Chapter 273: Section 30: Armaments

The envoy sent by the Later Jin had been thoroughly searched. After Huang Shi changed into his armor, Hong Antong personally brought the man in, then quietly withdrew to stand guard at Huang Shi’s side and handed over the secret letter the visitor had carried to Huang Shi.

“Peace talks?” After reading the letter, Huang Shi gave a cold laugh and casually tossed it aside. “Did your master send you here to die?”

“Grand Commander Huang, this lowly man was ordered to deliver a confidential oral message.” The man stopped there, raised his head, and glanced at Hong Antong and the others beside Huang Shi.

“Speak quickly if you have something to say,” Huang Shi said impatiently.

“This lowly man obeys.” The Later Jin envoy kowtowed once more and, without raising his head, began speaking rapidly: “The Grand Company Commander of the Jianzhou Guard sends his regards to Grand Commander Huang of the Great Ming. The present Son of Heaven of the Great Ming is sagacious and enlightened, yet many of the close attendants around him are treacherous sycophants. Grand Commander Huang is invincible in his martial might and will inevitably incur the fear and suspicion of petty men; there is danger that when the birds are gone, the bow will be put away.”

After delivering this passage in one breath, the envoy raised his head and glanced at the several men before him. Huang Shi, seated high in the center, was expressionless. Behind him, Hong Antong kept his mouth tightly shut and said nothing. Zhao Manxiong and Jin Qiude, standing to either side listening, both fixed their eyes on the envoy’s face, as if waiting to hear what he would say next.

Feeling encouraged, the envoy’s confidence suddenly swelled considerably, and his tone rose slightly: “The Grand Company Commander of the Jianzhou Guard sends word to Grand Commander Huang of the Great Ming: so long as our humble nation exists, Grand Commander Huang shall exist; if our humble nation perishes, Grand Commander Huang shall perish along with it.”

Having finished, the envoy straightened his upper body and gazed eagerly at Huang Shi. The latter gave a soft “Mm” and asked in an even voice, “Is that all you had to say?”

The envoy’s face turned pale. He hurriedly threw himself to the ground again, kowtowing repeatedly as he said, “Even if Grand Commander Huang wishes to use my head to win a noble title, please at least pause the hostilities for a time. Our humble nation is in truth the stepping-stone for Grand Commander Huang’s advancement; why must Your Excellency press us so relentlessly?”

“It seems he has finished.”

Huang Shi leaned back against his chair. With a wave of his arm, Hong Antong behind him called out, “As you command.”

Several inner guards surged into the tent. Hong Antong directed them to bind the envoy, who was dragged off and locked in the prison. After Hong Antong left, Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong exchanged another glance, then turned to Huang Shi simultaneously: “There is treachery in this!”

“Indeed. The Jian slaves hold Liaozhong and Jianzhou. Although they have suffered repeated setbacks at our army’s hands, they have absolutely not been reduced to such a state.” Huang Shi picked up the letter he had just tossed aside and read it meticulously. Only after a long while did he hand it doubtfully to Zhao Manxiong and Jin Qiude. “But why would the Jian slaves grovel so abjectly? What do they intend?”

“A stalling tactic?” Jin Qiude offered one possibility. After Chen Jisheng invaded Jianzhou, the war situation in Liaodong had once again turned extremely unfavorable for the Later Jin. Nurhaci drew sixty armored men from each niru and, taking the four great beile and the Eight Banners troops, rushed back to Jianzhou, where they were now locked in fierce battle with the Dongjiang army along the Suzi River.

However, Chen Jisheng had from the very start occupied all the strategic points between Sarhū and Hetu Ala. The terrain there was precipitous, with no broad official roads to travel, so the Later Jin army could only advance along the Suzi River, squeezing the Dongjiang army out of Jianzhou bit by bit. Thus the Later Jin army’s progress was extremely slow.

When the Dongjiang headquarters sent a field report in mid-July, the Ming army was still putting up a fighting retreat step by step in the hills and forests east of the Suzi River. On this kind of terrain, suited only for small-unit operations, the Later Jin’s large army could not bring its strength to bear. Several large-scale offensives had merely pushed the Ming army back somewhat toward Kuandian, with no danger at all of being encircled and annihilated.

“Perhaps, but our army is currently training its troops and cannot launch an offensive into Liaozhong. Besides, our army has no capacity to attack Liaozhong anyway. The last assault on Haizhou practically exhausted our reserves.”

“Then how does Your Excellency intend to handle this matter?”

“Hand the man over to Eunuch Wu to be held under guard, then have the Embroidered Uniform Guard escort him in bonds to the capital. That can never be wrong.” Huang Shi thought it over. The letter from the Jian slaves absolutely could not be answered, lest it give others grounds to accuse him. And of course this envoy absolutely could not be killed, lest certain people spread rumors that he was “killing to silence a witness.” The most cautious approach was none other than sending him to the capital, where no one could find fault.

“Your Excellency, this subordinate believes that may not be ideal.” Jin Qiude and the others all knew that Huang Shi always welcomed frank advice, so they never kept their differing opinions to themselves. “It is said that when two states are at war, envoys are not executed. Although the Jian slaves are not an enemy state of our Great Ming, if we can kill their envoy today, then tomorrow the Jian slaves can kill our Great Ming’s envoys. Ever since Grand Coordinator Xiong took charge of Liaodong affairs, apart from envoys bearing demands for surrender, neither the civil nor military officials of our Great Ming have ever mistreated an envoy delivering a letter, nor have the Jian slaves mistreated our envoys.”

Huang Shi was always very willing to exchange views with his subordinates, so he answered without hesitation: “Brother Jin is quite right. Our Great Ming indeed generally does not mistreat the Jian slaves’ letter-bearing envoys. But I believe this practice ought to change. Changsheng Island will accept no terms from the Jian slaves other than surrender, and if the Jian slaves truly wish to sue for peace, they will not be afraid to die coming here.”

Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong cupped their fists together: “Your Excellency’s insight is profound. Your subordinates understand.”

…

After the Later Jin envoy and letter were sent to Wu Mu, Eunuch Wu was somewhat surprised. He felt that treating a letter-bearing envoy this way was making too much of a minor matter. But since this was Huang Shi’s opinion, Wu Mu went along with his wishes and had Zhang Gaosheng make the trip to escort the envoy under guard to Dengzhou.

Huang Shi always felt that this envoy’s arrival was not so simple and was probably part of the Later Jin’s rumor campaign. If he were slightly incautious and let the man go back, who knew what follow-up schemes the other side might have waiting for him. These were troubled times, and Huang Shi believed it was better to be cautious and avoid bringing trouble upon himself.

Although he knew full well that the Later Jin’s main force had shifted east, Huang Shi could do nothing about Liaozhong. Because Dongjiangzhen had no civil officials overseeing it, the imperial court had always harbored a vague wariness toward it and was unwilling to grant much military pay or provisions, lest it become another frontier military fiefdom like those after the Tang dynasty. But Mao Wenlong’s terrible relationship with the Shandong civil official clique persisted. Over the past two years, as he repeatedly accused the Shandong civil officials of embezzling his supplies, the mutual antagonism had grown even more severe.

Not long ago, when Zhen Yucun came to Changsheng Island, he had even discreetly hinted to Huang Shi that the Shandong civil officials hoped Mao Wenlong would get lost as soon as possible. They all supported Huang Shi taking over the Dongjiang army. Adhering to his principle of never giving offense, Huang Shi had also hinted that once he succeeded as Regional Commander of Dongjiang, not only would he never make trouble with Dengzhou over customary fees, he would also agree to let the Shandong civil officials send men to Dongjiangzhen as army supervisors.

Recently, Mao Wenlong’s memorial to the throne pleading the Donglin Party’s case had offended the eunuch faction as well. Although Wu Mu no longer brought up the matter of the living shrine, the meaning behind his words sounded as if he was also working to have Huang Shi promoted to Regional Commander. Huang Shi did not take up this topic, because he believed no one truly liked ungrateful people. So Huang Shi made it clear that unless Mao Wenlong was promoted to Provincial Military Commander of Liaodong, he would absolutely not request an independent command, much less try to place himself on equal footing with Mao Wenlong.

Since Mao Wenlong was already shouldering the main responsibility, Huang Shi felt it would be far too dishonorable to kick him from behind. Besides, Wu Mu greatly appreciated a man who remembered the source of his good fortune. Huang Shi even suspected that Wei Zhongxian behind Wu Mu also valued such a person who did not forget past kindness, so the eunuch faction no longer pressed Huang Shi to break away from Dongjiangzhen.

Changsheng Island’s war budget for this year was one hundred thousand taels of silver. The previous attack on Haizhou alone had cost nearly seventy thousand taels before and after. The remaining budget was only enough for some simple military maneuvers in the second half of the year, with absolutely no capacity for a large-scale offensive. The Dongjiang Left Associate Division and the headquarters were now drifting further and further apart, and their modes of combat had become vastly different. This caused Huang Shi’s expenses for each operation to grow larger and larger, giving him a great headache.

To economize, Changsheng Island decided to further reduce the proportion of cavalry in the forces. During the Haizhou campaign, everyone had found the new organization of the Firefighting Battalion quite satisfactory, so Changsheng Island had decided that a future field battalion should consist of eight infantry companies of four hundred men each, one cavalry company and one artillery company of two hundred men each, plus a four-hundred-man engineer company and a thousand-man logistics company — five thousand men in total.

Henceforth, all cavalry such as battalion guards and battalion scouts would also be counted under the cavalry company’s establishment. When economic conditions permitted, the artillery company’s subordinate gun crews would be expanded to ten. The engineer and logistics companies would also be properly equipped with tools. Changsheng Island now possessed a large number of highly experienced veterans, and officers at all levels were full of confidence in using infantry to confront cavalry head-on, so Huang Shi simply did whatever saved money.

Although Changsheng Island had already done its utmost to compress military expenditures, as its field forces became increasingly professionalized, Huang Shi could no longer make money from warfare the way the headquarters did. Apart from the necessary expenses for military maneuvers, Changsheng Island’s equipment shortages had reached an appalling degree.

The most pressing issue was armor. If Huang Shi truly adjusted all three battalions to their theoretical establishment, he would need at least eleven thousand suits of armor. Although Changsheng Island did its best to repair every damaged set of iron armor, the current inventory of iron armor had still fallen to 2,400 suits. The Firefighting Battalion, already expanded to five thousand men, currently possessed only eight hundred suits of iron armor.

To cope with the armor crisis, the Firefighting, Rock, and Vanguard battalions had already reissued all kinds of captured armor to the troops, but the Firefighting Battalion’s infantry equipment rate still could not reach half. To solve this problem, Changsheng Island had adopted the practice of the front ranks wearing full armor while the rear ranks wore only helmets.

Although the output of firelocks was still acceptable, manufacturing the tools needed by the engineers would take a very long time. Bao Bowen could only guarantee restoring the combat capability of the Firefighting Battalion’s engineer company by September. As for the equipment needed by the Firefighting Battalion’s artillery company, and the missing cannons and engineer equipment of the other two battalions, those were simply nowhere in sight.

Although he knew full well the enormous equipment shortfall, Huang Shi still had to order the Military Works Department to begin producing a new type of equipment — the breastplate. Early in the month, the hydraulic rolling mill, which had been tinkered with for over half a year, finally succeeded in rolling steel plates one to two millimeters thick. Three days ago, Bao Bowen had at last managed to produce a steel die of barely acceptable hardness and used it to forge a steel breastplate.

This breastplate weighed about thirteen jin. Together with the chainmail vest, shoulder armor, iron gauntlets, and so on, it came to about eighteen jin. Compared to Changsheng Island’s standard thirty-two-jin heavy iron scale armor, the total weight was slightly lighter. If the shoulder armor and sleeves were removed, the iron scale armor vest weighed about twenty jin, roughly equivalent. A twenty-jin iron scale armor vest contained about twelve jin of iron, the rest being leather and raw rubber, so the breastplate’s defensive power was still considerably stronger.

The thickest part of this armor’s chest was close to two millimeters, capable of defending against infantry bow and arrow fire from a distance of over five meters. An attack within five meters might penetrate the breastplate’s curved outer shell, but after tearing through the steel, the arrow would have largely lost its force and would not harm the straw dummy inside. Arquebuses, swords, and blades were also basically powerless against this breastplate.

He Dingyuan personally took a long spear and stabbed at the armor. After several attacks, his conclusion was: “It feels very awkward. When you stab, it’s as if you’re pushing the whole armor and the person inside backward, similar to the feeling of stabbing mountain-pattern armor. Unless there’s something bracing from behind, it’s very hard to kill someone with one thrust.”

“Of course. This kind of breastplate, like mountain-pattern armor, is rigid armor and is very effective against long spears.” Huang Shi personally stabbed the breastplate a few times with his sword. The result was either the sword glancing off or the straw dummy and breastplate being pushed away together, unable to penetrate through.

“It’s good, but once it is pierced through, how do you repair this kind of breastplate?” He Dingyuan stroked the hole in the breastplate and voiced his doubt. Scale armor could be repaired simply by riveting a new scale onto the cowhide. Mountain-pattern armor, though complex to assemble, could also be repaired by replacing the damaged plates. This breastplate was very difficult to deal with; it could probably only be sent back to the blacksmith to have an iron patch hammered over the hole.

“Anyway, it’s forged with a hydraulic forging bed. If it’s truly broken, just melt it back into molten iron in the furnace and forge it anew.” Historically, the core conflict between using plate armor and scale armor lay in the question: which was cheaper, human life or armor? Huang Shi had always believed human life was more precious, especially the lives of battle-hardened veterans. Now that hydraulic machinery had greatly reduced the cost of plate armor, Huang Shi had decided to equip his soldiers with breastplates.

“Still, though this armor is good, we cannot afford to use it for the time being.” Huang Shi answered offhandedly. He swung his sword forcefully and hacked at the breastplate several more times, only adding a few scratches to it. Huang Shi pulled He Dingyuan back. Changsheng Island’s technical soldiers were about to conduct the final test. With a roar from the twenty-four-millimeter-caliber firelock, the two-millimeter-thick breastplate was pierced as easily as paper, and a bowl-sized hole was blasted open in the straw dummy’s body.

“Very good. Now I can rest easy. First forge one hundred breastplates,” Huang Shi nodded with satisfaction. The complete set of machinery for making plate armor had cost Huang Shi tens of thousands of taels of silver. The question of how to recoup the cost had occupied his thoughts day and night, and he had long had a preliminary plan. He turned and asked Bao Bowen, “Brother Bao, how much silver does one breastplate cost to make?”

“In reply to Your Excellency, the materials don’t cost too much silver, but it’s hard to say how long the dies will last.”

“Give me the high estimate.”

“Your Excellency, for your clear judgment: one breastplate will cost about one hundred taels of silver. If you add the matching shoulder armor, arm guards, and chainmail vest, it will come to at least fifty taels of silver. Come to think of it, the chainmail vest is of little use but quite expensive.”

“That much? Is that the cost calculated based on forging only one hundred breastplates?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Send twenty sets to Japan for Liu Qingyang. I hear the red-haired barbarians sell these there for three hundred taels of gold per set. I don’t want that much — two hundred, even one hundred fifty taels of gold, I’ll accept.”

“As you command, Your Excellency. But when the Japanese buy them, they are very beautifully finished. The red-haired barbarians gild them with gold and silver and add many fancy accessories and such. If we sell them as they are, I’m afraid we won’t get a good price.”

“Then find a few cloisonné craftsmen. Make them as gorgeous as possible — use all the filigree enamel, all the gilding. Tell Liu Qingyang not to limit himself to Zhangzhou alone. Go to the Japanese shogunate, the Kanazawa domain, the Satsuma domain — go everywhere and shop them around. After we sell this batch, we’ll ship a second and a third batch, gradually lowering the price. In the end, as long as we don’t lose money, I’ll sell them for two hundred taels of silver. Remember to establish a brand name, run it as a cultural brand and a fashion brand, and create this trend in Japan.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Of the remainder, take thirty sets and ship them to Marshal Mao’s horse market. There are quite a few Mongol princes there, and I hear many of them are quite wealthy. But under no circumstances must we lower the price there. I absolutely do not want to see the Jian slaves’ armored soldiers equipped with breastplates before our own troops.”

“This general understands. Your Excellency, rest assured.”

“Also, send one set each to Marshal Mao, Vice General Chen, and the other commanders. You all see who else should receive one and submit the list to me.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Huang Shi did a mental calculation. If this batch of breastplates could be sold, the costs of the waterwheel, rolling mill, and forging machine would all be recovered. “Brother Bao, not counting these machines, what is the cost per breastplate?”

“First roll the wrought iron into plates, then carburize it into steel. After that, use the forging machine to rough-form it into a blank in one go, then the blacksmith does the final shaping by hand and with a foot-operated forging hammer…” Bao Bowen fluently recited the entire process, even using terms like “carburize” that had only recently been introduced to the Great Ming from Europe. The Changsheng Island breastplate consisted of a front and back piece connected by pins in the middle. “It absolutely will not exceed ten taels.”

"Ten taels?" Huang Shi knew that using machines for mass production could drastically cut costs, but this figure still genuinely caught him off guard. He froze for a moment before hastily pressing further: "Even cheaper than the lowest-grade leather-and-cotton armor, is that right?"

"Yes."

……

On the twenty-eighth day of the seventh month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Bao Bowen of Zhongdao was accompanying Huang Shi on an inspection of the large-scale equipment on Zhongdao. Right before their eyes, ground was being broken for three more windmills. According to Bao Bowen's calculations, each windmill cost about two thousand taels of silver to build. Once completed, each could earn over thirty taels of silver per day for Changsheng Island. After deducting depreciation and maintenance costs, the net profit would still average around twenty taels of silver per day, meaning the investment could be recouped in just three months.

At lunchtime, Zhao Manxiong hurried over to see Huang Shi and whispered in his ear: "More news has come from the capital. It is very bad."