Chapter 200: Undercurrents

At the Jinghai Guard pier, the second batch of tobacco was being shipped, this time using two bird boats. After the new year, tobacco from the south kept arriving. Besides Zuo Changhao, Liu Minyou also sent his own men to purchase from nearer places like Huai'an Prefecture and Tianjin, basically ensuring production volume.

After the southbound ships delivered the tobacco, they brought back southern goods like Jiangnan silk, sugar, tobacco leaves, and cotton cloth. Because they were transported by their own navy, without the extortion of customs barriers and tax checkpoints, and the prices Xu Xin gave were very favorable, the cost was cheaper than in Dengzhou. The goods could be used for the Japan trade and also sold around Wendeng. After some Dengzhou merchants discovered this, they gradually began coming to Wendeng to stock up.

So these ships were the economic lifeline of the Wendeng Battalion. The private port at Jinghai Guard had good conditions, currently with four wooden bridges able to dock seagoing vessels. Because Jinghai Guard's importance was slowly increasing, its defense force was also being strengthened. This private port was garrisoned by one ju of combat troops, plus one tunbao farmer-soldier company. In the second month, a batch of retired combined-breech guns and sabers was sent here, arming the male workers of two workshops. Currently training was relatively little; their duty was to deter the nearby locals when the combat troops were away, not to decide battlefield victories.

According to the timetable Chen Xin gave him, after the busy farming season ended in the fifth month, the farmer-soldiers were to switch to training like combat troops. Liu Minyou did not know what Chen Xin's plan was, but he still formulated a new civil affairs plan. To raise harvesting efficiency, he purchased complete sets of harvesting tools for each tunbao — wheat sickles, wheat rakes, wheat cages, and so on. These tools were all made by Wen Xianming based on the Wang Zhen Agricultural Treatise; they could be combined together, greatly saving manpower.

After the start of spring, as usual there was no rain, and the water flow in the surrounding rivers had also decreased greatly. A large amount of manpower was used on lifting water. The tools currently in use were still counterweighted levers, windlasses, and the like, which were not very efficient. To guarantee the water needed for planting, every hundred mu required five wells to be dug, at the four corners and the center. Fortunately, the organizational strength of the tunbao showed its advantage. Large numbers of irrigation wells were dug. The military fields of the surrounding Jinghai Guard could only endure the drought; their livelihood this year would be even harder.

Liu Minyou also foresaw this year's famine. Last year, through the crackdown by the Comprehensive Market, the tunbao grain shops were basically wiped out, and those shops switched to other businesses one after another. But the guard town not far away had other grain shops; they might come to buy grain after it ripened. After all, buying grain locally required no transport costs, so they could slightly raise the purchase price. Liu Minyou was unwilling to compete on price with those grain shops, nor could he allow grain to drain away. After the new year, he had already conveyed orders to the tun chiefs, compelling all tun households not to sell grain to outsiders. Those caught might have their land reclaimed. The Comprehensive Market's price still maintained last year's purchase price of eight qian per shi.

Another measure was bringing back some grain via the southbound ships. Grain from places like Huai'an was much cheaper than in Dengzhou. The transport cost by sea was also very low. Liu Minyou now wished more than ever for the navy to grow strong, so they could provide him free transport. So Liu Minyou was expanding the port, and further away there were several shipyards. A group of refugees, directed by five Fujian shipwrights, was carrying out construction. According to those Fujian shipwrights, you could even dig a pit on the sand beach and build a ship. The entire port area was like one big construction site.

Li Ranzhu, holding the cargo register, was counting the cigarette cargo. After counting one pile, someone from the trading company receiving the goods spot-checked one crate, then signed to confirm. After the new year, Li Ranzhu was still assigned to Jinghai, responsible for the production of cigarettes and box packaging.

Liu Minyou stood beside Li Ranzhu, occasionally sizing up this concubine. Although Li Ranzhu was a concubine, in reality Liu Minyou had no intention of marrying again. Li Ranzhu looked much younger than she had in Tianjin; her face glowed with a smooth luster. She was plainly dressed, and the few white hairs she had originally were gone.

Li Ranzhu finished counting the last pile of goods, let out a long breath, and handed the cargo register to her assistant. Turning her head and seeing Liu Minyou looking at her, she pursed her lips in a smile.

At that moment, her assistant spotted a group of people dressed like traveling merchants boarding a ship and hurriedly told Li Ranzhu. Normally, the cargo ships only had sailors and trading company personnel, all people they recognized. This group was completely unfamiliar, and there was an indescribable feeling about the way they moved.

Li Ranzhu was about to send someone to stop them when Liu Minyou, having already spotted Pu Zhuang among them, knew they were from the Special Operations Unit. He guessed they were accompanying the ship south, and then heading on to Fujian, and quickly stopped Li Ranzhu.

Pu Zhuang's group numbered over ten people. When he saw Liu Minyou, he merely cupped his hands in salute. Liu Minyou knew they had confidentiality rules and also just cupped his hands in farewell.

Seeing Liu Minyou's manner, Li Ranzhu asked no further questions. She let Liu Minyou walk ahead, and the two of them, one in front and one behind, headed back toward the workshop area.

In this era, naturally one could not walk arm in arm, especially in a relatively conservative area like Wendeng, which made Liu Minyou uninterested in taking strolls.

"Master, where are you going next?"

Liu Minyou said unhappily, "I've said before, don't call me Master. Just call me by my name. Hearing it makes me feel so old."

Having spent time with him, Li Ranzhu knew that both he and Chen Xin were very easygoing and never demanded formalities from subordinates. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "Calling you by name feels even more awkward."

Liu Minyou walked with her into the workshop area. Most of the people moving around inside were women, and even some of the physical labor was done by women. Many of them originally farmed the land, and some had more strength in their hands than scholarly men.

"I plan to go to Chengshan tomorrow, to see the tunbao over there, and then stay in Weihai until the end of the third month."

Li Ranzhu looked at Liu Minyou's haggard face and said with some heartache, "You're running around everywhere like this, and I'm in Jinghai unable to look after you. Don't wear yourself out."

"When I'm in Weihai, I'll be staying at home, so I won't get worn out. There's a lot to do this time back. First, Dongjiang has ships coming to sell ginseng and sable pelts — these things are very expensive in Jiangnan, so I have to go take a look. Second, more people have fled from Dongjiang."

Li Ranzhu said, puzzled, "Why are they still fleeing? Didn't a new Regional Commander come, and that Liu someone who caused the mutiny also fell in line?"

"Yesterday someone came to report that over a thousand people have already fled here. It's said that Huang Long is embezzling without restraint, even greedier than the original Dongjiang officers. Morale is wavering on every island. Even from Pi Island, so far away, people are stealing boats to come out. There are already over ten large ships, plus many rafts."

"Lord Chen said to take in the refugees. Now not only are there Liaodong people, but I hear refugees from Henan have already come, having heard of our reputation."

These people were both the resource they needed most and the heaviest burden at present. The situation in Dongjiang was still very poor. After Huang Long took office, he provoked universal outrage. The man did have some skill in battle, but he was far too greedy in managing the troops. Relying on being Sun Yuanhua's trusted confidant, he did whatever he pleased in Dongjiang, completely failing to notice the undercurrents beneath the brief calm before his eyes. The Dongjiang soldiers had harbored a kind of resentment ever since Mao Wenlong was killed, and they were full of suspicion toward the imperial court and their superior officers. Under these circumstances, his actions were undoubtedly like throwing sparks onto a pile of firewood.

Liu Minyou was not familiar with Dongjiang affairs and did not know how they would ultimately turn out. But then he thought of the regular training for farmer-soldiers after the busy farming season that Chen Xin had arranged, and he furrowed his brow. After a long moment, he sighed and said, "Chen Xin has his own plans. If we can save one more person, we save one more person."

On Zhenhaimen Street in Dengzhou city, Chen Xin, accompanied by Zhou Shifa, strolled slowly past the street north of the Loyalty Shrine. Here there was a cotton cloth shop, a pre-arranged safe house of theirs. The front was the shop, and the back was a courtyard that could hide several dozen people.

The two of them, with normal expressions, walked past the shop and did not go in to contact the resident agent inside.

Zhou Shifa said in a low voice to Chen Xin, "My lord, this place is two hundred paces from Zhenhai Gate and not far from Cao Bridge either. This one gate and one bridge are both key points of the north city. This location is very good, only for now it's the only one. This month we'll look for two more courtyards or shops nearby."

Chen Xin nodded and said, "Who is in overall charge of Dengzhou at the moment?"

"My lord, as you required, the several shops are all unaware of each other. Only your subordinate and Zhang Dong know their identities. Your subordinate is preparing to find a commercial shop near the Bell Tower as a contact point, using outward price quotes and notices to write coded messages. The resident agents do not need to contact the contact point; they only need to pass by outside to receive orders. This way, even if one location is discovered, the others will not be implicated. It's just... my lord, it seems a bit overly cautious."

Chen Xin smiled and said, "Dengzhou is within our Great Ming territory, so it is a bit cautious. But our opponent in the end is the Jianzhou bandits. Someday we will go into the bandits' territory, so there's nothing wrong with practicing being a little cautious." Zhou Shifa accepted the teaching in a low voice.

They returned to Song Wenxian's old residence. Chen Xin called for his attendants and prepared to return to Weihai. Song Wenxian reported to Chen Xin the Dengzhou intelligence he had gathered. This year the imperial court's allocated military pay was very ample; just for manufacturing equipment alone it was tens of thousands of taels. Sun Yuanhua actually had a great deal of materiel on hand. The spring grain for Dongjiang had already been issued, but it was said that Huang Long had embezzled more than half; no one knew where he had resold it. The most likely destination was the grain shops of those officials and gentry inside Dengzhou city.

Originally, they were also supposed to make up the grain-in-kind that had been underpaid to Dongjiang for the previous two years, totaling one hundred thirty thousand shi, but it was said Sun Yuanhua did not intend to make it up. He had even proposed again that Dongjiang relocate its garrison, separating the soldiers and civilians, and had already submitted a memorial to the Emperor.

Chen Xin shook his head vigorously upon hearing this. Separating soldiers and civilians sounded very high-minded in principle — it would make it easier to count the actual troops and pay them accordingly. But Dongjiang still had at least over a hundred thousand civilians. If these people entered Dengzhou, there would be no way to resettle them. What Sun Yuanhua proposed was likewise military farming, but he clearly did not have that much land. Submitting this memorial would be useless, but one could see that Sun Yuanhua was still somewhat of an armchair strategist.

Dongjiang currently had no major stirrings, and Liu Xingzhi was also behaving obediently. But what was obvious was that Dongjiang Garrison no longer had offensive capability; it could not even manage harassment.

Chen Xin picked up Wang Zheng at the Provincial Governor's government office, and together they took a boat at the Water City. Wang Zheng was the Army Supervisor for the Liaohai Circuit, so the Dengzhou navy was very eager to curry favor with him, dispatching a Fujian junk to take them to Weihai.

Wang Zheng's complexion was much better than that day. He no longer put on airs in front of Chen Xin and chatted idly with him at the bow. After the ship sailed out of Half-Moon Bay, Changshan Island came distantly into view. Wang Zheng looked north and said, "For over ten years, the realm has wasted countless sums of money, all for that single patch of Liaodong. Every time the Liaodong matter is discussed, it is said that over a hundred thousand troops are needed. This year the Liaodong tax has been increased by another three li. Are these hundred thousand or so troops truly being put to use?"

Chen Xin said in a low voice, "My lord Wang, with Lord Sun here, they should be put to use. It is said his personal battalion has over twenty red-barbarian cannons; those Jianzhou bandits will certainly have a hard time gaining any advantage."

Wang Zheng said calmly, "This official's willingness to go to Weihai, aside from the matter of atoning for my offense, has another reason. Lord Chen's Wendeng Battalion has many Liaodong people, which exactly fits the principle of using Liaodong people to defend Liaodong land. Moreover, the Wendeng Battalion is undoubtedly an elite force. Last year, Lord Chen, with just over two thousand troops, beheaded over a thousand. Why? Troops are valued for quality, not quantity; valued for being local, not for being outside troops. Guan Zhong said: With thirty thousand well-disciplined troops, one can rampage across the Central Plains, let alone a single corner like Liaodong. This official believes that outside troops waste money and grain, their will to fight is not high, and they often collapse at the first clash. We should select able-bodied men from among the Liaodong people to serve as guards, take advantage of strategic terrain in Liaodong to build forts, and then use Liaodong troops to defend Liaodong land. This can especially strengthen their attachment to their native soil. Farm the fertile land in mountain strongholds, that is, store Liaodong grain in Liaodong, and we can also gradually reduce the ever-increasing expenditures, slightly alleviating the people's suffering from taxes, and find a way to achieve internal stability while resisting external aggression."

Chen Xin lowered his head and said, "Yes, my lord's vision is lofty and strategic. This subordinate is instructed."

Wang Zheng nodded with satisfaction. He was originally a Judge of Yangzhou Prefecture and could only be an armchair strategist regarding military matters. In reality, there were also many cases of Liaodong people defending Liaodong land who collapsed at the first clash. On the contrary, the Sichuan troops and Zhejiang troops, two outside forces, fought the most heroically. Last year when the Jianzhou bandits invaded, the native chieftain troops from Shizhu and Youyang, led by Qin Liangyu, came to the Emperor's aid, totaling nine thousand men. Seven thousand were supplied by the Sichuan Provincial Administration Commission, and two thousand were self-funded by Qin Liangyu. Because of the long distance, they only reached Jingshi in the eleventh month. By then the Jianzhou bandits had long since withdrawn, and they did not participate in the Four Cities battle as rumored — this was also the case in the original history. If they had been able to arrive earlier, they might have cooperated with the Wendeng Battalion to completely annihilate the Jianzhou bandits inside the passes.

Chongzhen regarded Qin Liangyu very highly, personally summoned her, and even gifted her several poems. Then he kept the Sichuan troops at the Guan-Ning defense line. Qin Liangyu left her brother to command the troops and returned to Sichuan herself. This showed the imperial court's high regard for this strong army. Therefore, Chen Xin did not think much of the so-called "Liaodong people defending Liaodong land" idea; what was more important was the organization, training, and treatment of the troops.

Having received flattery from a famous general, Wang Zheng stood spiritedly at the bow, his beard flying in the wind. Wang Zheng pointed north and said loudly, "Chuyang (Sun Yuanhua) has made it his lifelong wish to sweep away the Jianzhou bandits. That is why this official is willing to go to Weihai, to contribute my meager efforts, to repay Chuyang's patronage below, and to repay His Majesty's recognition above. General Chen must also keep this in mind at all times."

Chen Xin agreed profusely, stealing a glance at Wang Zheng's intoxicated expression. Inwardly he laughed to himself, "How nice it was to be the Judge of Yangzhou. Sun Yuanhua dragged you to Dengzhou, and it's going to implicate you. When the time comes, you'll have to repay me for saving your life."