Chapter 101: Japanese Pirates

Chen Xin walked through Li Guozhu's tiny kingdom with six personal guards. Both sides of the street were lined with Japanese-style wooden houses, interspersed with a few thatched huts. Li Guozhu had left temporarily to procure copper for him and had not returned for several days. Chen Xin had wandered all over this small island and, taking a few guards to a secluded spot, practiced bugle and drum calls. His army was growing, and the old way of shouting orders no longer sufficed. Sooner or later they would need flags, drums, and bugles, so he did not neglect this matter even when out at sea.

It was Hai Gouzi's first time abroad. He stared curiously at the wooden houses and the Japanese men and women in kimonos. Li Guozhu's little town had everything it needed, especially a fair number of shops and wine houses. Today there were only three ships in the harbor — besides Chen Xin's two, there was one belonging to Li Guozhu. Because Chen Xin's two ships had arrived, the little town had grown lively.

A dozen or so paces ahead of Chen Xin, several sailors came laughing and joking out of an unlicensed brothel. Behind them, an old madam who had just seen them out stood at the doorway waiting for more business. When she saw Chen Xin and his group approaching, she came forward again to greet them warmly.

Chen Xin's military code did not forbid visiting prostitutes. The combat soldiers had three days of rest each month, and many of the single soldiers would go to Weihai to drink and amuse themselves. Chen Xin did not prohibit it, but inside the fortified village he absolutely forbade the existence of unlicensed brothels.

Chen Xin glanced back at his personal guards. Although their military bearing was far better than the sailors', their eyes were all darting in that direction. These young soldiers trained monotonously every day and rarely had a chance to relax. Chen Xin planned, after returning, to start some ball games for the soldiers so they could work off their energy.

Chen Xin smiled at the guards who were eyeing the madam and said, "Go if you want to. It's safe here. You don't need to stay with me — I'll just stroll around."

Nie Hong and the others hesitated a moment, then beamed and dashed inside. Only Zhou Shifa and Hai Gouzi stayed put.

Somewhat surprised, Chen Xin looked at the two of them and asked, "Why aren't you two going?"

Zhou Shifa cupped his hands and said, "How can my lord be without attendants? And there is little worth visiting in such a place." Zhou Shifa was half a street ruffian and had also served as a retainer; he had a sharp eye for when to show his worth. Nie Hong was far more simple-minded.

Chen Xin knew Zhou Shifa was doing this deliberately, but he could also see that Zhou Shifa thought things through more thoroughly. He nodded and asked Hai Gouzi, "And you?"

Hai Gouzi tilted his face up to look at Chen Xin with a foolish grin. "I'm scared."

Chen Xin raised a hand and smacked him on the head. "Silly boy, you're not afraid to kill people, but you're afraid of this?"

Hai Gouzi rubbed his head and stepped back, grinning. "I've never done it. I don't dare go."

Chen Xin laughed and scolded, "Don't you know to learn from Zhang Da? He's not afraid of anything. Even those soldiers dare go, but you, an instructor, don't dare."

Hai Gouzi just kept grinning the same way. Chen Xin shook his head and continued walking with the two of them. Li Guozhu had left in such a hurry that he had not arranged any serving girls to keep Chen Xin and Song Wenxian company at night. Song Wenxian had grumbled about that quite a bit.

Walking on this way, they soon reached the end of the little town. When Chen Xin went out the other side, he happened to see a Japanese-style sailing ship entering the private harbor — the very one that had taken Li Guozhu away that day. Judging by its draft, it was carrying quite a load of cargo.

"This looks promising!" Chen Xin clapped his hands and led the two toward the harbor. That day Li Guozhu had agreed to procure supplies but had not made a firm promise. Now, seeing the fairly deep draft, it looked as if he had found the copper.

After walking a stretch and looking again, he saw that behind Li Guozhu's ship there was another, smaller vessel. Its hull had several holes, clearly from a previous fight. Chen Xin could not help worrying a little about Li Guozhu. This man was now his most important trading partner. If he died, Chen Xin's overseas trade and copper coin business would both collapse, and he would not even be able to support a hundred soldiers.

When he hurried to the dock and saw Li Guozhu standing at the bow, Chen Xin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only now did he realize just how important Li Guozhu was, which also showed how overly narrow his own economic pillar was.

Li Guozhu, looking perfectly composed, disembarked. Seeing Chen Xin waiting at the dock, he came over and smiled. "Brother Chen, could it be that you are truly a divine fortune-teller, knowing that I would return at this moment?"

"Brother Li jests. I merely saw the damage on that ship behind and thought there might have been a fight, so I was worried for Brother Li's safety, that is all."

Li Guozhu turned with Chen Xin to look at that ship. It was also a Japanese hybrid type, with both a hard sail and a Western-style soft sail, and was slowly pulling up alongside another dock.

It looked very much as if Li Guozhu had plundered and pulled off a job. Chen Xin did not intend to ask about it, but Li Guozhu brought it up himself. He said to Chen Xin, "Does Brother Chen know whose ship that is?"

Chen Xin looked at Li Guozhu's smug expression. Who else could make him so happy? "Zheng Yiguan?"

Li Guozhu gave a sly chuckle. "Exactly. This ship is one of those my late father left at Beigang. I recognized it from far off and casually intercepted it."

So it was a meeting of enemies. Chen Xin observed that the small ship's draft was shallow; it had probably been returning from Japan. He asked Li Guozhu, "What is the cargo on that ship?"

Li Guozhu snorted, then his face showed a smug look. "All weapons and sulfur, even several cannons."

Chen Xin had no desire to buy Japanese weapons. He was still concerned about his copper. He said to Li Guozhu, "So that is how it is. But even a whole ship of gold is not as important as Master Li's safety."

Li Guozhu smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Brother Chen. Since he dared come to Nagasaki, how could I let him go? By the way, I have at last found some copper for Brother Chen. I am fortunate not to have failed in my mission."

Chen Xin's face lit up with surprise and delight. "How much did Master Li find?"

"One hundred thousand catties. That is the most I could find."

Chen Xin was basically satisfied — at least it was better than twenty thousand. He promptly thanked Li Guozhu.

Li Guozhu sighed. "The shogunate is also minting large quantities of copper coins now. Copper supplies will only grow tighter. But since Brother Chen needs it, I will shamelessly go beg more people and ordinarily set aside more for you, so that when Brother Chen comes next time it will not be as troublesome as this occasion."

Just as Chen Xin was about to speak, a sudden burst of shouting and cursing came from Zheng Yiguan's ship, which was docking nearby. Seven or eight sailors with their hands bound came up from the lower hold onto the deck. Among them were several who looked Japanese. A few of Li Guozhu's men were herding them along. Seeing these men, Li Guozhu's expression turned cold.

Chen Xin looked at their shaved-pate hairstyles, and a thought suddenly stirred in his mind. He said to Li Guozhu, "What does Master Li plan to do with these men?"

Li Guozhu gave a cold laugh. "After questioning, kill them all."

"Master Li, how about letting your brother do the deed for you? But the heads will be mine."

"Brother Chen is truly a businessman, even taking the heads when killing people. What use are these sailors' heads?"

"Master Li, they are not sailors. They are Japanese pirates who went to Wendeng to loot and pillage."

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In the wheat fields of Mazi Dun, the wheat shoots were a lush green. In the distance, Mount Songding and Diaowo Shan were also already emerald green. The air carried the faint scent of soil.

Liu Minyou was directing a group of farmers. In teams of four, they carried stone blocks to a place where a well was being dug. Liu Minyou shook the sweat from his hands and set his stone down on the open ground. Xu Yuanhua was also following behind, carrying a stone.

After wiping away his sweat, Liu Minyou looked around at the irrigation wells scattered across the wasteland. They were all laid out according to the method Wen Xianming had proposed: each plot of one hundred mu formed a square, with one well at each of the four corners and one in the center. Each well used a well sweep to lift water and could irrigate twenty mu a day. Around some of the places still being dug, people were still gathered.

Now the fortified village had ample manpower. After the start of spring, more than a hundred refugee households had arrived, bringing the total number of farming households to over two hundred. Because of Wen Xianming's example, everyone dreamed of being promoted to regular status and drawing wages like him, so they all brought out whatever methods they knew. Among them was one man who knew how to dig wells. Liu Minyou put him in charge of the others to do the work, thus saving the silver of hiring outside help. Seeing that the man truly had the skill, Liu Minyou also promoted him to a management position.

Since the start of spring this year, there had been no rain. Liu Minyou looked at the low, overcast sky. With so many clouds, why was there no rain? He could not fathom it. He had enough manpower and silver to dig wells, but the people over at Mazi Dun were not so comfortable. The water in Qincun River had always been scant, and they dared not touch the water in the canal, so those villagers had to carry water on their shoulders and backs every day.

The military households of Mazi Dun were mostly tenants of Yang Yunnong, Wang Yuanzheng, and Battalion Commander Zeng. The fertile fields along the river had all been seized by these few men. Because those fields were closer to the water source, those lords had never thought of digging irrigation wells or building waterwheels to lift water.

Thinking of lifting water made Liu Minyou gloomy. He had originally designed an Archimedes screw. He remembered that this device could lift water, but once they started building it, he discovered it was not so simple. The spiral blades were very difficult to make, and the gaps between each spiral could not be too wide. The wooden spiral and the outer cylindrical wooden casing also had to fit tightly together; only then could it lift water two or three meters high. Carpenter Tan tried many times, and only one barely worked. Liu Minyou was forced to abandon that plan and fell back on the ancient tool of the well sweep. After Wen Xianming arrived, he proposed two more water-lifting devices: the dragon-tail pump and the animal-powered windlass. He had no idea whether those carpenters would ever manage to build them.

The group of craftsmen up ahead suddenly burst into a cheer. Wen Xianming emerged from the crowd and, spotting Liu Minyou, came over to greet him. Before he even got close, he called out loudly, "Mr. Liu, another well has just struck water."

Liu Minyou beamed and waited for him to approach. Wen Xianming's face was covered in mud. Liu Minyou quickly handed him a cloth. Wen Xianming wiped haphazardly, only smearing the dirt worse.

Wen Xianming put down the cloth and said to Liu Minyou, "Mr. Liu, we can finish digging the remaining wells today."

Liu Minyou praised him. "Xianming, you have worked hard. In the future, you must put more care into these farming and planting matters. The fort has more and more people; relying entirely on buying grain from outside is no solution in the long run."

Wen Xianming's eyes reddened slightly. "Mr. Liu showed me the kindness of recognizing my worth. How would I dare not put my heart into it?" He now led many farmers, drew a wage, and also felt a considerable sense of accomplishment in his work. He was deeply grateful to Liu Minyou.

"Those wells where the rim and walls aren't finished must be done quickly. If there isn't enough stone, say so early. Those combat soldiers are busy preparing to suppress bandits. Once they leave, there will be far fewer people to carry stones."

Wen Xianming agreed and gave his assurance. "Within three days, I will definitely have all the well rims finished. After that, we won't have to fear drought for this farmland's water."

Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly touched his face and looked up at the sky. A few drops of water landed on his face. He stared blankly at Liu Minyou and said, "Mr. Liu, it's raining."