[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-741":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1206030,1561,"Chapter 741: A Dance of Wild Demons","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-741",741,"\u003Cp>Old Bai Niu: A reader asked whether the Xianzhong Shrine at Tumu Fort still exists. It does, but it's now inside the village committee compound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, a reader asked what the post of \"Cao\" Guard is. It was a Garrison Commander post in the various forts and castles of the Nine Frontier Garrisons at the time, roughly equivalent to a Company Commander — a defensive Squad Commander, a \"Cao\" Guard Company Commander.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Li Banghua and his party were at a place the locals called Caobaozhuang. This market town was already not far from the prefectural city, quite close to Mount Zhuolu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was something of a comprehensive market town, with several nearby sewing factories, meat-and-pottery-jar factories, cured-meat workshops, honeycomb-coal workshops, nail factories, lime factories, brick-kiln workshops, and so on. The growing population of factory workers had made Caobaozhuang, originally just an ordinary village, larger and larger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The villagers initially made a living by renting out houses, and later began running various small shops for sundries, meals, and the like. Then, with the arrival of various transport merchant convoys, all manner of inns and teahouses sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain. Storehouses for keeping merchant goods were also erected one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now this market town was already extremely bustling. Medicine shops, inns, teahouses, wine shops, fruit shops, and rice shops were all present in abundance. The flow of people shuttled back and forth like weaving. Storytellers and opera troupes had also moved in, and even a brothel had opened for business following the tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, Li Banghua had heard from Ma Guoxi that there was also a gambling den, but after the local government struck it with thunderous force, the ringleaders were arrested and sent to the mines to perform hard labor, and that gambling den vanished like smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, because the gambling den operator was a local who knew the law and broke it, his crime was increased by one degree. This fellow will spend a very long time in the mines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His old father was even more implicated by him: originally a village head, he was dismissed from his post.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, those who wish to gamble can only go to the prefectural city, where there is a legal, government-run gambling house. Yet anyone with clear eyes knows that gambling house is operated by the Intelligence Division of Xuanfu Garrison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recently, several waterwheel factories have also newly opened near the garrison. It was because the Protectorate wanted to develop Monan, spurring the production of these large-scale farming implements. There were also factories established for making yokes and harnesses for horse-drawn plowing, pull-plows, and even large seed drills, making the town even more bustling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banghua of course knew about these horse-drawn plows and seed drills. A mere single seed drill could sow at least one hundred mu of land a day. As early as the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, it was invented by Grain Commandant Zhao Guo, but it had always been used relatively little in the north, let alone in the south.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching those seed drills being transported away in an endless stream, passing through the streets convoy after convoy, clearly demand from all regions was extremely strong. Thinking of the amount of land these farming implements would soon reclaim and sow, and the outstanding managerial ability of Wang Dou's subordinates, Li Banghua felt a mix of emotions in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had snowed again for a spell in the morning. Although it did not cover the roads, this time of melting snow still carried a considerable chill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this kind of weather, being able to sit inside a warm tavern was a very comfortable thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet obviously, those who could leisurely enjoy themselves in a restaurant before mealtime were all either rich or noble, mostly great merchants, factory owners, and locals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One characteristic of them was that their clothing was rather luxurious and their adornments rather fine. Many wore swords and sabers at their waists, clearly possessing weapon-carrying permits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their trademark, moreover, was a newspaper in every hand, and many also held or had a cloud cigarette dangling from their lips. This was a kind of large rolled cigarette, somewhat similar to later-era cigars. Having only appeared in Xuanfu Garrison for a few months, it was already popular among the garrison's high-end circles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was said that the name \"Cloud Cigarette\" was even chosen by Yongning Marquis Wang Dou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cloud\" carries a sense of being high above, implying nobility and elegance. Naming it Cloud Cigarette, one could tell at once that this cigarette's grade was very high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The highest grade was the \"Xuanfu Garrison Brand\" Cloud Cigarette, also called \"Red Double Happiness\" — the name alone sounded auspicious and pleasing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this was the highest-end Cloud Cigarette, and these factory owners might not necessarily be able to afford it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, tobacco's reputation in the Great Ming was extremely good. Besides promoting tobacco as able to ward off miasma, cure head lice, and kill pests, it also had effects like treating wind-cold and dampness. Outside the passes in Liaodong, one catty of tobacco leaf could even be traded for a fine horse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xuanfu Garrison itself grew little tobacco, and on top of that, tobacco taxes were extremely heavy. Those who could smoke all possessed considerable financial resources. The people in this restaurant generally smoked the third-grade \"Baoanzhou Brand\" Cloud Cigarette. Even so, a box of Cloud Cigarette was equally expensive, yet they were willing to buy it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banghua had always been astonished at the number of wealthy people in Baoanzhou. Before his eyes, in a mere small market town, this high-end restaurant was packed full of such people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upstairs and downstairs, it was all their figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He saw them smoking, drinking, unfolding newspapers and talking loudly and animatedly, from time to time bursting into waves of laughter. They even reached a point of excitement where someone drew his own sword and brandished it, while the rest likewise sang with raised swords, triggering waves of ghostly howls and wolfish wails upstairs and downstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at their bearing and expressions, from a favorable perspective, one could call it heroic and unrestrained, men of Yan and Zhao's stirring tragic songs. But from Li Banghua's standpoint, these people were petty men drunk on success, smug and forgetful of themselves — truly, he found it utterly intolerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of them were loudly discussing the great victory beyond the frontier, looking about with self-satisfied heroism. Amid bursts of wild laughter, they said one after another:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our Pacification Army is invincible!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Grand General is ever-victorious. The great victory beyond the frontier was long within Yang's expectations!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"With Monan destroyed, the next step is Mobei! With a snap of the fingers, the rabble will vanish like smoke. Let me ask the heroes of the realm: who can be our army's match?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Excellent! Brother Sun's words are truly heroic — you deserve a cup!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After these people drank, they began singing \"Horses Trampling Yanran\" in unison. With the clang of dragon's cries, two fellows drew sharp swords and, keeping time with the rhythm, rose to perform a sword dance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were not far from Li Banghua, and their singing made him fidget restlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flashing sword light also made him, Ma Guoxi, and their men tremble with fear. Their accompanying attendants were equally terrified. Without weapon-carrying permits, they had only hidden small daggers to avoid trouble. Seeing long swords flashing, how could they not be afraid?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banghua wanted to move farther from these people and sit downstairs, but when he looked again, there were actually a dozen people downstairs performing sword dances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could neither sit nor leave, and in his heart one phrase kept flashing: \"A dance of wild demons!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After great difficulty waiting for these people to stop, they began discussing the latest newspaper content again: the all-out recruitment of Protectorate clerks, mobilizing the populace to reclaim and develop Monan, and such matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He heard them say one after another:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No question, Zhao will certainly answer the Grand General's call and contribute my humble efforts to developing Monan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mm, I plan to invest two thousand silver dollars and go beyond the frontier to see what good opportunities there are.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Grand General has never shortchanged us. Gentlemen, do not hesitate. If you have capital, just put it forth.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Quite right. There's a saying: seize the initiative. One step forward, every step forward; one step back, every step back. What have we relied on to reach this stage? It's precisely seizing the initiative, drinking the first bowl of soup. Look at those who clung stubbornly to their land back then — what have they achieved? Even now, they can't afford Cloud Cigarettes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good! Brother Sun's words are right again. Come, let us drink another cup!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banghua and Yang Guozhu were dumbstruck. Listening to these nearby Baoanzhou people, in just a few words, the investment capital they had decided on already exceeded ten thousand silver dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed their trust in Wang Dou had reached a deep-rooted level. These detestable people in his own eyes were Wang Dou's staunchest supporters. It seemed that whatever decision Wang Dou made, they would follow without a second thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, the good days they now enjoyed were something only Wang Dou could give them. If it were him, Li Banghua, his first step would be to deal with these people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banghua also felt a sour taste in his heart once more. Wang Dou merely spoke casually in the newspaper, and ten thousand people followed. If it were the imperial court trying to rally the populace, how immensely difficult would that be?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What made Li Banghua slightly more comfortable was that these people all spoke the official language, not the jabbering local dialect, which was more pleasant to the ear. He had heard that Wang Dou vigorously promoted the official language in Xuanfu Garrison, and outsiders who could speak the official language also found it easier to get work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he had to admit, crude as these people were, every one of them was quite literate, not unlettered commoners. This could be seen from how they all skillfully read newspapers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had heard that when Wang Dou first rose, he used various means to promote literacy among military households and craftsmen. Those who were literate could also be promoted faster and become wealthy more easily. By now, at least in the Baoanzhou area, the local literacy rate even surpassed that of the Jiangnan region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially within the Pacification Army, it was uniformly intellectuals — arguably the Great Ming's sole high-literacy military unit. After all, they were young and more malleable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With great difficulty, he saw these people quiet down, only discussing the matter of clerks, saying that sons and younger kin in their families could be sent to take the examinations. Many of their sons, nephews, and close relatives were currently officers in the Pacification Army. For their younger kin, joining the military was one path; joining the civil service was equally a path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, some among them with sparse family members worried that if all the sons and younger kin in their families went into the military or civil service, there would be no one left to manage and inherit the family property. The topic then shifted to the professional stewards currently very popular in Xuanfu Garrison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These professional stewards were professional managers specially created by wealthy and powerful merchants in the garrison who saw a business opportunity. Much like the agricultural firms of the Zheng family and others, they managed the estates of Pacification Army officers of all ranks who had large amounts of land but surplus household members to farm it. The officers only needed to sit back and enjoy the fruits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This new phenomenon naturally made many people hesitate and wait and see. The result of these Baoanzhou people's discussion was that they themselves could still work for many more years, so they would talk about it later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their discussions, falling on Li Banghua's ears, gave him a direct feeling of being overwhelmed, as if listening to a heavenly scripture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more he understood Xuanfu Garrison, the more unfamiliar and terrifying this place felt. He only felt that everything was evil and aberrant, and he wished he could sweep it all away with a wave of his hand and make it return to orthodoxy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, while on the road, Li Banghua had also seen the latest news in the Xuanbao Times. Displeased as he was, he still read every issue of the newspaper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou had called on the people to develop Monan. After conducting an incognito investigation, Li Banghua's attitude shifted somewhat; he came to believe it was a good thing, tacitly approved it, and did not oppose it. However, the recruitment notice for clerks within it aroused his extreme displeasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Setting aside for the moment the debate over whether the clerk assessment system or the imperial examination system is superior, there are at least two points about the court's selection of officials that can be affirmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, they are upright; second, they are few.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All who can become officials are men thoroughly versed in the books of the sages. They undergo step-by-step assessment from Pupil, to Licentiate, to Provincial Graduate, to Metropolitan Graduate, facing elimination at every level, and only finally obtain office. At the very least, in terms of moral integrity and personal cultivation, the majority of them are without issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And what sort of people are the clerks?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There is a saying: \"Though your official be pure as water, he cannot escape clerks as slippery as oil.\" It refers precisely to these people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the early days of the dynasty, these clerks were selected by the government offices from among the local commoners of clean family background, and each was required to possess both virtue and talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, everywhere these positions are monopolized by clerk families, who collude with the local gentry and village heads in villainy. They are all scoundrels with sores on their heads and pus running from their heels. It can be said that the majority of the dynasty's affairs have been ruined at the hands of these people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, local officials are subject to the native-place avoidance system; most are from other provinces, unfamiliar with local customs and unable to understand the dialect. Naturally, they must heed the clerks and runners, even being manipulated like puppets at their whim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time the various officials finally figure things out, their terms are already expiring and they are about to leave office. Thus, their presence is far less significant than that of the local clerks and runners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Local officials have fixed terms of office, but clerks survive locally generation after generation. There is often the chronic malady that \"the clerk makes his nest there, the father passing it to the son, the elder brother passing it to the younger brother,\" with the real power of the department and county entirely in their hands. They manipulate local affairs and make fools of the officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, if an official wants to add one sheng of grain tax, in the end they will turn it into one dou, or even one dan. These additional levies all end up in the pockets of the clerks, runners, and local gentry, while the official above takes the blame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How much was the total sum of the dynasty's three surtaxes? If it had truly been levied on the common people as intended, would it have provoked such widespread fury and resentment? Was it not all the fine work of the clerks below!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if an official is somewhat corrupt, one man alone cannot embezzle much. Of the excess portion of the surtaxes, at least seventy to eighty percent was embezzled by these people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, when calculated across the entire Great Ming, it becomes an astonishing figure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the moral integrity and cultivation of clerks are not reassuring. For the Protectorate to employ such people is perilous indeed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is what is meant by \"not upright.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furthermore, observing how minutely Wang Dou's departments are divided and how many clerks are being recruited, how can the common people bear the burden of supporting them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is what is meant by \"redundant!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One can imagine the future of Xuanfu Garrison and the Protectorate, overrun with redundant officials and clerks. The common people will suffer bitterly!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banghua was deeply troubled: \"The Marquis of Yongning has gone astray!\" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m. to read.)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>〖∷Fast Updates∷ ∷Plain Text∷〗\u003C\u002Fp>",2792,"2026-06-03T14:06:10.567Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","d9dc1944247736609a2166c968c2119e46516212445b5897e3423e590072a69e","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-742","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-740",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]