Chapter 177: Xu Yue

Wang Dou halted abruptly. He said to Lai Yuanlong and Li Maosen, “Good — Envoy Lai, Steward Li, this hydraulic drilling bed is indeed ingenious. You two have rendered great service once again. I have decided to vigorously promote and establish these hydraulic drilling beds in Shunxiang Fort for boring gun barrels.”

He pondered briefly. “To begin with, we shall build one hundred of these hydraulic drilling beds.”

Everyone drew a sharp breath — one hundred! The Garrison Commander had a huge appetite.

Lin Daofu stepped forward and said in a low voice, “My lord, if we are to build one hundred hydraulic drilling beds, the expenditure of funds and grain will likely be considerable.”

Wang Dou replied, “You need not worry about that, Sir Lin. Draw up a statement of the relevant costs and submit it; I shall review it in detail and reply. But the establishment of these one hundred hydraulic drilling beds is imperative.”

Previously, the craftsmen of Shunxiang Fort could produce only a little over one hundred firearms and twenty-odd suits of iron armor per month. At their peak, they had produced two hundred firearms and fifty suits of armor. After Wang Dou assumed the post of Garrison Commander of Bao’an Prefecture City, he gained over one hundred military artisan households from the prefectural city. However, because Shunxiang Fort had opened various factories, many skilled craftsmen were dispersed. The firearms factory now actually had fewer craftsmen, and the speed of firearm production had slowed even further.

Wang Dou also planned to divert some craftsmen from the firearms factory to establish an armor factory, making the shortage of craftsmen even more acute. The expansion of his troops was imminent, and the problem of skilled craftsmen had always plagued him. Now, with these hydraulic drilling beds, the problem would be much easier to solve.

If Shunxiang Fort built one hundred hydraulic drilling beds, with one craftsman overseeing five beds, one hundred beds would require only twenty craftsmen to manage. The remaining craftsmen in the firearms factory could then be freed up to produce the other components of firearms. Moreover, one hydraulic drilling bed could bore five gun barrels per month; one hundred beds could bore five hundred barrels per month. Using fewer hands, this would be five times the previous production efficiency of the Shunxiang Fort craftsmen.

Given such an obvious technical advantage, although the cost of these hydraulic drilling beds was relatively high, it was still very worthwhile for Wang Dou. Coming from a later era, he understood deeply the superiority of mechanical power over manual labor. When an opportunity for improvement presented itself, why not use it?

The matter was thus decided. And it was not only this achievement — during his days at Shunxiang Fort, Lai Yuanlong had even researched with Li Maosen how to use hydraulic power to hammer armor plates and gun barrels, and they had achieved certain preliminary results.

Lai Yuanlong showed Wang Dou a curious mechanism, also powered by water. No matter how Wang Dou looked at it, it resembled a type of hydraulic rice-pounding device he had seen before. Indeed, the inspiration for Lai Yuanlong came from the hydraulic rice-pounding machines then in use among the common folk of the Great Ming.

In fact, hydraulic rice-pounding machines had existed as early as the Qin and Han dynasties. The principle was simple: one end of a long water-powered trip-hammer was connected inside a stone mortar, and the other end was attached to a square water tank. Bamboo pipes were used to channel water into the tank. When the tank filled with water, the weight of the water caused the tank to sink, lifting the hammer end high. When the water in the tank emptied, the tank became light and rose, causing the hammer end to fall and pound the rice heavily. Thus, it pounded again and again, requiring no human labor at all — extremely convenient.

Lai Yuanlong had borrowed the concept of the hydraulic rice-pounder, merely modifying certain parts. The technology was still immature, but once perfected one day, it would be entirely feasible to use it for hammering armor plates and gun barrels.

Observing these hydraulic machines, Wang Dou was quite excited. The technological capacity under his governance had finally achieved a certain accumulation. Given time, when the day was ripe, could the Great Ming’s industrial revolution be born from his domain?

…

After leaving the firearms factory, Wang Dou also inspected the Shunxiang Fort gunpowder mill. The saltpeter officer Li Da had invented granular gunpowder, which increased the powder’s power and extended the range of firearms. However, correspondingly, the bore pressure in the barrels also increased. The high-powered gunpowder reintroduced the risk of barrels, originally sturdy, bursting. How to improve and adapt all aspects was therefore a complex engineering problem. Since the successful development of the new gunpowder, Li Zhifen had been testing the optimal matching ratio between firearm and gunpowder these days. …

Also, in April, Shunxiang Fort had opened a new pig farm, managed by Qi Tianliang’s wife, née Tao. It housed several hundred pigs, large and small, including over three hundred piglets and over two hundred sows. Wang Dou observed that many sows were already pregnant and expected to farrow soon. By early next year, the Shunxiang Fort pig farm’s annual slaughter output was projected to reach over one thousand three hundred head, along with several thousand piculs of pig manure for fertilizing the fields — a promising prospect.

However, large-scale pig farming in the Great Ming was no easy matter. The people of Shunxiang Fort lacked experience in such husbandry, especially a shortage of veterinarians. A single outbreak of swine fever could destroy the Shunxiang Fort pig farm overnight. Gathering pigweed and collecting and arranging the straw for bedding were also no simple tasks, and the bran, dregs, and bean cakes the pigs ate were needed in considerable quantities.

When Wang Dou arrived at the pig farm, several dozen women were busy inside the pigsties, shoveling manure, washing the pens, and distributing feed. A stench pervaded the entire farm, nauseating to smell. Young Lady Ji, following behind Wang Dou, could not help but cover her mouth and nose. Watching the deft movements and composed demeanor of those busy women, she blinked her eyes vigorously.

Wang Dou glanced at her and said with a smile, “The delicious meat on our everyday dining tables comes about in just this way. If you cannot bear it, young lady, I shall have the guards escort you back to the prefectural city.”

Young Lady Ji shot Wang Dou a glare and, without a word, continued to follow behind him.

Beside the Shunxiang Fort pig farm, there was also a chicken farm and a duck farm, each housing several hundred birds. They fed primarily on the manure from the pig farm. Wang Dou’s purpose in establishing the chicken and duck farms at Shunxiang Fort, besides producing eggs for the soldiers and civilians to eat, was to consider that in the event of a locust plague, the chickens and ducks could be driven out to eat the insects.

Finally, accompanied by Lin Daofu, Wang Dou traveled to East Spirit Mountain and West Spirit Mountain, over ten li from Shunxiang Fort, to inspect the sheep, cattle, and horse farms established there. The vibrant and flourishing scenes everywhere pleased him greatly. Under his planning and management, Shunxiang Fort had finally borne gratifying fruit.

When Wang Dou returned to the prefectural city, Lin Daofu, Sun Sanjie, Gao Shiyin, and others who remained stationed at Shunxiang Fort saw him off with respect. As they exited the fort, Gao Shiyin, usually so talkative, was now silent. His expression was rather grim. Just as Wang Dou was about to mount his horse and depart, Gao Shiyin suddenly grabbed the horse’s head and, with a mournful face, said to Wang Dou, “My lord, your subordinate is guilty. There is a matter I have not mentioned to you.”

Wang Dou was somewhat puzzled. “Brother Gao, what is the matter with you?”

Gao Shiyin glanced at Young Lady Ji beside Wang Dou. Wang Dou looked at Young Lady Ji and, seeing that her family guards were all standing far away, said, “Speak. What is it?”

Gao Shiyin said, “In the third month, when your subordinate was ordered to suppress bandits, the young lady Xu from the fort came to me, saying she wished to join the army and fight. Considering her outstanding martial skills, I agreed.”

Wang Dou asked in surprise, “Young Lady Xu?”

He thought for a moment before recalling it was Xu Yue’e. He could not help but frown. “Nonsense.”

Noticing Young Lady Ji pricking up her ears beside him, he glanced at her and said in a deep voice, “Continue.”

Gao Shiyin’s face was awkward. He defended himself in a low voice, “At the time, your subordinate thought the main army lacked soldiers. Young Lady Xu’s martial skills were outstanding, and she was a fellow villager of yours, my lord. Considering that connection, I allowed her to enlist.”

He continued rapidly, “After Young Lady Xu led several sworn sisters to enlist, they accompanied the army in suppressing bandits, and their battle record was astonishing.”

Even now, Gao Shiyin found it incredible. He said, “Those seven women under Young Lady Xu actually killed over twenty bandits in total and seized quite a bit of valuables. The soldiers in our unit all admired them greatly.”

Wang Dou was also astonished. Gao Shiyin explained in detail the combined spear-and-shield tactics of Xu Yue’e and the others. Wang Dou listened intently, deep in thought. After a long while, he said slowly, “Where are Young Lady Xu and the others now? Go and summon them. I wish to question them in detail.” …

Gao Shiyin said with a mournful face, “They are gone. Since the day before yesterday, Young Lady Xu and the others have not come to the training ground for drill. Your subordinate sent men to the orphan camp barracks to inquire. The steward there said that early in the morning the day before yesterday, all seven of Young Lady Xu’s group left the camp and have not returned for days. Their whereabouts are unknown.”

The displaced women who had originally lived in the orphan camp barracks had all since married other men and formed new couples. Only Xu Yue’e and her seven companions were unwilling to marry and still resided in the orphan camp barracks. According to Gao Shiyin, after Xu Yue’e and the others returned from suppressing bandits, based on their military merits, they had shared several dozen taels of reward silver. He heard that Xu Yue’e took not a single coin for herself and distributed all the reward silver to the other women under her. After returning to the fort, they had remained quiet, with no unusual behavior. No one expected that the day before yesterday, they would all disappear.

There were rumors that someone had seen Xu Yue’e and the seven women carrying long spears and shields, seemingly with some simple bundles. They had left Shunxiang Fort, but where they headed, no one knew.

Lin Daofu, listening nearby, had an ugly expression. “Missing for several days — could it be that Young Lady Xu and the others have already become deserters?”

The military households of Shunxiang Fort went out of the city daily to farm and labor; people came and went constantly. If certain members of the military households were not seen for a day or two, it was generally hard to notice. The Great Ming military code stipulated that if a soldier from a military household was not seen for a month and the superior officer did not know their whereabouts, that person was judged to have deserted. In Shunxiang Fort, this deadline was seven days. If Xu Yue’e and the others had truly left Shunxiang Fort privately and did not intend to return, then this would be the first case of desertion since Wang Dou took control of Shunxiang Fort — something unprecedented.

This matter was shocking. Moreover, Xu Yue’e and the others were now subordinates of Gao Shiyin. If Xu Yue’e had deserted, upon investigation, Gao Shiyin would also be guilty. And Lin Daofu, as the Garrison Commander of Shunxiang Fort, also bore responsibility for lax supervision. No wonder their expressions were so grim.

Wang Dou remained silent for a long moment, then said, “The matter of Xu Yue’e shall be handed over to the Judicial Commissioner, Sir Chi, to handle.”

Leaving the crestfallen Gao Shiyin and the others behind, Wang Dou returned to the prefectural city. On the road, Wang Dou quietly pondered the matter of Xu Yue’e. Young Lady Ji rode over and whispered to Wang Dou, “Wang Dou, just now your subordinate said that those several women, called Xu Yue’e, enlisted in the army and even killed quite a few enemies?”

Wang Dou did not answer. Young Lady Ji exclaimed to herself in admiration, “Truly, they are no less than men. It is a pity I have no chance to meet them.”

…

Back in the prefectural city, Wang Dou parted ways with Young Lady Ji. Wang Dou looked at Young Lady Ji; at this moment, the woman was unexpectedly serene and quiet. She gazed at Wang Dou quietly for a moment, then said softly, “Wang Dou, today I was truly very happy… Rest assured, there are some things I will not speak of recklessly.”

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Old Bai Niu: Thank you all for the birthday wishes. Went to a relative’s house during the day for a one-month celebration banquet; the atmosphere of the countryside banquet was quite nice. Time is limited, so I can only manage one update today. Updates should return to normal next week.

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