refugees were surging towards southern Liaoning.

As early as the first month of this year, Nurhaci had foreseen a year of great disaster, believing that allowing large numbers of Han people to live would severely impact the survival rights of his Manchu compatriots. Therefore, the Later Jin regime in Liaoyang ordered the search and execution of all Han merchants, landlords, and scholars.

Although the military action in February interrupted Nurhaci's purge process, they quickly resumed their operations, massacring wealthy Han Chinese households in Liaodong. The Later Jin regime planned to secretly use these households' assets to purchase grain and cloth from Shanxi merchants.

At the end of March of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci again ordered the roundup of impoverished Han Chinese in Liaodong, including all beggars and poor farmers. This order was issued two months earlier than in Huangshi's previous life. The wives and daughters of these impoverished Han Chinese were also abducted by the Later Jin, who would sell them to Mongol tribes in exchange for cattle, sheep, and furs. For this trade, the Later Jin regime even established a horse market in Hexi, where large numbers of Han Chinese women were led naked like livestock, listening to Later Jin bandits and Mongol buyers haggle.

In early April, Nurhaci issued the indiscriminate massacre order of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign—a move also famous in Huangshi's previous life. In this order, Nurhaci commanded the Later Jin soldiers to systematically inspect every village within their territory. All Han Chinese without five dou of rice (a unit of dry measure) were to be considered "enemies," killed immediately, and their meager possessions confiscated. Those with five dou of rice were to be "incorporated into the Manor" and become slaves of the Eight Banners.

Li Yongfang, upon hearing of this inhumane massacre plan, attempted to dissuade Nurhaci but was immediately imprisoned.

The Vanguard Battalion reported to Huangshi that after April, Han soldiers were requesting surrender, many fleeing south with their families before receiving a reply from the Dongjiang Army. There were even instances of Han soldiers killing Later Jin officials and then defecting en masse to Dongjiang. Jinzhou imprisoned all these Han soldiers while simultaneously requesting permission from Changsheng Island via fast ships.

(Chapter 5: Policy)

"Issue an order to Changsheng Island and all tribes in Liaonan: any Han soldiers who abandon the darkness and surrender shall be treated as subjects of our Great Ming." Huang Shi had finally waited until Nurhaci went mad. This old tyrant was pushing groups of precious people from Liaodong toward Dongjiang Town. It would be foolish for Huang Shi not to seize this opportunity to win over the hearts of the people of Liaodong.

In the past, Huang Shi had always executed Han soldiers without exception. The main reason for doing so then was that the treatment offered by Changsheng Island was not as good as that offered by the Later Jin. But now, Han people in Liaodong were falling in droves under the Later Jin's sword, and the relatives of Han soldiers were being captured and made bondservants. Many of their female relatives were also being sold as commodities by the Later Jin. If any of these Han soldiers had any backbone, they would no longer serve the Later Jin regime.

"Yes, sir," the crowd chorused. After readily agreeing, Yang Zhiyuan raised a separate question: "Will Changsheng Island have specific military regulations?"

Among the numerous regulations on Changsheng Island, the most deterrent is the military law. In fact, military discipline on Changsheng Island hasn't been particularly strict in recent years. Generally, various crimes result in punitive labor, and violent crimes rarely carry the death penalty. The five hundred veterans from the Vanguard Battalion were also quite intrigued when they first arrived on Changsheng Island. They wondered why Changsheng Island used such lenient sentencing standards, and even more so how it could maintain discipline and order with such light punishments.

Huang Shi's personal view on this issue is: the deterrent effect of the law lies primarily in the inevitability of punishment, not in the severity of the punishment. As long as people feel they cannot escape the law, a lash is enough. Overly harsh punishments might actually induce more serious violent crimes. Furthermore, Huang Shi believes that most people are reasonable, and those who are ungrateful are always a minority. Therefore, Huang Shi has been dedicated to eliminating the discontent and resentment among his subordinates over the years, and cultivating trust and a sense of identity among the military households as much as possible. Besides, doesn't Huang Shi still have the brainwashing tool of "loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, and Catholicism"?

"Of course." Huang Shi has already prepared the relevant military regulations. He feels that this is a very crucial moment, and he intends to transform all these Han soldiers into his own forces. Those Han soldiers who have just arrived must still have many doubts in their hearts, so Changsheng Island must make double the effort to put them at ease. The Han soldiers on Changsheng Island and in the Fu and Gai regions have been enemies for several years, and Huang Shi is worried that his subordinates will ridicule these former enemies or deliberately harm them. Although the Han soldiers cannot resist at this time, they will remember this humiliation, and if such a situation occurs, it will affect Huang Shi's plans.

The prepared military regulations were circulated among his officers, and the severe punishments in them left them all speechless. Insulting Han soldiers would result in at least fifteen days of punitive labor; any act of robbing Han soldiers' property would be punished with forty or more lashes; harassing Han soldiers' female relatives would result in a salary deduction; violent crimes involving Han soldiers' family members would result in demotion and more than six months of "labor reform"; if Han soldiers' lives were harmed...

"Kill without mercy!"

Huang Shi raised his voice. He scanned his subordinates: "Any act of harming those Han soldiers will not be forgiven. Every soldier on Changsheng Island must fully understand this."

"Sir, I have a question." Yang Zhiyuan was no longer as cautious as he had been a few years ago; he asked directly when he didn't understand something: "Sir once said that all officers and soldiers of Changsheng Island are equal before military law. But the military law you've established is several times harsher than our internal military law! Don't you consider those Han soldiers as our own?"

Huang Shi shrugged and retorted, "Do you consider them your own people, General Yang?" A few months ago, the heads of these Han soldiers meant a reward for the Dongjiang soldiers. Huang Shi intended to use strict military law to quickly convert these former enemies into his own people: "Any Han soldiers who have been on Changsheng Island for more than three months will no longer be subject to this military law. Then they will be our own people, and only they will be subject to the military law applicable to Changsheng Island."

After saying this, Huang Shi ordered Li Yunrui: "This military law must be posted in Gaizhou and Fuzhou. Make sure to publicize it well."

"Yes, sir."

Wu Mu had been quietly listening during the discussion of the Han army. Now, Wu Mu absolutely did not interrupt during military meetings, only frequently bringing Chen Ruike to listen with him. Chen Ruike was currently writing something down on paper according to Wu Mu's instructions… After the successful rainmaking ceremony last time, everyone drank some wine to celebrate, and in the alcohol, Chen Ruike, with his big mouth, revealed Wu Mu's little scheme. It turned out that Wu Mu remembered that the Song Dynasty's Grand Eunuch Tong Guan had started as a military supervisor and later, relying on his military knowledge, had been enfeoffed as a king.

In the past few years in the palace, Wu Mu had desperately seized every opportunity to climb the ranks. Now, as a young eunuch with great ambition and drive (Wu Mu considered himself still quite young at over thirty), he felt it would be a waste not to take the opportunity to learn some military strategy. After several months of study, Wu Mu increasingly felt he was becoming somewhat childlike in his approach. He was also very concerned about the situation on other borders of the Ming Dynasty (Wu Mu didn't intend to show off his limited knowledge in front of Huang Shi), and he was always thinking about where he could supervise the army after the Jurchens were wiped out, so he could put his knowledge to practical use.

After discussing the military regulations for the Han army, Li Yunrui presented two pieces of military intelligence for reporting. One was a report from Xuanda Town, and the other was a notice from the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty. They essentially conveyed the same message—Lindan Khan had just declared that he had defeated the combined forces of the three banners of the Later Jin and the Khorchin, and that one of Nurhaci's sons, Dorgon, had been killed on the spot. The valiant Mongol Khan had also beheaded thousands and was now advancing victoriously to the Mongolian grasslands to rest.

Huang Shi's men didn't know who Dorgon was, nor how old he was or whether he could fight. But Huang Shi knew. He barely managed to suppress a laugh and ruin the atmosphere. After listening to the report with a forced seriousness, he immediately asked, "What do you think?"

"Bragging," Li Yunrui replied quickly. "No heads or prisoners. Xuanda Town doesn't believe it, and neither does the Ministry of War. This guy is clearly just trying to scam a reward."

Jin Qiude nodded and said, "That's right. Those barbarians from the West are so poor now that all they have left is horsemanship and archery. They have no armor, swords, or anything else. How could they possibly defeat the Jurchens?"

The Mongolian steppes don't produce iron. Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, a strict trade blockade had been enforced, forbidding the flow of ironware into Mongolia. Over two hundred years, the Mongol cavalry had used up all the armor and weapons left by their ancestors and had now completely degenerated to the era of horn bows. The Later Jin army, at least, had cotton blankets to wear and the sharp weapons they had plundered in recent years. Therefore, when the Later Jin army fought against Ligdan Khan, the Ming army generally favored the former. There are no useless tactics, only incompetent leaders. Huang Shi wonders if the last Genghis Khan disgraced his ancestors.

"Yes, I think so too." Huang Shi remembered that in history, Lindan Khan, that good-for-nothing, ran away before even fighting, so he confidently made his final conclusion: "I estimate that the Western Barbarians deserted in the face of battle, and the Jurchens suffered no losses at all. But that's not a problem. The Western Barbarians claim to have 400,000 archers, and I estimate that tens of thousands of men went this time. Otherwise, the Jurchens wouldn't have needed to gather three banners and the Khorchin Mongols to fight them. The military intelligence of these three banners is very important. As long as these Western Barbarian bandits stay in Liaobei, the Jurchens' two Yellow Banners and the Khorchin Mongols will have to stay there to guard against them this summer and autumn."

"Your Excellency is wise."

"Good. If everything goes smoothly, our new recruits will be trained by autumn. At that time, the forces of my Dongjiang Left Army will completely overwhelm the Jurchens in Fu and Gai, and the Jurchens here will have no reinforcements to rely on." Huang Shi will have two field battalions of five-star soldiers, plus the troops from Jinzhou, Da and Xiao Changshan, Lushun and Guanglu, and the Dongjiang Left Army can mobilize nearly 10,000 soldiers. The Bordered White Banner and the Bordered Red Banner together only had forty Niru, which Huang Shi believed was a completely one-sided troop strength comparison. Nurhaci's situation was even worse than his own, as he now had no reserves: "When the time comes, we will march on Fuzhou and capture Daishan alive."

Huang Shi was determined to lead his brothers from the Left Brigade to achieve merit in the planned autumn offensive. The Ming Dynasty's military system emphasized "mutual control between high and low-ranking officers." This meant using senior generals to control junior officers, and using junior officers to share the power of senior generals. Huang Shi was no longer a battalion commander or a deputy commander of a unit in Dongjiang; as a deputy commander of a brigade, he inevitably had a large number of miscellaneous generals and troops under his command.

To avoid arousing suspicion from the court and the Dongjiang headquarters, Huang Shi couldn't annex or expel these miscellaneous troops. On the other hand, even if he could, Huang Shi didn't intend to expel them. Now a senior officer, he could no longer think like a mid-level officer. Huang Shi saw consolidating the Left Brigade's forces as a challenge, after all, conquering the world couldn't rely solely on one's own elite troops. A successful person must be able to cooperate with others and inspire others to work with them.

In Huang Shi's plan, the closer the troops were to him, the greater the benefits they would receive. Of course, Huang Shi's loyal subordinates and troops would always get the biggest slice of the pie and grow the fastest. But those who actively sided with Huang Shi would also receive sufficient rewards. He always believed that annexing those troops who came to his side was not a good idea; it would be tantamount to closing the door to cooperation with others.

...

Kuandian, Right Wing of Dongjiang Town.

Chen Jisheng, the deputy general of Dongjiang, was writing furiously. He had considered for a long time whether to write this letter requesting war, but the current situation left him no choice but to be tempted. Since Nurhaci launched the massacre, large numbers of Han Chinese and Han soldiers from Liaodong had fled to Kuandian, and the strength of the Right Wing of Dongjiang was growing stronger every day.

Among these refugees were also a large number of Han soldiers. These soldiers, who had received some military training, could not only quickly replenish the troops of the various camps in Dongjiang, but also brought a lot of valuable intelligence to the Dongjiang army. During this period, the intelligence work of the Dongjiang Right Wing Army has made encouraging progress. Numerous spies have been successfully infiltrated into both the western Lianshan defense line and the northern Changbai Mountain defense line.

In Huangshi's previous life, the Dongjiang Right Wing Army had consistently adopted a cautious strategy to cultivate its fighting forces, only launching consecutive offensives against Lianshan and Changbai Mountain in the sixth year of the Tianqi reign. Chen Jisheng's two offensives were both successful. After breaking through the Lianshan defense line by exploiting the Later Jin's insufficient forces, the Dongjiang Army once advanced its advance to the outskirts of Shenyang. The Later Jin garrison in Shenyang refused to engage in battle in the face of Kong Youde's challenge, and Mao Wenlong burned down all the facilities outside Shenyang in three days. A few months later, the Dongjiang Right Wing Army crossed the Changbai Mountains and entered Jianzhou, beginning its siege of Sarhu City.

But this time, Chen Jisheng could no longer remain passive. While the number of beheadings by the Left and Right Wing Armies was roughly the same so far, Huangshi's beheadings almost entirely involved Han soldiers, while 80% of the two thousand heads collected by the Right Wing Army were Han soldiers. Anyone with a discerning eye could easily distinguish the relative strengths of these two forces. Furthermore, the Right Banner had been consistently outmaneuvered by the two Blue Banners last year, while Huang Shi had always dominated the two Red Banners. The recent Battle of Nanguan was even more dramatic. Two battalions of Ming troops had actually routed three Banners of Later Jin army in open battle. Keep in mind that Chen Jisheng's Right Banner comprised five battalions, and his headquarters had even sent two battalions, led by Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, to assist him. This put even more pressure on Chen Jisheng.

In his letter, Chen Jisheng described the situation in Liaodong, making the same judgment as Huang Shi—that the enemy was unlikely to receive reinforcements. The Bordered Blue Banner, with its sixty-one Niru (military units), was resisting pressure from both Korea and Kuandian. In reality, after the Plain Blue Banner was crippled, Kuandian's seven battalions already possessed nearly twice the troop strength.

However, the Ming army battalions in Kuandian had also suffered significant losses last year, and Dongjiang Town primarily employed guerrilla warfare against Han Chinese self-defense forces. So Chen Jisheng finally wrote this letter requesting battle—and incidentally, asking Mao Wenlong to launch an attack on Zhenjiang in the autumn.

"If our forces attack Zhenjiang, we should be able to draw away thirty to thirty-five Niru of the Jurchens," Chen Jisheng said, sealing the letter. The stars in the night sky were so bright. He had consulted several fortune tellers in the past few days, and they all said they saw his star, Chen Jisheng's star of war, shining very brightly recently. Chen Jisheng felt confident in using seven battalions to fight twenty-five to thirty Niru of the Jurchens. Although this campaign was somewhat hasty, but… "In the General's heart, he will still be more on my side, won't he?"

When news of Nurhaci's massacre reached the capital, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty reduced his meals and avoided the palace. Wei Zhongxian dared not urge the Emperor to eat, and could only stand aside, silently weeping.

"The land of our ancestors, the people of our ancestors…" After hearing that another hundred thousand Liaodong people had died, the Emperor lost all interest in carpentry. He kept repeating these two phrases to himself.

Wei Zhongxian, his eyes brimming with tears, finally burst into sobs, collapsing to the ground and wailing, "Your Majesty, do not worry! Mr. Sun... Mr. Sun will surely have a way!"

Several days later, at Shanhaiguan.

Sun Chengzong, the Liaodong military commissioner, summoned Ma Shilong, the general of the Guan-Ning Army. Seeing the deep worry on Sun Chengzong's face, General Ma quickly asked in a low voice, "Lord Sun, you summoned me so urgently, what are your orders?"

"His Majesty has heard of the tragedy in Liaodong," Sun Chengzong received an urgent letter from the capital that day, the letter bearing the handwriting of Emperor Tianqi himself. His words were filled with worry. As the saying goes, "When the emperor is worried, the subject is disgraced." Faced with Tianqi's urgent inquiry, Old Sun also felt a pang of sorrow: "This minister intends to take Yaozhou."

As Sun Chengzong spoke, his hand was already on the map where Yaozhou was located, then he suddenly pulled it down. His fist slammed on the table with a loud thud, stopping at the location of Jinzhou: "Then you and Deputy General Huang of the Left Assistant of Dongjiang Town will launch a pincer attack from the north and south, annihilating all the Jurchens entrenched in Fuzhou and Gaizhou."

Yaozhou is located between Haizhou and Gaizhou on the official road. Once the Ming army captures this place, communication and transportation between Fuzhou, Gaizhou, and Shenyang will be cut off.

Not far south of Yaozhou is Boluowo, where the fierce battle last took place when Huang Shi caused a great disturbance in Gaizhou. To the east of Boluowo are vast stretches of barren mountains and wilderness, without any official roads. If the Ming army can control the passage from Yaozhou to the vicinity of Boluowo, the Bordered White Banner and Bordered Red Banner of Fuzhou and Gaizhou will actually be surrounded by the Ming army. Ma Shilong silently studied the map for a moment, then suddenly clasped his hands in

a salute and said, "When does Lord Sun intend for me to send out troops?" "No need for formalities." Sun Chengzong gestured for Ma Shilong to stand up straight, then stared at him and said, "I will follow your instructions." "I thank Lord Sun for his trust." After saying this, Ma Shilong looked at the map again, analyzing the surrounding mountains and rivers as he went. Finally, Ma Shilong concluded, "Lord Sun, I believe we should first gather intelligence and send spies before we can send out troops. Furthermore, does Lord Sun intend for me to go by sea?" "Yes." "Lord Sun, you are wise. I also need to assign a naval unit, so the soldiers can get on ships and acclimatize to seafaring." "Very well, I will grant your request." "Lord Sun, you are wise. Once everything is ready, it will probably take several months. I estimate we can only depart in mid-July or after autumn." Ma Shilong looked at Sun Chengzong's expression nervously and tentatively asked, "Is the Emperor furious about the situation in Liaodong?" "You don't need to worry about so much, and there's no need to rush. Everything should be done with the utmost care. The Emperor will have his side of the matter." Sun Chengzong stared at Yaozhou for a moment, then suddenly remembered someone mentioning this location to him a few years ago. It was at Shanhaiguan; a young general had mentioned the idea of using the sea as a route, and Yaozhou was among the coastal strongholds that person had casually mentioned. "Wait," Sun Chengzong called to Ma Shilong, who was about to leave, "You'd better send someone to Changsheng Island to discuss it with Huang Shi, the Deputy General of Dongjiang. You and he are both Assistant Commanders-in-Chief, of the same rank, so it's easy to talk to him." Sun Chengzong, a powerful minister who had swept through the army like a whirlwind , said this entirely out of goodwill. Huang Shi was now rising like the sun, his fame resounding throughout the land. Moreover, Huang Shi was the initiator of the attack on Yaozhou and had experience in numerous bitter battles against the Later Jin over the past four years. But this well-intentioned truth made General Ma Shilong of Guan Ning's expression change slightly, and his tone also carried a hint of anger: "Lord Sun, although I am foolish, my ancestors have been border generals for over a hundred years... I dare to say that I am confident that I know a little about military strategy."

Ma Shilong repeated a few simple words, but Sun Chengzong had already understood the core meaning. General Ma was clearly dissatisfied with Sun Chengzong's high regard for someone who rose from humble beginnings. Moreover, Sun Chengzong had heard of this dissatisfaction; it was deeply ingrained within the Guan Ning Army. These Liaoxi generals generally felt that the Dongjiang Army was full of nouveau riche, and from Mao Wenlong onwards, they were a bunch of peasants who had somehow appeared out of nowhere.

"Lord Sun, please forgive me..." Ma Shilong became increasingly impassioned as

he spoke. "No need," Sun Chengzong raised his hand to stop Ma Shilong from continuing. After all, the 160,000 Guan Ning soldiers were the result of his hard work over the past three years, and this army felt like his own son. Sun Chengzong worked tirelessly, equipping the troops with weapons and overseeing land reclamation and salary collection, until his hair turned white. Deep down, he hoped the army would amount to something: "Just do everything as you wish."

"Thank you, Lord Sun," Ma Shilong said respectfully, though a wave of displeasure still lingered in his heart.

Back in his tent, Ma Shilong quickly summoned his deputy, Lu Zhijia: "Immediately dispatch spies to Liaodong to scout the areas around Sanchahe, Niangniang Palace, Yaozhou, and Boluowo."

Lu Zhijia was taken aback: "My lord, we're going to Liaodong?"

"That's right. An army is raised for a thousand days, to be used for one." Ma Shilong briefly explained the instructions Sun Chengzong had given him, then let out a long sigh: "Deputy General Lu, this campaign is entrusted to you. You must bring honor to me and the Guan Ning Army."

"Thank you for your trust, my lord. I will do my utmost, even unto death..."

"Shut up!"

Ma Shilong shouted, then spat on the ground: "Don't say the word 'death.' From now until we set out, don't utter that word once."

"Your humble servant obeys." After agreeing, Lu Zhijia remembered Ma Shilong's sigh earlier and stepped closer, saying, "Sir, may I ask if there's something amiss? Or does Lord Sun have some dissatisfaction with our Guan Ning Army?"

"Alas, isn't it that Huang Shi again?" Ma Shilong sat down, leaning on his chair, and reached for his teacup to take a sip. But when he lifted the lid, he found there wasn't much left, and the little water that remained was cold. Ma Shilong flew into a rage, raising his head and roaring, "Come here, where have you all been? Quickly, change my tea!"

After his outburst, Ma Shilong immediately deflated. He slumped down, gesturing for Lu Zhijia to sit down and speak, "Brother Lu, you know me. My family has been generals for generations, for over a hundred years. Today, Lord Sun actually wants me to consult that Huang Shi, to learn from him how to fight."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Zhijia's anger was already evident. He himself was also a military man from a family of generals, and his family had told him about his ancestors' martial prowess since childhood. Although there hadn't been much war in western Liaoning for a century, they were, after all, descendants of good generals. What was Huang Shi anyway? Lu Zhijia harbored some resentment towards Sun Chengzong, but the old man had personally taken care of them for the past three years, even sharing his food and clothing with the generals of western Liaoning. They all admired him, so naturally, they could only curse Huang Shi: "Huang Shi, just a vagrant who joined the army, does he even know anything about military strategy?"

"What military strategy? Hmph, who knows if he can even read." Ma Shilong thought a stinking beggar probably couldn't afford books

. "Isn't Huang Shi from a merchant family in Kaiyuan?" Lu Zhijia was referring to Huang Shi's fabricated resume. Anyway, Kaiyuan had been massacred by Nurhaci, with hundreds of thousands of Han people filling ditches, so Huang Shi felt there was no way to prove it.

"Hmph, what merchant? Just a beggar. Just like that general from Dongjiang." Ma Shilong finished speaking and burst into laughter, Lu Zhijia laughing heartily beside him. Over twenty years ago, Mao Wenlong was originally a fortune teller who also worked as a beggar. He begged his way to Liaodong and then joined the Li Chengliang family, serving as a servant alongside Nurhaci and Li Yongfang. After years of hard work and accumulating merit on the frontier, Mao Wenlong changed his surname back to his original one and even returned to his hometown of Hangzhou to marry. Because he knew a couple of characters, Mao Wenlong always boasted about his Confucian scholar background. In Dongjiang Town, no one dared to expose this little bit of vanity, but in other towns, it had become a laughing stock. The hereditary military officers naturally looked down on Mao Wenlong, a man of humble origins, and the officers of Dongjiang Town were all nouveau riche in their eyes.

After laughing, Ma Shilong sighed with a complicated expression, "You know what, Huang Shi is quite brave and strong, repeatedly defeating the Jurchens."

"I've heard about it too. This fellow is six feet tall, always carries a sword and a saber on the battlefield, and loves to charge ahead, personally engaging the Jurchens in melee combat in every battle. Hmm..." Lu Zhijia recalled the reports he had seen, some of which left a deep impression on him: "In the Battle of Gaizhou, Huang Shi led two thousand troops, and in the end, only a hundred or so were killed or wounded, but his arm was broken. And he's still a lieutenant general."

"Just a commoner, but a very brave one. But now he's a deputy general, this commoner actually managed to become a deputy commander by fighting his way up." Thinking that a boar-like general could be his equal, Ma Shilong felt an indescribable sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or sympathy).

Lu Zhijia, standing to the side, was even more enraged. As the deputy general of Guan Ning, he was only a deputy commander (equivalent to a sub-prefect). He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "My lord, rest assured! I know someone who is as brave as ten thousand men. I will take him with me on this expedition!"

"Is it Li Chengxian, who commands the chariot and artillery battalion?"

"My lord is wise; it is indeed him. His ancestors for three generations were all incredibly strong, and they were among the best heroes in Liaoxi for generations." As he spoke, Lu Zhijia grinned widely and gave a resounding thumbs-up.

"Hmm, I have also heard of Li Chengxian's martial prowess. It is said that he can draw a ten-stone bow twenty times in a row, and can wield a long spear while wearing heavy armor. Furthermore, he has been well-versed in military strategy since childhood."

"Indeed."

Ma Shilong quickly calculated on his fingers; he already had a general and a vanguard. Next came the issue of troop strength: "Lord Sun intends to attack Yaozhou. The Jurchen forces there have always been weak; I estimate they number only one or half a Niru. Once confirmed, I will give you a wagon and artillery battalion and a naval battalion, which will be placed under the command of Li Chengxian."

"Where would you need so many troops?" Lu Zhijia said dismissively, "Give me a naval battalion; there's no need to use the wagon and artillery battalion."

A naval battalion has a thousand sailors, and Lu Zhijia, having heard that the enemy, including auxiliary troops, only numbered a few hundred, already underestimated them. He felt that a single naval battalion was already being used to kill a chicken.

“No,” Ma Shilong shook his head vigorously. This battle was the first in over three years of training for the Guan Ning Army, and he desperately wanted a good start. “Take a wagon and artillery battalion with you. If all goes well,” Ma Shilong slammed his hand on the table, sending teacups flying, “you will take Gaizhou for me.”

“Gaizhou?”

“Exactly,” Ma Shilong had already inquired in detail about the weapons of the fire brigade. “Huang Shi’s troops have two thousand soldiers in each battalion. Apart from their relatively good armor, the rest are insignificant—” Ma Shilong waved his hand to emphasize his point, while a look of contempt appeared on his face. “Huang Shi has over fifteen hundred of the cheapest spearmen and five hundred musketeers who can also use short weapons, and they can’t even afford shields for their short weapons.”

“They can still defeat the Jurchens? Haha, it seems the Jurchens are doomed.” Lu Zhijia laughed heartily. He felt that Gaizhou was not such a distant problem after all.

"I've heard Huangshi also has cannons," Ma Shilong's sarcasm deepened, "but only six, the largest supposedly similar to a small general's cannon."

A Guan Ning army caravan and artillery battalion also consisted of two thousand soldiers, but the Guan Ning army emphasized firepower rather than the melee combat capabilities emphasized by Huangshi. Each caravan and artillery battalion was equipped with three hundred various types of caravans and ninety cannons. The smallest of these cannons was a half-pound tiger-crouching cannon. The largest was an eighteen-pound Hongyi cannon. Each caravan and artillery battalion was also equipped with 1,100 three-, five-, and seven-barreled muskets and several hundred arquebuses. The Ming army hoped to use these firearms to create a barrage of fire against melee soldiers. In addition, each caravan and artillery battalion was equipped with five hundred shields to protect the gunners and musketeers… and of course, no cheap weapons like long spears.

"Rest assured, sir, this humble general will certainly capture Gaizhou!" Lu Zhijia slapped his thigh, puffing out his chest. "I will not return to see the commander until I have utterly defeated the Jurchens and recovered Gaizhou!"

In reality, the Guan Ning Army regulations aimed to avoid melee combat as much as possible. A standard Guan Ning Army cavalry battalion consisted of a thousand cavalrymen, but each battalion was equipped with over six hundred muskets of various types, ranging from three-eyed to seven-eyed. The cavalry battalion also had over thirty cavalry cannons. Sun Chengzong's military strategy relied on artillery to provide the main firepower, with muskets providing cover. Huang Shi always felt that this approach contradicted Qi Jiguang's. Qi Jiguang's military treatise emphasized melee combat ability above all else, with ranged weapons serving as auxiliary weapons. For example, in Qi Jiguang's wagon battalions, swordsmen and shieldmen carried three javelins, which they would hurl at the enemy lines before charging into close combat.

Huang Shi remembered that Qi Jiguang's melee infantry were invincible. After years of fighting the Japanese pirates, Qi Jiguang beheaded over 20,000, while his own death was less than 400. Later, when Qi Jiguang went to the northern frontier to fight the Mongols, the exchange ratio between his wagon battalion and the "Mongol Iron Cavalry" remained consistently between 1:40 and 1:50. Huang Shi knew he didn't possess Qi Jiguang's genius, but compared to the civil official Sun Chengzong, he still preferred to adopt Qi Jiguang's military training methods. After all, Qi Jiguang had spent his life on the battlefield, invincible. Moreover... melee infantry was also cheap. A single wagon and artillery battalion of the Guan Ning Army required ninety cannons, countless draft horses, and chariots. Huang Shi couldn't afford to support them even if he sold his underwear.

...

Late May of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, Changsheng Island.

"Fellow believers, let us pray for the people of Liaodong under the iron hooves of the Jurchens." After saying this, Zhang Zaidi closed his eyes. He had just finished a speech denouncing Nurhaci's crimes.

Everyone in the room... including Huang Shi, closed their eyes as well. Now that Changsheng Island has started having holidays, Huang Shi realized that working day and night was impossible, so he started piloting a responsibility system—once the work was finished, workers could go home or have a day off. The effect seemed good; worker enthusiasm had greatly increased. Huang Shi then discovered that many jobs that would normally take a whole day could actually be done in half a day. The work quota had been increased by 50%, but most people still managed to finish and go home before dark.

After a moment of silence… no, after a period of prayer, Zhang Zaidi loudly proclaimed, “Alright, brothers. God will surely punish Wild Boar Skin for his crimes against humanity. Our fight against Wild Boar Skin will surely please God.”

“Next is Japan. The people there live in misery…” Duncan began a new round of sermons, vividly recounting how the cruel Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan persecuted farmers. Japanese farmers, facing food shortages, were forced to throw their sons to their deaths on doorsteps, while feudal lords at all levels lived lives of extravagance and debauchery—Huang Shi unoriginally copied some stories from mainland China, including "The White-Haired Girl," but changed the characters to the Japanese feudal lord Momotaro and the young girl Chibi Maruko-chan.

"Our expeditionary force will bring water and bread to the Japanese farmers…no, soy milk and rice." The expeditionary force Duncan referred to was the bandit group led by Yang Zhiyuan, a force of over a thousand men, about half of whom were new recruits going to participate in actual combat. They would rest briefly on Jeju Island before landing in the small town Liu Qingyang had bought.

The transport would be handled by Shi Ce's Changsheng Island naval force and Shang Kexi's Changshan Island naval force; Huang Shi felt that when the eldest brother eats meat, the most obedient younger brother should at least get a bowl of soup. Huang Shi also repeatedly instructed Yang Zhiyuan that this was merely a display of force, not a military operation. Therefore, the attack on Choshu must be stopped at the right time, and the Choshu Domain must never be allowed to weaken to the point of being devoured by the Japanese Shogunate.

"Fellow believers, let us pray for the Japanese farmers and our valiant expeditionary force."

Brainwashing day… no, the entire morning of Sunday was spent on various speeches. Those participating in the prayer would go for lunch first, and an hour later they would return to continue the brainwashing… no, the prayer.

Huang Shi hadn't eaten in the canteen for the past few days. Like the previous days, he rolled up his flatbread and left, reminding his guards as he went: "You stay here, I'll take a walk by myself."

He rode to a "breeding farm" by the sea. On Changsheng Island, many wooden sticks had been charred and planted on the seabed not far away during low tide. After a period of time, these sticks would produce oysters.

Huang Shi dismounted and tossed the flatbread to the man who had come to greet him. The man smiled and caught the still-steaming flatbread, saying, "General Huang is truly a man of his word."

Huang Shi smiled back, "I am the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, how could I break my promise to a mere young woman?"

The young woman blushed slightly, then smiled again, "A Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, a second-rank official, a pillar of the state, serving me coarse grain flatbread?"

Huang Shi wasn't offended by this remark; he chuckled dryly, unable to offer a proper explanation… Actually, this wasn't unusual in the late Ming Dynasty, but he always felt a deep sense of shame whenever he spoke to this girl. After all, the age difference between them was too great. In his previous life, he would have been ridiculed as a beast or even crippled by his friends. Therefore, Huang Shi didn't want to tell anyone why he had come here, and he didn't even bring his personal guards.

The girl happily munched on the flatbread. A few days ago, Huang Shi spilled the food she was taking home in the mess hall… The girl, of course, immediately recognized the important figure before her. Without uttering a word, she sobbed as she picked up the food from the ground and put it back in her basket, not even letting go of the grains of rice covered in dirt.

Feeling ashamed, Huang Shi had someone investigate the girl's background. It turned out that her brother, who was her only family, was just a minor soldier. The siblings were orphans and came from a merchant family, so they had no physical strength. Therefore, the girl could only do jobs like watching the sea and standing guard. Their food rations were the lowest on Changsheng Island.

Although Huang Shi carefully hid behind the girl and thought that she was looking straight ahead and not noticing his gaze, the girl suddenly choked while eating a pancake, and her face inexplicably flushed. Feeling guilty, Huang Shi quickly looked away… On his way back to the old camp, he looked around to make sure no one was nearby before rushing back. Upon arriving at the old camp, before he could even dismount, Li Yunrui, who had been waiting at the gate, ran over and grabbed his reins: "Sir, Commander Yang has sent word."

"Hmm, it was about time." Huang Shi snorted with satisfaction. This Yang Zhiyuan, once released, was like a wild horse let loose. He did send a messenger to report that everything was safe when he reached Jeju Island, but after that, there was no further news. This had been causing Huang Shi considerable anxiety lately. The three-month recruit training on Changsheng Island would soon be over, and if Yang Zhiyuan's army couldn't return in time, Huang Shi's Fuzhou offensive couldn't proceed as planned.

"I went to the mess hall to look for you, sir, but couldn't find you." Li Yunrui, who always liked to wait for people at mealtimes, was now somewhat puzzled: "You didn't even bring your personal guards with you when you went out

, sir." "Hmm, I went for a walk on the beach to clear my head."

"You seem to be in good spirits, sir." Li Yunrui praised him happily. Huang Shi's whereabouts didn't need explaining to him, and he was quite pleased to see his superior value him so much.

Huang Shi, feeling guilty, glanced back at Li Yunrui twice. The two quickly entered the old camp. Upon seeing Huang Shi enter, the messenger sent by Yang Zhiyuan immediately greeted him, but before Huang Shi could speak, a tall, burly man leaped out from behind the crowd. This man pounced like a hungry tiger, kneeling at the feet of this important Ming official before the guards could seize him, and a string of fluent Chinese words flowed out: "I am Nobuyoshi, a retainer of the Choshu Domain, and today I have the honor of seeing the esteemed face of the Crown Prince's Junior Guardian of the Celestial Dynasty. I am filled with immense fear and trepidation."

(Chapter 7: Assisting the

Nobuyoshi family, who originated from the Takeda clan of Koshu in Japan, which in turn descended from the Minamoto clan. This Nobuyoshi's ancestor was also a son of a monkey from the Takeda Mountain.) After Katsuyori's death in the village, the Morisui family fled to the Kansai region of Japan. In the original history of Huangshi, the family's last occupation was as merchants, continuing until the end of the Edo period. Their family was always known for their quick thinking and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

This magistrate, Nobuyoshi, was only twenty years old. Last year, he joined the Choshu Domain as a foot soldier commander, receiving an annual stipend of fifty koku of rice. When the domain suddenly mobilized secretly last month, Nobuyoshi initially thought the shogunate was finally going to make a move against Choshu. However, when he marched into the ranks with a sense of tragic determination, the commander, the samurai general, told him that they were actually going to fight a group of "pirates."

These pirates, including Wang Zhi, were called Wokou in China, but in Japan, they were once called "Mingkou." Later, the shogunate dared not use that term and instead adopted the name "pirates." While the Wokou were constantly pursued and fought by the Chinese government in Ming China, in Japan, they often pursued and fought the Japanese government forces. During Japan's Warring States period, powerful feudal lords were generally very polite to large groups of pirates—because the pirates were usually more powerful than the feudal lords. It wasn't until the shogunate period that the balance of power gradually changed. After the Korean War, the Tokugawa shogunate became quite ruthless, desperately eliminating many pirates in the surrounding area, fearing it would give the Ming Dynasty a pretext for war.

As for the most powerful pirate groups, the Tokugawa Shogunate evasively referred to them as "maritime merchants." For example, figures like Li Dan and Zheng Yiguan could each mobilize tens of thousands of troops, and they had intricate connections with the Ming Dynasty, even adopting the identity of Fujian merchants affiliated with the Ming. Knowing they couldn't possibly eliminate them, the Tokugawa Shogunate turned a blind eye to their encroachment on Japanese land and cities.

Upon hearing that their opponents were pirates, the morale of Nobuyoshi and his peasant soldiers soared—if the enemy couldn't be called "Ming Dynasty merchants," then they must lack real strength. Along the way, the lower-ranking samurai and peasants also heard that these few hundred pirates had occupied Shimonoseki Port of the Choshu Domain and were openly extorting the Choshu Domain, which made them even happier. This was because the Choshu Domain had mobilized nearly three thousand troops, including two thousand combat soldiers. Fighting a few hundred pirates who had landed was child's play, wasn't it?

But as soon as they reached the vicinity of Shimonoseki, the commander-in-chief Nobuyoshi sensed something was amiss. The opposing soldiers, standing in rows, were clearly not bandits; their ranks were even more orderly than his own samurai. When both sides deployed their troops, the situation became even more strange. The opposing "pirates" were all clad in iron armor. Nobuyoshi's superior was stunned, forgetting even to issue the usual orders for troop formation. The other samurai were equally dumbfounded. Unlike his uncultured colleague, Nobuyoshi had heard many tales of the Ming Dynasty while at the border. The iron armor before him was clearly a weapon of the Ming Dynasty, something that money couldn't buy anywhere.

Nobuyoshi glanced at it and estimated that even the few "merchants" recognized by the shogunate combined couldn't muster that much armor. He cautiously confided his doubts to the leader, who then sent him to speak with the commander-in-chief. Upon seeing the dazzling equipment on the other side, the commander-in-chief was speechless, like a toad struck by lightning. After hearing the report from the commander-in-chief, Nobuyoshi, the general, while cursing the swindlers in the domain, mumbled and sent his men to test the waters.

The messenger walked twenty meters to the pirate army and shouted, "I am from the Mori family of the Choshu Domain… Ah—" He was only halfway through his sentence when the unfortunate fellow was riddled with bullets. Before Yang Zhiyuan arrived, Huang Shi had introduced him to some Japanese customs and traditions. Before Kuroshima could finish translating, Yang Zhiyuan concluded that this ceremony was a pre-battle challenge. Impatient, the guerrilla commander immediately ordered the battle to begin.

Shells from three-pound and six-pound cannons whistled towards the Choshu army's heads. The artillery technology of Choshu Island was much better than it had been a few months ago. The enemy's long-range firepower and cavalry were poor, so the Choshu Island artillerymen moved their cannons closer for ricochet firing. A precise artillery barrage carved a bloody path through the dense ranks of the Changzhou army; the scorching iron balls meant instant death from a mere graze. Ming army regulations mandated two-man artillery crews, and even the 18-pound Hongyi cannons were only specially reinforced to four-man crews. The Changzhou army's custom-made twenty-man crews, designed for field battles, provided ample manpower, allowing the cannons to fire at a rate even exceeding that of matchlock muskets. The three-pound cannons could now fire three rounds per minute, with room for further improvement.

According to Kuroshima Kazuo, Japan hadn't fought a war for two generations, and the Changzhou samurai and farmers present were indeed seeing field artillery for the first time. However, what astonished Yang Zhiyuan was… they had withstood the fire, and after enduring the Ming army's artillery for a full quarter of an hour, they showed no signs of collapse. This tenacity deeply impressed Yang Zhiyuan. Due to acclimatization issues, nearly 20% of the Ming army's combatants were unable to fight, so Yang Zhiyuan had been hoping the Changzhou army would be intimidated by the artillery.

But now there was no time to wait. Yang Zhiyuan worried that his opponent would eventually recover from the initial shock, so he ordered the infantry to attack. The first intelligence provided by Kuroshima Kazuo seemed inaccurate, but he hoped Kuroshima wouldn't make a second mistake. It was said that the Choshu army was mainly composed of peasants, and Yang Zhiyuan hoped that the peasant soldiers would scatter during the melee, allowing him to overwhelm the remaining samurai with sheer numbers.

After the charge began, Yang Zhiyuan was even more shocked to see the entire Choshu army scatter. The hereditary samurai ran even faster than the peasants. This behavior from an army that had just displayed remarkable discipline and quality greatly worried Yang Zhiyuan. He halted the planned pursuit to rule out a trap and ordered the interrogation of prisoners—Huang Shi's orders to Yang Zhiyuan were to treat prisoners well; the Changsheng Army in Japan should be both a powerful and civilized force. Huang Shi's current goal was business; instigating a people's war would be extremely unwise.

Through the interrogation, Yang Zhiyuan realized he had made a dogmatic error. The Choshu army's initial resilience wasn't due to bravery, but rather because they were utterly terrified—they were simply overly frightened. When the Ming army charged with bayonets, the Choshu army, regaining their composure, crumbled at lightning speed.

That very evening, the Choshu Domain discovered that the magistrate, Nobuyoshi, spoke Chinese and was quick-witted, so they hastily promoted him to Grand General to negotiate with the "pirates." Upon learning that the mastermind behind the counterfeit money shop was the Crown Prince's Junior Guardian of the Ming Dynasty, the Choshu warriors turned green with fear. They anticipated that someone would have to commit suicide to atone for their sins. Ultimately, this glorious task fell once again to Nobuyoshi, who had just returned from a near-death mission. On the same day he was promoted to Grand General, he was again promoted to Chief of the Choshu Domain and then sent to the Ming Dynasty to apologize.

The two Choshu Domain vice-envoys accompanying Nobuyoshi lectured him extensively on the importance of prioritizing one's master and repeatedly hinted that he should step forward bravely and "take responsibility" at the "critical moment." While Nobuyoshi's words were passionate and eloquent, his heart was filled with curses—"I've barely eaten meat, I don't even have a wife yet, who the hell would commit seppuku?"

These three envoys, each with their own hidden agendas, were speechless with astonishment when they arrived at Changsheng Island with the messenger. Although they had known since childhood that the Ming Dynasty was a behemoth and had constantly reminded themselves of its unfathomable strength, seeing such a small island as Changsheng Island with its large number of armored soldiers pushed them to the brink of mental collapse.

As for why the Crown Prince's Junior Guardian of the Ming Dynasty was here? It was easy to explain. The Crown Prince's Junior Guardian was on the front lines commanding the battle against the barbarians. These three, seeing the rows of armored soldiers on Changsheng Island, resolved never to provoke the Ming Dynasty or cause it the slightest displeasure.

Nobuyoshi's salary had increased to two hundred koku, but this ungrateful wretch still showed not a shred of awareness of the need to sacrifice himself for Changshu. Upon seeing Huang Shi, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground, taking all the blame for the Choshu Domain and intending to accept all their demands.

Huang Shi didn't intend to make any excessive demands; the relationship between the southwestern domains and the shogunate was one of mutual misfortune, but regardless, Choshu was ultimately backed by the Tokugawa shogunate. Regardless of its quality, a shogunate capable of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops, including tens of thousands of professional soldiers, was not to be underestimated, and was beyond Huang Shi's current capabilities.

Morisui Nobuyoshi quickly noticed that Huang Shi didn't seem entirely justified, so he swiftly explained Choshu's actions, successfully shifting the blame to the Tokugawa shogunate. Finally, an agreement was reached: Huang Shi could continue his copper coin trading, but all copper coins would be sold to the Choshu Domain, which would then resell them through its own channels. After reaching this consensus, Morisui Nobuyoshi couldn't help but feel secretly pleased; it seemed he could return alive. Moreover, this would allow him to establish a strategic partnership with the Ming Dynasty, and the Choshu Domain would likely be satisfied, at least not to kill him in revenge.

Another condition proposed by Huang Shi was missionary work; he demanded that the Choshu Domain allow the Loyal Emperor Patriotic Catholic Church to enter Choshu. This proposal caused Morisui Nobuyoshi to consider it for a long time, ultimately suggesting that to save face for the shogunate, the church must change its name—for example, to "Loyal Emperor, Patriotic Choshu Church." Morisui Nobuyoshi felt that Huang Shi's request was merely an additional condition for a believer and not a big deal; to please Huang Shi, he was even willing to be the first Japanese to join the church. When Huang Shi told him that he already had a fellow believer named Kuroshima Kazuo

, Morisui Nobuyoshi seemed somewhat disappointed. In Huang Shi's calculations, he needed a breakthrough to infiltrate Japan. Although at this time, Japanese national consciousness and state consciousness were far from awakened, and historically had not been stimulated by the Dutch, the addition of Huang Shi made things more complicated. Religion undoubtedly possessed the power to generate deep identification, and using religious identification to penetrate a feudal state was relatively easy.

In early June of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, Morisui Nobuyoshi's ship returning to Japan was accompanied by two more Loyal Emperor Patriotic Catholic priests. While the ship was refueling in the Kyuhara area, the two priests prayed devoutly on the dock. A Japanese farm boy who looked only five or six years old followed them, rowing for a few seconds, and then knelt beside the two priests, offering a childlike prayer in Japanese.

"This child is so cute," one of the priests from Chosei Island said, looking into the child's clear, big eyes. He couldn't help but take out two small steamed buns and give them to the boy, patting his head as he asked the attendant, Nobuyoshi, "What is this child's name?"

Nobuyoshi glanced at the farm boy and scoffed, "A farmer's son, he doesn't have a surname." Many Japanese samurai would rather starve than become farmers because Japanese farmers didn't have surnames. For a fallen samurai to become a farmer meant the end of his family crest.

The child was devouring a steamed bun when Morisui Nobuyoshi squatted down and asked, "Little boy, what's your name?"

The child's eyes widened, and he answered crisply, "I have a surname."

"Oh, so young and already aspiring to be a samurai. Impressive!" Morisui Nobuyoshi laughed heartily. "Aspiring child, what's your surname?"

The boy didn't offer any further explanation. He proudly declared in his clear, childlike voice, "My name is Amakusa Shiro Kazusada."

...

That same month, Sun Chengzong ascended the platform at Shanhaiguan to be appointed general. He personally obtained the Imperial Sword for Ma Shilong and recommended him for the promotion to Right Vice-General, in charge of the generals of Guan Ning. In this timeline, Ma Shilong's future, which had been affected by Huang Shi, finally returned to its starting point due to Huang Shi's shirking of responsibility, only a little later. Overwhelmed

with gratitude, Ma Shilong solemnly accepted the Imperial Sword. On the platform where he was to be appointed general, Sun Chengzong bowed three times in front of everyone,

saying, "I entrust the affairs of the east to Commander Ma. This department will procure provisions for Commander Ma and will not interfere in specific military matters." Ma Shilong knelt on one knee and swore to the heavens, "Rest assured, Lord Sun. This humble general will certainly live up to the trust of the country and the Emperor and will surely wipe out the Jurchens in one fell swoop!"

According to Ma Shilong's plan, his trusted general Lu Zhijia would form a mobile force, consisting of a chariot and artillery battalion and an iron cavalry battalion. Two naval battalions would be responsible for transportation. The entire mobile force would have 5,000 combat soldiers, 5,000 auxiliary soldiers, 300 chariots, 3,000 warhorses and packhorses, 1,400 boats, and be equipped with 100 cannons—including two Hongyi cannons and 3,000 muskets of various types. Once a weakness in the Later Jin army's defenses was discovered, Ma Shilong would use this powerful mobile force to launch a thunderous attack to create an opening. He would then personally supervise the Guan Ning army in the rear to follow up, aiming to inflict a major blow on the Later Jin army.

Ma Shilong had also personally tested Li Chengxian, the fierce general recommended by Lu Zhijia, and was very satisfied with this military commander. Li Chengxian answered questions fluently about military strategy and tactics, and his skills on and off horseback were also quite impressive. Ma Shilong immediately approved his promotion to Guan Ning Assistant General, and Lu Zhijia personally presented Li Chengxian with the vanguard seal.

"Jin Guan and Yao Yuxian will command the two naval battalions, Li Chengxian will be in charge of the artillery battalion, Zhou Shoulian will lead the cavalry battalion..." Lu Zhijia enthusiastically deployed the tasks. The Guan Ning naval battalion's task was similar to that of Changsheng Island, responsible for ferrying sick soldiers and weapons across the river, as well as transporting food and wounded soldiers. Lu Zhijia pointed to each person, repeating their responsibilities, and the generals in the battalion responded with a resounding "Yes!"

After the military deployment was completed, Lu Zhijia didn't forget to cultivate relationships, after all, fighting was a life-or-death matter: "Brothers, let's get together at my place tonight."

Several generals cheered again, chattering, "Of course we must have a drink with Lord Lu!"

When the banquet reached its peak, Lu Zhijia even called out singing girls to keep them company. He himself kept greeting the guests, afraid of neglecting any of his subordinates. These subordinates each held military power, not only guaranteeing Lu Zhijia's life but also the source of his strength to achieve merit.

"Brother Lu, I heard that General Ma doesn't think much of us," Zhou Shoulian, emboldened by the alcohol, brought up a very sensitive topic, a question that made Lu Zhijia's heart skip a beat.

"No way, haha, Brother Zhou, you're joking," Lu Zhijia laughed nonchalantly. Ma Shilong's ancestors were from a military family in Ningxia. Although Ma Shilong had been speaking in the style of Liaoxi all these years, and he was destined to stay in Liaoxi for a long time, many people in Liaoxi still regarded Ma Shilong as an outsider and secretly cursed him as a traitor. Lu Zhijia, deeply indebted to Ma Shilong, had long considered Ma Shilong his lord for life: "Brothers, I, Lu Zhijia, can say with my own hands that Commander Ma truly cares for us."

Li Chengxian, standing nearby, also thought Ma Shilong was a good person, and he loudly agreed: "Indeed, Commander Ma's military strategies are excellent, but most importantly, he is a kind and generous man. I trust Commander Ma, and I entrust my life to him..."

"That's good, that's good." Zhou Shoulian was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly toasted Lu Zhijia with a cup of wine: "Then Brother Lu, please put in a good word for us brothers."

"Certainly, certainly." Lu Zhijia laughed heartily and drank a cup with Zhou Shoulian. The wine from Jin Guan arrived at this time, and Lu Zhijia drank it all in one gulp...

After leaving Lu Zhijia's camp, Zhou Shoulian immediately wiped the smile off his face. He coldly asked Jin Guan and Yao Yuxian, "What do you think?"

Jin Guan snorted, "That lackey Lu Zhijia, I told you long ago he was a traitor, but you didn't believe me."

"Who didn't believe me?" Yao Yuxian retorted, his face red and neck thick, "But Lu Zhijia is, after all, one of us from Liaoxi. We share the same fate, one suffers the same fate. If Ma Shilong, this Hui, really rides on our heads, then no one will benefit. Such a simple truth, why can't he understand?"

"He doesn't want to understand at all. Hmph, today you even tried to persuade him, and now he wants to persuade you too. Haha, it was hilarious." Jin Guan burst into laughter as he spoke.

"Shh—shut up." Zhou Shoulian gestured for Jin Guan to be quiet. Li Chengxian's voice came from afar, and the drunken man also came out to say goodbye: "Ma Shilong threw away a mere clerk's worth of a minor general's bread, and this dog immediately forgot his ancestors."

Early June of the fifth year of Tianqi, Changsheng Island.

The first batch of soldiers sent to Japan has returned. Huang Shi's order to Yang Zhiyuan was to retreat back to China as quickly as possible after showing off their military might. Huang Shi is a complete paper tiger, and he's relying on the Ming Dynasty's centuries-old prestige. If the Japanese insist on resistance, he can only treat it as military training. But so far, the results seem quite good.

Huang Shi recently received a letter from Sun Chengzong. The letter was vague, but it was clear that Sun Chengzong intended to target Liaodong. Although Huang Shi didn't understand why Sun Chengzong wouldn't be explicit, he believed there must be a reason. Huang Shi judged that Sun Chengzong's target was the area from Sanchahe to Niangniang Palace. The Guan Ning Army, confident in its superior strength, possessed ample warhorses and firearms. Ma Shilong, a general from elsewhere, would undoubtedly go straight for the Later Jin army upon seeing such a large force. Furthermore, Ma Shilong, as an outsider, needed a respectable military record to establish himself in Liaoxi. Otherwise, Sun Chengzong would eventually leave.

Thinking of Ma Shilong's current predicament, Huang Shi felt a pang of sympathy. It reminded him of his own hardships when he first arrived in Dongjiang. Huang Shi reread Sun Chengzong's letter, carefully considering its meaning—was Lord Sun asking him to proactively assist Commander Ma? But I'm afraid of hurting Marshal Ma's pride... Hmm, judging from the tone and style of this letter. Perhaps it already has. Sigh, what should I do?

Huang Shi's troubles didn't just come from western Liaoning. Just two days before receiving Sun Chengzong's letter, a secret letter arrived from the Dongjiang headquarters. One of Geng Zhongming's trusted confidants had traveled to southern Liaoning by ship, carrying Geng Zhongming's goodwill.

In that secret letter, Geng Zhongming told Huang Shi that Chen Jisheng had been planning an attack recently, and had already sent two letters to Mao Wenlong. Although Mao Wenlong had rejected both letters, the tone of Mao Wenlong's second letter seemed somewhat more receptive, and Chen Jisheng was currently writing a third letter. Geng Zhongming, as a friend and close confidant of Kong Youde, reminded Huang Shi not to let Chen Jisheng overtake him. The letter ended with a seemingly casual remark about how the military officers from outside Dongjiang admired Huang Shi, feeling he brought honor to foreign military commanders and made them feel proud.

Huang Shi's first reaction to Mao Wenlong's adopted sons talking about foreign military commanders… but upon reflection, he felt a surge of elation. This indicated his influence was considerable; at least a significant number of Dongjiang officers were observing him and considering him Mao Wenlong's successor. For example, Geng Zhongming and Kong Youde had already placed their bets on Huang Shi.

Huang Shi stared at the map for a long time, but what flashed before his eyes was Sun Chengzong's full head of silver hair, and the stories he had recently heard echoed in his ears—the horrific tales unfolding on the Liaodong plains.

"If I attack Fuzhou before Ma Shilong, I should be able to attract more of the Later Jin's attention. This should help Ma Shilong, right?" A large-scale siege of Fuzhou could further solidify the position of the Dongjiang observers... If Heaven decrees that I am destined to be the second Qi Jiguang, then I will be content with being ennobled.

Sweeping through the army like a whirlwind. Chapter 8. Poet.

June 12th, 5th year of the Tianqi reign, Changsheng Island, Deputy General's residence.

Various dishes were served in a continuous stream, and a circle of elaborately dressed singing girls danced gracefully in the hall. Huang Shi and Zhen Yucun from Shandong were exchanging cups, drinking merrily.

Zhen Yucun had just been promoted. The political frenzy of the eunuch faction had finally reached Shandong; the governors and inspectors belonging to the Donglin Party had all fallen. Although the eunuch faction had sent a new batch of officials, Zhen Yucun and other mid-to-low-level officials were the pillars of the local government, so the eunuch faction had no intention of harming them. The prefects of Shandong, with their keen insight, immediately switched allegiance to the eunuch faction.

"The esteemed officials of Nanjing, please convey their greetings to General Huang." Zhen Yucun was even more courteous to Huang Shi this time, engaging in casual conversation from the moment they disembarked, and their banter only intensified after they entered the banquet.

"Lord Zhen, you're too kind. The officials of Nanjing are too kind. Those copper coins are perfect for paying the soldiers' wages." Huang Shi smiled and toasted Zhen Yucun again. Most of the officials at the Nanjing Mint had shed their Donglin Party affiliation and switched to another organization to continue minting their coins—though this time they were slightly more disciplined. The top officials of the Mint didn't have a chance to explain themselves; they were all arrested as staunch Donglin Party members.

"The remaining copper coins were originally intended to pay the merchants of Dengzhou and Laizhou. I still owe them quite a bit of money. Alas, the expenses in the army are truly enormous," Huang Shi sighed, then feigned a tense expression and asked, "If these merchants cause trouble in Laizhou and Dengzhou, I'll be in deep trouble."

Zhen Yucun immediately understood the meaning behind Huang Shi's words. They had received so many benefits from Huang Shi, they couldn't just shirk their duties, otherwise it would be too unethical. Zhen Yucun immediately took full responsibility: "General Huang, rest assured, we all know how hard the soldiers on the Liaodong border are working. We won't interfere with these merchants earning their meager wages, but if they become greedy and cause trouble at the yamen, we will definitely beat them out with sticks." "

On behalf of the soldiers of the Left Wing, I thank Lord Zhen." Huang Shi certainly wouldn't use those worthless copper coins to harm patriotic merchants, but this prelude was necessary. If he didn't take any personal gain, the Shandong civil officials would suspect Huang Shi's motives: "Lord Zhen, I've minted a type of military bond, with a minting interest of about several percent. I've stipulated that these bonds can only be exchanged for copper coins on Changsheng Island, so..."

Zhen Yucun, having been in officialdom for so many years, immediately understood: "I understand General Huang's meaning. The military bonds from Changsheng Island cannot be exchanged for silver in Leiden; all military pay will be sent directly to Changsheng Island."

"Thank you very much, Lord Zhen." Huang Shi felt that no matter how well-made the military bonds were, they couldn't compare to real gold and silver. If the Shandong merchants colluded with the government, like Yin Mao Wenlong, and betrayed him, his military bond plan would suffer a major blow. Having

finished discussing the important matters, Huang Shi saw that everyone had drunk enough, and several Shandong military officials claimed they were no longer able to drink. He clapped his hands and called over the singing girls. Huang Shi had already inquired beforehand about how many grain officials would be coming, and then invited these singing girls from Shandong according to their numbers. His subordinates even hinted that he should invite one too, but he resolutely refused. These singing girls had traveled a long way from Shandong, risking being abducted or drowned, so their prices were all quite high. Huang Shi had no intention of spending such a large sum of money on a romantic affair.

Under the women's seductive voices, Zhen Yucun and his group were all swaying and staggering from being drunk. Huang Shi smiled contentedly, even consoling himself—at least they saved a lot on meat and vegetables.

After getting drunk, the civil officials began reciting poems and composing essays. This was both a way to show off and to increase the fun of the drinking contest. The power of the eight-legged essay immediately became apparent, just as Huang Shi had heard in his previous life: "Master the eight-legged essay, and composing poetry and lyrics is child's play." Even though these civil officials were so drunk they might not even recognize their own fathers, when it came to poetry, they were still deadly opponents, each slap drawing blood.

They kept changing the scenery near Changsheng Island as their topics of conversation, and no one dared to show weakness. This time it was Xiaoheishan's turn. Zhen Yucun's tongue was already slurred from drinking, but he still recited a seven-character poem without the slightest hesitation. Huang Shi was the first to shout "Bravo!" again, but... this time he seemed to shout too loudly. The drunken Zhen Yucun suddenly realized that Huang Shi didn't seem to have been drinking at all.

“Brother Huang… Brother Huang, you… you should also

compose a poem…” Huang Shi was about to decline when the men from the Dengzhou-Laizhou Military Commission started clamoring. They seemed to have forgotten that Huang Shi was a military man. Seeing that he couldn’t refuse, Huang Shi had no choice but to bite the bullet and plagiarize a masterpiece from his previous life: “From afar, Black Mountain looks like a club, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. If you turn it upside down, it’s narrow at the bottom and wide at the top.”

Several civil officials were stunned. One of them had spilled wine on his official robes without even noticing. Zhen Yucun coughed desperately, cursing himself for forgetting that Huang Shi was a military man. After finally catching his breath, he immediately exclaimed, “General Huang, you truly have a wonderful poetic talent!”

"What a fine poem! What a fine poem!" The other civil officials, having recovered from their coughs, also praised it. One of them, a rather dim-witted fellow, even shouted, "General Huang, please compose another one!"

Zhen Yucun and the other civil officials glared angrily at the fool, but Huang Shi was truly inspired. He immediately stood up, raised a cup of wine, and began to sing: "Ten thousand heavenly soldiers march towards Liaodong..."

"What spirit! No wonder you are General Huang, who commands respect in Liaodong!" The Shandong civil officials were stunned again, and flattery poured out.

Encouraged, Huang Shi strode around the hall, circling twice before finally managing to squeeze out another line: "I swear I will not return until the Xiongnu are defeated..."

The rhyme scheme was completely off... Zhen Yucun inwardly cursed, but his eyes were practically closed. The other officials stroked their beards, clicked their tongues, and swayed their heads, seemingly engrossed in the conversation.

"...A battle-hardened steel sword in hand..." Huang Shi, after much effort, finally managed to cobble out the third line. By this time, he had already circled the hall five or six times. The officials were mentally preparing hundreds of lines, growing increasingly impatient for Huang Shi.

But Huang Shi walked faster and faster, eventually swirling around the officials like a whirlwind, spilling a considerable amount of wine from his cup. Finally, Huang Shi stopped, downing the wine he was supposed to drink after finishing his poem. Then, with a vengeance, he threw the wine glass to the ground, his arm swung forward, and his mouth opened...

Several civil officials immediately craned their necks, holding their breath and listening intently. They didn't really care what Huang Shi was going to say; they just wanted him to finish quickly so they could continue drinking.

Huang Shi stood frozen for a moment, arms outstretched and lips pursed, his face contorted with emotion. His expression shifted between ferocious and relaxed. Just when the officials felt their necks were about to give way, Huang Shi flicked his sleeve... and continued walking around them...

stopping and starting several times. Beads of sweat the size of mung beans seeped from Huang Shi's forehead, forming trickles on his cheeks. Zhen Yucun, seeing this, felt great sympathy and finally gritted his teeth, determined to risk everything to smooth things over.

"Kill—kill—kill—kill—kill kill kill!" Huang Shi shouted "kill" seven times in one breath, gradually increasing the speed, then exhaled a long breath, his flushed face gradually returning to normal.

"Good!"

"Good poem!"

"Wow, a good poem indeed!"

Loud applause immediately burst from the Shandong official's mouth.

...

"Pfft..." Before her brain could even process it, the mouthful of food was sprayed out. The young girl hurriedly covered her mouth with her left hand, but this forced the hot liquid into her nasal cavity. She also abruptly covered her left hand with her right hand, which was holding the food, and a cooing sound like a pigeon's coo came from her throat. The owner of the sound seemed to be in great discomfort.

"Oh dear, what a waste of food," Huang Shi said with a look of regret as he looked at the food scraps scattered on the ground. "Always complaining about not eating well. Today I brought you good vegetables and meat, and you just vomit it all up on the ground." Huang then shook his head. "What a worthless life. When you eat coarse grain pancakes, you never even drop a crumb. It seems you're not worthy of enjoying good food..."

Huang Shi rambled on and on for a long time before the girl, tears streaming down her face, finally caught her breath. She hastily swallowed the rest of her food, her eyes crinkling with laughter as she nearly fell over. "Your Excellency, Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, is this what you call poetry?"

"Why wouldn't it be? A poem is just four lines, seven characters per line, isn't it?" Huang Shi said matter-of-factly, one hand on his hip, waving his finger threateningly. "What do you, a little girl, know? All the scholars here say my poem is excellent."

"Excellent poem, excellent poem, narrow at the bottom and wide at the top, haha," the girl laughed so hard she almost fell over, covering her mouth with her hand. She staggered a few steps, grabbing onto a tree to steady herself. "This humble woman has never heard such excellent poetry before."

"Is something wrong?"

Huang Shi looked over blankly, his innocent gaze startling the girl. The mocking expression on her face froze, then gradually faded. After a moment of contemplation, she gave a slight curtsy: "Your Excellency, I don't know much about poetry, but since the scholars all say it's good, it must be good."

"Really? I've never written a poem before, nor have I ever read any. My first poem is praised by everyone!" Huang Shi asked excitedly, "Do you really think it's good?"

The girl sighed inwardly, but smiled slightly: "Your Excellency's poem is certainly good."

"Really good? Don't lie to me, I really have never read any poetry before."

The girl smiled gently: "I wouldn't dare lie to Your Excellency, this poem is indeed very good."

Then her gaze happened to fall on the fallen pieces of meat, and a look of regret immediately appeared on the girl's face. She quickly went over and squatted down, intending to reach out her left hand to pick them up.

"Why pick this up?" Huang Shi jumped ahead of her, lightly brushing the things aside with a flick of his wrist. "It's not worth much money."

"Sigh," the girl gracefully straightened up, giving Huang Shi a sidelong glance. "Judging from

what you're saying, Your Excellency, you must have made several thousand or even tens of thousands of taels of silver, right?" The girl realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth. She glanced at Huang Shi, noticing he was also intently studying her words and expression. Her face flushed slightly, and she turned her head away, feigning to adjust her hair, subtly blocking half of Huang Shi's gaze.

The sea breeze blew, causing her dark hair to flutter against her slender, white neck. Sunlight bathed her, tinging her flowing black hair with a subtle golden hue.

The scenery prompted Huang Shi to spontaneously recite, "Standing alone, unparalleled in beauty, vying to boast of the finest fragrance within the land."

"Hmm?" A layer of suspicion flashed across her bright eyes, quickly replaced by deep annoyance. The girl was about to question him loudly when she unfortunately realized the implied meaning in the poem, and her anger was instantly tempered by embarrassment. Furious and embarrassed, the girl glared at Huang Shi and turned her face away. Unable to vent her anger, she suddenly found herself unable to suppress a smile, which only intensified her frustration. She turned away again, almost completely turning her back to Huang Shi.

After a long while, Huang Shi softly explained, "I was praising the peony."

"Hmm," a faint, almost inaudible nasal sound came from behind. The girl began to unconsciously nibble on the food in her hand, her back completely turned.

The two stood silently for a long time, and in this quiet stillness, Huang Shi felt the distance between them rapidly closing. He tiptoed behind the girl. He nibbled at the food, staring at the back of the girl's head and her slightly trembling shoulders. His hands, hidden behind his back, twitched a few times, but he ultimately didn't reach out. Huang Shi closed his eyes, listening to his heartbeat gradually slow down. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth, opened his eyes, looked at the girl who was still lightly biting her food, and said softly, "I also wrote another poem..."

This time, Huang Shi vividly described the scene of him pacing around the room, and even imitated the expressions of the officials waiting for the poem—each holding a wine cup, unsure whether to drink or put it down. So, after he finished the first two lines, the girl laughed so hard she couldn't breathe: "You... cough, cough... shut up!"

Seeing Huang Shi still speaking seriously, the girl was so angry she really wanted to hit him: "Wait... Your Excellency, wait until I finish eating before you say it... ha, ha..."

Huang Shi ignored her and continued to imitate Zhen Yucun's bitter face, while his right hand raised his thumb like another official, and his left hand stroked his beard. "What a fine poem! Truly heroic spirit!" he exclaimed dramatically.

"My lord!"

A deep voice suddenly called from the side. Huang Shi froze, withdrawing his hands and turning his head to see Hong Antong approaching. Hong Antong bowed respectfully from a distance. The girl, like a startled deer, jumped back two steps. Hong Antong straightened up, his armor clanking as he approached, and again clasped his hands in a fist salute: "My lord, I have military intelligence to report."

"Hmm," Huang Shi responded in a deep voice, nodding slightly. His previous carefree demeanor had vanished. He turned to the girl and said, "This general will take his leave."

"This humble woman respectfully sees General Huang off."

As Huang Shi left, he glanced at Hong Antong to his side. Hong Antong's gaze remained fixed on the girl, his expression cold and full of suspicion.

"My lord," Hong Antong finally couldn't help but ask when they were alone on the road, "What is that woman's name? Do you know it?"

"Hmm," Huang Shi didn't answer directly but instead asked, "How did you find me?"

Hong Antong frowned subtly, then respectfully replied, "My lord, I inquired among the guards along the way. Someone saw you coming this way, so I searched along the coast and that's how I found you."

Huang Shi knew Hong Antong must have been very anxious, having military intelligence but unable to find his own people. He sighed but said nothing.

"My lord?" "Hong Antong called out softly again.

"She's eighteen this year, um, her surname is Wang..." Huang Shi still subconsciously felt uneasy, so he instinctively defended himself by saying that he had reported the girl's age using the traditional Chinese age reckoning.

Hong Antong didn't seem to care. He silently memorized the information Huang Shi provided, planning to have the guards investigate it as soon as they returned to the main camp. After Huang Shi finished speaking, Hong Antong asked, "Sir, should I arrange for someone to protect Miss Wang tomorrow?" Hong Antong paused, then asked, "Should I arrange for Miss Wang to come to the main camp?"

"No need." Huang Shi felt that making a big fuss was inappropriate. The other party hadn't promised anything, and he hadn't asked for anything. Huang Shi was secretly glad he had maintained his composure earlier, otherwise Hong Antong would have gotten a free show.

"Yes, sir," Hong Antong replied without asking further questions. He added expressionlessly, "May I ask for your guidance, sir? When I go to see Lady Wang again, should I arrange for personal bodyguards, or should I set up a perimeter guard two miles away?"

Huang Shi remained silent for a long time. Hong Antong, waiting for a response, said again, "Please advise, sir." "

I think neither is necessary. I can protect myself; I don't need bodyguards." "Huang Shi exclaimed impatiently, 'What a vast Changsheng Island! Such precious, tranquil beaches and mountains! It would be such a rip-off to have a whole platoon of guards with me on every date!

' Hong Antong was taken aback: 'How can this be? Your Excellency bears the weight of Liaonan's safety on your shoulders; how can you place yourself in such a dangerous place…'

Huang Shi angrily interrupted Hong Antong, stopping his horse and roaring at him: 'I said it's unnecessary, and that's final.'

'Please forgive me, Your Excellency.' Hong Antong dismounted and knelt before Huang Shi's horse: 'Your subordinate is foolish and ignorant, but I have been entrusted with the important task of guarding the inner palace by Your Excellency. This matter is my duty, so I dared not remain silent and beg Your Excellency's judgment. Your Excellency bears the heavy responsibility of the nation, and the safety of tens of thousands of soldiers is at stake; therefore, you must not be in a dangerous place…' Hong Antong bowed deeply: 'Your subordinate begs Your Excellency's judgment.'" "

Sweeping through the army like a whirlwind, Chapter 9: The Lord of the Rings

" Huang Shi leaped from his horse and landed on the ground. Before he could even fully regain his footing, he reached out and lifted Hong Antong up. "Brother Hong, please rise. You've worked hard. I was wrong."

"This subordinate doesn't deserve your words, sir." Although Hong Antong struggled, Huang Shi still had considerable strength. Besides, Hong Antong didn't dare to fight back desperately, so Huang Shi pulled him up from the ground.

"Go ahead and investigate the young lady of the Wang family, but I still don't want a large number of imperial guards following me." Seeing Hong Antong gathering his strength to argue again, Huang Shi asked him softly, "Why did you follow me to this Longevity Island?"

Hong Antong was speechless for a moment. He scratched his head a few times but couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. He stammered, "This subordinate just wanted to follow you, sir. There's no other reason."

“Because I am Han Chinese, because I am a Ming Dynasty officer, because I have saved many people in Liaodong, because I have been kind to everyone, because I have never used my power to bully any commoner…” Huang Shi quietly rattled off a series of fragmented reasons. Hong Antong stared blankly at his superior, repeatedly agreeing in a daze. “

You are like that, and so are the people who came to me.” Huang Shi smiled and shook his head, patting Hong Antong on the shoulder twice. “They all love me, just like you. I, Huang Shi, live among people who love me. I don’t need constant protection.”

Hong Antong pondered the meaning behind Huang Shi’s words, but his expression remained resolute as he replied, “I understand your meaning, sir, but the Jurchens are cunning. Your safety is tied to the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians. I believe we must be on guard.”

“Of course we must be on guard, but I don’t like the way you’re doing it.” Huang Shi paused here, touching his eyebrows to organize his thoughts, while Hong Antong stood quietly in front of him, waiting for him to continue. Finally, Huang Shi figured out exactly what he disliked. He looked up at Hong Antong: "Every time you and the Imperial Guards go out with me, you look at the soldiers and civilians as if they were enemies. Just like the way you looked at Wang Xiaoniangzi today. I don't deny that there might be Jurchen spies among them, but I believe that 99% of the people on the island respect and love me, Huang Shi."

Hong Antong hurriedly said, "Everyone respects and loves you, sir."

This made Huang Shi smile smugly: "That's the problem. The expressions on your faces hurt those people's feelings, making them think that I suspect them." Seeing the blank look on Hong Antong's face, Huang Shi couldn't help but shake his head again: "I believe that the military households on Changsheng Island will not betray me, so I will not betray them. From now on, either don't come out with me, or don't hurt their feelings."

Hong Antong was stunned for a moment before he asked in a daze, "How can we protect you, sir, without hurting the feelings of the soldiers?" "

Smile at them," Huang Shi said easily, putting his hands behind his back and giving Hong Antong a trusting smile. "You must learn to smile at others, and also learn to understand their smiles. A soldier who genuinely cheers for me is definitely not my enemy."

After returning to the old camp, Huang Shi immediately saw Yang Zhiyuan blocking the door. This guy had started working immediately after returning, and had only rested half of the leave that Huang Shi had specially granted him. "Guerrilla Commander Yang, what's wrong?"

Yang Zhiyuan bowed slightly. "Reporting to you, sir, I have a case to ask for your instructions." "

As time went by, the military regulations became increasingly strict and detailed, and Yang Zhiyuan rarely came to him about military law issues anymore. Huang Shi guessed that something unforeseen had happened again, and Yang Zhiyuan had come to him to approve the new regulations. The two of them had already entered the main tent of the old camp, where Jin Qiude and Li Yunrui were waiting with several documents. They saluted when they saw Huang Shi.

Huang Shi felt that the military law issue could not be resolved quickly, so after sitting down in the center, he immediately said to Yang Zhiyuan, 'Present the new regulations. I've looked at them tonight and will give them to you first thing tomorrow morning.'

Unexpectedly, Yang Zhiyuan shook his head and said, 'Reporting to you, sir, there are no new regulations. It's about the old regulations.'

'Oh, it's about the old regulations.' Huang Shi was a little surprised that Yang Zhiyuan would bring up this issue. This had already been decided: 'If the military judges below think the old regulations are inappropriate, they can report to you. If you also think they are inappropriate, you can consult me. But this case will still be judged according to the old regulations.'" “Sir, ”

Yang Zhiyuan retorted, his voice low but firm, “this case cannot be judged according to the old regulations.” He then pushed a case file in front of Huang Shi, saying, “I humbly request that you take a look at it immediately.”

Huang Shi stared into Yang Zhiyuan’s eyes, then quickly gestured for him, Jin Qiude, and Li Yunrui to sit down. He then opened the case file.

The case was very simple: a veteran from Changsheng Island killed a newly surrendered Han soldier and took the victim’s wife. The victim’s brother had filed a complaint with the Changsheng Island military court. There were many eyewitnesses, and the murderer had confessed. Huang Shi carefully read the case summary, comparing it several times, and then looked up at Yang Zhiyuan with suspicion, asking, “Is this case very difficult to judge?”

“Very difficult to judge. I humbly request that you take a look at the confession.”

Huang Shi leaned back slightly, his eyes narrowing with anger. He said coldly, "Guerrilla Commander Yang, I have many matters to attend to. If I have to review every confession in every case, I simply can't keep up."

Yang Zhiyuan met Huang Shi's gaze and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "This humble general dares to request that Your Excellency review the confession."

After hearing this, Huang Shi stared at Yang Zhiyuan for a few more moments, then with a "whoosh," he flipped open the thick stack of confessions, muttering, "It'd better be worth my time to look at." He then lowered his head to read the interrogation records.

There were many confessions, several from eyewitnesses alone, but the focus was on the four confessions concerning the murderer, the murderer's brother, the deceased's wife, and the deceased's brother. After reading for a while, the anger on Huang Shi's face dissipated, and after a while, he revealed a sorrowful expression: "Pitiful, truly pitiful." As he spoke, Huang Shi's hand touched his brow bone and gently pinched the bridge of his nose.

This soldier from Changsheng Island was a Liaodong refugee who had fled in the third year of the Tianqi reign. He had been a new recruit during the Gaizhou Campaign. Moreover, he had fought bravely in the Huangshi unit and had been seriously wounded. By the time of the Battle of Nanguan, this soldier had become a sergeant, and he again distinguished himself in the breakthrough of the central army, sustaining another heroic wound. Although he did not join the training corps, he was still on record, and the army had designated him as a key candidate for the next batch of officer training. This

was not the first time the deceased and the murderer had met. Two years earlier, this soldier had fled south with his elder brother and younger brother. At that time, the deceased was a Han army scout, and the murderer's family had been captured by the local cavalry (three cavalrymen). According to the usual practice, a fugitive could be spared if he could provide enough money. However, this unfortunate soldier had no money to bribe the Han army, so the scouts took the brothers' sister and wife as ransom. Their younger brother tried to protect his family and was injured. He died before reaching Lushun. The murderer then held the hand of his dying brother, who had no peace, and swore to avenge this blood feud. After joining the Changsheng Army, he fought bravely and repeatedly distinguished himself, truly fulfilling his vow.

In the fifth year of the Tianqi reign (1625), a large number of Han soldiers fled south to Jinzhou and were transferred to Changsheng Island. This soldier discovered the Han scout who had murdered his brother in the crowd. What he found even more intolerable was that he discovered his wife had become the wife of this Han soldier…

Huang Shi gently closed the file, with the same respect and caution as closing the eyes of the deceased. His facial muscles twitched slightly as he lightly patted the file and asked Yang Zhiyuan, “Does the murderer have any descendants?”

This, of course, wouldn't be recorded in the confession. But Yang Zhiyuan had already asked: "A very young child, who died on the way to Lushun after losing his mother's care."

"Losing a son, stealing a wife, killing a brother," Huang Shi murmured, "This hatred is irreconcilable."

Yang Zhiyuan said happily, "Your Excellency is wise."

But Huang Shi's next sentence plunged Yang Zhiyuan into despair: "But you must still be dealt with according to military law."

Jin Qiude and Li Yunrui, standing to the side, remained silent with stiff faces. Yang Zhiyuan knew he couldn't get any help from these two heartless men, so he made a final effort alone: "Your Excellency, the law is not above human sentiment."

"The law is not above human sentiment?" Huang Shi smiled self-deprecatingly. He had always believed that power was like the One Ring in the book; it would exploit people's desire to do good to break free from its constraints, and when power was no longer restrained, it became utterly evil.

"Yes," Yang Zhiyuan insisted stubbornly. He grabbed the confessions, pulled out the one about the deceased's wife, and pointed at them, saying to Huang Shi, "This woman was also abducted. This Han soldier deserved to die."

If he softened his stance now, Huang Shi could imagine what would happen: large numbers of Changsheng Island soldiers would begin searching for their past enemies, and those Changsheng Island soldiers without enemies might take the opportunity to oppress the former Han soldiers. Confessions… as long as there are acquaintances, they're always easy to fabricate.

Yang Zhiyuan, unaware of Huang Shi's emotional turmoil, hopefully handed over the drafted pardon order upon seeing the shifting emotions on Huang Shi's face, adding, "Your Excellency, I believe this man can be pardoned, allowing him to atone for his crimes through meritorious service."

"The military law of Changsheng Island is not about sentimentality, but about order; it is above me, Huang Shi," Huang Shi said, pushing the pardon order back without even glancing at it. "The military law states that killing former Han soldiers and robbing their property and women is an unforgivable crime!"

...

Since the Later Jin ordered the conscription of civilians into the villages, intelligence gathering on Changsheng Island suffered another blow. This was not only due to the benefits of concentration camp-style management, but also because courageous Han civilians had fled in droves, and those who had previously maintained contact with Changsheng Island were bringing their families to seek refuge there. The remaining Han Chinese in the Later Jin-controlled areas were mostly terrified: "The Jurchens are sending the people near Fu and Gai to Liaoyang. Thirty percent of the villages around these two garrisons are now empty. I am incompetent; I cannot ascertain the exact troop distribution. Our intelligence network in Fu and Gai has been largely destroyed."

While Huang Shi pondered, Jin Qiude quickly added, "I believe the Jurchens in Fu and Gai know we are too weak to protect the entire Liaodong Peninsula, hence their desperate attempt to evacuate the people."

"Hmm, Guerrilla Jin is right. The Jurchens are tied down on three sides and have no spare strength to reinforce Fu and Gai. They can't even defend themselves against us in Liaonan." Huang Shi was extremely excited and nervous. He was about to issue an important order, an order that would mean the Ming army in Liaonan would abandon its maritime mobility advantage and begin to contend with the Later Jin on land.

"I want to see you, sir!" He Dingyuan's loud voice came from outside the tent.

Huang Shi and Jin Qiude exchanged a stunned glance. He quickly called to Hong Antong, "Go and let Guerrilla He in."

After He Dingyuan strode in, Huang Shi couldn't help but reprimand him, "Guerrilla He, couldn't you even wait for an announcement?"

"Sir." He Dingyuan gave a hasty military salute upon entering, then his pent-up anger burst forth uncontrollably: "Guerrilla Yang just brought in a death row inmate..."

Huang Shi listened quietly as He Dingyuan finished ranting before calmly replying, "Is there a problem?"

"I think this man shouldn't be killed," He Dingyuan slammed his hands heavily on the table, repeatedly striking it, "Sir, he's one of our men, someone who has followed you for a long time."

Huang Shi silently endured the spittle He Dingyuan sprayed on his face. He couldn't lose face at this moment: "Everyone on Changsheng Island is one of Huang Shi's men."

Looking at He Dingyuan's rapidly flapping nostrils, Huang Shi said calmly, "Take him to the execution."

"Was it this scoundrel..." He Dingyuan suddenly pointed at Jin Qiude: "Sir, was this his idea?"

Jin Qiude, who had initially been indifferent, stood up angrily and glared at He Dingyuan. Huang Shi explained, half-laughing and half-crying, "No, it was my idea. I was just following orders."

He Dingyuan and Huang Shi exchanged glances, then He Dingyuan turned back and glared fiercely at Jin Qiude. The latter met his gaze without fear. Finally, He Dingyuan slammed his hand on the table and strode out. His arm was still pointing at Li Yunrui and Hong Antong: "There are treacherous people around the lord, treacherous people indeed."

"There are treacherous villains around the lord..." Even after he left the tent, He Dingyuan's loud voice continued to echo in the room. Jin Qiude, Li Yunrui, and Hong Antong all looked ashen-faced, and Huang Shi's smile vanished completely. His face was equally gloomy.

A suffocating silence hung in the air. After what seemed like an eternity, Huang Shi finally managed a forced smile: "Guerrilla Commander He is too reckless."

The other subordinates remained silent as if dead, none of them responding to Huang Shi. Feeling somewhat bored, Huang Shi lightly tapped the table: "Alright, let's continue talking about Fuzhou."

The wounds on the Bordered Red Banner were mostly healed, but the banner's horses were probably few in number. Li Yunrui said that when the Later Jin army returned north, they requisitioned all the Bordered Red Banner's warhorses. Since the banner was in a defensive posture anyway, it didn't need many horses. Huang Shi and the others believed that this largely leveled the strategic and tactical mobility of the two armies.

If they entered the area around Fuzhou to fight, the Ming army would have to consider the logistics and supply routes. Huang Shi and Jin Qiude had always believed that the most reliable supply route was the official road from Jinzhou to Fuzhou. On this main road, the Ming army's two-wheeled carts and wheelbarrows could play a significant role. If they wanted to supply the Fuzhou army directly from Changsheng Island, there were many hilly and wild areas between the two places, so obviously they could only rely on manpower to transport the supplies. On

June 15th, the fifth year of the Tianqi reign,

Huang Shi, the deputy commander of the Dongjiang Left Army, ordered all units of the Liaonan Dongjiang Army to assemble in Jinzhou. The reorganized Fire Rescue Battalion and half of the Panshi Battalion also crossed the Nanxin Pass on the same day and advanced northeastward amidst the sound of waist drums.

On June 16th, two battalions from Changsheng Island arrived at Pangu Fortress south of Fuzhou, and the Later Jin garrison abandoned the city and fled. Upon entering the fortress, the Ming army immediately brought in several thousand auxiliary troops. While repairing the fortress, the Ming army began sweeping the official road from Pangu Fortress to Jinzhou, preparing to stockpile grain for the front lines. On

June 21st, Zhang Pan, Shang Keyi, Shang Kexi, and other troops in Liaonan sent replies, stating they had obeyed orders and led their respective elite forces to Jinzhou. On the same day, the Ming army had essentially completed the repairs to Pangu Fortress, and constructed a series of simple outposts and beacon towers between the fortress and Jinzhou. Auxiliary troops began transporting grain from Jinzhou to Pangu Fortress, with a constant stream of grain carts between the two locations.

On June 23rd, Huang Shi led his personal guard and the last remaining half of the Panshi Battalion from Changsheng Island to Pangu Fortress. Before leaving, he wrote two letters, one for Sun Chengzong and the other for Mao Wenlong. This was the first time Huang Shi had reported a military operation to his superiors before receiving concrete results. He was subtly telling Sun Chengzong that Ma Shilong could now launch an attack, as he had drawn the attention of the Fu and Gai Jiannu.

As for Dongjiang, this was also a show of loyalty to Mao Wenlong. Although Liaonan was a thousand miles from Dongjiang headquarters, making prior consultation impossible, the show of courtesy still had to be maintained.

Before departure, a soldier from the Panshi Battalion squeezed out of the ranks, solemnly kneeling before Huang Shi's warhorse, repeatedly expressing his gratitude. Huang Shi found this soldier's action at this moment strange and sent an inner guard to inquire.

After clarifying the situation, Hong Antong approached Huang Shi and said, "Sir, he is…" Hong Antong deliberately raised his voice so that He Dingyuan behind Huang Shi could hear. The latter was worried about his wife—she was about to give birth.

The soldier was the younger brother of the deceased in the case where He Dingyuan and Huang Shi had argued. He was summoned to Huang Shi's horse and bowed deeply again, shouting, "My lord, I am Dugu Qiu, on behalf of my deceased brother and his orphans, thank you. May you live a long and prosperous life!"

He Dingyuan remained silent, his face stern. Huang Shi offered a few words of encouragement and spurred his horse forward. When the excited Dugu Qiu looked up, he saw Hong Antong behind Huang Shi smiling at him—a kindness never shown to soldiers by the guards of other generals.

(Chapter 10: War Preparations

) The fat cat's servant, Little Monkey, is now an officer with the rank of guerrilla, the current commander of the Vanguard Battalion. Li Chengfeng was naturally quite dissatisfied with this, but Huang Shi insisted on the principle that the Vanguard Battalion's positions should be filled by veterans, so Li Chengfeng and other officers from Jinzhou Fort had no way to intervene in this field battalion.

When Huang Shi arrived at Pangu Castle, he found the castle to be quite well-constructed, with its outer moats and antlers arranged in a pleasing manner, and couldn't help but praise it. Hong Antong, standing nearby, quickly reported, "The officer in charge of building the castle and digging the moats is named Ouyang Xin, an officer in the artillery unit. However, his artillery skills are poor, though he did design many tools for digging the moats."

"Hmm, I must meet this man sometime," Huang Shi said after a moment's thought, then smiled and asked Hong Antong, "Is this Ouyang Xin a former tomb raider?"

Hong Antong replied with a grin, "Your Excellency is wise." Huang Shi had already discovered many of Hong Antong's talents, one of which was his exceptional memory. He could almost perfectly remember important personnel files.

While stationed at Pangu Castle, Huang Shi was still eagerly awaiting a letter from Bao Jiusun of Changsheng Island. His small steel furnace had proven capable of melting pig iron and wrought iron into liquid. When he first saw the blue flames on the molten iron in the crucible, Huang Shi's eyes turned red with excitement. If he could melt iron into liquid, then sand should be almost the same. Fortunately, everyone around him was blinded by the glaring red light, and because everyone was crying, it wasn't noticeable.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, so impurities in raw and wrought iron, such as phosphorus, must be removed. However, the previous slag-making processes weren't ideal, and now that Huang Shi had left Changsheng Island, he couldn't do it himself… In fact, he didn't understand it either, so he had the old blacksmith make the slag according to the wrought iron refining method, or simply make a large ladle to scoop out the impurities floating on the surface, like skimming foam from broth.

But before Bao Jiusun could report his victory, the little monkey led the Vanguard Battalion to Pangu Castle to join Huang Shi: "This humble officer, Zhang Minghe, greets Commander Huang."

Huang Shi sized up the general before him; the man appeared both humble and respectful, which pleased Huang Shi. "Rise."

"Thank you, Commander Huang." Zhang Minghe was supposed to inherit Zhang Feimao's semi-hard armor. But he was currently wearing the iron armor that Huang Shi had given him. When he looked at Huang Shi, gratitude couldn't help but show in his eyes.

Zhang Minghe stood ramrod straight like a telephone pole, so Huang Shi pointed to a chair and said, "Sit down and talk."

Zhang Minghe's body trembled as if he had been electrocuted, and he quickly said humbly, "How can I have a seat before Commander Huang?"

Seeing Zhang Minghe's repeated refusals, Huang Shi had his guards hand him a stool. Only then did Zhang Minghe sit down against the edge of the stool. Huang Shi chatted with him casually about the internal affairs of the Vanguard Camp, and then smiled and promised him, "This time, after capturing Fuzhou, I will definitely recommend Zhang for merit."

"This subordinate is deeply grateful to Commander Huang." Zhang Minghe immediately jumped up from the chair and bowed deeply to Huang Shi.

"Sit down and let's talk," Huang Shi said after Zhang Minghe was seated. "This time, you must strive to achieve merit." Huang Shi bowed towards Beijing, "That way, we can ask the court for a favor and allow you to change back to your original surname."

These servants who had become his adoptive father naturally all hoped to one day change back to their original surnames. Zhang Minghe immediately jumped up from the bench, "General Huang's teachings are correct. This humble servant will certainly kill the enemy and serve the country." Zhang Minghe had gained control of the Vanguard Battalion thanks to Huang Shi's support. While deeply grateful to Huang Shi, he also realized that he was now labeled a member of the "Huang Party." Seeing Huang Shi offering him a seat and encouraging him today, he knew that the other party wanted to promote him, and he was determined to seize the opportunity to squeeze into Huang Shi's inner circle.

"Sit down and let's talk, sit down and let's talk," Huang Shi waved his hand repeatedly with a smile, telling Zhang Minghe that there was no need to be so reserved. This reaction from the Vanguard Battalion officers was exactly what Huang Shi had expected. Many things in the world are a game of cat and mouse. Huang Shi made it clear he wouldn't annex the Vanguard Battalion, but this made them feel marginalized, and now they're all desperately trying to squeeze into Huang Shi's system.

Another topic of concern for Huang Shi was silver coins; this time, he distributed all the supplementary pay and bonuses at once. Soldiers in Liaonan hadn't received their full pay for many years, so Huang Shi took the opportunity to inquire with Zhang Minghe about the effect of this pay distribution.

"General Huang understands the situation below, loves his soldiers like his own children..." Zhang Minghe immediately launched into a scathing critique, making Huang Shi somewhat smug. In Zhang Minghe's words, the situation was excellent; all registered soldiers received their full pay, and everyone praised Huang Shi's military pay policy and selfless dedication.

The previous method of issuing silver ingots was not very scientific. Ming dynasty treasury silver ingots had a silver content of 98% to 99%, while civilian and commercial silver ingots generally had a silver content of around 80%, with some merchants even using ingots with a silver content of 60% or 70%. Therefore, the difference between treasury silver and civilian silver was significant, and the disparity among civilian silver ingots was also enormous. Silver was still a very crude general equivalent.

If silver ingots were issued to officers of various battalions, these officers would often exchange official silver for civilian silver with merchants, then distribute the civilian silver as military pay, thus profiting from the price difference. Some officers even privately minted silver ingots, mixing in large amounts of cheap metals. If they wanted to pay the full amount of silver, these officers could also tell the soldiers that their superiors hadn't given them enough.

Zhang Minghe and Li Chengfeng originally planned to do the same. Their current power base was unstable, so they dared not embezzle military pay, but they still had the audacity to exchange official silver for civilian silver. Zhang Minghe was originally hoping to use this money to build his own personal guard and retainers. Initially, when they heard that Huangshi was issuing military scrip, the two men weren't too worried. They planned to either go themselves or use merchants to exchange the scrip for silver in Shandong, then exchange it for civilian silver and transport it back.

However, after several attempts, their merchants found that the Shandong military commissioner was unyielding, refusing to exchange the military scrip for the silver held by the Left Assistant of Dongjiang Town. The officials of the Shandong military commissioner had a tacit understanding: for every 10,000 taels of silver transported to Changsheng Island, they could claim 5,000 taels of surcharges from the treasury—an amount the merchants simply couldn't afford. Furthermore, Huangshi had promised to use 20% of the silver annually to buy scrap copper coins from Nanjing. These coins were worthless outside; no one would even take a tael of silver for 20 strings of cash, but Huangshi was willing to exchange one tael for five strings of cash—a considerable sum indeed, as many people in Nanjing depended on it.

These local officials, of course, were unaware that Huang Shi had been shipping all the scrap copper coins to Japan (the Choshu Domain provided the sales channels, Changsheng Island handled the distribution, and the two would share the profits; Huang Shi never kept everything for himself). They only knew they owed Huang Shi a considerable favor and had profited greatly from it, so they drove all the merchants away. Some officials even went so far as to punish certain old merchant friends without regard for personal relationships.

Those merchants, having been turned away, couldn't understand why the local officials wouldn't take advantage of the situation, but they had no choice but to tell Zhang Minghe and his group. Under these circumstances, Li Chengfeng and

his men decided to counterfeit some military scrip, deceiving as many merchants as possible. However, once the silver and copper coins forged by Huang Shi were issued as military scrip, Li Chengfeng and his group immediately realized that counterfeiting was impossible. They couldn't even forge the copper coins, let alone the silver ones. Anyone but a blind person could easily distinguish between the minted and forged copper coins. Moreover, the merchants became enthusiastic upon seeing these military notes. The silver coins from Huangshi were only slightly inferior in quality to ordinary civilian silver, but the value of a single silver or copper coin was crystal clear, far more so than the silver ingots they usually used, and much more convenient.

These merchants, having traveled extensively, immediately recognized that these silver and copper coins were difficult to counterfeit. The only concern was whether Huangshi would honor them. Initially, several Shandong merchants went to Changsheng Island to exchange for silver coins, and Yang Zhiyuan readily exchanged them for the full amount of official silver. Other eagerly awaiting merchants, seeing that Huangshi's credit seemed acceptable, decided to use these coins for business. Most merchants cooperating with Dongjiangzuo also accepted the face value of the silver coins.

Zhang Minghe's words to Huangshi pleased the latter, and Zhang Minghe and his group also discovered that using silver coins made it easier to prevent the embezzlement of military pay. Of course, if officers were completely shameless and forced themselves on their soldiers, there was still no way to stop them from using inferior or insufficient silver ingots to deceive the soldiers. Each silver and copper coin clearly displayed its value; even illiterate soldiers could understand its meaning after a few readings.

However, amidst the praise, Huang Shi didn't realize that Zhang Minghe and his men had a cunning method. They used knives to scrape off the outer edge of the silver coins. Later, when pay was distributed, Zhang Minghe's personal guards would work through the night scraping the coins, removing a ring from each one. Officers from Liaonan, such as Zhang Pan and Shang Kexi, sooner or later, also figured out this trick. After they finished scraping, they distributed the coins to their soldiers, who quickly learned the technique from their guards and began scraping as well. When merchants exchanged goods for silver coins, they would scrape them again, causing the coins to shrivel as they circulated among merchants. Eventually, when they became too small, they could exchange them for more silver coins on Changsheng Island. On

June 27th of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, banners covered the fields around Pangu Fortress, and the camp stretched to the sky. The brothers Zhang Pan and Shang Keyi also brought their elite troops to serve, bringing the total number of Ming soldiers to 25,000. Now, six battalions of the Dongjiang Garrison's Left Wing, totaling 9,000 combat troops, plus over 10,000 auxiliary troops, have gathered here. Yesterday, the Dongjiang army openly built a pontoon bridge over the Fuzhou River, and scouts even went to the city walls to spy on the situation. Reports indicate that the Later Jin army has kept the four gates tightly closed day and night and has also recalled scattered troops from the surrounding area to Fuzhou.

Upon hearing this, the Ming army dispatched a fire brigade to cover a large number of auxiliary troops building a bridgehead. Once this fortified position is completed, wounded Ming soldiers from the battle at Fuzhou can be quickly transported here for treatment, and the Ming army can also use this bridgehead to protect its auxiliary troops and retreat route.

The imposing Huang Shi sat in the center of the military tent, flanked by the stern-faced Wu Mu and his scribe Chen Ruike. Communication, mobility, and command efficiency were extremely low in the late Ming Dynasty, making it impossible for the commander-in-chief to simultaneously control the entire army. Coupled with the Ming Dynasty's system of "chief and subordinate officials controlling each other," Huang Shi knew that the loyalty of allied forces could determine victory or defeat.

Huang Shi pulled out an action plan—as military operations became increasingly large and complex, he was beginning to forget all the mission details. His inner guards had printed many copies of the plan and distributed one to each of the generals attending the meeting. Zhang Pan and his men had been surprised when ordered to sit around the table, and now, filled with suspicion, they received the thick plan. Following Huang Shi's example, they opened it and carefully read it. Hong Antong had even provided an inner guard to translate for the illiterate Zhang Minghe.

The plan detailed the tasks of each unit, their allies, and the marching routes. After Huang Shi gave a briefing on the tasks, he began asking the generals if they had any questions. This shocked several allied commanders, who had previously been resistant to questioning their superiors' orders. Huang Shi mainly wanted everyone to speak up now, and to voice any concerns about the mission's completion beforehand. This was far better than fleeing the battlefield at the first sign of trouble.

After half a day of adjustment, the officers of the Dongjiang Left Wing Corps became familiar with Huang Shi's military council style. Through extensive discussion, they finally reached a consensus, and Huang Shi did his best to meet everyone's demands. This exchange also gave him a better understanding of the combat capabilities of the various units in Dongjiang Town.

"Any more questions?" Huang Shi asked the assembled commanders one last time, observing their expressions.

"No," the commanders replied in unison. After such a long discussion, they fully understood the plan in their hands, and this understanding filled them with confidence in the outcome of the war.

The officers' faces revealed excitement and a hunger for glory, which pleased Huang Shi. "Good," he said, "a grand banquet for the soldiers tonight. Tomorrow morning, the army will set off to cross the Fuzhou River. The attack on Fuzhou will begin before noon."

After the meeting, Huang Shi called out to He Dingyuan, pulling him back to sit at the table. "Brother He," he said, "you haven't said a word today."

"This humble general has no problem, no problem at all," He Dingyuan replied, his face taut and cold lately.

"Brother He," Huang Shi said, "what can't we say to each other?"

He Dingyuan stared intently into Huang Shi's eyes for a while, as if they were strangers. Huang Shi maintained his smile throughout. He Dingyuan sighed, "Sir, if I were that soldier, if I had such an enemy, it would be impossible not to seek revenge." He Dingyuan shook his

head sadly. "It's impossible not to seek revenge!" he said. He suddenly raised his head. "Sir," Huang Shi said, "if I were the one who did it, would you not pardon me?"

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