Chapter 96: Blue Team

Chen Xin reckoned the talks were about settled before he returned. Once Shopkeeper Yan had a clear stake in the profits, negotiations became much easier. He lowered the raw silk price by another two taels, Huzhou silk by three taels, and other silk fabrics also saw reductions. Based on the kickbacks promised to him, the sum already exceeded a thousand taels. Chen Xin had deliberately stepped out so that Song Wenxian could deliver the kickback in his capacity as shopkeeper. When he came back and heard the final quoted prices, he asked no further questions. The relationship with Shopkeeper Yan was thus established, and they could immediately start purchasing part of the goods.

After the meal, Song Wenxian went with Shopkeeper Cai to the Qunfang Pavilion. As usual, Song Wenxian did not include Chen Xin. Chen Xin had no choice but to take Nie Hong and Zhou Shifa, who had been waiting outside, back to Erdaojie. Checking the sky, Chen Xin then went to the clothing shop. It happened that Zhou Laifu and the others were closing up. Chen Xin only kept Lao Cai and Shen Lishi behind and instructed them on purchasing the goods.

The task Shen Lishi was assigned was inspecting the goods. The words Chen Xin had overheard that day had given him an excellent impression of her. Not only could she write and keep accounts, but she was also, more importantly, meticulous in her work and impartial, never bending rules for personal ties. All goods would be purchased by Lao Cai and Lu You. After Shen Lishi inspected them, Chen Xin would make the payment. If Chen Xin was absent for the second ship, either the Zhao family's young lady or Song Wenxian would handle the payment. This was the best method Chen Xin could devise at the moment.

When Shen Lishi heard it involved tens of thousands of taels' worth of goods, she was so frightened that she repeatedly declined. Only after Chen Xin offered reassurance did she, trembling with fear, accept this heavy responsibility. Seeing this arrangement, Lao Cai realized his room for personal profit was virtually gone.

Chen Xin himself had thirty thousand taels in silver notes, plus the eighteen thousand taels from Circuit Intendant Zhong that Song Wenxian had brought, which was already enough for the first ship's cargo. Over the next two days, they began loading goods onto Zhu Yin's ship. Shopkeeper Yan's silk shop had ample stock and also transferred some from other familiar silk shops. Within a few days, the ship was nearly full. Chen Xin estimated that the newly built warehouse at Weihaiwei should be about ready and planned to send one shipload back first, ensuring at least one maritime trade voyage this year.

After all the goods were assembled, they waited for Huang Anshou to find several stokers. Chen Xin's tasks for this trip were nearly complete. What remained was the payment for the second ship's cargo. Song Wenxian himself would contribute over ten thousand taels. If Sun Guozhen could contribute more, and they could secretly pocket a portion of it, this year's maritime trade income would be very substantial. If Sun Guozhen truly refused to put up any silver, the second ship would still set sail even if not fully loaded, to train the sailors.

On the second day of the third month, Chen Xin returned to Dengzhou with a ship full of goods, accompanied by Song Wenxian. Huang Anshou and others traveled with them. Zhang Da would be sent to Jingshi to take over from Qin Lufang. Chen Xin's assignment for him was to investigate the candidates for the next Grand Coordinator of Denglai and the Coastal Defense Circuit Intendant. On the next voyage to Tianjin, they would bring Qin Lufang back to Weihai to help Chen Xin control the naval forces.

As they neared Dengzhou, Chen Xin again discussed the Wendeng Battalion matter with Song Wenxian. After hearing him out, Song Wenxian said, "For you to become a Garrison Commander, you still lack the necessary rank. The Wanshan Regional Military Commission is a Branch Regional Military Commission, and an Assistant Regional Military Commissioner is a senior military officer of the upper third rank, not a mere Assistant Regional Commander of a guard battalion. Bandit heads aren't worth much military merit. With this bandit suppression, you can at most remove the 'purchased rank' designation, which would still only make you fifth rank."

Hearing he was still so far off, Chen Xin felt somewhat discouraged. At this rate of slow promotion, how long would it take? But then a smile crept onto his lips. Song Wenxian looked at him curiously and asked, "Brother Chen, with that expression, what scheme have you thought of now?"

Chen Xin chuckled, "An open scheme. Doesn't Wendeng Battalion still have Picket Officers? Getting a Picket Officer post would do. A Garrison Commander without money or grain—what can he control? Just sideline him."

"Picket Officer? That still requires the Guard Commander's approval. Though it needn't be the Seal-holding Commander, Brother Chen is still several ranks short."

Chen Xin said calmly, "If Sun Guozhen can hold on until the seventh or eighth month and remain in his post, we won't be able to get this silver from him. Then we'll just kill more bandits and ask Sun Guozhen to promote me to Assistant Regional Commander or Assistant Regional Commander. Having earned him so much silver, I doubt he'd refuse. With Qian Yuanke looking after things in the Ministry of War, what difficulty is there in becoming a Picket Officer?"

Song Wenxian's eyes shifted. "If Brother Chen insists on this Wendeng Battalion, you'll also need to pay visits to the Denglai battalion commanders."

"You mean that Yang Guodong?"

"Indeed."

Because Chen Xin had always been within the guard battalion system, the Regional Commander of Denglai had no authority over him here. He only needed to manage the civil officials in charge of military affairs, so he had not made any overtures within the battalion system. The current Regional Commander of Denglai was Yang Guodong, whom Chen Xin had also heard mentioned in the guard battalion.

"This man was originally a guard battalion officer in the Shandong Regional Military Commission. When Xu Hongru's Wenxiang Sect rebelled, Yang Guodong first suffered a major defeat, then later led troops while bearing his guilt and achieved great merit. It was he who escorted Xu Hongru and others to the capital to present captives at the palace gate. Afterward, he was promoted all the way up, becoming Regional Commander of Shanhai Nanhaikou, and only in the sixth year of Tianqi did he become Regional Commander of Denglai, with the title of Right Chief Commissioner of the Rear Chief Military Commission—many ranks higher than you."

Chen Xin was slightly moved. "So this Yang Guodong rose through military merit. Not bad."

Song Wenxian smiled. "Some military merit, but nothing extraordinary. The Wenxiang Sect's demon soldiers were merely a rabble. This man's rise also relied on currying favor with the traitor Wei, offering countless gold and silver every year, hence his smooth career."

Chen Xin laughed. "So that's how it is. Then what's his way of generating wealth?"

"The usual practice of embezzling from the payroll, and also extorting the Liaodong refugees who cross the sea. Many couldn't bear it and returned to the Dongjiang islands."

"A pity. If only those Liaodong refugees were given to me. Since Yang Guodong is also part of Wei's faction, whether he can protect himself this time is still uncertain. Better to delay befriending him."

Chen Xin's impression of Yang Guodong was that of a Regional Commander who was very adept at officialdom and could fight a little. His extortion of commoners or embezzlement from the payroll was what most military officers were doing at the time. Such a person would be easy to befriend, but with Yang Guodong's own situation uncertain and Chen Xin not yet in the battalion system, he decided to put it aside for now.

Song Wenxian laughed upon hearing this. "Yang Guodong still has several thousand Liaodong refugees in his hands, all detained by him for forced labor. If Brother Chen wants them, just buy them from him."

"In that case, I really should pay him a visit."

"Brother Chen truly intends to buy Liaodong refugees?"

"Of course. Didn't Mr. Song say the Liaodong refugees are strong, hardy, and harbor the deepest hatred for the Jianzhou Bandits? Those are exactly the soldiers I want."

Song Wenxian stared at Chen Xin for a long moment, then shook his head. "Brother Chen once said you wanted to fight the Jianzhou Bandits. Now it seems you weren't joking. Your actions are beyond my comprehension. I was reluctant to say this, but if Brother Chen truly wants the Garrison Commander post at Wendeng Battalion, I'll give you a suggestion: you can obtain it with the heads of Jianzhou Bandits."

"Where would I find such things?"

"Where else but Dongjiang? Where else are there Jianzhou Bandit heads? You can offer a high price and buy them from Dongjiang Town. The imperial court's reward is only thirty taels per head. If you offer two or three hundred taels, it would be strange if those paupers in Dongjiang didn't sell."

"That expensive?! The Xiao family charged only ten taels for a whole body, head included!"

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

"Kill!" Zhou Shao'er gripped his blade-staff and charged forward with all his might. After running more than ten paces, he swung horizontally, smashing down onto a two-foot-high wooden stake on the ground. The blade-staff, over two meters long, whistled through the air and with a crack sent the stake flying. Zhou Shao'er then struck at the top of a four-foot-high wooden stake nearby, sending it flying as well. He then sprinted a few steps to the side, let out a great shout, and thrust the two-inch blade at the staff's tip into the chest of a straw man-shaped target.

"Qualified." The squad leader, Huang Yuan, called out. "Twenty-nine times. One more set, then rest."

Zhou Shao'er set the two wooden stakes upright again, then slowly walked back to the starting position. After a brief rest, he prepared to repeat the sequence. He was still a cook, while the cooks from the other three combat squads had all taken up other roles and become true combat soldiers. Zhou Shao'er's current squad leader was Huang Yuan. The original squad leader, Wang Zhangfu, and squad leader Zheng Sanhu had gone to lead new recruits. Three men had been transferred from other squads to replenish the First Squad. They were the only veteran squad preserved intact; everyone had participated in the last bandit suppression.

Zhou Shao'er had practiced both the blade-staff and the saber-shield. He personally preferred the blade-staff. The moves were merely one strike and one thrust. As the foot-soldier training officer Dai Zhenggang put it, all other moves were fancy techniques useless on the battlefield. Zhou Shao'er felt a long ridge on the grip of the blade-staff—it indicated the edge direction of the blade at the tip, to prevent striking an enemy's head with the flat of the blade during nighttime combat.

Zhou Shao'er stood at the starting point again and looked at the three targets ahead. The two-foot stake represented a horse's leg, the four-foot one a horse's head (Note 1), and the human-shaped target was for practicing thrusting. The three primary functions of the blade-staff were all covered, with each set consisting of these three targets. It was said that several instructors were still discussing adding a move to strike a man after hitting the horse's head.

As veterans, their squad had very little basic formation drill. Instead, squad attack and defense exercises took up most of the time, with a fair amount of individual skill training as well. Zhou Shao'er could now learn two types of weapons simultaneously. Since arriving at Weihai, his physique had strengthened considerably. Although the great staff was very heavy and required over a hundred strikes and smashes each day, he could still persevere.

A loud shout came from nearby. Zhong Laosi charged out just like Zhou Shao'er. After a round of striking and smashing at his own targets, he proved even stronger than Zhou Shao'er. His blade-staff moved with fierce speed, and the four-foot stake was sent flying over ten paces away. Zhou Shao'er clicked his tongue secretly. This Zhong Laosi was originally a long-blade man. When Lord Chen abolished the long-blade, Zhong Laosi initially detested this great staff, often saying the long-blade felt much more comfortable to use. He only stopped grumbling after Huang Yuan docked his discipline score twice.

As expected, those who had seen battle had more killing aura. Zhou Shao'er had to admit that Zhong Laosi fought more ferociously than he did. Still, he himself had been on the battlefield too. He glanced sideways at the small armband sewn onto his left sleeve. It bore the shape of a mountain—a commemorative armband for first combat, designed by Lord Chen. With this item, he was no longer a raw recruit.

The thought of new recruits made Zhou Shao'er look up toward the distant mountain base. Squad after squad of new recruits was training in formation. Over two hundred men were divided into nearly twenty squads, their shouts rising and falling continuously. Instructors constantly moved through the ranks, beating people with sticks. These new recruits received a monthly ration of only five qian. Once they became formal combat soldiers, the monthly ration would be one tael and five qian. He heard that no one had quit due to hardship. The mountain folk and fishermen selected by Dai Zhenggang were all very hardy, but their formation marching was lacking. After all this training, more than half still couldn't tell left from right and weren't very good at following commands. The physical punishment they received for this far exceeded that of the original group of trackers.

"I'm still pretty good." A sense of superiority welled up in Zhou Shao'er's heart. Although he wasn't as strong as the others, he was one of the fastest to learn the commands and had basically never been beaten for that reason.

"Zhou Shao'er, you've been thinking about your woman for that long?" Huang Yuan's angry curse came from ahead. Zhou Shao'er jolted. Fortunately, Huang Yuan hadn't brought out the discipline stick yet. He quickly steadied himself, took a deep breath, and was about to charge out when suddenly Huang Yuan shouted again, "All hands, fall in!"

Zhou Shao'er had already coiled his strength in his legs, tensed and just about to release, when Huang Yuan's shout startled him. His mind panicked, and he fell flat on his face like a dog eating dung. Everyone around him was rushing to fall in beside Huang Yuan. Zhou Shao'er scrambled up quickly, not even bothering to wipe the dirt from his face, and took his place at the end of the line.

"Attention!" Zhou Shao'er immediately thrust out his chest. His blade-staff rested against his right side, his left hand pressed against his trousers, eyes fixed forward. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dai Zhenggang striding over with heavy steps, standing before the formation like an iron tower.

After Huang Yuan ordered the entire squad to salute, Dai Zhenggang returned the military salute and began addressing them. "First Squad of the Killer Team, the only Killer Team composed entirely of veterans. You were specifically kept together by Lord Chen. Starting tomorrow, the new recruits begin squad training. Your First Killer Squad will serve as their opponent in training. From now on, you'll be called the Blue Team. This is the team designation set by Lord Chen. No changing it. If you don't like it, this is still it. Damn it, train well and don't disgrace the veterans. That's all. Squad Leader Huang, carry on."

Dai Zhenggang finished his few words and left. Huang Yuan was also a bit stunned. It took him a good while before he stepped forward and said to everyone, "You all heard. Soon we'll be this whatever Blue Team. Everyone train hard. If we can't beat these new recruits who can't even march straight, where am I supposed to put my face? If my face is gone, don't expect any good for yourselves. One more thing: tonight we're adding night march training, five li round trip. Any questions?"

Zhong Laosi raised his hand. Huang Yuan glanced at him. "Zhong Laosi, no speaking. You're just going to complain again, damn it."

The others stifled their laughter. Zhong Laosi looked indignant but dared not say anything and had to lower his hand.

"No questions, then continue individual skill training. Dismissed."

"Blue Team? Sounds awful. It should at least be something like Tiger or Leopard." Zhou Shao'er muttered to himself in his mind.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

Note 1: In the *Jixiao Xinshu*, the training stake for striking a horse's head is four chi, about 1.25 meters. Currently recorded Mongolian horses average 125–135 cm in height. It can be inferred that Mongolian horses of that era were roughly this height as well.

Also requesting recommendations and bookmarks.