[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-164":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},1220781,1614,"Chapter 164: Section 21: Extortion","stealing-ming-chapter-164",164,"\u003Cp>Wu Mu laid a bit of groundwork with a couple of casual remarks, then burst into a torrent of abuse — aimed, of course, at the Donglin Party, whom he regarded as utterly evil. Thanks to the Palace Assault Case, the Donglin Party had already greatly expanded its influence; then it fabricated the groundless Red Pill Case, and by that point the Donglin Party had beaten its political enemies so badly they could not lift their heads. As for the Palace Removal Case, that was merely icing on the cake. Tianqi's foster mother, Li Xuan, had hoped that as the Emperor's mother she might become Empress Dowager, but the Donglin Party insisted she was plotting rebellion. A group of senior ministers first spirited Tianqi away, then went daily to the palace gates to hurl abuse, and finally drove the weeping young widow out of the palace. Thus the Donglin Party, for the third time, rendered the monumental service of upholding the state and safeguarding the realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the third year of Tianqi, the Donglin Party used the capital review to expel all dissenters from the capital, so that for a time the court was filled solely with officials of the Donglin faction. The Ming history Huang Shi had read also praised this period as \"the court brimming with righteous men.\" Huang Shi had also heard something of the history Wu Mu went on to denounce. According to the Great Ming's rules, the appointment of officials below the third rank did not require the Emperor's approval... Therefore Huang Shi had long known that the claim by certain Qing literati that nine-tenths of all officials under the Wanli Emperor were absent from their posts was pure nonsense — this matter was never under the Ming Emperor's jurisdiction in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Officials of the third rank and above were to be recommended by court ministers through collective deliberation, and the list of names then submitted to the Son of Heaven. In the fourth year of Tianqi, the tactless Tianqi Emperor altered the order of one name on the recommended list, moving the candidate ranked second into first place. This instantly stirred up a hornet's nest among the Donglin Party. In truth, no one knew whether this was actually the Emperor's own idea, and it was precisely from this angle that the Donglin Party attacked: they questioned Tianqi as to whether this was his own intention or the idea of the eunuchs of the inner court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Huang Shi's personal perspective, he very much approved of the Ming's system of a figurehead monarch. The Grand Secretaries of the Wenyuan Pavilion were all men who had weathered decades of political storms; every civil official who made it into the Inner Cabinet was a shrewd old hand, far more capable of governing the realm than a monarch raised deep within the palace. After Zhu Di established the Inner Cabinet system, Ming emperors could go traveling, go to war, go concoct elixirs, or go do carpentry — as long as they had the self-awareness to know: I am certainly not as clever as those shrewd men in the outer court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, successive Ming emperors all possessed this self-awareness. The Jiajing Emperor once went ten years without altering a single character of the Inner Cabinet's draft rescripts; the Wanli Emperor never once rejected the Ministry of Personnel's annual review and appointment of officials. The policy practiced by Ming emperors resembled the later system of a responsible cabinet — if you did well, you stayed on; if you did poorly, the cabinet ministers were dismissed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Tianqi clearly lacked the forbearance of his ancestors. The young Son of Heaven personally came forward and told his ministers that this alteration was his own idea, which was undoubtedly pouring oil on the flames of the civil officials' fury. Yet they could not say the Emperor was wrong, because in theory the Emperor had this power. But precisely because this power existed only in theory and had customarily been absent for many years, starting from the sixth month of Tianqi's fourth year, an overwhelming flood of impeachment memorials was directed at Tianqi's close attendant — Wei Zhongxian. The Donglin Party demanded that Tianqi \"display manifest wrath and apply the blade of law,\" beheading Wei Zhongxian and displaying his head to the public.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this period, Wei Zhongxian was so terrified several times that he clung to Tianqi's leg and wept bitterly... Of course, this was not something Wu Mu said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhongxian also summoned his eating-companion Madam Ke to cling to Tianqi's leg and weep together with him... Of course, this was also not something Wu Mu said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the tenth month of Tianqi's fourth year, the attacks on Wei Zhongxian had continued for over three months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bullying and coercing His Majesty — truly rebellious ministers and traitorous sons who acknowledge neither sovereign nor father,\" Wu Mu cursed, brimming with righteous indignation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had this been Huang Shi's previous life, many might have sympathized with Tianqi's predicament, but Huang Shi knew that if word of this agreement of his got out, it would be enough to utterly ruin his reputation in the late Ming, because what these Ming ministers were upholding was precisely the ancient Chinese tradition of \"the sovereign ruling together with the scholar-officials.\" The orthodox Confucian tradition was the \"separation of governance and the Way\": the Emperor held the lineage of the Way, while the scholar-officials held the lineage of governance. Before the Mongol Yuan, the only Chinese ruler who dared strike a minister was that old soldier Zhao the First, and though he frantically apologized afterward, he was still cursed until the blood ran from his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi murmured his agreement: \"Eunuch Wu speaks the truth.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Ming had unfortunately inherited the \"court beating\" from the Mongols, Confucianism at this time still possessed moral integrity. Even under Zhu Yuanzhang, who was reputed to be the most brutal, there was once a Confucian scholar who refused to perform the kneeling obeisance to him, and Zhu Hongwu praised that scholar as having \"the manner of an ancient worthy minister.\" He could even say, \"Where the Way is, there governance also resides.\" The dynasty that would turn the empire's intellectuals into slaves had not yet arrived. Throughout Chinese history, naked autocracy by the emperor was called \"without the Way\" by Confucians, and those who supported imperial autocracy were \"treacherous sycophants.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This agreement therefore greatly delighted Wu Mu, who took it as a clear statement of Huang Shi's stance: \"When the Guangning mutiny occurred, General Huang was right there. Eunuch Wei hopes that General Huang can write down what he saw and heard into a memorial to be presented to the Son of Heaven.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The re-examination of the Guangning debacle was a critical battle in the eunuch faction's defeat of the Donglin Party. Wei Zhongxian successfully proved to Tianqi the Donglin Party's corruption and selfishness, and seized upon their sore spot. Huang Shi was perhaps the most weighty witness; his current achievements and his actions on the scene at the time would give his account indisputable persuasive power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Eunuch Wu, is this memorial to be submitted to the Office of Transmission via my privilege of direct memorialization?\" Huang Shi knew that once this matter came to light, his reputation would be utterly destroyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"His Majesty is wise; General Huang need not worry.\" Wu Mu's meaning was very clear: the eunuch faction needed this material as a bomb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My rank is low and my words carry little weight; I fear that even if I speak, no one will listen.\" Huang Shi knew Wei Zhongxian would win, but Tianqi had only a few years left to live, and Wei Zhongxian could not keep the sky covered with one hand forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"General Huang's future is vast and far-reaching. The Dongjiang Garrison is due to establish a new sub-garrison, and Eunuch Wei believes General Huang is the suitable candidate for Vice Regional Commander.\" Seeing Huang Shi's expression flicker uncertainly, he hastily added, \"It is only a matter of time before General Huang establishes his own garrison.\" Wu Mu had also dangled a very large carrot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This matter happened so long ago. I am but a military man, not a censor. This affair is probably not for me to submit a memorial on, still less for me to impeach civil officials.\" Huang Shi's expression flickered uncertainly because he was worried he would come to grief — once Wei Zhongxian was dead, the Donglin Party would not forget that he had once kicked them when they were down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What General Huang says is also true.\" Wu Mu understood that Huang Shi's meaning was: push him any further and they would part ways with nothing to show for it. He studied Huang Shi's expression — this fellow was still too timid; a pity, for the wealth and rank prepared for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Mu clapped his hands: \"Then let me write it. General Huang speaks, I shall record, and then I shall send it by secret memorial to the palace.\" As long as the Son of Heaven believed Huang Shi's words, then Wei Zhongxian would have won a battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi knew that whether or not he provided this report, Wei Zhongxian was certain to win; Tianqi would still believe him rather than the Donglin Party. This way, he would gain a favor at no risk to himself. In any case, Huang Shi absolutely would not charge to the front and serve as cannon fodder. He let out a long breath: \"What does Eunuch Wei wish me to say?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bargaining began...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the letter was written, Wu Mu dismissed his private secretary. Once again only the two of them remained in the room. He took out a small seal and stamped it, then picked up the brush and passed it over, his face wreathed in smiles as he said to Huang Shi: \"General Huang, if you please.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi accepted the brush with a face full of solemnity. The brush seemed to weigh a thousand catties. He delayed and delayed, unwilling to set it down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Mu watched, his heart anxious, and could not help asking: \"General Huang, what is the matter?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi gave a bitter smile and shook his head: \"Once this brush descends, my one thousand suits of armor will have flown away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These words made Wu Mu burst out laughing: \"What is so remarkable about one thousand suits of armor, and how could they fly away?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One thousand suits of armor are nothing remarkable, but what if they are one thousand suits of fine iron armor?\" Huang Shi had successfully piqued Wu Mu's curiosity, and then, in a flat tone, he spoke of the iron armor Sun Chengzong had given him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Mu's face changed color dramatically; he gaped speechless for a long while before anxiously firing off a string of questions: \"How much silver are these iron armors worth? What did Grand Coordinator Sun want General Huang to write?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One hundred thousand taels of silver.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This one sentence instantly choked Wu Mu so that he could not speak. Only after a good while did he murmur: \"One hundred thousand taels — what a huge stake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this interval, Huang Shi had already signed his name at the end of the memorial, then laid down the brush and blew the ink dry. Only then did Wu Mu stammer: \"Since they have already arrived on Changsheng Island, there is no way they can be taken back... General Huang did not write anything, did he?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Mu anxiously grabbed Huang Shi's arm and shook it desperately: \"What did General Huang write? Quickly, tell me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course these one thousand suits will not fly away.\" Huang Shi handed the memorial to Wu Mu, who took it in a daze. Huang Shi pointed to the signature he had countersigned on the memorial and said: \"Now that this exists, I will never again write anything to Grand Coordinator Sun. I reported two thousand combat soldiers. Grand Coordinator Sun said he would first give one thousand iron armors. I was speaking of the latter one thousand suits.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After casting a shamefaced glance at the armor and sword given to Huang Shi, Wu Mu drew a deep breath and fiercely slapped his thigh: \"General Huang, set your mind at ease. Is it not merely one hundred thousand taels of silver? I believe Eunuch Wei will absolutely not let General Huang suffer a loss.\" After saying this, Wu Mu felt somewhat lacking in confidence. Blustering with more bravado than courage, he added: \"One hundred thousand taels is nothing. General Huang must trust Eunuch Wei. Rest assured, rest absolutely assured.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaving Wu Mu's quarters, Huang Shi struggled with all his might to suppress the wild laughter rising within him — if not Wei Zhongxian, whose bamboo pole was there to knock? If Mao Wenlong knew how to handle people the way I do, how could the Dongjiang Garrison end up with only a little over two hundred thousand taels of military pay a year, and still fall out of favor with both sides?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tenth month of the fourth year of Tianqi, mid-month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi led a group of high- and mid-ranking officers to observe the trial run of the hydraulic forging press. Six iron screws, driven by water power, slowly turned within their nuts, pushing a hard mold toward a rectangular wrought-iron plate. Previous experiments had yielded a suitable speed; the iron plate deformed but did not fracture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the mold withdrew, Huang Shi proudly produced the finished piece. The rectangular iron plate had been transformed into a curved face mask. After changing the mold and the workpiece, the hydraulic forging press then forged a smooth, shiny helmet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the past, a blacksmith needed at least half a day's work just to make one helmet. Last time, for our new-style helmet with the mask included, it took a full day.\" As Huang Shi spoke, he placed the two finished pieces on his own head, assembling them into a complete masked helmet. From behind the mask, his voice came out muffled: \"Now all the blacksmith has to do is drill holes and insert bolts. Two blacksmiths operating this hydraulic forging press can complete at least twenty helmets a day — and this is even with the insufficient water power on my Changsheng Island.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, they did not need to produce many helmets; the bulk of the equipment needed was face masks. Drilling a few holes in old-style helmets would suffice. Huang Shi believed that the pig iron Sun Chengzong had sent was precisely for this purpose. During his last inspection of Changsheng Island, Huang Shi had already indicated that all helmets were to be retrofitted, and this shipment of supplies included no helmets at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After removing the helmet, Huang Shi saw that Deng Ken, standing to one side, seemed about to speak again. Impatiently, he preempted him: \"Deng Ken, I know what you are going to say — that if we had used all this manpower to make helmets from the start, we would have long since made thousands upon thousands of helmets, right? But have you considered that two years ago we had not realized helmets needed face masks, and that the application of water power allows us to respond instantly to improvements in weaponry at any time?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What improvements?\" He Dingyuan hastily interjected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't know.\" Huang Shi shrugged. \"I'm no immortal; how could I know what improvements will be needed in the future?\" He pointed at the waterwheel and added: \"But once we discover a need, this waterwheel can immediately begin mass-producing the equipment we require, and it also saves precious coal and charcoal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The General misunderstands my meaning,\" Deng Ken finally found an opening to speak. He blinked and then, with equal gravity, gazed at the waterwheel: \"What I was actually thinking about was the water power problem. The water the reservoir stores each day only allows the waterwheel to operate for one hour. But the General has built a hydraulic rolling mill, and also speaks of using waterwheels to drive bellows for iron smelting, and using hydraulic boring mills to grind cannons. So many machines all need waterwheels to drive them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fan Le also spoke up: \"I recall the General saying there is a way to solve the water power problem, to make the waterwheels run continuously. I wonder when the General plans to tell us this method.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There is a method, but it requires manpower, and right now manpower is short.\" Huang Shi was currently using human-powered bellows to forge weapons and armor. After the farming slack season, all the able-bodied men of Changsheng Island had been conscripted to help make gunpowder, polish firearms, and produce long spears. Huang Shi was also frantically training his new recruits; these activities had exhausted Changsheng Island's human resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Could we not halt the other work for now, and wait until the waterwheels are running? What exactly does my lord need to build?\" Yang Zhiyuan also wanted to resolve the water power problem as quickly as possible. After all, the money and time poured into this project had already been immense, and he too was eager to turn these investments into motive power as soon as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I want to build a new reservoir, and also...\" Huang Shi stopped halfway. He planned to build some windmills to lift water, with the reservoir serving as an energy storage device. Although windmills could not provide a steady power output, a single windmill could match the strength of several hundred men, and it knew no fatigue and needed no grain. With the sea island's winds so strong, not using them would truly be a waste. But for now, Huang Shi still shook his head: \"It's too much. It would take at least four thousand laborers working for several months.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the saying goes, building a ship is not as good as buying one, and buying one is not as good as renting one. By the time renting a ship begins to turn a profit, buying one may only just have recouped its cost, and the ship you built may not even have been launched yet. Huang Shi also understood that heavy industry was a bottomless pit that burned money. But this was an exponential function with a large inflection point: once the training of skilled workers and the manufacturing of machinery reached a certain scale, the power brought by industry would undergo explosive growth, and the value created in a few years could match that of the previous century.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another reform was that of weights and measures. Huang Shi took the handspan of Zhang Kai, the blacksmith who made the screws, as the standard: the distance from thumb to little finger was set as twenty centimeters; one hundred centimeters made one meter; one cubic decimeter of water was one liter; one liter of water was one kilogram; the ice-water mixture was set at zero degrees, and boiling water at one hundred degrees. For time, he copied the clocks of the Jesuits: one day had twenty-four hours, and one hour had sixty minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Huang Shi's steelmaking plan went bankrupt. Although he had built some kilns and had craftsmen make crucibles, the pig iron refused to melt into a liquid. Likewise, limestone and sand stubbornly refused to melt. Thus Huang Shi obtained neither steel, nor glass, nor cement. He had merely thrown several hundred taels of silver and a great deal of manpower into it for nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition to these supplies, there were also ten households of blacksmiths. Huang Shi did not hesitate to convert all these artisan households into military households. They also received a personal account from a predecessor: that hardworking and meritorious craftsman was now a dignified Squad Commander, and his name was recorded in the welfare register. After the recovery of Liaodong, this craftsman would receive ten mu of land and one ox in the Dongjiang Garrison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In theory, wrought-iron breastplates could already render arrows harmless. The next step was still to find a way to smelt steel. Undoubtedly, this would still require pouring in a great deal of silver and manpower. But once steel was smelted, armor would be able to defend against broadswords and javelins, and it would also conveniently let the Later Jin people witness what was meant by \"cutting through iron as if it were mud.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of the tenth month of Tianqi's fourth year, the movements of the Two Red Banners grew increasingly strange. The Plain Red Banner kept pulling back toward cities like Gaizhou and Fuzhou, while the Bordered Red Banner simply withdrew from Liaonan entirely and went to Shenyang for reorganization. According to Later Jin custom, every spring, males who had reached the age of fifteen were to be added to the banners as replacements. This year, the Bordered Red Banner could not possibly replenish its full complement of three hundred men per company. According to customary analysis, this banner might absorb some Han troops who had \"displayed outstanding performance,\" but until its reorganization was complete, this banner would no longer pose a threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a time, the Liaonan countryside became a paradise for Dongjiang Mobile Corps Commander fighters. The withdrawal of Later Jin field units left the local Han troops in a state of constant panic, and they all began secretly communicating and currying favor with the Liaodong Army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mao Wenlong finally resolved to shift toward the Lushun direction to break new ground. He issued orders to draw ten thousand able-bodied men from his main force and send them to Lushun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Manxiong asked Huang Shi in an ambiguous tone: \"Does Marshal Mao hope that General Zhang Pan can achieve a great merit?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In July, Huang Shi dispersed the veterans into the three newly formed infantry units to train the new recruits. After August, taking advantage of the farming off-season, the five infantry units on Changsheng Island — two thousand soldiers in all — drilled every day. The growing pool of experienced veterans and officers allowed the new recruits to mature rapidly. Now Changsheng Island had even gained the full support of Sun Chengzong, who was known for \"showing no favoritism.\" Never mind equipment — even the grain supplies Huang Shi had received last time were something Lüshun would never dare dream of.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Marshal Mao hopes that Zhang Pan at least won't fall too far behind me.\" Huang Shi laughed happily. \"But I'm afraid that will be very difficult.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",3763,"2026-06-04T07:54:30.907Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","b3cb3d89c43862bd0f351b8cb53babbf15cf8a65a8db29fcfac4c1ba6d3763ac","stealing-ming-chapter-165","stealing-ming-chapter-163",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]