Chapter 186: Chapter Three: The Wicked Neighbor

"Commander Liu, tell everyone what's going on."

Once the four trusted confidants — Zhao Manxiong, Jin Qiude, Yang Zhiyuan, and He Dingyuan — had all arrived, Huang Shi had Liu Qingyang go over the situation once more, while he himself sat back leisurely in a chair to the side.

"The Japanese shogunate has restricted maritime trade for many years now, but for the past decade or so they've been fairly courteous to the Dutch and English red-hairs, and to our Great Ming merchants as well. This year the Japanese shogunate expelled all Englishmen from Japan. Originally this had nothing to do with our Zhangsheng Island, because the Japanese shogunate was still keeping the Dutch red-hairs and our Great Ming merchants." At this point Liu Qingyang suddenly recalled a problem, so he paused and turned his head toward Huang Shi.

Seeing that Huang Shi was still drinking tea as if nothing were amiss, Liu Qingyang smiled and said to the four great guardian generals, "Who told us to sell counterfeit coins? So now they want to ban our business too."

"We're selling counterfeit coins?" He Dingyuan's eyes went wide. He turned his head and asked Yang Zhiyuan, "Aren't we going to Japan to sell deerskin?"

Yang Zhiyuan gave a couple of dry, mirthless laughs but said nothing. Although this matter could not see the light of day, most of Zhangsheng Island's senior officers knew it in their hearts. It was just that He Dingyuan paid no attention at all to logistics and normally believed whatever anyone told him. He Dingyuan preferred to fool around with the soldiers; on the rare occasions he came to the logistics department, it was definitely to extort supplies. It never occurred to him that a bit of broken deerskin couldn't possibly fetch more than a few coppers.

"Mobile Corps Commander He, you needn't concern yourself with this matter. Just listen." It was Huang Shi who rescued Yang Zhiyuan from the predicament. He then raised his chin toward Commander Liu: "Continue."

"As you command, my lord." Liu Qingyang gave a slight bow, then began to lay out the accounts for those present. Japan's coin shortage was still severe. A string of counterfeit coins could be exchanged in Japan for roughly two taels of silver, which could then be converted into copper and shipped back. That copper could produce five strings of counterfeit coins. Even after deducting the sailors' expenses, the Japanese merchants' cut, and the bribes needed for local Japanese officials, the profit on the counterfeit coins was still over a hundred percent.

For the past two years, Heidao Yifu and Liu Qingyang had been taking turns on duty in Japan. They had now purchased a small town outside the port of Shimonoseki and had bought off quite a few corrupt Japanese officials, so the profit margin had begun climbing steadily. This year, Zhangsheng Island's projected annual net profit would reach around three hundred thousand taels of silver. Huang Shi was counting on this income for the money to buy grain and the copper to cast cannons.

By the end, Liu Qingyang's expression had turned somber. He gravely informed the group of officers: "We on Zhangsheng Island have also bought off some officials of the Japanese shogunate and the Japanese Chōshū domain. This year they gave us reliable intelligence — the Japanese shogunate has resolved to begin minting its own coins." As he spoke, Liu Qingyang produced a sample coin. This sample had cost Zhangsheng Island a considerable sum in silver to purchase from the inside: "This is the copper coin set by the Japanese shogunate. It will likely come into use around the eighth month of this year."

That sample coin had already been shown to Huang Shi earlier. It was indeed a very fine, high-quality copper coin, each weighing nearly two mace, with a rough ratio of eight parts copper to two parts lead. Historically, the far-sighted men within the Tokugawa shogunate also recognized the vital importance of minting their own coinage, and they too began casting their own copper coins and gold and silver pieces in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign. The Tokugawa shogunate's coins were all of excellent quality and full weight. By means of them, Japan drove out the Spanish silver coins and the Great Ming copper coins, thereby achieving currency autonomy in less than a year.

"The Japanese Chōshū domain has long known that we are selling counterfeit coins. However, first, Japan is desperately short of coin; second, our counterfeit coins are of even better quality than the genuine coins from the Nanjing Mint; third, they also know that we are Great Ming military households. So the Japanese Chōshū domain has always turned a blind eye. Most of the counterfeit coins we sell are bought up by Chōshū domain merchants, who then resell them into the Japanese interior. Those bastards!" Liu Qingyang was growing somewhat angry as he spoke. Now that the Chōshū domain had suddenly sent people to forbid the sale of counterfeit coins, it inevitably felt like killing the donkey the moment it leaves the millstone.

The officers below all watched him in silence, so Liu Qingyang had no time to vent his feelings and hurriedly continued his report: "The Chōshū domain has already sent someone. They say the Japanese shogunate has mandated a one-to-one exchange between their new coins and Great Ming copper coins. Because they know we are Great Ming military households, the envoy was extremely courteous, saying that all the coins sold before would be let pass, but from now on we are no longer permitted to sell them. As for the copper coins we still hold in stock, they will buy up all our remaining counterfeit coins at a one-to-one rate, provided we deliver them to Chōshū within these next two months."

To be fair, the Japanese terms were already very generous. In order to expel foreign coinage, the Tokugawa shogunate had rigidly set a one-to-one exchange rate. But the copper content in Zhangsheng Island's coins was only thirty percent of that in the Japanese coins. No matter how much copper Japan had, it could not withstand Huang Shi and Liu Qingyang working day and night to churn out coins. So after receiving their orders, the Japanese Chōshū domain had come to speak reasonably, hoping to buy up all of Zhangsheng Island's inventory in one go and consider the matter settled.

Huang Shi made a gesture, indicating that the subordinates seated around the long rectangular table could begin discussing among themselves.

"Our coins are one mace and three candareens, four parts copper to six parts lead. Theirs are two-mace coins, eight parts copper to two parts lead." He Dingyuan, who had no great ambitions, actually thought this was a pretty good deal. He muttered, "We've still got several months. We can just frantically produce a batch — after all, no matter how many we make, someone will take them off our hands."

Zhao Manxiong, standing to the side, asked Yang Zhiyuan bluntly: "How much monthly income does this counterfeit coin business bring in?"

"If this problem hadn't arisen in Japan, this year it would likely bring in between three hundred fifty thousand and four hundred thousand taels of silver, which works out to about thirty thousand taels of silver a month." Yang Zhiyuan flicked his fingers with a flourish, producing a snap inside the room: "Next year it could probably reach over fifty thousand taels per month."

"What about Japan's military preparedness?" This time the question came from Chief of Staff Jin Qiude: "Hmm, and also that Japanese what's-it-called... the Chōshū domain."

Liu Qingyang had long since prepared an analysis of the relevant military intelligence. He handed over a prepared document: "The Japanese shogunate's mobilization capacity is not strong. From my observations, I'm afraid the Chōshū domain is also unwilling to let the shogunate's troops cross its borders, so in the short term only the Chōshū domain can threaten us."

Jin Qiude flipped through that sheet of paper and snorted through his nose: "Three hundred to four hundred full-time soldiers."

"Mobile Corps Commander Jin, your insight is keen. In Japan, those are called samurai." Liu Qingyang hastily added.

"Hmm, samurai." Jin Qiude held the edge of the paper and read aloud in a high voice: "In an emergency, the Chōshū domain can recruit peasants and beg... beggar soldiers?" He stopped mid-sentence and looked suspiciously toward Liu Qingyang: "What are beggar soldiers?"

"Mobile Corps Commander Jin, your insight is keen. In Japan, those kinds of beggars are called ronin. They all carry swords while begging. Although they go from one meal to the next, they still seem quite fierce and aggressive."

"Fierce and aggressive? The fiercest and most aggressive people in this world are beggars driven mad by hunger — just like the Jianzhou slaves." Jin Qiude nodded, expressing satisfaction with Liu Qingyang's intelligence. He again held the paper up before his eyes and read on loudly: "By recruiting peasants and beggar soldiers, the Chōshū domain can bring its military strength to around two thousand men. A small number of generals and officers have heavy armor. The full-time soldiers — that is, the so-called samurai — mostly use armor made of bamboo, and they all have iron weapons. The temporarily recruited soldiers have no armor, and use bamboo spears and bamboo bows..."

"This fighting capacity won't exceed that of the Elite Vanguard Camp." Jin Qiude delivered his final judgment. He then asked Yang Zhiyuan thoughtfully: "How much silver did you say we can earn in a month?"

"Thirty thousand taels, at least."

"Isn't this just a small child clutching a huge heap of gold, silver, and jewels?" Jin Qiude shook his head in disbelief: "Why has no one gone to rob the Japanese?"

"The sea route is difficult, and there are often typhoons there. Once ashore, there are also language and geography problems." Huang Shi shrugged: "Right now it only looks simple because we have Heidao Yifu. And having a small town where we can stockpile grain makes it look even easier. Otherwise, it wouldn't be easy at all."

As this group talked on, He Dingyuan found it more and more outrageous the more he heard. He couldn't help but interject: "We are the royal army of the Great Ming. We ought to be protecting the borders and keeping the people safe."

"Correct." Someone in the room immediately answered He Dingyuan, but who exactly answered, Huang Shi didn't notice, nor did anyone else pay attention, because they had all enthusiastically begun discussing how many men would need to be sent to subdue the Chōshū domain.

"If it's at the level of the Elite Vanguard Camp, our Zhangsheng Island Firefighting Camp only needs to dispatch two infantry companies to smash them."

No sooner had Jin Qiude finished than Zhao Manxiong added: "Better to be well-prepared when traveling. Send three companies. And haul along two cannons."

"The only problem is the Japanese shogunate's reaction. But Japan is a tiny, insignificant state — how would it dare to contend with our Great Ming?" Huang Shi gave a cold laugh. In this era, the gap in national power between China and Japan was simply too vast. The war twenty years ago had shown that even the entire military might of Japan might not defeat a single province of the Ming: "But once they discover we are Great Ming regular troops, they definitely won't dare fight back. I reckon the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate will go to the imperial court to wail and complain. That would be quite a big problem."

"Indeed. The Founding Emperor designated Japan as a country not to be conquered." He Dingyuan hurriedly interjected again to show off his knowledge.

But aside from He Dingyuan, everyone else had already reached a consensus on going to war. Zhao Manxiong suggested describing all three companies of combat troops as auxiliary troops: "Just say it was over a thousand sailors and auxiliary troops who went to Japan to sell deerskin and buy rice, and while doing business they had some clashes with the Japanese. The imperial court has no way to investigate anyway."

"Hmm, let's go with that then." Huang Shi had no intention of doing anything drastic to Japan, nor any interest in waging a war of conquest. He, Huang Shi, simply wanted to keep this counterfeit coin business going. As long as the Japanese shogunate didn't plug this hole, bad money would naturally drive out good. Japan had no shortage of black-hearted merchants, so that aspect required no worry from Zhangsheng Island or Huang Shi at all: "There's still the problem of a pretext. Do any of you have a good plan for that?"

"Hmm, we could buy up that batch of shoddy, broken coinage that the Donglin Party minted in Nanjing. I have heard that the Donglin Party in the imperial court is splitting its collective head over this. And Eunuch Wei has said that for any shortfall, the officials of the Nanjing Mint must make up the difference." Liu Qingyang had always had a particular fondness for the economic situation within the Great Ming. This time, the coin boycott storm stirred up by the Donglin Party was so huge that Liu Qingyang had naturally collected quite a bit of material to study: "This kind of coin is sure to be very cheap. They can cover their costs just by selling a few at random. We can ship these coins to Japan and exchange them with the Chōshū domain."

Seeing everyone around him nodding with sinister smiles, He Dingyuan asked in surprise: "The Japanese of the Chōshū domain aren't fools. They definitely won't agree."

"They definitely won't agree. We all know that perfectly well." Huang Shi thought this idea was excellent. He would have that civil official in Dengzhou make contact with the Nanjing side. This way they could also do the officials of the Nanjing Mint a huge favor: "But once our coins are delivered, if they refuse to pay, we'll seize Shimonoseki as collateral and make them pay to redeem it."

"My lord." Although He Dingyuan was kind-hearted, he was no fool. After hearing this, he understood exactly what this group intended to do. He took a deep breath: "My lord, we are government troops. Great Ming government troops."

Huang Shi had always felt that if He Dingyuan were merely a pure soldier, he would be absolutely perfect. The problem was that this fellow was also a half-baked Confucian scholar, always feeling that the dignified royal army and government troops could not go about doing bandit and robber deeds, and even less could they harden their hearts to bully the weak: "The Japanese are first human beings, and only then Japanese. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Just as the Jianzhou slaves are first barbarians, and only then barbarians of Jianzhou. Correct?" At first Huang Shi was just making conversation, but as he talked on, he gradually found a thread of reasoning.

"Of course." He Dingyuan answered honestly once more. "Now you've got it." Huang Shi said with a beaming smile: "Those Japanese merchants like using our coins, and their ancestors have used them for several hundred years. Since they are human beings, they have the freedom to choose. The Japanese Tokugawa shogunate forcibly compelling them to use Japanese coins is unreasonable. It is an infringement of their freedom."

He Dingyuan's eyes grew wider and wider: "My lord, what are you talking about? I don't quite understand." He was the only one still straining his ears to listen to Huang Shi's nonsense. Although the other men were also pretending to listen, in their hearts they were already calculating the issues related to dispatching troops.

"Human beings have human rights. Sovereignty extends infinitely until it touches upon the rights of the individual." After Huang Shi finished speaking at his fastest pace, he patted He Dingyuan on the shoulder. The latter had clearly understood nothing, from the terms to the meaning. Huang Shi told him solemnly: "This is called human rights superseding sovereignty. It doesn't matter if you don't understand. You can go back and think about it... think about it slowly."

While He Dingyuan was still dizzy and muddled, Huang Shi seized the time to discuss the soon-to-be-launched "Counterfeit Coin War" with his subordinates. In any case, the policy toward Japan could actually be summed up in one phrase: "I have no shame." The military commander was a problem, though. Huang Shi himself certainly couldn't go; Liu Qingyang was simply not cut out for warfare; Heidao Yifu was a Great Ming military household of Japanese descent, so Huang Shi didn't trust him either. By all accounts, He Dingyuan would be a suitable candidate, but whether because of this man's moral character or out of consideration for maintaining the balance of power on Zhangsheng Island, Huang Shi had no intention of sending him to command troops in Japan.

"Mobile Corps Commander Yang, make the most of your time to familiarize yourself with the troops. This time you will serve as the commander of the three infantry companies. Set out in one month."

Although Yang Zhiyuan had managed the main camp very well and his authority was considerable, he was still very excited to learn he had a chance to lead troops into battle. After all, Yang Zhiyuan had always regarded himself as a military officer, and he normally paid close attention to troop drills and tactics. He agreed emphatically, his face full of delight.

After hearing about the Chōshū domain's military preparedness, Huang Shi also held the Japanese armies of this era in great contempt. In one month's time, he could just send some new recruits to get a taste of the battlefield. Using the Firefighting Camp's iron-armored infantry against such inferior opponents, Huang Shi felt that even a fool leading the army could defeat them.

"My lord!" Hong Antong's excited shout rang out from outside the tent. It seemed there were also large numbers of soldiers cheering outside, and this sound was carried by the wind to Huang Shi's ears.

"My lord, it's raining!" Before Hong Antong had even heard Huang Shi's order, he impatiently shouted again.

This shout instantly stirred the officers in the command tent to excitement as well. This was Zhangsheng Island's first rain since the beginning of spring. These days, the streams all over the island were also much thinner than the previous year. Although the fresh water collected daily from the island's rivers was considerable, Huang Shi had always insisted that all soldiers and civilians on the island bathe every day and wash their hands before meals and after using the latrine, so water had always been very tight.

The rain was not very heavy, but from a distance one could see Wu Mu going mad in the rain. That fellow, with his hair disheveled, was leaping and jumping about, his facial expression somewhere between weeping and laughing. Wu Mu had been under no small pressure these days. As Army Supervisor, he had been diligently praying for rain on behalf of the entire island and Liaonan, to the point of skipping military conferences. To show his piety, Wu Mu had not eaten pork at all this year.

Zhao Manxiong, behind him, asked in a low voice: "I've heard that the imperial court will send even more supervising eunuchs to Liaonan?"

"Yes, the candidates are currently under discussion." Previously, only Huang Shi and Zhang Pan, the two Assistant Regional Commanders in Liaonan, had Army Supervisors. But after the Battle of Nanguan, Wei Zhongxian, even while engaged in factional strife, had not forgotten to send more people here. It was said that Eunuch Wei intended to dispatch Army Supervisors to all the camps in Liaonan, so that any future merits would be absolutely foolproof. Huang Shi said softly to Zhao Manxiong and the others behind him: "This shows that the imperial court is placing increasing importance on our Dongjiangzhen Left Auxiliary."

"Last winter there was no snow." As Yang Zhiyuan spoke, the look he cast toward Army Supervisor Wu Mu was deeply meaningful.

Huang Shi understood the implication in those words. Since Wei Zhongxian had begun purging the Donglin Party the previous year, the scholars and commoners of Beizhili in the Great Ming had been horrified to see that not a single snowflake had fallen all winter. In this era when the concept of heavenly-human resonance held great sway, the impression of Eunuch Wu among the officers and soldiers of Zhangsheng Island had plummeted as a result. Since the start of the fifth year of Tianqi, Wu Mu had been frantically conducting rain-prayer activities like a madman.

"This year, there was also no snow in the first or second month." Huang Shi tilted his head back to look at the sky — at this moment, the flawless, perfect sun was not visible. The Little Ice Age had already lasted nearly fifty years, and it would be another twenty years before it passed.

In the fourth month of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, vast numbers of farmers in Liaonan — whether on Later Jin territory or on Ming army territory — knelt in gratitude, thanking Heaven for this sweet rain. Yet farther away, in Korea and the Liaodong interior, farmers were still waiting in bitter desperation…