[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-115":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Stealing Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1220732,1614,"Chapter 115: Pandora's Box","stealing-ming-chapter-115",115,"\u003Cp>Huang Shi, long accustomed to this, merely smiled. \"Company Commander He, the soldiers already believe in all sorts of demons and monsters — aren't those even worse?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Baodao answered without thinking, blurting out a deeply irreverent analogy: \"This subordinate does not believe that any faith can boost morale. Such an army would be no better than the Yellow Turban rebels or the Red Turban rebels.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other three officers turned pale at his words. Yang Zhiyuan hastily cried out, \"Company Commander He!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord, forgive my offense.\" He Baodao, frightened, dropped to his knees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We are all brothers here. Get up and speak.\" Huang Shi paced twice within the cramped cabin. Speaking behind closed doors was no great matter, but this was not the first time for He Baodao. It seemed he truly needed to find a way to discipline him; otherwise, sooner or later, he would cause serious trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Baodao weighed his words for a moment, then finally spoke again: \"Last year, the villain Xu of the Wenxiang Sect incited rebellion. His followers numbered two million, and the rebels and rioters who joined him exceeded several hundred thousand, yet the government troops were no more than twenty thousand. In less than six months, the rebel horde vanished like smoke, and the villain Xu was executed by slow slicing in the capital. This subordinate ventures to ask, my lord — what use is this thing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi stood still and sighed. \"At the very least, it can add flowers to brocade. Moreover, our army needs many things from the Jesuits... and the Jesuits have connections with many my lords in the imperial court...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jesuits could not only provide technical talent in seafaring, artillery, and metallurgy, but also had good relations with men like Sun Yuanhua and Xu Guangqi. Many Confucian scholar-officials in the Great Ming embraced the faith, primarily drawn by the books the Jesuits brought. These Ming Confucians translated and published dozens of works on world geography, geometric principles, human anatomy, and more. Regrettably, in Huang Shi's era, these publications had all been banned and destroyed, so only their titles remained visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, this exchange brought considerable benefit to the Great Ming. For instance, by the late Ming, medicine already believed the brain to be the organ of thought, and some writings proposed that children's brains were small and the elderly's brains withered, thus affecting intelligence — and even developed related medical treatments on this basis. Likewise, the debate over a spherical earth unfolded during the Ming period and was accepted by quite a few people, with the discussion already turning to causal inquiry — akin to the explanation that all things arise from earth and thus must return to earth. Had such speculative reasoning been allowed to continue for another century, who could say that the theory of universal gravitation would not have been proposed in China?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Huang Shi's former life, all this Chinese thought and theory was completely halted by a single remark from Kangxi: \"Utterly laughable.\" Those who dared spread such ideas were exiled to Ningguta, and the books were all burned and banned. It was truly a profound pity. As he expounded these reasons, Huang Shi's tone was very gentle. As a modern man, he deeply understood the value of scholarly exchange. He Baodao, his momentum broken, opened his mouth but in the end was left speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhao Manxiong came forward in opposition. He felt that religion was something uncontrollable: \"The doctrinal authority of this Taixi Catholic faith lies in the hands of the Taixi people.\" Zhao Manxiong feared the danger of handing the handle of power to others, of yielding one's own authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"On this point, you are overthinking it.\" Huang Shi smiled and introduced them to the original doctrines, including the prohibition against venerating ancestors and the like. \"We are merely borrowing the name. Control will naturally be held firmly in our hands. The soldiers need only compare to know which is better, and whose words to believe.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jesuits had already promised that as long as Catholicism could be promoted, they would send Huang Shi more shipbuilding and mining technicians, and could also help him contact Spanish merchants, among other things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord underestimates the power of a religious sect.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Manxiong's voice of rebuttal was very loud, and his expression even grew somewhat anxious. \"Faith in a god is not a matter of comparison. Believing in a god is the most unreasonable thing under heaven. Once the soldiers believe in this Taixi god, then my lord is merely a mortal. How could a mortal contend against a god?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Huang Shi sink into thought, Jin Qiude spoke up. He had always been an active supporter of promoting Catholicism. The trip to the Jesuits had left a deep impression on him; those exquisite instruments and entirely new theories had moved him greatly. \"This subordinate cannot agree with Company Commander Zhao's argument. My lord, so many benefits can be had for free, without spending a single coin. Why should we not take them? On what grounds should we not?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Manxiong glared at him and asked, \"If you knew it was bait on a hook, would Company Commander Jin still swallow it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Qiude cast a contemptuous glance at him and laughed loudly. \"Why are they the fishermen, and we the fish? What one can rely on in this world is power alone! We have soldiers and cannons — what is there to fear from a bunch of Taixi monks?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Zhiyuan, who had remained silent all along, also spoke: \"This subordinate feels that this Taixi god also exhorts people toward goodness, so there is nothing particularly alarming. Our army has military law — who could stir up any waves?\" Huang Shi knew that Yang Zhiyuan was a very devout man. He believed in all sorts of bodhisattvas, Erlang Shen, and the Earth God, and had always very sincerely offered incense to every kind of deity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah, which god ever starts by teaching people to do evil? But don't they still take the incense money for nothing?\" Zhao Manxiong shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. Orphaned as a child, he had suffered every hardship, and so he believed in no god at all. Finally, Zhao Manxiong turned and bowed to Huang Shi. \"This subordinate cannot articulate it clearly, but feels that the future troubles are endless. I beg my lord to see clearly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This subordinate shares the same feeling,\" He Baodao added. \"The Master did not speak of strange forces and chaotic spirits. The Sage must have had good reason for saying so.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Qiude, with the utmost solemnity, made a deep bow to Huang Shi. Coming from a scholarly family, he too held no reverence for any god or Buddha. \"My lord, in this world, the powerful are honored. Company Commander Zhao thinks they are fishing — but must we be the ones caught? Between us and the Jesuits, who is the fisherman and who is the fish is not yet certain. The Jesuits can beguile hearts and win over court ministers — is this skill theirs alone to use, and not ours? The benefits are before our eyes. We must first devour them, and then each side can fight it out by its own abilities.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bah.\" Zhao Manxiong spat on the ground in disgust and said with uncharacteristic vehemence, \"Knowing there is trouble and still provoking it — how can one have such a notion? Fight it out! And what if we cannot win?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Qiude ignored him and asked Huang Shi directly, \"My lord, if in this world one must consider every contingency before acting, then we should do nothing at all. If Company Commander Zhao lacks confidence, does my lord also lack confidence in his own strength?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning to Zhangsheng Island, Huang Shi ordered that each coffin be draped with the army banner — the viper flag of Zhangsheng Island — and then solemnly buried the hundred-odd soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What differed from tradition was that Huang Shi had a cross planted at each grave. It was said that this could send the soldiers' souls to the heavenly barracks. The soldiers, with an attitude of neither approval nor disapproval, silently accepted it. Jin Qiude, spraying spittle as he preached, propagated a great deal of doctrine. Huang Shi had already handed this task over to him — he had the feeling that he had opened Pandora's box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he stood to the side observing, Huang Shi pointed at Jin Qiude on the platform and asked, \"Company Commander He, do you think Company Commander Jin believes it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Certainly not. He, too, has read the books of the Sages. How could he believe this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi smiled and nodded. \"Well said.\" No wonder Chinese Confucianism was called the Confucian religion by foreigners. This thing had indeed effectively blocked the spread of religion among the scholar-official class. \"But the soldiers do not understand the great principles of our Chinese teaching of names. I merely hope they can also receive edification, and not forget their loyalty to the Great Ming — which, in practice, means loyalty to Huang Shi himself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deng Ken had a separate concern. He finally told Huang Shi that if the Jesuits learned of this catechism, not only would they gain nothing, but he himself would be excommunicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi devoutly pressed his palms together, gazed up at the blue sky, and said softly, \"The Lord will understand the painstaking sincerity with which you and I promote the Holy Catholic Faith.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Perhaps... Well, I mean, it is certainly so.\" Deng Ken made several signs of the cross in succession. \"But the Jesuit fathers will not understand. My reports are, of course, very easy to write favorably, but they will still send people to inspect.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi, his face still full of piety, gazed up at the firmament and answered gently, \"They will understand. We can pray — pray to the Lord.\" — When it comes to prestige projects, you white-haired baboons are far from qualified compared to us Chinese.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Battle of Lushun, Dongjiangzhen was formally established as a garrison. The imperial court ordered the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War to dispatch officials to Liaodong to verify the number of soldiers on the registers and inspect the troops, personnel, and equipment of each camp in Dongjiangzhen.\u003C\u002Fp>",1737,"2026-06-04T07:54:30.907Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","8a305c2201df6a1cc7164072c5c9af2b7d20d70482aea51d9e8742b51684c243","stealing-ming-chapter-116","stealing-ming-chapter-114",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]