Chapter 618: The Assembly (III)

In this world, many things do not shift according to human will.

The makeshift troupe first cobbled together in Tainan has, by now, grown into a superpower with limitless potential.

Under these circumstances, no matter what the old brothers who rose from humble beginnings think in their hearts, the good days of treating one another as equals are truly gone for good.

Although everyone still calls each other brother in private, anyone can feel that as the Organization grows larger and more formalized, external status is slowly reshaping their internal standing with one another.

What Yao Jianshe encountered today was a classic scene. Just a few short years ago, they were all sitting in the dirt of the wilds eating grilled oysters, casually discussing how to deal with the Tainan savages, and when words didn't sit right, they'd chuck a couple of chicken bones at each other and curse a few times.

But now, Yao Jianshe, one of the illustrious Northern Trio, a big shot who controls who-knows-how-many people, goods, and funds and operates in both the light and the shadows, actually felt a touch of flattered surprise when faced with a private "audience." A system is like that — since you enjoy the managerial advantages it brings, you must also bear the hierarchical concepts it imposes.

And so Yao Jianshe sat respectfully beside Old Cao Zong.

He had just taken a cigarette from Old Cao Zong and hadn't exchanged more than a couple of pleasantries when Xia Xianze, who had been watching with a beaming smile, spoke up: "Old Cao Zong has an important matter to entrust to you."

Yao Jianshe hurriedly pulled the cigarette from his mouth: "Just give the order."

"After you go back this time, take care of the archival records for Old Cao Zong's three ancestral generations."

"Huh?!" Yao Jianshe was shaken to the core, mouth agape and speechless, even forgetting to smoke.

With an expression that said "I knew this guy wouldn't get it," Xia Xianze took a deep breath and began to explain to Yao Jianshe.

Well, according to the customs of the Chinese people, once a founding emperor sits upon the realm, he must confer posthumous titles upon his three ancestral generations.

This is standard procedure, a necessary "ritual" recognized by society.

When the Li family of the Tang Dynasty established their rule, Li Shimin posthumously honored his great-grandfather Li Hu as Tang Taizu, his grandfather Li Bing as Tang Shizu, and then came the more familiar Tang Gaozu, Li Yuan.

The Li clan, as the core of the Guanlong military-political bloc, were themselves great nobles and powerful magnates for generations: Li Shimin's great-grandfather held the title of Duke of Longxi Commandery in the Western Wei, his grandfather was Duke of Tang in the Northern Zhou, Li Yuan inherited the title of Duke of Tang at the end of the Sui, and was the Grand Guardian of Taiyuan when he rebelled. The Li family, one could say, were the number one rebels within the Sui Dynasty's establishment.

Unlike the old Li family, when it came to the old Zhu family of the Ming Dynasty, that was a true case of a loser's comeback.

Zhu Yuanzhang's three ancestral generations were poor farmers. His grandfather Zhu Chuyi and his father Zhu Wusi were both of destitute peasant stock — you can tell just from their names. Zhu Baba himself was a penniless wretch in his youth, and even spent a few years as a wandering monk — synonymous with a beggar.

Even so, the moment Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he immediately posthumously honored his grandfather Zhu Chuyi as Emperor Xizu Yu and his old man Zhu Wusi as Emperor Renzu Chun.

Next, it is Comrade Cao Chuan's turn.

Before this, a certain power base's public explanation was "returning sea merchants." This vague phrasing was fine in the early days. However, as time passes, when the day truly comes to make a proclamation to all under heaven, if Emperor Cao, as the common sovereign of the Han people, cannot even clearly state which village his three ancestral generations farmed in, it certainly won't do and will affect the legitimacy of his rule. The natives will harbor suspicion and vigilance: Are these people even Han? Are they foreigners?

As the saying goes, if the name is not correct, the words will not flow smoothly.

Therefore, the Transmigrators must plan ahead. For others it's fine, but for the figurehead emperor, this must be sorted out clearly.

Moreover, settling the emperor's native-place archives early will also benefit the next phase of work, especially operations targeting the North. This point was evident from the previous negotiations with the Dongjiang Garrison military strongman clique. Upon learning that Emperor Cao was a man of northern origin, Kong Youde and his ilk's attitude shifted rapidly, and their misgivings lessened considerably.

After hearing Xia Xianze's full explanation, Yao Jianshe let out a long breath: Damn, I've lucked out! Not only is this a task I can handle, but it'll also bring me closer to the emperor himself. Good news, great news!

However, he immediately also grasped the task's importance. Never mind its bearing on the long-term ruling legitimacy of the Crossing Regime, even right now it would greatly aid the Northern Trio's work: he had previously participated in the entire operation to "recruit" Kong Youde's clique and knew how much the ancients cared about matters of native place.

Once he had thought it through, Yao Jianshe still had one question: "Won't the archives involve Old Cao Zong's ancestral ties in the Old World?"

Cao Chuan seemed to have already considered Yao Jianshe's question. The next moment, he shook his head decisively: "No, the new and old worlds must be completely severed. Everything about me in the Old World has nothing to do with things here. For this archive, aside from the native place overlapping, handle the rest as you see fit — just 'fabricate' one."

Yao Jianshe felt a weight lift from his heart.

This made the task much simpler. Wasn't it just a matter of "finding" a Cao family line that had died out and grafting him onto it? Anyway, people with the same surname were one family five hundred years ago, and the Ming people could be considered ancestors; the Transmigrators had long gotten used to this sort of thing.

In Yao Jianshe's view, the Ming Dynasty had no shortage of households scattered to the four winds or whose incense had been extinguished; this job wasn't very difficult. After the meeting, he'd gather some data on northern refugees, then head back north for some field investigation, check the household registers and county annals of those counties and townships — wouldn't the task be done?

Thinking this far, Yao Jianshe's face was full of assurance: "Old Cao Zong, leave this matter to me, I guarantee I'll get it done for you!"

Seeing Old Cao Zong nod, Yao Jianshe added another line: "But you'll have to tell me your native place?"

"Oh right, I forgot that bit." Cao Chuan patted his head and reported an eighteenth-tier place name in Hebei: "My old home is between Bazhou and Tianjin. Doesn't matter, just pick anywhere in that area. You can cross-reference the Ming-era place names yourself later. I've checked; the earliest administrative establishment there was under the jurisdiction of the Yan state in the Spring and Autumn period."

Yao Jianshe nodded repeatedly: "Then it's all set. Just wait for the telegram I send you!"

"Pay attention." Seeing the matter was more or less settled, Xia Xianze straightened his face and gave Yao Jianshe a final warning: "This matter concerns the future official history of the nation and state sacrifices. It is top secret to all natives, so every loose end from start to finish must be handled by you personally!"

Yao Jianshe himself was a big shot in the intelligence world and naturally understood the principle of secrecy. Hearing this, he hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Finally, the forthright Old Cao Zong patted Yao Jianshe on the shoulder: "This matter, well, it's official business, but also personal in a way. Lao Yao, I'm imposing on you."

"Old Cao Zong, you're far too polite. This matter is my own affair, I guarantee I'll handle it well!"

Seeing Yao Jianshe was on board, Old Cao Zong revealed a peculiar smile at that moment: "Tell you what, I still have a few cartons of cigarettes stashed with Li Dazui. Go ask him for one, say it's on me."

"Haha, that's wonderful. I'll take it back for the two brothers in the North to try. Haven't smoked imported cigarettes in ages."

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Relying on the convenience of his work in the North, Yao Jianshe, having inadvertently received a hidden quest, gleefully emerged from the instance — er, the conference hall — and quietly blended back into the masses' formation.

Next, the meeting continued to follow its established agenda.

Yao Jianshe, listening to reports step by step, had originally thought there would be no more new and exciting developments. To his surprise, on the afternoon of the meeting's third day, someone brought up an explosive agenda item: Reopen the Immigration Gateway.

The "immigration" referred to here was not boatload after boatload of refugees shipped from the North, but specifically meant Transmigrators.

This motion received the support of the majority of Transmigrators.

By now, many of the early conflicts among the Transmigrators had long since vanished, such as the most important one: internal power struggles.

For no other reason than the cake was too big and there were too few people to eat it. Everyone could clearly feel that if they didn't import a few more crates of people, the operation would become unmanageable!

Nowadays, as the tonnage of the Crossing Regime expanded at a geometric rate, and as the territory of the "Nationalist-controlled area" increased at a geometric rate, any Transmigrator at all would be assigned pile after pile of titles. The early drama of too many idle hands scrambling for some dogshit position was gone.

Put it this way: if anyone now jumped out and said, "I'm not afraid of hardship or feeding mosquitoes and am willing to permanently station in Thailand as Retired Emperor," this gentleman would very likely receive his letter of appointment the very next day.

Unfortunately, however, people are inclined toward comfort and profit, avoiding harm. Since staying in the New District, sitting in an office with the air conditioner blowing, and going to Annam yielded the same rewards, then why the hell should I go deal with savages and feed mosquitoes?

Even cramming middle-school physics and chemistry to be an Old Chief in a New District factory was better than going to the Indochina Peninsula to be some dogshit Governor-General.

No one is stupid. Everyone knows that in the tropics, the infectious diseases that can kill a person go far beyond just malaria. Many illnesses in later generations required large hospitals to resolve, and were simply not something the current Crossing Faction could handle from a great distance.

This was the current state of affairs among the Transmigrators. Relative to the ever-increasing number of crucial government department positions, the Transmigrators, whose numbers had long been fixed, were stretched a bit thin.

And the half-baked natives under everyone's command were still far from reaching a level where they could be entrusted with heavy responsibilities.

As for the new generation of Ming people who could be entrusted with heavy responsibilities, they were all still being brainwashed in the high school academies and couldn't be rushed.

The above was the reason this proposal emerged. It was indeed born from the most basic thirst for talent following the regime's growth.

Yet the department most thirsting for "new immigrants" was not even the office-bound government departments.

The one that specifically brought forth the motion this time was the Military representative. To be precise, it was the Army Commander-in-Chief, Han Bo himself, who proposed the motion on behalf of all Military Transmigrators.

There was no helping it — compared to the other departments, the military truly had the greatest need to "import" advanced officers.

Given the current scale of the Transmigration Nation's Army and Navy, if they did not import some advanced professional officers soon — Han Bo, standing at the lectern, said: "The expedient practice of having transmigrators serve as rotating battalion-level and battleship captain-level commanders has already created hidden dangers within the military. This approach of using seven lids to cover eight pots must stop immediately!"

"If we continue on like this, it will be all too easy for natives with heads full of old feudal ideas to exploit the gaps. Everyone knows that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. The military is the most dangerous department, the one department that absolutely cannot be allowed to go wrong under any circumstances."

"Therefore, we must either conscript existing transmigrators into service, or permanently halt the expansion of the military's scale. Of course, the most reasonable solution is to reopen the immigration channel."

At this point, Han Bo, in his well-fitted military uniform, turned his head along with the majority of the attendees to look at Cao Chuan, who sat alone in the "VIP seat."