Chapter 106: The Provincial Governor Is Gone

Chen Xin looked at the quartermaster before him. The man was one of the batch of Liaodong refugees he had purchased — dark and thin. According to him, he had originally been a Licentiate. After his family's fortunes declined, he worked as an accountant in a shop in Fuzhou. He could write and do sums. After fleeing to Dengzhou, he could not produce those eighteen taels of silver and was seized by Yang Guodong to do hard labor.

"Your name is Dong Yu?"

Dong Yu hurriedly stood up. "Yes, my lord. This humble one's eight characters lacked water, so my parents gave me this name — it has both water and something to eat."

"A good name." Chen Xin smiled amiably and waved him to sit. This man was a Liaodong refugee, unconnected to the original trackers or Yanggu. The quartermaster post carried some authority. Chen Xin had grasped financial power in his own hands from the very start. Now that there were more people, he needed a dedicated person to manage it. This time, after also separating out the conscription authority, the army's structure would be more complete.

"I selected you from the recruit files. Since you also passed the assessment, I plan to appoint you as quartermaster, with treatment at the squad commander level."

Dong Yu knelt and said, "I thank my lord for his regard. This humble one will spare no effort unto death."

Chen Xin said with displeasure, "You have passed recruit training. In our army, only the military salute is used. If you kneel and bow again next time, your monthly pay will be docked according to military regulations."

Dong Yu hurriedly stood and switched to a military salute. Chen Xin continued, "From now on, all military affairs — money, grain, equipment, barracks — must pass through your hands. I have also selected several literate men to assist you. The affairs are numerous and complicated; you must attend to them with care."

Dong Yu assented obsequiously. Seeing he was somewhat constrained, Chen Xin smiled and said, "Sit and speak. Now that your post is set, do you have any plans?"

"In reply to my lord, this humble one has been considering this matter since the assessment. My plan is to keep separate registers for military pay, the armory, and provisions. For physical goods, it will be like the original goods inventory — one entry in, one entry out, using the forms my lord uses. Military pay will be registered monthly, submitted to my lord for review, then distributed. The barracks are only just beginning construction. My plan is to follow the Weihai barracks model, with slight modifications for the new organization — still one room per squad, eight rooms per platoon in a row, one well dug at each end, with two latrines and one bathhouse."

"Remember to make the parade ground larger. How will military pay be distributed?"

"Yes. Collected by each platoon's commanding officer, then distributed to the soldiers."

Chen Xin shook his head. "That is not appropriate. It must be issued directly into the soldiers' hands. If it cannot be finished in one day, then set the first few days of each month — a certain platoon comes to collect on a certain day. Taking several days is fine. But it must be issued into the soldiers' hands."

"Yes, my lord."

"How will procurement be handled?"

"Procurement will also be like a shop purchasing goods — each time, ask three suppliers for prices. Large-scale purchases will be submitted to my lord for decision."

The man knew his place. Chen Xin nodded and said, "Then go and set the regulations. Additionally, all army equipment and supplies — including those already issued, from cannons and warhorses down to canteens, waist tags, and gags — must be recorded, assigned to each soldier by name. If anything is lost, punishment follows military law. But your register must be absolutely clear. If you miss a record, you will be held accountable. The accounts, incoming and outgoing, must also be clear. At year's end, someone else will come to audit the accounts."

Dong Yu replied even more cautiously, "Yes, my lord." But he still pressed one question: "My lord, from where does one collect the required silver?"

"For routine fixed amounts, collect once every three months from Mr. Liu. After three months, go to Mr. Liu to report expenses, reconcile accounts, and collect the next three months' silver and grain. For temporary large expenditures, first explain the reason to me, then take my written order to collect from Mr. Liu."

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In the month that followed, Liu Minyou, together with the newly appointed quartermaster Dong Yu, built a military camp outside Wendeng Camp. The new camp was constructed on a scale for eleven hundred men. The parade ground was much larger than Weihai's. Chen Xin divided the drill field into multiple sections and also designed a football pitch. A craftsman used a pig's bladder as the inner bladder, stuffed it with hair, then covered the outside with eight leather panels, producing the football Chen Xin required. Each squad was a football team. From then on, the football pitch was in high demand. Chen Xin had finally found a way for these soldiers to vent their energy.

Chen Xin planned that once the new camp was built, only one banner unit of combat troops would remain in Weihai; all the rest would be transferred to Wendeng Camp. Chen Xin, Dai Zhenggang, and others refined the regulations based on their bandit-suppression experience. All combat troops began harsh training. The second batch of five hundred recruits also arrived in succession and began basic training.

Chen Xin's army reached over twelve hundred men, exceeding Wendeng Camp's troop quota by several dozen. The first integrated seven hundred-plus men were organized into larger platoons. Each platoon still had two banner units, but each banner unit's number of squads became four, so that when encountering cavalry, they could quickly form a hollow square by platoon. Each killer banner unit was equipped with one Crouching Tiger cannon. Including the squad commander and flag signalers, each banner unit numbered one hundred men. Each platoon still had two banners. Chen Xin again promoted two squad commanders.

Lu Chuanzong, Wang Zhangfu, and Dai Zhenggang each rose one rank, becoming new squad commanders. Lu Chuanzong and Dai Zhenggang concurrently served as vice battalion commanders. Zhu Guobin was also a vice battalion commander. Dong Yu purchased eighty horses and continued training his cavalry. Most of the original sixty-plus veterans were also promoted to non-commissioned officers, becoming squad leaders. Chen Xin himself served as battalion commander. This organization then stabilized. Future increases in numbers would only increase the number of platoons, or add a company-level organization above the platoon.

Wendeng County had many nearby mountains and no shortage of bandits. On Mount Kunlun to the west alone, there were seven or eight bands of varying sizes. Intelligence gathering was assigned to Zhu Guobin. Wendeng Camp's cavalry fanned out in all directions to scout.

Chen Xin also visited Wendeng County town to call on Jail Warden Zheng, whom he had met during the Tongtian Liang suppression. Through his introduction, he paid respects to Wendeng's County Magistrate Yu. Those within the system could speak more easily with one another. Chen Xin now held some power and influence in Wendeng, so after presenting a gift of two hundred taels of silver, Magistrate Yu told him to occupy wasteland without worry, guaranteeing that those who returned would have no door to lodge complaints, and also guaranteeing that tax would only be collected on one thousand mu.

Thus, Xu Yuanhua raced horses to stake out land, first occupying over ten thousand mu of wasteland at Wendeng Camp. This was military land, so no one contested it. He planned to first build the first garrison farm, gathering three hundred refugee households to cultivate it.

With numbers growing and operations spreading everywhere, Chen Xin watched silver flow out in torrents. He had ninety thousand taels of silver on hand, but next year's maritime trade still needed capital — at least sixty thousand taels had to be kept for goods. The remaining thirty thousand had to support this year's expenses. The only other thing he could count on was that copper coin workshop, which could still earn about ten thousand taels. After Tian Hongyu's channel was opened, Chen Xin also planned to make this workshop a long-term operation. Once the copper material was used up, he would buy copper in Tianjin, ship it back to Weihai to mint coins, then ship them back. This way, the profit margin would be less than double, and the amount of copper material he could buy would not be large — production capacity might become excessive.

After Zhou Hongmo saw Chen Xin's strong forces and sturdy horses, he felt his spine stiffen considerably. He suggested to Chen Xin setting up a checkpoint on the road to collect commercial taxes. Chen Xin investigated. Near Wendeng Camp, there was only the official road to Weihai and Chengshan. The Police Inspector's office had already set up a checkpoint to collect taxes. The county magistrate himself had also set one up. Seeing there were not many traveling merchants, he abandoned the idea. Zhou Hongmo then set one up himself, sending a few of his retainers to guard it. However, many goods belonged to the various guard battalion officers and local officials and gentry, so he dared not tax them. He only collected taxes from small peddlers, bringing in perhaps twenty or thirty taels of silver a month.

Chen Xin still focused on the big picture, sending the army out to earn money. In October, he began arranging three platoons to suppress bandits separately. They broke several bandit mountain strongholds in succession, seizing over ten thousand taels of silver and over two thousand dan of grain, slightly easing his pressure. Killing bandits was a good thing no matter who you asked. County Magistrate Yu took it as his own administrative achievement. The gentry and commoners of Wendeng County all began to look at Wendeng Camp with new respect.

The profits from the counterfeit coin business were gradually recovered. Five thousand taels were kept as working capital for the copper coins; the rest was handed to Liu Minyou for safekeeping. Chen Xin took two thousand taels from the bandit-suppression spoils and gave it to Zhou Hongmo. Zhou Hongmo's ox-like eyes widened into perfect circles, and then he burst into loud laughter.

With his experience from Weihai, Xu Yuanhua quickly gathered over two hundred refugee households. He first began developing Wendeng Camp's military fields, digging irrigation channels drawing water from the Baolong River and sinking well-shafts. With the help of the new recruits, they rushed to sow three thousand mu of winter wheat before the end of October. Under Wendeng Camp's awe-inspiring military might, the original civilian households no longer dared to come and fight over water. Having received the silver, Zhou Hongmo also did not set his sights on Chen Xin's military fields.

These refugees had no place to live for the time being, so they built their own shacks outside the barracks area. Weihai had done housing construction several times and had many skilled workers. Liu Minyou brought some people over to assist. The labor used was these newly arrived refugees and recruits, saving a large sum in wages.

In early November, the barracks began to take shape. Immediately after, a heavy snow fell, draping the land in silver. Chen Xin stood by the window of his office, surveying the new barracks. On the drill field, still patched with snow, slogans shook the heavens. Everywhere, combat troops trained by squad. West of the drill field were rows of barracks, surrounded by a perimeter wall. In a year and a half, he had gone from a black household with not even clothes to his name to a minor official within the system, with over a thousand men under him, and his prospects were very bright — a much larger stage than his original company. The only shortcoming was that economic pressure remained immense. His commercial network, workshop scale, and talent were all insufficient. He did not want to just dabble in small-scale operations. The originally planned new products had to be postponed indefinitely. The silver on hand could not be made to flow. He could only rely on hitting bandits to seize money.

Chen Xin cupped both hands around his teacup and quietly watched those combat troops by the window. Just then, there were two soft knocks on the door. Chen Xin answered, "Come in."

Nie Hong pushed the door open and poked his head in. "My lord, Mr. Song has arrived. He was stopped at the camp gate. The guard sent word to ask — should this humble one write a pass to have someone escort him in?"

"Hm!? No need. I will receive him myself." Chen Xin took a sip of tea, set the cup down, and went out the door. October was already very cold. He wore a long padded cotton armor over his clothes. He went out with Nie Hong toward the camp gate. Behind Nie Hong followed two personal guards. Zhou Shifa had already been appointed as the new military judge, so Nie Hong now led Chen Xin's personal guards. The military judge was also a position of great authority in the army. Chen Xin had assigned one provost to each banner unit to enforce military law. The provost was not under the banner unit commander's jurisdiction and exercised military law authority independently. Above the banner unit level, there were provosts at every level, up to Zhou Shifa, the chief military judge.

Chen Xin exhaled white breath. When he reached the camp gate, he saw that old rogue Song Wenxian continuously stamping his feet in the snow. The squad commander on gate duty stood ramrod straight before him.

Seeing Chen Xin approach, the sentries at the camp gate immediately stood at attention and saluted. Chen Xin exchanged greetings with Song Wenxian. Song Wenxian snorted twice in dissatisfaction and, without speaking to Chen Xin, continued stamping his feet on his own.

Chen Xin went to the sentry post himself, signed the entry-exit register, and only then went over and said to Song Wenxian, "Mr. Song, do not take offense. The army has its own laws and discipline. Even when I, your younger brother, enter or exit, I must have my waist tag ready. It is not directed at you alone."

Song Wenxian did not believe it. He glared fiercely at the squad commander on duty. That squad commander still stood perfectly straight, staring ahead. Song Wenxian withdrew his gaze and smiled at Chen Xin. "No offense, no offense. Lord Chen's official rank has grown; naturally, his official authority must grow to match. This humble one could wait an hour without trouble."

Chen Xin smiled faintly and invited Song Wenxian to enter the camp together. Song Wenxian trod on the accumulated snow on the ground and sighed, "Several heavy snows again this year. Next year might well be dry again."

The Little Ice Age climate was cold; temperatures were getting lower and lower. Winter snow came early. Even Fujian and Guangdong in the south had experienced continuous heavy snow. After spring began, temperatures remained low, the moisture content in the air dropped, so rainfall would also become less and less. But telling Song Wenxian these things was useless. Chen Xin merely offered a few perfunctory words.

Song Wenxian followed Chen Xin toward the office, observing the military camp's atmosphere along the way, listening to the sky-shaking slogans on the drill field, and clicking his tongue in ceaseless admiration. "Lord Chen, to say Dengzhou's Personal Battalion and Main Army Battalion are not bad — whether they could beat your troops, I cannot say. But in terms of spirit, the difference is not just a little bit."

Chen Xin replied with a smile, "My troops drill five or six shichen a day. Elsewhere, drilling once every five days is considered a strong army. They probably could beat them. But Mr. Song now no longer favors the gentle villages; he likes visiting army camps instead."

"It's just the harm of having nothing to do all day."

Hearing him say this, Chen Xin knew he had not yet connected with Wang Tingshi. He did not press for details. After arriving at the office, he had the guards light the stove and ignite the charcoal. Soon the room was full of spring warmth. Song Wenxian himself picked up the kettle and warmed it by the stove while drinking tea.

After Chen Xin dismissed his personal guards, Song Wenxian said to him, "First, let me tell you some distant matters. Zheng Yiguan has accepted amnesty. In September, at Zhongzuosuo, he was appointed Coastal Defense Mobile Corps Commander. I do not know if it is a substantive post. But given his financial resources, smoothing things over with the Fujian officialdom and the imperial court is no problem. It all depends on how much that person you mentioned can contain him. Otherwise, Li Guozhu is in peril, and our money-making path is also in peril."

What Song Wenxian spoke of was precisely what Chen Xin feared most. Li Guozhu was the greatest pillar of his economy. Though Zheng Yiguan was far away in Fujian, he influenced Chen Xin's financial future.

But Zheng Yiguan was about to fight a civil war with other pirates and should not be able to move against Li Guozhu for now. Chen Xin did not explain this to Song Wenxian. He only asked, "How is Wen Tiren doing?"

"I don't know," Song Wenxian replied crisply, then continued, "Now for the nearer matters. Yang Guodong has been appointed Shandong Regional Commander, still in Dengzhou. I hear he has recently been active in Guanning, seeking office. Zhang Keda is still Dengzhou-Laizhou Regional Commander. We still have to grease both sides."

As long as there was no campaign, whether Shandong Regional Commander or Dengzhou-Laizhou Regional Commander, neither could reach Chen Xin. What Song Wenxian spoke of was all relatively unimportant. Chen Xin said with slight curiosity, "Greasing palms is fine. We have many places to grease every year; two more won't matter. Compared to these two Regional Commanders, I am more curious about Mr. Song — have you found a new patron yet?"

Song Wenxian took a sip of tea with a beaming smile and said, "Isn't that why I've come looking?"

Chen Xin said, "If Mr. Song can set his sights on this humble temple, I would welcome it most gladly. Could it be that Wang Tingshi heard about the two of us conspiring to trap Circuit Intendant Zhong and refused to accept you?" After speaking, he suddenly cupped his hands to Song Wenxian and said, "Whether Mr. Song's words just now were feigned or sincere, as long as you are willing to come, I will always keep a place reserved for you here."

Song Wenxian chuckled, stood up and accepted, then sat down again and shook his head. "At present, the treason case is not yet concluded. Wang Tingshi is treading carefully. He has not accepted a single one of Li Song's or Sun Guozhen's former private secretaries. But he hasn't gained anything either. Now even the post of Dengzhou-Laizhou Provincial Governor is gone. He has fished for nothing."

"The Provincial Governor post is gone?"

Song Wenxian sneered. "That Yuan Chonghuan sent a memorial to the Emperor and abolished the Dengzhou-Laizhou Provincial Governor. It is purely harming others without benefiting himself. That Dengzhou-Laizhou Provincial Governor was also under his jurisdiction. Why bother eliminating an official post, blocking others' career paths? I see he is just like Yang Weiyuan — drunk with power the moment he gains favor."

Chen Xin was stunned for a long moment before cursing, "And I even sent Zhang Da to wait for news in Jingshi. Damn it. Without a Dengzhou-Laizhou Provincial Governor, can he even manage?"

"Who knows? First, Liaodong's Provincial Governor was abolished, then Dengzhou-Laizhou's. Let's see if he abolishes Shuntian's Provincial Governor one of these days too. It's said he also wants to carry out troop reductions in Guanning and Jizhen. Who gets cut and who doesn't — it's all his say. With troop quotas like this, there will inevitably be changes. You know how it is with troop quotas — every officer's profit lies within. Now everyone knows his imperial favor is strong, he holds the Liaodong Tax in hand, and from time to time can draw some palace treasury funds. They must all be scrambling to pay him visits. Who knows what else he'll stir up later. If you ask me, we should still go to Shanhai Pass and make some connections. Even if we can't see the Grand Coordinator, getting close to someone around him would do — at least so they don't make trouble for our Wendeng Camp. Also, Wang Tingshi is now concurrently handling Dengzhou Coastal Defense Circuit matters; we must visit him too."

Chen Xin stood up and paced back and forth in the room. A new official taking office and finding a pretext to establish authority was normal. This troop reduction was just like when a new company leader comes in and immediately carries out organizational restructuring — merely a pretext to redistribute power, a normal practice. But what he knew was that Yuan Chonghuan would probably be imprisoned this time next year. There was no need to invest too much. At most, do whatever everyone else did. Wang Tingshi, however, should be seriously cultivated, because he did not know how long Wang Tingshi would last. Officials in this late Ming changed far too frequently; investing silver felt truly uncertain. At least he knew about Wen Tiren — that would eventually prove useful.

He paced a few circles, then finally stopped and said to Song Wenxian, "You should also make a trip to the Grand Coordinator's residence, but we won't send too much — just follow the usual conventions. For Wang Tingzhi's side, we'll give a bit more, but don't exceed the others by too much. Too much will only stir his greed."

Song Wenxian agreed. Chen Xin remembered something and then asked him, "Mr. Song, is there any news from Shaanxi?"

"Shaanxi?" Song Wenxian seemed not to have expected Chen Xin to ask about something so far away. He thought for a moment and said, "Nothing much. The usual drought — cannibalism isn't even rare anymore. It seems the court gazette only mentions a few bandits. In the ninth month, a man named Wang Er killed an official in Baishui, then ran off to some bandit named Wang or whatever up in the mountains. Won't stir up much trouble."

Song Wenxian finished speaking and turned back to his tea. Chen Xin pondered the situation in Shaanxi. The birthplace of the late Ming roving bandits was like a pile of dry kindling already scattered with a few sparks, ready to burst into a great fire at any moment. In Liaodong, Huang Taiji had again routed the Chahar in the ninth month. Half of the former Duoyan Three Guards had already defected to the Later Jin, and the gateway to the Jizhen border passes was swinging open. The great chaos was about to begin.