[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-189":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},1220806,1614,"Chapter 189: Section Six: A Weighty Minister","stealing-ming-chapter-189",189,"\u003Cp>Sun Chengzong said this entirely out of goodwill. Right now Huang Shi was like the rising sun, his renown already resounding throughout the realm; moreover, Huang Shi had been the chief advocate for attacking Yaozhou, and he had four years of hard-fought experience against the Later Jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this well-meaning, blunt truth made the Guan-Ning Regional Commander Ma Shilong's expression flicker, and when he spoke, a trace of anger crept into his tone: \"My lord Sun, though I, your humble general, am dull-witted, my ancestors have served as frontier generals for over a hundred years... I presume to say, I am confident I still understand a little of the art of war.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Shilong kept repeating a few simple phrases over and over, but Sun Chengzong had long since grasped the core meaning. This Regional Commander Ma was clearly displeased that Sun Chengzong held a man of common soldier origins in such high esteem. And this discontent was something Sun Chengzong had heard about before; it was already deeply entrenched in the Guan-Ning Army. These Liaoxi military houses all felt that the Dongjiang Army, from top to bottom, was full of upstarts — starting with Mao Wenlong, a bunch of mud-legged nobodies who had crawled out of who knows where.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord Sun, allow me to report...\" Ma Shilong, reaching a point of heartfelt anguish, grew increasingly impassioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No need. This office understands your meaning.\" Sun Chengzong raised a hand to stop Ma Shilong from continuing. After all, the one hundred sixty thousand troops of the Guan-Ning Army were something he had painstakingly built over these three-plus years; this army felt to him like his own flesh and blood. Sun Chengzong had worn his hair white equipping and arming this force, opening up farmland and begging for pay and provisions. In his heart of hearts, he too hoped this army would prove itself: \"We will do everything according to your wishes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you, my lord Sun.\" Ma Shilong clasped his fists and withdrew obsequiously, but a wave of displeasure still churned in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning to his own tent, Ma Shilong swiftly summoned his Vice General, Lu Zhijia: \"Dispatch spies at once to Liaodong. Scout the areas around Sanchahe, Niangnianggong, Yaozhou, and Boluowo.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Zhijia was taken aback: \"My lord, are we sending troops into Liaodong?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Indeed. Troops are raised for a thousand days, to be used in a single moment.\" Ma Shilong briefly recounted what Sun Chengzong had instructed him, then suddenly let out a long sigh: \"Vice General Lu, I am entrusting this campaign to you. You must win honor for me and for the Guan-Ning Army.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you for your trust, my lord. I dare not fail to exhaust my heart and strength, even unto death...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Silence.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Shilong cut him off with a sharp shout, then spat fiercely on the ground: \"The word 'death' is forbidden. From now until we march, that word is not to be mentioned at all.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your general obeys.\" After Lu Zhijia agreed, he recalled the sigh Ma Shilong had just heaved. He stepped closer and asked: \"My lord, may I presume to ask, is something troubling you? Or is my lord Sun dissatisfied with our Guan-Ning Army?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah, what else but that Huang Shi?\" Ma Shilong leaned on his chair and sat down, reaching for his teacup to take a sip of water. But when he lifted the lid, he found there was hardly any left, and the little that remained had gone cold. Ma Shilong flew into a rage, raised his head, and bellowed: \"Attend me! Where have you all died off to? Come change my tea at once.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the outburst, Ma Shilong suddenly deflated. He slumped and gestured for Lu Zhijia to sit and talk: \"Brother Lu, you know me. My family has been generals for generations, over a hundred years now. Today, my lord Sun actually wants me to go consult that Huang Shi, to go learn from him how to fight a war.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the words were even finished, Lu Zhijia's face was already flushed with anger. He too was a hereditary military officer; since childhood, his family had told him of his ancestors' martial valor. Although Liaoxi had seen no real warfare for a hundred years, they were, after all, the descendants of fine generals. What was that Huang Shi supposed to be? In his heart, Lu Zhijia even felt some dissatisfaction with Sun Chengzong, but Old Sun had personally toiled for these three years, sharing his food and clothing with the Liaoxi officers. They all genuinely admired him for that, so naturally, they could only curse Huang Shi aloud: \"Huang Shi? Nothing but a vagabond who joined the army. Does he even understand military tactics?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Military tactics, hah. I doubt he even knows how to read.\" Ma Shilong figured a stinking beggar probably couldn't afford to buy books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wasn't Huang Shi originally a merchant from Kaiyuan?\" Lu Zhijia was referring to the fabricated background Huang Shi had created. In any case, Kaiyuan had been massacred and emptied by Nurhaci — over a hundred thousand Han Chinese had all filled the ditches. Huang Shi figured the dead could bear no witness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hah, some merchant. Just a beggar. Same as that Regional Commander of their Dongjiang.\" Ma Shilong finished speaking and burst into loud laughter. Lu Zhijia also laughed heartily at his side. Over twenty years ago, Mao Wenlong had been a fortune-teller by trade and a beggar on the side, begging his way all the way to Liaodong before entering the service of Li Chengliang's household. Back then, he had been a household slave for the Li family alongside Nurhaci and Li Yongfang. Later, after years of struggle, Mao Wenlong accumulated enough merit on the frontier to restore his original surname, and even returned to his hometown of Hangzhou to take a wife. Because Mao Wenlong could recognize a few characters, he always boasted everywhere that he came from a Confucian scholar background. Within Dongjiang Town, naturally, no one would expose Commander Mao's little vanity, but in the other garrisons, it had long become a joke. The hereditary military officers naturally looked down on a grassroots upstart like Mao Wenlong, and in their eyes, the officers of Dongjiang Town were all just nouveau riche.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After laughing, Ma Shilong sighed with a complicated expression: \"But you have to admit, that scoundrel Huang Shi is quite brave and fierce. He has routed the Jianzhou slaves many times.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have heard that too. That scoundrel is six feet tall, and whenever he goes into battle, he must carry a saber and a sword. He loves charging and killing at the very front, and in every battle, he personally engages the Jianzhou slaves in close combat. Hmm...\" Lu Zhijia recalled the field reports he had seen; some details had left a deep impression on him: \"At the Battle of Gaizhou, that scoundrel Huang Shi led two thousand troops, and in the end, his casualties were barely over a hundred, yet his own arm was broken. And he's supposed to be an Assistant Regional Commander.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just a common brute. A very brave common brute. But now he's a Vice Regional Commander too. This brute hacked his way up to become a Vice Commissioner-in-Chief purely by swinging his blade.\" Thinking that a wild-boar-type military officer could now hold the same rank as himself filled Ma Shilong with indescribable emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Zhijia beside him was even more incensed. He, a Guan-Ning Vice General, was only a Vice Commissioner. He slapped his thigh and cried out fiercely: \"My lord, rest assured. I know a man who also possesses the valor to match ten thousand. I will bring him along on this campaign.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Could it be Li Chengxian, who commands the wagon and artillery battalion?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord is brilliant. That is indeed the man. For three generations, his ancestors have all possessed boundless strength, and for generations, they have been among the foremost heroes of our Liaoxi.\" As he spoke, Lu Zhijia opened his mouth wide and fiercely raised his thumb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, I have also heard of Li Chengxian's martial valor. It is said he can draw a ten-dan bow twenty times in succession, can don heavy armor and wield a long lance, and has been thoroughly versed in military texts and tactics since childhood.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Exactly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Shilong counted on his fingers: a grand general and a vanguard commander were both in place. The next issue was troop strength: \"My lord Sun wishes to attack Yaozhou. The Jianzhou slave forces there have always been weak. I estimate it is only one niru or half a niru. Once confirmed, I will give you one wagon and artillery battalion and one naval battalion, which will be just right for Li Chengxian to command.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why would we need so many troops?\" Lu Zhijia said dismissively: \"Give me one naval battalion, my lord, that will suffice. There is no need to mobilize the wagon and artillery battalion.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A naval battalion had one thousand sailors. Lu Zhijia had heard that the enemy, including support troops, only numbered a few hundred, and in his heart, he already held them in great contempt. He felt that one naval battalion was already using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not so,\" Ma Shilong shook his head vigorously. This battle was the Guan-Ning Army's first in over three years of training, and he desperately wanted a victorious start: \"You will take a wagon and artillery battalion with you. If things go smoothly,\" Ma Shilong slammed his hand heavily on the table, sending the teacup jumping into the air, \"you will take Gaizhou for me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Gaizhou?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Precisely.\" Ma Shilong had already inquired in detail about the weapons of the Firefighting Battalion: \"Huang Shi's forces — one of his battalions also has two thousand combat soldiers. Apart from having somewhat better armor, the rest is hardly worth mentioning—\" Ma Shilong waved his hand for emphasis, a contemptuous look spreading across his face: \"Huang Shi has over fifteen hundred of the cheapest pikemen under his command, plus five hundred arquebusiers who double as close-combat troops, and those close-combat troops cannot even afford to be equipped with shields.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And with that, he still routed the Jianzhou slaves? Haha, it seems the Jianzhou slaves' days are numbered.\" Lu Zhijia laughed heartily; he felt that Gaizhou was no longer a distant prospect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I hear Huang Shi also has cannons,\" Ma Shilong's face grew even more sardonic: \"But only six of them. The largest, it is said, is comparable to a minor general cannon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Guan-Ning Army wagon and artillery battalion likewise had two thousand combat soldiers, but the Guan-Ning Army emphasized firepower, not the melee capability that Huang Shi stressed. One wagon and artillery battalion was equipped with three hundred war wagons of various types and ninety cannons. The smallest of these cannons were half-pound crouching-tiger cannons. The largest were eighteen-pound red-barbarian cannons. Each wagon and artillery battalion was also assigned one thousand one hundred three-eyed, five-eyed, and seven-eyed arquebuses, plus several hundred bird-beak arquebuses. The Ming army hoped to use these firearms to create a continuous cycle of fire, forming a bullet curtain against melee troops. Furthermore, each wagon and artillery battalion was equipped with five hundred shields to protect the artillerymen and arquebusiers... and of course, no cheap goods like pikes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord, rest assured, I will certainly take Gaizhou.\" Lu Zhijia slapped his thigh and puffed out his chest: \"If I do not thoroughly rout the Jianzhou slaves and recover Gaizhou, I will never return to face my commander!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In reality, Guan-Ning Army doctrine was to avoid close combat as much as possible. The standard Guan-Ning Army iron cavalry battalion had one thousand cavalry combat soldiers, but each battalion was also equipped with over six hundred firearms of various types, from three-eyed to seven-eyed, everything complete. An iron cavalry battalion also had over thirty cavalry cannons. Sun Chengzong's army-building philosophy relied on heavy cannons to provide the main killing power, with arquebuses responsible for protecting the cannons. Huang Shi had always felt this philosophy ran counter to Qi Jiguang's approach. In Qi Jiguang's military manuals, the greatest emphasis was still on melee capability, with all ranged weapons serving only in a supporting role. For example, in Qi Jiguang's wagon camps, the saber-and-shield men each carried three javelins on their backs; after hurling them in a concentrated volley at the enemy formation, they would charge in for close-quarters combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi remembered that Qi Jiguang's melee infantry had swept across the realm without equal, fighting the Japanese pirates for years. Qi Jiguang took over twenty thousand heads, while his own battle deaths numbered no more than four hundred. Later, when Qi Jiguang went to the northern frontier to fight the Mongols, the exchange ratio between his wagon camps and the \"Mongol Iron Cavalry\" consistently remained at one to forty or one to fifty over the years. Huang Shi knew he himself lacked Qi Jiguang's kind of genius, but compared to a civil official like Sun Chengzong, he was still more inclined to adopt Qi Jiguang's training philosophy. After all, Qi Shaobao had spent his entire life on campaign and was invincible wherever he went. And besides... melee infantry was also very cheap. A single Guan-Ning Army wagon and artillery battalion required ninety cannons, countless draft horses, and war wagons. Even if Huang Shi sold his underwear, he could not afford to maintain such a force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Late May of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, Zhangsheng Island.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fellow believers, please let us pray for the Liaodong people under the iron hooves of the Jianzhou slaves.\" After saying this, Zhang Pan closed his eyes. He had just finished a speech denouncing Nurhaci's crimes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people in the room... including Huang Shi, also closed their eyes. Zhangsheng Island had now begun to have holidays and rest days. Huang Shi had discovered that working day and night without pause was not really feasible, so they were now trialing a responsibility system — once the work was done, one could leave or take a break. The results seemed quite good; the workers' enthusiasm for labor had greatly increased. Huang Shi only then realized that many tasks which used to take an entire day could actually be finished in half a day. The labor quotas had now been raised by fifty percent, yet most people still finished their work and went home before dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment of silence... no, of prayer, Zhang Pan said loudly: \"Alright, brothers. God will surely punish the Wild Boar Skin's crimes against humanity. By waging war against the Wild Boar Skin, we will surely please God.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Next is Japan. The people there live in deep suffering...\" Deng Ken began a new round of preaching, vividly recounting how the cruel Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan persecuted the peasants. Japanese peasants, lacking sufficient rations, were forced to dash their sons to death on the doorsteps, while the feudal lords of Japan at every level lived lives of extravagant debauchery — Huang Shi, with no originality whatsoever, had copied several stories including that of the White-Haired Girl, though the characters had been changed to the Japanese feudal lord Momotaro and the maiden Sakura Momoko.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our expeditionary army will bring water and bread to the peasants of Japan... no, soybean milk and rice.\" The expeditionary army Deng Ken spoke of was that band of pirates led by Yang Zhiyuan. Roughly half of the over one thousand troops were new recruits going to participate in actual combat. They would rest and reorganize briefly on Jeju Island, then land at the small town Liu Qingyang had purchased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Participating in the transport were Shi Ce's Zhangsheng Island naval battalion and Shang Kexi's Zhangshan Island naval battalion. Huang Shi felt that when the big brother ate meat, he had to at least give a bowl of soup to the most obedient little brother. Huang Shi had also repeatedly instructed Yang Zhiyuan that this was merely a show of force, not a military operation. Therefore, the attack on Zhangzhou must be kept within limits, and they absolutely must not weaken the Zhangzhou domain to the point where the Japanese Shogunate could devour it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fellow believers, please let us pray for the Japanese peasants and our heroic expeditionary army.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The brainwashing day... no, the worship day morning passed amidst various speeches. The crowd participating in the prayers would now go have lunch, and an hour later, they would return to continue the brainwashing... no, the prayers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi had not eaten in the mess hall for the past few days. As he had on previous days, he rolled up a wheat cake and left. On his way out, he did not forget to give a few instructions to his personal guards: \"You stay. I want to take a walk alone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rode to a \"cultivation farm\" by the sea. On Zhangsheng Island, they charred the surfaces of many wooden stakes and, taking advantage of the low tide, planted them into the seabed not far offshore. After some time, oysters would grow on these stakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi jumped off his horse and tossed the flatbread to the person who had come to greet him. That person caught the still-steaming flatbread with a smile: \"General Huang is truly a man of his word.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi also smiled: \"I am a dignified Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent of the Great Ming. Would I break faith with a mere young lady?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young lady's face flushed slightly, and then she smiled again: \"A dignified Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, a second-rank official, a weighty minister of state, and he treats someone to coarse-grain flatbread?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi did not take offense at these words. He chuckled dryly twice but could not come up with a retort... Actually, at the end of the Ming dynasty, this was just how things were, but every time he spoke with this girl, he felt a deep sense of shame. After all, the age difference between them was far too great. If this were his previous life, if he weren't cursed as a beast, his friends would have ridiculed him to the point of disability. That was why Huang Shi was unwilling to tell anyone the reason he came here, and even refused to bring his personal guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl was cheerfully gnawing on that piece of flatbread off to the side. A few days ago, Huang Shi had bumped into her in the mess hall and spilled the food she was taking home... This girl, of course, immediately recognized the important figure before her. Without a single word of complaint, she had sobbed as she picked the food back into her basket from the ground, not even letting go of the grains of rice covered in dirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling inwardly ashamed, Huang Shi had someone investigate this young girl's background. It turned out the brother she depended on for survival was merely an auxiliary soldier. Both their parents were dead, and coming from a merchant family, they lacked physical strength. So the girl could only do work like watching the sea signals and standing idle guard posts. Their sibling grain ration was the lowest tier on Zhangsheng Island.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Huang Shi carefully stood behind the girl and had always thought that, with her eyes facing forward, she hadn't noticed his gaze, the girl suddenly choked while eating the flatbread, and her face flushed for no apparent reason. Guilty at heart, Huang Shi quickly averted his eyes... On his way back to the old camp, he glanced left and right repeatedly, and only after confirming no one was nearby did he hurry back. Before he had even dismounted at the old camp, Li Yunrui, who had long been waiting at the entrance, ran over and grabbed his reins: \"My lord, news from Mobile Corps Commander Yang has arrived.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mm, it's about time.\" Huang Shi grunted with satisfaction. Once let out, this Yang Zhiyuan was like a wild horse set free. He had sent a messenger to report his safety upon reaching Jeju Island, but after that, there had been no word at all. This had made Huang Shi quite anxious lately. The three-month new recruit training on Zhangsheng Island would soon be complete. If Yang Zhiyuan's army could not return in time, Huang Shi's Fuzhou offensive could not be launched on schedule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just now, I went to the mess hall to look for you, my lord, but I couldn't find you.\" Li Yunrui always liked to corner people at mealtimes, and now he was somewhat puzzled: \"My lord went out without even bringing your personal guards.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, I took a walk along the seashore to clear my mind.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord is in fine spirits.\" Li Yunrui offered the compliment cheerfully. Huang Shi had no need whatsoever to explain his whereabouts to him, and seeing his immediate superior hold him in such regard secretly pleased him as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Huang Shi, feeling like a thief with a guilty conscience, stole two glances back at Li Yunrui. The two men, one ahead of the other, soon walked into the old encampment. When the men there saw Huang Shi enter, the messenger sent by Yang Zhiyuan immediately came forward to salute him, but before Huang Shi could speak, a burly man leaped out from behind the crowd. With the pounce of a ravenous tiger, this man threw himself to the ground at the feet of the Great Ming high minister before the personal guards could seize him. A torrent of fluent Chinese burst forth from him: \"This humble person is Moriyuki Nobuyoshi, a retainer of the Zhangzhou Domain of your vassal state. Today, to behold the honored countenance of the Celestial Court's Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, my lord, I am overwhelmed with trepidation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",3648,"2026-06-04T07:54:30.907Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","d0570e7eb84d1f68abb6564298b6802d7af19baeb09cc8a6bf9c05a8a49fc89b","stealing-ming-chapter-190","stealing-ming-chapter-188",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]