Chapter 440: Uproar

Long Er was a man of few words, with an ordinary face. That Yu Mao’er looked even more like a timid old farmer. Only men like these were the ideal candidates for intelligence scouts and Night Scouts.

Long Er’s speech was also plain and simple. He dully recounted his scouting experiences, but Wang Dou could hear how many hardships and dangers were hidden within those unadorned words.

Just like the Eastern Circuit, the Qing realm also maintained strict household registration. In truth, any newly rising state or group inevitably ruled with tight discipline and order — much like the road-pass system in the early Great Ming, which effectively checked spies and curbed chaotic population flows. By the late Ming, however, road passes had become mere formalities.

Though the Qing interior was not as tightly controlled as the Eastern Circuit, how could gathering intelligence be easy? The cold mists, the lonely moon, the tearful dawns and pitiable nights need no elaboration. Of the squad Long Er led, many were killed in action, and for some, not even their bodies could be recovered. Speaking of this, Long Er’s wooden expression finally changed, and his eyes grew somewhat red.

Wang Dou sighed: “Brother Long, you have toiled bitterly. The shogunate will properly provide for the fallen soldiers and their families. For those whose remains cannot be found, we shall build cenotaphs.”

He stroked the maps and documents Long Er and the others had brought back and shook his head: “For the realm to know peace, who knows how many more must die, how many soldiers’ bones will vanish without a trace.”

Wen Daxing offered counsel: “Grand General, do not grieve. They died for the country, for the common people — a worthy death. From the day they joined the Pacifying Frontier Army, everyone held this resolve.”

Wang Dou nodded with a sigh, lavishly praised Long Er and the others, ordered the Staff Department and the Pacification Office to record their merits and commend them, and also rewarded them with some valuables from his residence. Knowing Long Er enjoyed smoking a pipe, he also bestowed on him some fine tobacco shreds.

Long Er, Yu Mao’er, and the others exited the general’s mansion. Outside, a gaunt middle-aged man was squatting by the spirit screen, staring blankly.

Long Er’s trait was that he usually said little, but with acquaintances he was exceedingly warm. Carrying bundles large and small, he walked over and called loudly: “Look, Brother Qian Hai, the Grand General rewarded us with so much wealth!”

As if showing off a treasure, he pulled out a brocade pouch: “See what’s inside — tobacco shreds, all top-grade Fujian leaf, personally bestowed by the Grand General. Ordinary folk could never get a taste.”

He took out his treasured pipe, carefully loaded a pinch of the shreds, pulled out a fire striker and lit it, took a deep, blissful draw, and closed his eyes in rapture.

Only after a long while did he open his eyes: “The Grand General’s fine tobacco is truly extraordinary.”

Seeing Yu Mao’er and Qian Hai staring at him with longing eyes, Long Er generously handed over the brocade pouch: “Take some, all of you. Brother Qian Hai especially — this trip to Liaodong owes much to you.”

The three squatted by the spirit screen like beggars, happily puffing on their pipes, chatting idly, blowing clouds and mist. At this time, the smoking craze in the Great Ming was at its height; it was even said that tobacco could ward off miasma, cure head lice, kill pests, and treat wind-cold and damp ailments. Beyond the passes in Liaodong, a catty of tobacco leaf could be traded for a fine horse, so tobacco was planted everywhere across the land.

Because the common people planted tobacco instead of grain, in the twelfth year of his reign the Chongzhen Emperor issued a special edict: private planters among the people would be sentenced to penal labor, and with even greater severity: “Those who consume tobacco shall die.”

Yet it was still useless; repeated bans on tobacco were issued but never enforced.

All three were heavy smokers. After a long bout of puffing clouds and mist, Long Er said to the silent Qian Hai: “Brother Qian Hai, with all your skills, and having once been a personal guard of Marshal Mao — you can even speak the Liaodong tongue, Korean, and Japanese — my Vanguard Scout Camp needs a great talent like you most of all. Rest assured, once the Pacification Office and the Intelligence Department vet you, you will soon become a Night Scout of our Pacifying Frontier Army. When the day comes that we kill that arch-traitor Kong Youde, you can avenge the family members who were implicated because of you.”

Qian Hai had been deathly listless, but hearing this, a light appeared in his murky eyes. He said: “Truly?”

Yet his speech carried a trace of a Jiangsu-Zhejiang accent.

Long Er thumped his chest: “Rest easy, we will all vouch for you.”

Yu Mao’er also said: “That’s right, I will vouch for you too.”

Qian Hai’s hands trembled; hot tears welled up in the gaunt man’s eyes: “…Good. So long as I can kill the Tartars, so long as I can kill that arch-traitor Kong Youde, I am willing to do anything…”

After learning the news from Liaodong, Wang Dou’s mood grew somewhat heavy. According to the scouting of Long Er and the others, the Qing realm was building cannons on a large scale, among them many Divine Might Grand General Cannons.

Wang Dou knew that the Divine Might Grand General Cannon fired shot weighing over ten catties — that was a Red Barbarian twelve-pounder. Of course, how many Divine Might Grand General Cannons the Qing possessed, Long Er and his men could not scout out, and Wang Dou could understand that.

Moreover, according to intelligence, the Qing were mass-producing arquebuses. The Han troops of the Eight Banners were training with firearms on a large scale. How many arquebusiers they had was truly hard to say.

Wang Dou’s gaze was deep. Newly rising powers were always adept at learning, with few conservative elements.

Historically, the Qing people had placed considerable importance on firearms; it was only because their opponents were weak that they did not deploy them on a large scale. Later, however, during the Dzungar rebellion, because the Dzungar troops used flintlock muskets and Red Barbarian Cannons extensively, the Qing likewise produced large numbers of Red Barbarian Cannons, arquebuses, and the like.

Now, because of his own influence, was the age of firearms about to arrive?

Firearm against firearm — though Wang Dou was confident his own gunners and musketeers held a great advantage, heavy casualties would inevitably occur. Moreover, his own cannons’ largest caliber was only six pounds… It seemed he must train his soldiers in how to evade cannon fire when defending, and how to respond when facing artillery in formation.

Wen Daxing was also troubled by this intelligence. Seeing Wang Dou deep in thought, he said softly: “Grand General, Grand General…”

Wang Dou grunted in acknowledgment, his sharp spirit returning. A cold gleam shot from his eyes. He ordered his guards to summon the various commanders for a council, then looked at Wen Daxing: “Daxing, send men to the capital to spread the word — say that the Eastern Slaves have over a hundred cannons, over ten thousand arquebuses, and among them many heavy guns weighing thousands of catties.”

Wen Daxing pondered: “The Grand General’s meaning is…”

Wang Dou snorted: “War is not fought by our family alone. I do not have heavy cannons of ten catties and above, but the capital does.”

Very soon, a shocking piece of news spread through the capital and beyond: the Eastern Slaves were mass-producing heavy cannons. Including the Divine Might Grand General Cannons, their artillery battalions already possessed over a hundred guns. They were also drilling twenty thousand Han troops of the Eight Banners, many of them trained in the arquebus.

For a time, the capital was in an uproar. Officials and commoners alike debated heatedly. The lethality of firearms — the Shunxiang Army of the Eastern Circuit in Xuanfu Garrison, now called the Pacifying Frontier Army, had long since demonstrated it thoroughly to all. When the Eastern Slaves invaded, it was before the Loyal and Brave Count’s musket-and-cannon formations that they had suffered bitterly.

In everyone’s impression, though the Eastern Slaves were fierce, they were beasts who devoured men, an image of cold steel — mounted archery, long spears, and great halberds. To suddenly possess so many cannons and arquebuses — what did this signify? That their level of civilization had reached a very high stage. Such a sudden transformation of image — how could the people’s hearts remain balanced?

For a time, discussion raged inside and outside the capital. Some raged in disbelief, some cried that our own firearms were inferior, some shouted that the Great Ming was in peril.

The Western missionary Tang Ruowang in the capital went everywhere crying out: “Their men are strong, their horses vigorous, their arrows sharp, their bows powerful — already they surpass us by far, and now their firearms are sufficient to match ours. Who could have imagined that our wondrous skills would all become theirs? As for the firearms we now prize, the great Western cannons, the enemy not only has them, but now possesses them in abundance!”

Other missionaries shouted: “The barbarous Tartars already possess keen firearms, while our Chinese armies are instead inferior. We must swiftly cast heavy cannons, or purchase them from the Bocarro gun foundry.”

It was no wonder the missionaries were so agitated. Firearms, along with various technological products, had always been the advantage by which the Red Barbarians pried open China’s gates.

After the German missionary Tang Ruowang arrived in China, in the seventh year of Chongzhen’s reign, together with Luo Yagu, he presented to the Great Ming Emperor a telescope brought from Europe, wrapped in yellow silk, complete with a gilded stand and brass fittings. This matter received the serious attention of the Chongzhen Emperor and all circles of the court and public. Not only was Tang Ruowang received and commended, but the Chinese government also organized efforts to replicate it. That year, China’s first domestically made telescope was completed, named the “Peeping Tube.”

Before this, Catholic converts like Xu Guangqi and other pro-Western representatives had repeatedly purchased Red Barbarian Cannons from the Portuguese in Macau. During the Tianqi reign, they bought twenty-six Red Barbarian Cannons; nineteen were kept to defend the capital, and the rest were shipped to Ningyuan City beyond the passes.

After the Battle of Ningyuan, the Red Barbarian Cannon’s fame soared, igniting a passion for purchase and replication throughout the court and public. In the first year of Chongzhen’s reign, Portuguese mercenaries arrived in the capital — two hundred soldiers, plus thirty-one gunners, craftsmen, and attendants, bringing seven large iron cannons, three large bronze cannons, and thirty falconets, led by the Western commander “Gonsalo Teixeira.” These cannons were bestowed the name “Divine Might Grand General” by the Chongzhen Emperor.

At the same time, the Ming court also undertook the mass replication of Red Barbarian Cannons, mostly along the southeastern coast. By the third year of Chongzhen’s reign, over four hundred replicated Red Barbarian Cannons of various sizes had been produced. Historically, by the time the Ming fell, over a thousand Red Barbarian Cannons of all types had been made.

In the north, Xu Guangqi not only cast cannons but also had Portuguese gunners and cannon-making artisans directly teach the methods of operating and firing Red Barbarian Cannons. He also co-authored with Li Madou, Tang Ruowang, and others the “Principles of Measurement” for artillery ranging, and the “Essentials of Fire Assault” for measuring cannon barrel elevation.

This was the honeymoon period for pro-Western officials in the Great Ming. Yet not long after, Kong Youde rebelled, taking over 1,300 men and women of his remnant forces, along with an elite artillery unit and numerous firearms handlers, and surrendered to the Later Jin. The Portuguese commander Gonsalo Teixeira died in battle. Soon after, Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua, Zhang Tao, Wang Zheng, and others died, and a large faction of pro-Western forces was purged. Tang Ruowang and other missionaries fell into deep disfavor.

Now, with the news of the Eastern Slaves’ firearms arriving, not only did the missionaries raise a great clamor, but even the cowering pro-Western officials were greatly invigorated, running about and echoing each other throughout the court and public.

Moreover, this news was not false. Facts had long since arrived. At the front lines of Jinzhou or Songshan, the bandit slaves were already attacking fiercely with large numbers of heavy Red Barbarian Cannons. Those with sharp eyes even dug up the recent field report from Fan Chenggong, the defender of Songshan: “The Tartar bandits brought many cannon and fire, fiercely assaulting Songshan on the 25th and 26th. The situation is extremely critical. Inside the city, we picked up over 601 cannonballs that had been fired in, all weighing over ten catties. At present, on the southern wall are mounted forty Red Barbarian Cannons, each drawn by twelve oxen.”

The memorial and gazette from a few months prior, in which Ji-Liao Viceroy Hong Chengchou had requested the court supply muskets and cannons, was also dug out and discussed. Hong Chengchou had established a gunpowder bureau in Jizhou, manufacturing guns and cannons, and had also requested the Ministry of Works issue fifty each of No. 2 and No. 3 heavy cannons, and ten thousand arquebuses — but the Ministry of Works had only issued fifty “Slave-Exterminating Cannons” and two thousand arquebuses.

What did this prove? That they themselves were not speaking empty words!

Large numbers of officials also secretly dispatched trusted aides to the Eastern Circuit, requesting the Loyal and Brave Count Wang Dou to submit a memorial. The Loyal and Brave Count had the most extensive experience in the use of firearms; if he submitted a memorial, it could increase everyone’s voice in the debate.