Chapter 118: Section Two: The Supervising Minister

The two sides stared at each other wide-eyed for a moment, then laughter began to slip out, and immediately a great roar of laughter erupted — that sharp, piercing voice was very conspicuous amid the laughter.

"General Huang is most thoughtful." Wu Mu nimbly jumped down from the ship's side.

"You flatter me, Eunuch Wu." Amid the laughter, Huang Shi's mood also relaxed completely all at once — these few men had come to cooperate, not to make trouble.

A delighted Huang Shi flattered Wu Mu with a few words, then turned and performed a full formal salute to the two Embroidered Uniform Guard officers, but to his surprise the two immediately sidestepped to evade it, repeatedly saying they dared not accept such courtesy.

"Two heavenly envoys..." Huang Shi was a little puzzled — weren't the Embroidered Uniform Guard supposed to be all-powerful and imposing? Why so courteous?

"General Huang's words are too weighty, this humble officer dares not accept. We two brothers are merely Eunuch Wu's attendants."

The two Embroidered Uniform Guard officers called themselves humble officers — had the sun risen in the west?

Wu Mu, seeing Huang Shi's inner doubt, quickly explained: "Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Chief Military Commission, they and General Huang are all military officers. Two Squad Leaders naturally cannot breach propriety."

The Embroidered Uniform Guard officer on the left seemed to see through the unease in Huang Shi's heart and also said with a smile: "This humble officer is indeed rather unrestrained before civil officials, but those scholars themselves say 'civil and military are different paths.' General Huang is a third-rank military officer — before him, where would this humble officer have the standing to act presumptuously?"

To put it plainly, the relationship between these two Embroidered Uniform Guard officers and Huang Shi was roughly like that between Huang Shi's personal guards and Zhao Manxiong, but the Son of Heaven had so many personal soldiers that the Emperor could not possibly remember a mere Squad Leader. Wu Mu declined the welcoming banquet Huang Shi had arranged and instead was impatient to inspect the entire island and the whole army.

The senior eunuch naturally went to Dongjiang Island to oversee Mao Wenlong, but Zhang Pan at Lushun and Changsheng, and Huang Shi, were making a name for themselves — they were also all Assistant Regional Commanders and far from the Dongjiang headquarters, so two junior eunuchs were dispatched to oversee them.

Wu Mu was originally a minor eunuch who had not found much success. After several years in the palace, he still saw no future prospects. This time the Son of Heaven ordered eunuchs to supervise the army at Dongjiangzhen, and most people were unwilling to go — after all, everyone knew this place was both harsh and dangerous — but Eunuch Wu felt this was a decent opportunity to rise.

Wu Mu walked slowly ahead, shoulder to shoulder with Huang Shi. The attendant behind them carried a brocade box wrapped in yellow silk. Huang Shi and all the military officers knew what that brocade box contained — it was the symbol of imperial court authority. Inside was the imperial edict bestowed upon Eunuch Wu. In a moment of extreme emergency, Eunuch Wu could take it out and have Huang Shi executed.

Huang Shi first had He Baodao drill a military formation. The earlier act of returning the farmland and disbanding the retainers had brought Huang Shi an unexpected benefit — He Baodao had been moved by Huang Shi's spirit of "ruining his own household for the nation." He had never imagined a superior officer would sacrifice personal comfort and family interests for the good of the entire army. Deeply ashamed, He Baodao had secretly come to see Huang Shi, expressing his willingness to contribute some of his family's secret manuals.

Of course, He Baodao set conditions: the soldiers being trained would have to salute the He family ancestral tablets, and before deployment — and even during the training process — on festival days they would have to offer incense and pray for blessings before his He family ancestral tablets.

Once the terms were agreed upon, the few retainers He Baodao originally had in the "training unit" quickly began teaching others some techniques for exerting strength and force, as well as many tricks for building muscle. Huang Shi was not surprised by this. In earlier days, He Baodao had instructed his ten personal retainers in private and had never allowed anyone to watch. Under the family rules He Baodao had previously set, the third article stated that leaking "martial arts secret manuals" was punishable by being beaten to death.

Huang Shi looked through them once with immense curiosity. These were all very practical and simple tricks — at Guangning, He Baodao would rather have died than teach these things to friends. There were also training methods that clearly had been refined through countless trials — spreading them across the whole army would greatly help the soldiers' combat skill level. Breaking down feudal barriers would enormously boost productivity — it seemed this was no empty saying.

Although the troops were orderly, when Wu Mu saw there were only about a hundred men (Huang Shi's trained retainer unit), his expression turned somewhat sour. After Huang Shi accompanied the three men on a half-day tour covering the entire island, Wu Mu's face was already very displeased and disappointed.

"So, General Huang endures such hardship." Wu Mu grew sullen and dejected, his tone very heavy.

A eunuch's favor and prestige rest entirely on the Emperor's trust. Before coming to Changsheng Island, Wu Mu had been very excited, thinking that serving as supervising minister to a famous general like Huang Shi held great promise. As long as Huang Shi won a few more victories — which Wu Mu thought would be very easy — the Emperor would firmly remember his name as the army supervisor. So although the journey to Changsheng Island had been arduous, Wu Mu's dreams had been filled entirely with Huang Shi winning great victories, and he had even counted on the Son of Heaven, in wild delight, to record a heavy merit for his diligent watchdog as well.

To secure the assignment of supervising the army at Changsheng, Eunuch Wu had even bribed the eunuchs above him. That expense, though meager, had been his entire property. For the sake of future glory and wealth, Wu Mu had already staked everything, gambling his pitiful savings. Now, seeing that the future prospects were poor, Eunuch Wu suddenly became very disheartened, and all the good cheer of the journey was cast beyond the highest heavens.

"Eunuch Wu, let us discuss this slowly over the banquet."

At the banquet, Wu Mu's attitude was very unfriendly. Feeling his future was dim, he found fault with everything and even nitpicked that Huang Shi's food and wine were too lavish — better to spend that money on buying some raw iron.

Seeing Wu Mu's behavior, Huang Shi was inwardly delighted. The work of a Ming dynasty army supervisor was actually quite simple when you got down to it: keep an eye on the military officer to prevent him from fleeing, inspire the officer with confidence in victory, and let the officer fight with peace of mind, free from worries at home. The famous Yu Qian, Vice Minister Yu, had done just these few things. Although these tasks were not hard to describe, they were simple to look at but not easy to do well — just as without Hu Zongxian and Zhang Juzheng, there could never have been a Qi Jiguang.

But while the tasks were selfless, people all had their own selfish motives. If a defeat truly incurred the Emperor's furious wrath, a eunuch — a person with no foundation or fallback — would be dead for certain. A eunuch without power and influence had even less of a fallback than a military officer. Facing ordinary enemies or bandits, they might not even be accepted if they tried to surrender. From this perspective, this Wu Mu and he, Huang Shi, were grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

If any problem arose, civil officials had teachers, disciples, and colleagues to help them — they might well succeed in shifting the blame away. But Wu Mu certainly could not do that. So Huang Shi personally felt that a eunuch army supervisor was more advantageous to him than a civil official supervisor. This Eunuch Wu did not seem like a man of much moral integrity either.

"Military equipment is insufficient — does Eunuch Wu have any wise counsel?" After a while, Huang Shi judged the moment was about right and began laying the groundwork for his plan.

"I have no solution, other than to urge the soldiers to farm more and produce more," Wu Mu said peevishly.

"The military households on this island were originally mostly commoners." Huang Shi probed a step further. Turning commoners into military households was an act that civil officials would certainly denounce. If a civil official dared turn a blind eye to such an illegal act, he could expect to be impeached for bending the law for personal gain.

Wu Mu's eyes rolled a few times. "Were they willing?"

"Of course, absolutely willing." No military service meant no food — of course they were willing.

"That's fine then. After I have inspected the matter, I can vouch for General Huang." Wu Mu also hoped for more troops so they could win more battles. In any case, even if the matter were exposed, impeachment could not reach his head. As long as they could win battles, for him one merit would cover a hundred blemishes.

Huang Shi felt there was no problem now. "What military preparations need is silver. As for silver, your subordinate has some ideas and requests Eunuch Wu's guidance."

Hearing this, Wu Mu knew at once something was off — it was surely no open and aboveboard matter, or there would be no need to be so evasive. "General Huang, please speak."

Huang Shi waved over one of the military officers seated in attendance. "This is one of your subordinate's men, Vice Squad Commander Liu Qingyang."

Liu Qingyang performed a grand salute. "Greetings, Eunuch Wu."

"Dispense with the formalities. General Huang, speak freely — there are no outsiders here."

Liu Qingyang brought out a cloth-covered tray from behind. Huang Shi casually lifted the cloth. The tray was piled full of copper coins.

"General Huang, what is the meaning of this?" Wu Mu looked at the tray — there were not many coins. Huang Shi could not possibly be trying to bribe him with copper coins, and this tray of coins could not buy much of anything.

Huang Shi picked up one copper coin and handed it to Wu Mu, then handed one each to the two Embroidered Uniform Guard officers. This matter was too big — Huang Shi had no intention of hiding it. He knew he could not possibly conceal it from the army supervisor's eyes, still less could he set up any military restricted zone. No restriction could be imposed on the supervising eunuch.

A brand-new minted coin, heavy and substantial in the hand. Wu Mu felt this coin looked as if it had never been used. Just as he was deep in thought, one of the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers suddenly cried out in alarm, and the copper coin in his hand dropped.

The commotion startled Wu Mu out of his contemplation. Greatly displeased, he reproached him: "Brother Chen, what is it?"

That Embroidered Uniform Guard officer surnamed Chen was called Chen Ruike. When Huang Shi had first seen his name summary, he had cursed inwardly — why couldn't your name just be Chen Ke?

The heavily bearded Chen Ruike bent down and picked up the copper coin. He exchanged a glance with his companion beside him — that man's expression was also utterly grave. The two turned their heads together and looked toward Huang Shi, their expressions now extremely solemn.

Chen Ruike slapped the copper coin in his hand heavily onto the table. "General Huang, this is counterfeit money!"