Chapter 208: Section Twenty-Five: Preparations

The sandy shore of Changsheng Island shimmered with a layer of silver light under the sun, and beyond that silver light stretched the boundless emerald waves of the vast sea. Every time Huang Shi gazed out over the Liao Sea from here, he always felt his spirits lift. Especially in this recent period, with a pearl-like beauty by his side, her charming smile so alluring, he felt even more as if bathed in a spring breeze.

The crisp sea breeze swept across Huang Shi's chest as it always did. The armor on his body flowed with golden light under the blazing sun, making the young military officer in his high position appear all the more heroic and dashing. Behind him, the young girl was as gentle as water, her black hair and dress fluttering in the wind... By all accounts, this should have been a very pleasant scene, but at this moment Huang Shi wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into — utterly ashamed, truly utterly ashamed.

This girl from the Wang family was delicate and gentle; an ordinary military householder certainly wouldn't catch her eye — it must be some officer who had taken a liking to her. A surge of indescribable mixed feelings rose in Huang Shi's heart. He knew perfectly well he was likely to encounter this kind of situation, but why couldn't he help coming and stirring the feelings of this innocent girl? — Isn't a sense of responsibility the mark of a true man? Yet right now, he still had the Changsheng Island military regulations hanging over his head.

"I'm such a fool, truly a man of no character, to drop the ball at a time like this..." A string of self-mockery rolled through Huang Shi's heart. He didn't dare turn around to look at the girl's expression — after such a long wait, that gentle, beautiful face must already be filled with deep disappointment, right? The silence between them was like hell to Huang Shi, so unbearable. He stood with his back to Miss Wang for a moment, but in the end could not muster the courage to turn and meet her gaze.

"If it's an officer, there's no need to agree in a hurry." Even Huang Shi himself felt his voice sounded utterly fake. As he walked briskly toward the inner guard post, he tried his best to say in a calm voice: "If you're willing, you can tell me the man's name, and I can look into the situation under his command for you, see whether he meets the conditions for marriage, so you won't be strung along."

"My lord~~~~~"

What seemed like a call drifted from behind him, and that gentle voice only made Huang Shi walk even faster. As he left without turning his head, he was still muttering curses under his breath: "I'm such a fool. Truly such a fool."

Outside the old camp on Changsheng Island, spears and halberds stood in dense rows. Hong Antong and several inner guard soldiers walked swiftly past with a masked man. Inside the great tent, Huang Shi reclined sideways on his long chair, his left arm resting casually flat on the table before him, looking both imposing and confident.

Hong Antong lifted the tent flap and strode in with his head high. He clasped his fist toward Huang Shi: "My lord, your subordinate has brought the man."

"Bring him in." Without moving his head or his arm, Huang Shi uttered a single word.

"As ordered." Hong Antong raised a hand, and most of the guards inside the tent withdrew.

The masked man had already been searched before entering, but after he came in, Hong Antong and the two other inner guards still kept their hands on their saber hilts, watching his every move with vigilance.

The masked man tactfully did not approach, but knelt down on the spot and kowtowed three times loudly, then pressed his face to the ground and said: "This humble one kowtows before Lord Huang, wishing Lord Huang fortune as vast as the Eastern Sea and a life as enduring as the Southern Mountains. This humble one is a retainer of Liu Xingzhi, Garrison Commander of Gaizhou. Today, by my master's order and at the risk of death, I have brought this letter, and humbly beg Lord Huang to read it."

Huang Shi couldn't even be bothered to say something like "Present it." He merely snorted, and the man gingerly produced two wax-sealed envelopes from his person, pushed them to an arm's length before him, then withdrew his hands and prostrated himself again. One inner guard, maintaining a posture of alertness, walked over, swiftly bent down to scoop up the letters, then stared at the visitor as he slowly retreated.

Hong Antong first took the letters and flipped through them to confirm there were no issues, then handed them to Huang Shi. Huang Shi tore them open and began to read. One was a letter from Liu Xingzuo, the other from his younger brother Liu Xingzhi.

"The sinner Liu Xingzuo kowtows and bows before the Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, the Regional Military Commissioner of Liaodong, the Vice Regional Commander of Dongjiang, Lord Huang. This humble one's sins are deep and grave, and I dare not hope for pardon. I have only words in my heart that I dare not keep silent. I humbly beg Your Lordship to discern clearly..." Huang Shi softly read Liu Xingzuo's letter aloud from beginning to end, his tone rising and falling rhythmically, betraying no trace of emotion. The others in the tent listened in silence.

Since the defeat at Shenyang, Liu Xingzuo had risen through the ranks by repeatedly suppressing Han Chinese resistance, including two great massacres at Jinzhou and Fuzhou, and was eventually appointed Garrison Commander of Jinzhou by Nurhaci for these merits. In the first year of the Tianqi reign, after Mao Wenlong recaptured Zhenjiang, he selected his personal guard Zhang Pan and promoted him to Company Commander, ordering him to lead fifty men to land at Right Garrison of Jinzhou. After Zhang Pan reached Liaonan, the local populace rose up in support, and he then beheaded the Later Jin garrison commander at Lushun.

Thereafter, Liu Xingzuo repeatedly sent troops to attack Zhang Pan, but was defeated every time. After his successive victories over Liu Xingzuo's punitive forces at Lushun, Zhang Pan seized the momentum to attack Jinzhou Fortress. Liu Xingzuo abandoned the city and fled toward Gaizhou — this was the first recapture of Jinzhou. But by then, Hong Taiji had already defeated Mao Wenlong at Zhenjiang, capturing and killing Mao Wenlong's subordinate generals like Zhang Yuanzhi and others, and then turned his army back to attack Jinzhou. After Zhang Pan was defeated and retreated to Lushun, Nurhaci vented his fury on the military and civilian populations of the four garrisons of Jin, Fu, Gai, and Hai, ordering them all massacred! Liu Xingzuo accumulated merit and was promoted to Vice General of the four garrisons of Jin, Fu, Gai, and Hai.

In this timeline, Liu Xingzuo was in an even worse position than in Huang Shi's previous life, because Huang Shi had drawn away more of the Later Jin field army's attention, so Zhang Pan's attacks on Liu Xingzuo's Han army were even fiercer.

Huang Shi remembered that in the original history, after Manggūltai and Hong Taiji succeeded in their surprise attack on Zhang Pan, Liu Xingzuo had enjoyed a few good years. It wasn't until the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, when Mao Wenlong launched the Pingshan Campaign and the Dongjiang Army won five battles in a row, that the succeeding Liaodong Provincial Governor — the great eunuch partisan Yan Mingtai — concluded that the Guanning Army was insufficient and Jinzhou not worth defending, so he withdrew from Jinzhou and shipped the saved two hundred thousand taels of silver to Pi Island. After that, the Dongjiang Army in Liaonan, besides Jinzhou, successively recaptured Yingkou, Yaozhou, Haizhou... During the Haizhou campaign, Zhang Pan, to boost morale, was the first to scale the city walls and died in battle. Shang Keyi succeeded him as garrison commander of Lushun, and Shang Kexi took over as garrison commander of Guanglu. In Liaodong, Chen Jisheng also attacked into Jianzhou, besieging Sarhū and the old Later Jin capital Hetu Ala. This was the period in history when Later Jin's territory was at its smallest. Despairing of the situation, Liu Xingzuo went and surrendered to Mao Wenlong. This time, Huang Shi hadn't expected him to come seeking surrender so quickly.

As he read the letter, Huang Shi searched his memory for his impression of this man Liu Xingzuo. In the end, whether in terms of ability or character, Huang Shi didn't think much of him — "A petty man, and incompetent besides," Huang Shi secretly defined him. The letter in his hand was filled from top to bottom with groveling, servile phrases, and it also equivocated, refusing to give a clear date for surrender, much less guarantee what he could do for the Ming army. It seemed that in history, Mao Wenlong had also deeply despised Liu Xingzuo's character. So historically, Mao Wenlong had only given Liu Xingzuo a nominal Mobile Corps Commander title, to use him to entice Later Jin Han troops to surrender. In the end, Liu Xingzuo went to Yuan Chonghuan and secretly reported that Mao Wenlong was planning to defect.

Yuan Chonghuan, on the other hand, greatly appreciated and trusted Liu Xingzuo. After killing Mao Wenlong on Shuang Island, Yuan Chonghuan even requested commendation for Liu Xingzuo and appointed him as an honorary Vice General, giving him command of ten battalions of the Dongjiang Army. In the old Manchu archives Huang Shi had read in his previous life, Liu Xingzuo had gleefully told Hong Taiji that he had been promoted to Vice General for his service in reporting the rebellion. He even boasted that obtaining the post of Regional Commander of Dongjiangzhen was only a matter of time, and promised to bring the entire army over to Hong Taiji. But later, when Sun Chengzong was reappointed as Grand Coordinator of Liaodong, Liu Xingzuo felt the winds shifting again and once more began wavering. Hong Taiji, disgusted by his fickleness, sent men to attack his main camp and had Liu Xingzuo executed by dismemberment.

Huang Shi then opened the other letter. Its author was Liu Xingzuo's younger brother, Liu Xingzhi. After just a few glances, the contempt in Huang Shi's heart was swept away. In the letter, Liu Xingzhi laid out a detailed plan to seize Gaizhou and also attached a good deal of confidential intelligence on the Later Jin army. Huang Shi flipped page by page through Liu Xingzhi's letter and saw that at the very end, he also cursed himself and his elder brother viciously, saying they should have died long ago, and that now he was willing to stake his life in exchange for the imperial court's leniency.

Huang Shi pondered how to reply to Liu Xingzhi. The messenger prostrating before him was Liu Xingzhi's trusted confidant. In the letter, Liu Xingzhi told Huang Shi that any orders could be conveyed orally through this messenger, which would ensure absolute secrecy.

After thinking for a moment, Huang Shi had made up his mind: "Raise your head."

After the messenger raised his head, Huang Shi tapped his fingers lightly and said, enunciating each word: "Go back and tell your master: I do not want Gaizhou. I want a man's head."

"May I ask whose head Lord Huang wants?" As Liu Xingzhi's trusted man spoke, his eyes flickered rapidly left and right.

Huang Shi smiled faintly: "These men are all my trusted confidants. I have no need to hide anything from them."

"This humble one acknowledges his error. I beg Lord Huang's forgiveness." The Liu family retainer said this and then kowtowed several more times.

Huang Shi did not stop him. After he had finished kowtowing loudly, Huang Shi said flatly: "Go back and tell Liu — Assistant Regional Commander. I want Hong Taiji's head."

The words "Assistant Regional Commander" were heavily emphasized by Huang Shi. This was also the biggest bargaining chip he could currently offer. Moreover, up to now, there was still no Assistant Regional Commander under Huang Shi's command. He figured Liu Xingzhi should understand the meaning behind this chip.

This chip was indeed weighty. After hearing it, the Liu family retainer was stunned. Only after a long while did he ask softly: "Does Lord Huang mean for my master to kill a false prince as a token of proof?"

"No. I don't want any other false prince. I want Hong Taiji's life." Huang Shi remembered what Liu Xingzhi had done in his previous life. After Hong Taiji had his elder brother Liu Xingzuo sliced to death, he asked Liu Xingzhi whether he had finally made up his mind, and if so, to go and bring him Chen Jisheng's head.

At that time, Chen Jisheng had just won another victory in the Pi Island campaign. Of the over a thousand heads taken by the Ming army in the field, almost all were genuine Tartars. The Later Jin records also acknowledged this defeat — it was roughly twice the scale of Mao Wenlong's Pingshan Campaign (in the Pingshan Campaign, Mao Wenlong reported killing several thousand Later Jin armored soldiers, unarmored soldiers, Han troops, and laborers; the Later Jin side also admitted to losing over five hundred bannermen).

After that, Liu Xingzhi led his personal troops to land on Pi Island, which was under Chen Jisheng's control, and even forged a handwritten letter from the Grand Coordinator of Liaodong, Sun Chengzong. When Chen Jisheng heard it was an order from the highly respected Sun Chengzong, he faced Beijing with tears in his eyes, knelt, and stretched out his neck for execution. Liu Xingzhi's courage and stratagem at that time were beyond reproach, and he possessed a ruthless streak, acting decisively and cleanly, without the slightest hesitation. Later, when Liu Xingzhi forcibly ordered the Pi Island army to surrender to Hong Taiji, although he was jointly attacked and killed by Mao Wenlong's father-in-law Shen Shikui and Shang Kexi, that was only because Liu Xingzhi's foundation was too weak, and he had come just a hair's breadth from success.

Since history had already changed, it could change again. Huang Shi solemnly told the messenger: "Go back and tell Assistant Regional Commander Liu: I don't care what method he uses, nor how long it takes. As long as he can bring me Hong Taiji's head, I guarantee him the hereditary post of Guard Commander of Gaizhou Garrison, and I further guarantee him at least three thousand hereditary military households."

"As ordered." The Liu family messenger respectfully kowtowed once more and prepared to crawl out backward.

"Wait." Huang Shi decided to emphasize this point further, lest the other party wonder why he was offering such a huge price for one of Nurhaci's sons and suspect he was being deceived. Huang Shi stared into the messenger's eyes and said: "Hong Taiji has already ambushed me twice — at Nanguan and at Fuzhou. I am quite wary of this scoundrel. Tell Assistant Regional Commander Liu: as long as he can kill him, even if I don't see the head, I will honor my word."

"As ordered." A look of sudden comprehension appeared on the messenger's face, and he cried out in a more forceful voice: "Lord Huang, rest assured. My master will not fail this mission."

After seeing off Liu Xingzhi's messenger, Huang Shi summoned Bao Jiusun again to discuss matters concerning the Changsheng Island Armaments Department. These past two days, the old camp on Changsheng Island had been very quiet. Huang Shi had given He Dingyuan leave to spend time with his wife and children. Yang Zhiyuan, Jin Qiude, and Li Yuanrui were all busy in Fuzhou. Zhao Manxiong was also, on Huang Shi's orders, designing a new division for the intelligence apparatus. Huang Shi felt the current Military Intelligence Division and Inner Guard were somewhat inefficient.

By now, Huang Shi was already discussing many matters directly with Bao Jiusun and Liu Qingyang, because as armaments and commerce grew more complex, Yang Zhiyuan simply had no spare energy to oversee them as well. In his heart, Huang Shi was also no longer willing to let Yang Zhiyuan concurrently supervise Bao Jiusun and Liu Qingyang.

"I need a larger type of matchlock, with an inner bore roughly this wide..." As Huang Shi spoke, he gestured with his fingers, about thirty-three to thirty-five millimeters wide. He held this distance before Bao Jiusun's eyes for a moment, then continued instructing: "This kind of firearm must be able to fire a projectile weighing about one jin, or a dozen or two dozen small lead pellets."

"May your subordinate ask, my lord: do you want a type of cannon or a type of firearm?"

Huang Shi answered without hesitation: "I want a firearm! A firearm that can be carried by infantry. Hmm, the barrel weight should preferably not exceed forty jin, and the support stand shouldn't be too heavy either." As he spoke, Huang Shi thought for another moment, refining the plan in his mind: "This firearm will be issued to infantry squads — let's say, one squad of ten men. Each squad will be equipped with two of these firearms. Five men will take turns carrying the firearm, the stand, and the ammunition. When advancing on alert, they must be able to keep up with the main body's speed."

Bao Jiusun carefully recorded everything Huang Shi said, and also casually drew a few concept sketches: "My lord, if your subordinate is not mistaken, this should be a weapon our army uses to fill the gap between the three-pounder cannon and the squad firearm."

"Yes, you're quite right." Huang Shi nodded: "If the improved gun carriage for the three-pounder cannon can allow it to keep up with the infantry, then we wouldn't need this kind of weapon either."

"Speaking of new weapons," a smug expression suddenly appeared on Bao Jiusun's face. He smiled at Huang Shi and said: "My lord, that weapon we discussed last time has passed its secret tests. The acceptance results were acceptable, though it requires long-term training and familiarization. The final effect is expected to be quite good."

"Hmm, no rush to issue it to the troops. First, see if it can be modified to use steel."

"As ordered." Bao Jiusun swiftly agreed, then asked: "My lord, what should we call this new weapon?"

Huang Shi tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Call it 'Sweep Through a Thousand Troops.'"

"As ordered."

Everything was ready! Huang Shi was just waiting for the imperial court's rewards to boost morale, and then he planned to go to Shanhai Pass to discuss offensive operations with Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong's lips moved slightly as his fingers glided lightly over Wu Mu's letter, softly reading his words aloud:

"...Huang Shi's valor rivals that of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. He should not remain long in an outer garrison, lest it prove no blessing to the nation."

With a long sigh, Sun Chengzong's fingers loosened, and the letter paper slipped from his fingertips, fluttering down to the desk — If I were ten years younger, this would be nothing to worry about. But this old man already has one foot in the grave, not knowing today what tomorrow may bring. As a veteran of three reigns, if I do not step forward, who else should speak?

Sun Chengzong picked up a wolf-hair brush, saturated it with thick ink, and prepared to write a memorial. But as he lifted his hand, the brush seemed to weigh a thousand jun. He tried several times in succession but could not lift it. Were it not for the flickering lamplight in the study, time itself would have seemed to freeze at this moment.

As for Huang Shi's moral character, Sun Chengzong harbored not the slightest doubt — it had been so before, and it was still so now. But Wu Mu's letter listed all the ways Huang Shi differed from other Ming generals. Each and every one of these matters also filled Sun Chengzong with deep emotion. Although Huang Shi was now merely a Vice Regional Commander, if he were transferred to Liaoxi as Provincial Military Commander, if Huang Shi could win the hearts of over a hundred thousand Guanning troops, if by then the people around Huang Shi harbored disloyal intentions... Sun Chengzong finally lifted his wrist and began writing the memorial, his brush moving like a dragon.

Once started, the entire memorial flowed in one breath. Only when he reached the final assessment of Huang Shi did Sun Chengzong pause his brush tip. He glanced again at Wu Mu's private letter, and the four words "valor rivals Guan and Zhang" struck his eyes with force.

Sun Chengzong let out a cold snort from his nose, as if he found Wu Mu's analogy not quite apt, then withdrew his gaze and turned it back to the memorial under his brush, heavily writing six large characters:

"Huang Shi is as valiant as Xin Bu..."