Chapter 285: Section 42: Gambling

On the twenty-second day of the ninth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, on Zhangsheng Island.

Huang Shi had already decided to take the Vanguard Battalion with him, and had notified Zhang Pan and others in Liaonan to lead their troops over for the garrison change. As for Shang Kexi, Shang Keyi, and those other subordinate commanders who were not part of his direct line, Huang Shi decided to leave them for Mao Wenlong after all. With them in Liaonan, the situation could still be maintained, and if he really dragged all these military officers away, Mao Wenlong would likely be displeased, which would affect Huang Shi's image in the eyes of the Dongjiangzhen officers and soldiers.

Because Huang Shi still harbored the idea of returning to Liaodong to deal with the Later Jin after quelling the She-An Rebellion, he still cared very much about how Mao Wenlong and the Dongjiangzhen officers and soldiers viewed him. Besides, leaving some acquaintances in Dongjiangzhen would also help maintain his influence in Liaodong. If something happened in Liaodong in the future and Huang Shi rushed back, he would be able to find some people willing to assist him — for instance, the three sworn brothers Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi, whom Huang Shi valued highly in his heart.

Apart from the Firefighting, Rock, and Vanguard Battalions, Huang Shi also specially established a new battalion. This new battalion would also be organized into a field unit in the future, but for now the most urgent task was to gather craftsmen, sailors, and technicians. This new battalion was named the "Tianyi Battalion," in keeping with Zhangsheng Island's consistent naming rule of Fire begets Earth, Earth begets Metal, Metal begets Water.

These days, Huang Shi and his subordinates rapidly sorted out the personnel rosters. In addition to the seven thousand officers and soldiers of the Firefighting and Vanguard Battalions, Huang Shi also enrolled over a thousand skilled workers and over two thousand auxiliary workers into the combat troop rosters. Besides these people, Huang Shi also sorted out over forty thousand additional military household males. All fifty thousand of these people were reported to the Ministry of War with a request to transfer their registration to Fujian. There was no doubt that the approval would be granted — it was only a matter of time.

Due to time constraints, the various commanders of the Left Auxiliary could not make it in time to see Huang Shi off. The only ones who rushed to the island upon hearing the news were a handful of men like Li Chengfeng, the garrison commander of Jinzhou.

Huang Shi, holding a wine cup, stepped down from his seat and offered toasts to these non-direct-line commanders one by one: "For the affairs of Liaodong, I must trouble you, my lords."

There had always been some friction between Li Chengfeng and Huang Shi, but this time, as soon as he heard Huang Shi was leaving, he did not hesitate at all to come and see him off. When Huang Shi offered him wine, Li Chengfeng responded with righteous fervor: "Lord Huang, set your mind at ease. The Jianzhou slaves are like a dying candle before the wind, extinguishable at any moment. Should any extraordinary crisis arise, I shall surely hold fast to the gateway of Liaonan. I will never betray the trust Lord Huang has placed in me."

Having said this, Li Chengfeng drained the full cup of wine in one gulp. After drinking, he let out a satisfied sigh and raised the empty cup toward Huang Shi: "Until death alone remains!"

……

"The sea vessels from Tianjin Guard have already arrived. Fan Le and I will set out with the first batch of twenty thousand military households. Once we reach Fujian, we will immediately begin constructing windmills, waterwheels, and reservoirs."

Most of the military households in this first batch heading to Fujian were those who had been engaged in construction work on Zhangsheng Island over the past few years. Besides these people, Huang Shi would also take all the construction engineer troops. If everything went smoothly, Huang Shi hoped to build the most basic reservoirs before the second batch of people arrived. If the local area did not have enough rivers, Huang Shi would also have to pair the reservoirs with windmills.

"And during this period, Bao Bowen will continue to oversee production on Zhongdao, especially the weapons urgently needed by Zhangzhou. We must guarantee their timely delivery. Once I arrive in Fujian, I will immediately organize surveys of the local terrain. If I am confident we can build the reservoirs and canals, I will naturally send word to you. After you see the letter, you can begin loading our machinery onto ships and transporting it to Fujian."

"As ordered, my lord."

During this period, Bao Bowen would continue to maintain production. Originally, Huang Shi was unwilling to blatantly interfere in Japan's internal affairs, and if it weren't for the current mess, even if Zhangzhou were at a disadvantage in the war, Huang Shi could have dealt with it calmly. But now, Zhangzhou was no longer just a matter of a trade partner.

Huang Shi's loan program for patriotic merchants had just been launched, and relocating to Fujian also required a large amount of startup capital. It could be said that money was needed everywhere. And the trade with Zhangzhou was the economic lifeline for Huang Shi at this stage. If he lost this critical bridgehead, Huang Shi would immediately forfeit the bulk of his income. Especially at this crucial juncture, Huang Shi could not afford any mishap. Therefore...

"Brother Yang, I must trouble you to make this trip."

Yang Zhiyuan cupped his hands and responded: "My lord, set your mind at ease. With me there, Zhangzhou will be absolutely secure."

Ten days ago, Huang Shi had already issued orders to recall the Heidao Fleet. Now the Heidao Fleet had expanded to seven sea vessels. They would not participate in the relocation work, but would instead be responsible for transporting all of the over two thousand officers and soldiers of the Rock Battalion to Zhangzhou. According to Huang Shi's orders, these officers and soldiers were to disguise themselves as Japanese as much as possible, and simple Japanese conversation training had already begun.

"Aim high, and you will hit the middle. My overall plan is to relocate the main force of Zhangsheng Island to Fujian within half a year. During this period, we will achieve self-sufficiency and stockpile enough provisions and pay to sustain an expedition of three to five thousand troops. Then, after half a year, I will lead this force to the southwest and take unified command of the Ming armies there to quell the She-An Rebellion."

Of the one hundred eighty thousand Ming troops in the four southwestern provinces, the majority were also self-sufficient guard battalion soldiers. Huang Shi did not hold much hope for their fighting spirit or tactical competence. Moreover, these guard battalion soldiers were divided into countless factions, with each commander, large or small, leading anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand officers and soldiers, gathered from all corners of the empire to suppress the rebellion in the southwest.

Besides these frontier guard battalions, tens of thousands of Ming troops on paper were conscripted forces from local chieftains. When Huang Shi examined the detailed roster of these conscripted forces, he did have some impression of the White Rod Army that Qin Liangyu had rebuilt. But as for the other forces, Huang Shi had no understanding whatsoever, and for the time being he remained skeptical about the combat effectiveness of these conscripted chieftain troops.

Whether it was the conscripted forces of the chieftains or the southwestern frontier troops belonging to countless military towns, guards, and battalions, the troop figures given by the Ministry of War were all numbers self-reported by the chieftains and commanders. How credible these numbers actually were, Huang Shi was still completely in the dark. So ultimately, Huang Shi had to have a direct-line elite force accompanying him. Otherwise, he would be a thoroughly parachuted-in official.

An elite direct-line force not only served as a talisman for survival, but Huang Shi also needed them to suppress those military bosses, large and small. Although it is said that the Ming military emphasizes checks and balances between large and small units, Huang Shi was deeply convinced that if he were a bare commander, he would only be checked by those military bosses, with absolutely no chance of checking them in return.

Those southwestern chieftains were not easy to deal with either. Take An Bangyan, who was rebelling this time, for example. Their An family of Shuixi had been native officials in the southwest since the Han dynasty, passed down for two thousand years. The Shuixi An family was deeply entrenched in the southwest, with countless ties to the surrounding powers. Huang Shi was equally certain that among these tens of thousands of chieftain conscript troops nominally under the Ming army, there were definitely quite a few who were secretly in communication with the An family. If he could not overawe these chieftains with his own direct-line military power, then Huang Shi would certainly accomplish nothing once he reached the southwest.

Apart from the troubles on the military side, the civil officials could also bring Huang Shi other problems. In the past, even when Qi Jiguang held the position of Regional Commander, local officials still made trouble for him. Now Huang Shi was merely a Regional Commander overseeing military affairs. He figured there would certainly be plenty of people waiting to laugh at his misfortune. Moreover, on this campaign to the southwest to direct operations, Huang Shi would definitely be subject to the oversight of the Provincial Governor of Yunnan. Whether this Min Hongxue, Lord Min, was easy to get along with, Huang Shi had no idea either.

He Dingyuan muttered grumpily: "Among the armies ordered to rush to the aid of Yunnan, tens of thousands are troops from Huguang. If the court had simultaneously appointed you, my lord, as Regional Commander of Huguang, these troops would be easier to command. Now they've given you this inexplicable Fujian Regional Commander post, which makes things rather troublesome."

"It's just deliberately making trouble for us," Jin Qiude snorted, slamming his hand heavily on the table. "Yu Zigao, son of Yu Dayou, inherited the post of Assistant Guard Commander due to his father's merit. He had already accumulated service to the rank of Regional Military Commissioner, with the concurrent title of Fujian Regional Commander. Last year, pirates kept causing trouble in Fujian, and the Grand Secretariat suddenly stripped him of his Regional Commander title and tossed him to Xiamen as a Vice General. General Yu had already served as Vice Regional Commander of the Southern Route in Fujian for three years, with a reputation of being 'a bronze pillar admired by the age.' Now suddenly throwing you, my lord, in as Regional Commander is clearly meant to stir up conflict between us and General Yu."

When these subordinates heard Huang Shi's grand plan to dispatch troops to the southwest within half a year, and then thought of all the troubles involved, each of them showed a hint of faltering confidence. He Dingyuan was the first to cry out: "Impossible. Within half a year, we'll probably just barely be settled. To accumulate enough provisions and pay to field several thousand troops, I think it'll take at least another half year."

Jin Qiude shot He Dingyuan a sideways glare and also advised Huang Shi: "My lord, half a year is indeed a bit tight. We might as well make our plans a bit more relaxed and aim to dispatch troops within nine months."

"As I just said, aim high, and you will hit the middle. If we set a nine-month deadline for dispatching troops, our minds will slacken. Then if we run into any problems, we might not be able to set out for one or two years." Historically, although the She-An Rebellion lasted a long time, dragging on for over a decade, it was basically suppressed by these one hundred eighty thousand Ming troops from the four provinces. So Huang Shi believed that the combat power of the rebels and the Ming army had actually reached a near equilibrium. As long as a powerful enough weight was added, quickly overwhelming the rebels was not an entirely impossible task.

"Let us turn the impossible into the possible. Everyone, do your utmost!"

……

Before Huang Shi finally embarked on the journey to Fujian, he also wrote a long letter to Mao Wenlong. In this letter, he naturally could not say what Yuan Chonghuan would do to Mao Wenlong. First, Mao Wenlong would not believe such prophetic things. Second, if it leaked out, Huang Shi would certainly be impeached for slandering a court minister — a crime of no small consequence.

So Huang Shi only spoke in general terms about the issue of civil-military conflict. By this time, Mao Wenlong had already become the public enemy of the civil officials in Shandong and Liaodong, and the court ministers were increasingly dissatisfied with Dongjiangzhen. Mao Wenlong was unwilling to grovel and curry favor with Wei Zhongxian, which further left him isolated and helpless. In the past, with Huang Shi in Dongjiang, he could still help Mao Wenlong somewhat. Now history had taken a slight detour and returned to its original track, and Mao Wenlong had once again become a man utterly alone.

In this letter, Huang Shi earnestly tried to persuade Mao Wenlong, suggesting that he rein in his sharp edges a little. For the sake of the Dongjiang Army, for the sake of the sons of Liaodong, and for his own sake, it was better to swallow his pride and endure. After all, the civil official clique firmly controlled the lifeline of the frontier armies. Fighting with them might vent his immediate anger, but in the end, the one who would suffer would still be himself.

"Elder Brother, will this letter really be of any use?"

Zhang Pan stood shoulder to shoulder with Huang Shi on the beach of Zhangsheng Island. The days of the Liaodong Sea were now numbered. Zhang Pan did not think much of this letter Huang Shi had written. He believed that given Marshal Mao's temperament, Huang Shi's words were spoken in vain. Mao Wenlong would certainly treat them as wind past his ears, and after a few days, once he was provoked again, he would jump up and start a war of words with the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission.

"Just doing what little I can as a man, to repay his kindness, that's all."

In truth, Huang Shi did not hold much hope for the effect of this letter either. The wheels of history were still rolling forward. Originally, Huang Shi had gone to Liaoyang to gamble with his life precisely to avoid leaving Liaodong, but this transfer order truly made Huang Shi not know whether to laugh or cry. He gazed at the vast ocean gradually unfolding before his eyes and sighed deeply: "Little Brother, this is what is called an inevitable turn of events."

"Hmm? Elder Brother, what did you say?"

"Since Sarhu, the Liaodong campaign has suffered defeat after defeat, blunder after blunder. I have often wondered, what exactly is the reason for this?" In Huang Shi's previous life, many people boasted that the Jianzhou Jurchens were invincible in mounted archery, peerless under heaven. And at that time, Huang Shi also thought they had a point. After all, one battle could be called chance, two battles could still be called chance, but when every battle was like this, it truly could not be explained away by chance.

When Zhang Pan heard Huang Shi's question, he answered without a second thought: "Because there are villains in the court!"

This brief answer silenced Huang Shi for a long time. He had been in Liaodong for so many years, and this question had always troubled him. It was only after this transfer order came down that Huang Shi felt he had finally figured it out. But what surprised Huang Shi was that it seemed Zhang Pan and the others had understood this long ago.

Sons of Liaodong at the end of the Ming like Zhang Pan had witnessed the rise of the Jianzhou Jurchens with their own eyes, and could thus recognize that the military power of the Later Jin army was nothing extraordinary. As Zhang Pan said, what truly drove the development of the Liaodong situation was not the Later Jin's military strength, but the Great Ming's own problems. The internal political problems of the Great Ming were the cause, and the deterioration of the Liaodong campaign was merely the result.

Zhang Pan also had many relatives who were military households in Liaozhen, and over the years he had come into contact with quite a bit of military intelligence. Huang Shi listened as Zhang Pan said bitterly: "Just like the Battle of Sarhu. The Ministry of Works issued shoddily made weapons to the sons of Liaodong, and the Ministry of War did not issue enough military rations to Liaozhen, because they figured it was probably enough to win. Those corrupt officials — they knew that even if there was a disastrous defeat, they themselves wouldn't die. But how many people did they kill!"

Zhang Pan's words carried obvious hatred, which resonated in Huang Shi's heart. He nodded and said: "In the first year of the Taichang reign, at Shenyang and Fengjibao, the late Grand Coordinator Xiong won two field battles in a row and nearly recovered all the lost territory within the border walls. As soon as the situation in Liaodong improved, people in the court immediately grew envious and couldn't wait to jump out and sabotage their own side."

Just like Xiong Tingbi's two consecutive misfortunes, every time the Liaodong situation improved slightly, officials wanting to steal credit would flock together like a bunch of vultures, scrambling to tear off a piece of the spoils.

Since the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, setting aside Huang Shi's own battle achievements, the Dongjiang Army had twice invaded the central Liaodong plains, besieged Hetu Ala, and pushed their vanguard straight to Sarhu. Once the court ministers saw that Jianzhou seemed to be on its last legs, they started making trouble for their own people again. Since you won't share a piece of the credit with me, then I won't stop until I've destroyed you.

Huang Shi suddenly let out an enraged roar toward the horizon where sea and sky met, as if he were questioning those bureaucrats face to face:

"If you don't sabotage your own people — will you really die?"

……

Liu Qingyang would stay behind to oversee the loan matters. He also suggested to Huang Shi that they should encourage these merchants to engage in maritime trade. Previously, Zhangsheng Island's products were limited, but now that Huang Shi's influence had begun to penetrate Fujian, cultivating his own maritime merchant power was only natural. The Great Ming had completely lifted the maritime ban for forty years now, and the merchants were all well aware of the profits of maritime trade. They would surely consider this issue carefully.

This plan would obviously encounter countless difficulties and obstacles, but Huang Shi also agreed with Liu Qingyang's view. What the Japanese Zhangzhou domain could provide was merely a sum of startup capital. That small place could not sustain a massive army anyway. Ultimately, to solve the problem of military funding, the root of the matter still lay in China's domestic demand and in China's trade with other regions.

After discussing with Huang Shi, Liu Qingyang gathered together again those merchants who had accepted loans from Zhangsheng Island. The previous policy was to assign them a rating based on the Dongjiangzhen military scrip they held, and then examine whether they had collateral. If they had no collateral, the turnaround funds Zhangsheng Island lent them would be very small.

"His Excellency the Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent has been transferred to Fujian. He earnestly hopes that some of you will be able to accompany him and engage in maritime trade between the north and the south..."

Liu Qingyang sat in the reception hall of the old Zhangsheng Island camp, speaking with ease and assurance. Below him sat a room full of merchants. All of them had passed Zhangsheng Island's preliminary vetting, and every one of them had a record of supporting the army and loving the nation. Ninth Master Zhu, whom Huang Shi had met in Jingcheng, and Boss Gu from Juehua were also among them. Both of them were listening intently to Liu Qingyang's speech.

After describing the excellent prospects of maritime trade to everyone, Liu Qingyang asked the merchants if they had any opinions, or rather, if they had any misgivings.

Ninth Master Zhu did not know what the others were thinking, but he himself had abandoned his business in Beizhili and come to Liaodong precisely with the intention of lending a hand to Dongjiangzhen. Ninth Master Zhu had the misfortune of encountering the Shandong grain official corruption case. He had traveled back and forth between Liaodong and Shandong many times, but had no way to recover his debts. However, when Ninth Master Zhu arrived at Zhangsheng Island to try his luck, Zhangsheng Island allowed him to use his Dongjiangzhen military scrip as collateral and signed a loan agreement with him in Dengzhou.

The interest on this loan agreement was very low, only about half of private lending rates. And apart from this loan, Zhangsheng Island had additional stipulations: if Ninth Master Zhu purchased local products on Zhangsheng Island, Zhangsheng Island would give him a discount; when he transported grain and cloth to Zhangsheng Island, the Dongjiangzhen Left Auxiliary would also add a little profit for him. This reduction and addition together were enough to offset the interest on the loan.

Although Dongjiangzhen and the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission had greatly disappointed Ninth Master Zhu, his dealings with Changsheng Island had left him with considerable trust in Huang Shi. As soon as Liu Qingyang finished speaking, Ninth Master Zhu was the first to raise his hand and say: "General Liu worries too much. How could we possibly doubt your army's word? Besides, we have the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent himself vouching for it. It is just that we humble folk have meager capital and limited strength — our hearts are willing but our means are lacking. If General Liu does not scorn us, this humble one still plans to start with small-scale operations in Liaodong and Shandong, and wait a few years before going to Fujian."

Ninth Master Zhu's words drew a few murmurs of agreement and also prompted some others to fall into thought. Liu Qingyang waited for everyone to discuss it for a while before slowly speaking: "As for the matter of capital, you gentlemen need not worry. Changsheng Island will provide loans to the fullest extent possible, and such loans for going to Fujian require no collateral."

These merchants all had considerable connections in Shandong and Beizhili, and their commercial instincts were very sharp. Besides, Changsheng Island could not spare the attention itself, so naturally it was best to let them handle the maritime trade. In Liu Qingyang's plan, these merchants were certainly to be won over as much as possible. But although Huang Shi had approved Liu Qingyang's unsecured risk-loan plan, the resources of Changsheng Island alone would certainly not be enough to provide so much.

"The Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is also willing to use his own name to guarantee you," Liu Qingyang paused briefly after saying this, to let those below digest the meaning of his words. Only after he saw countless tense gazes directed at him did he unhurriedly continue: "If you can borrow from other sources, so long as the interest does not exceed fifty percent…"

Liu Qingyang raised his right hand high, making a large "five" sign so that everyone in the room could see it: "So long as the money is used to develop maritime trade with Fujian, the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is willing to vouch for you."

These merchants certainly had plenty of their own acquaintances and connections, but according to China's long-standing tradition, most merchants disliked borrowing money unless they were at a dead end, preferring to rely on their own hard work to accumulate initial capital. Likewise, if a person really did start borrowing, it usually meant he had fallen into dire straits, so the lender would not only demand high interest but also require the borrower to put up collateral.

When Huang Shi and Liu Qingyang discussed the maritime trade issue, both believed it would yield great profits, more than enough to cover high interest payments. Therefore Huang Shi was willing to step forward and guarantee these merchants. So long as they could draw in large amounts of capital, Huang Shi and Liu Qingyang were both full of confidence that they would turn a profit.

"General Liu, the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is willing to vouch for us humble folk?"

"Yes, and not merely in the personal name of the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. We will also use the military farm revenues of Funingzhen and its future military pay and grain stipends as security for you."

Since these merchants had no idea of the actual revenues involved anyway, Liu Qingyang unceremoniously pledged the credit of the Great Ming court as well. At least during the Tianqi reign, the Great Ming court's credit was still worth quite a bit of money, and the court had no concept of intangible assets, so it would not come after Huang Shi over this.

At present, Huang Shi enjoyed a sterling reputation for "loyalty that spans sun and moon, righteousness that overshadows the clouds." The recent "Single Horse Leaping to Liaoyang" incident had added even more luster to Huang Shi's halo. Traditional Chinese people had always believed that if a man was a good man, he basically would not do bad things. If anyone now dared to claim that Lord Huang the Guardian was a man who would renege on his debts, he would surely be cursed to a cripple by passersby.

These words drew further murmurs of admiration from below. Huang Shi occupied a high position, his awe-inspiring fame spread throughout the realm. For such a man to come forward with great fanfare as a guarantor naturally carried considerable persuasive power. Liu Qingyang watched the shifting expressions on the faces of the many merchants below and knew that quite a few were already secretly tempted. He raised his teacup and took a sip: "Of course, we also have other conditions."

"General Liu, please speak."

The one who spoke this time was Proprietor Gu. During the defense of Juehua, Proprietor Gu had several times made vows to the bodhisattvas. After the Ming army's victory, Proprietor Gu naturally believed the greatest share of the credit still belonged to the bodhisattvas, so he went to Mount Wutai and donated a considerable sum in pious offerings, and also paid to build a bridge in his hometown. Apart from that, Proprietor Gu considered Huang Shi's achievements second only to those of the South Sea Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves all from suffering and calamity, so he switched from running the Liaoxi trade to running the Liaodong trade.

Of course, after the battle of Juehua, Proprietor Gu also felt that the Liaodong route might be somewhat more stable — after all, he, the venerable elder, had no intention of ever again experiencing the kind of danger he had faced at Juehua. But the poverty of Liaodong was something Proprietor Gu had not anticipated. In the past, in Liaoxi, Proprietor Gu had never had the experience of having military scrip payments delayed. As a result, he had in one breath been stuck with over thirty thousand taels of silver in Dongjiangzhen military scrip, which amounted to nearly the greater part of Proprietor Gu's family fortune.

Upon hearing that Changsheng Island had preferential trade arrangements for someone in his situation, Proprietor Gu hurried over to Changsheng Island to do business. He held a large amount of Dongjiangzhen military scrip and still had considerable family property to put up as collateral, so Changsheng Island granted him a loan of over twenty thousand taels of silver in one go. Recently, after making a few trips running daily necessities between Shandong and Liaonan, he had already recovered a good deal of his capital. Moreover, according to Changsheng Island's preferential policies, for someone like him who held a large amount of Dongjiangzhen military scrip, when repaying the loan, Changsheng Island could also accept Dongjiangzhen military scrip to offset the interest.

After all this back and forth, even if Huang Shi did not have so many dazzling halos over his head, Proprietor Gu already had a very good impression of him and trusted Huang Shi's character. Hearing Liu Qingyang say there were additional conditions, Proprietor Gu hastily inquired about what came next. If they were not too harsh, Proprietor Gu was also willing to continue dealing with Huang Shi. Setting aside the life-saving debt of gratitude, Proprietor Gu still held a huge pile of Dongjiangzhen military scrip. Rather than go queue up again in Dengzhou, Shandong, he might as well bargain with Huang Shi.

"It is simply that all these loans must be used for expenditures related to maritime trade with Funingzhen. Whether for purchasing goods, buying or leasing seagoing vessels, or recruiting sailors — so long as it is for the purpose of maritime trade, we can all accept it. This general will send men to check the account books of you various proprietors. Of course, this general will absolutely not leak the contents of the account books; it is solely to ensure that the money is used in the proper places. I wonder what you gentlemen think?"

Ninth Master Zhu, Proprietor Gu, and the others all mulled it over in their minds for a moment. Huang Shi's reputation was quite good, and this requirement was also perfectly reasonable. In the past, when doing business with major merchants, the other party had often also requested to see the account books. Besides, this Huang Shi was clearly a military officer! Even if he looked at them, it would certainly be no worse than letting other merchants look. Once everyone had thought this point through, they all indicated that it was no problem.

"To be perfectly frank, the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is now in urgent need of these maritime taxes and trade revenues, which is why he is encouraging everyone to go to Fujian for maritime trade. So that you gentlemen do not suffer losses, this general is here today on behalf of the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent to guarantee to you all: if any of you gentlemen borrow silver and make a profit from maritime trade, the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is willing to take only half. If you encounter storms or shipwrecks and lose your goods, the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is willing to bear all the losses on your behalf."

Even if Huang Shi did not directly participate in the trade in the future, he would not mind, for as long as maritime trade could develop, merely collecting maritime taxes would be quite good enough. After all, Huang Shi had dealt with the Shandong merchants for several years now. In a new environment, where everyone was a newcomer and had mutual ties of friendship, they ought to be able to support one another. Therefore Huang Shi was doing everything he could to pull as many Shandong merchants as possible along to Fujian.

Seeing that everyone seemed to have no major objections, Liu Qingyang then brought out another loan agreement: "Furthermore, even if you gentlemen are unwilling to go to Fujian, the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent also has another loan agreement."

"Some of the proprietors here will certainly be going to Fujian. The Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is equally concerned about their sources of goods and sales channels, so the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent is also willing to act as guarantor for those who stay behind, so long as they are willing to give priority to purchasing the goods of those proprietors going to Fujian, and to give priority in supplying goods to them."

This idea had been proposed by Liu Qingyang. Huang Shi felt it had the grand spirit of a trust and immediately approved the plan. Moreover, with this plan in place, it should also be of considerable help to the Fujian maritime trade. It could also consolidate the supply and demand base in the north and support the development of merchants friendly to Huang Shi. No matter how one looked at it, there were considerable benefits.

"Gentlemen, please look." Liu Qingyang took out a large seal. The merchants fixed their eyes upon it — it was precisely the brand-new seal of "General Who Pacifies the Barbarians." In order to win people's trust, Huang Shi had left his Vanguard General seal with Liu Qingyang to use for a few months, so as to guarantee those loan documents that met the requirements.

Using the "General Who Pacifies the Barbarians" seal to borrow money was probably the first time in the history of the Great Ming. This time Huang Shi had essentially mortgaged his entire reputation. Liu Qingyang had no doubt that employing this measure could secure quite a lot of silver. But he had also pointed out to Huang Shi at the time that if they could repay the silver in the future, there would naturally be no problem. But if they could not, Huang Shi's own reputation would be the least of it — a crowd of creditors holding loan receipts stamped with the bright red seal of "General Who Pacifies the Barbarians" going to file lawsuits would truly be no laughing matter.

A few days earlier, Liu Qingyang had discussed this issue with Huang Shi, but Huang Shi thought it was nothing. At present, his imperial favor was at its height. So long as he could earn the money and repay the debts, no reckless fool would go make trouble for him. In the final analysis, it all came down to whether he could earn the money. So long as he could recover the capital, everything would be fine. If he could not recover the capital…

"The worst that can happen is being impeached by the censors into a cripple, owing money that could never be repaid in a hundred lifetimes, and being utterly infamous for one generation. If I cannot quickly get hold of a large sum of money, I will still inevitably fall into the hands of those censors — equally infamous for a generation." When Liu Qingyang raised this view, Huang Shi shrugged nonchalantly, his face showing an indifferent expression:

"I have no particular ties with Fujian Provincial Governor Zhu Yifeng, Lord Zhu, and the conflict between General Yu and myself cannot be resolved in a short while. I am a newcomer, and the Fujian merchants will mostly adopt a wait-and-see attitude, not to mention that there are large numbers of bandits there who are called 'sea merchants' but are in fact Japanese pirates. Of course, I can assume that the civil officials at court merely want me to bow my head, but even so, they may still want to give me a thorough thrashing, and in any case make my reputation stink. That way, if I don't bow my head later, I won't have a choice."

Huang Shi carefully analyzed the situation for Liu Qingyang. If everything proceeded along the track predetermined by the civil official bloc, Huang Shi would soon lose everything he now possessed and once again become a puppet in the hands of the civil officials. But if he staked everything on one desperate gamble, failure in this matter would be nothing more than utter ruin and disgrace. Huang Shi smiled and patted Liu Qingyang on the shoulder: "But since I have Brother Liu with me, I certainly will not be disappointed."

Liu Qingyang immediately replied with fervent passion: "Yes, my lord, please set your mind at ease." After a pause, Liu Qingyang repeated the slogan Huang Shi had once spoken: "My lord, we must turn the impossible into the possible."

…

After the crowd of observing merchants dispersed, Liu Qingyang ordered men to fetch ink paste and rice paper. Before everyone's eyes, he pressed down the "General Who Pacifies the Barbarians" seal heavily for the first time, then raised the sheet of white paper high for everyone to inspect the bright red seal upon it. Facing the merchants, whose faces showed unusual expressions, Liu Qingyang knew that this matter was at last more or less settled. He chuckled and said: "Gentlemen, you can all set your minds at ease now. Is there anyone under heaven who does not know the great name of the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent? Now that you have this great seal, do you still fear you cannot borrow silver?"

…

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Liu Qingyang took his leave of Huang Shi and set off for Shandong to prepare for the borrowing. Huang Shi placed great hopes on this journey and also prepared a good number of gifts for Liu Qingyang to bring to the officials of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission. Huang Shi reviewed his own conduct over the past few months. Some of his irrational actions had indeed been enough to arouse the vigilance of the civil official bloc, and for Huang Shi to oppose the civil official bloc with his own strength alone was no different from striking a rock with an egg.

But Huang Shi believed that his overall image within the civil official bloc should still be acceptable at present, far from reaching the level of utter infamy that Mao Wenlong had attained. At the very least, quite a few officials in the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission and Nanzhili still felt indebted to him. Now Huang Shi's enterprise had reached a critical juncture of success or failure — if he did not call in these favors now, when should he?

"When you reach Shandong, remember to send Zhen Yucun a ceremonial gift of five hundred taels of silver."

"So much? Will he dare accept it?"

"I think he should dare accept it, because my situation is so dire. Any intelligent person should understand that I urgently need help." Huang Shi drew up a list of officials for Liu Qingyang, with over a hundred Shandong officials on it, requiring a total of ten thousand taels of silver to be given out: "Make absolutely sure they write several letters to Nanzhili. For the sake of past goodwill, grant my maritime trade some conveniences. Also, hint that if there is anything they need my help with in the future, I will certainly do my utmost to oblige."

"As ordered."

"All loans must be handled strictly according to the regulations, and recorded in detail, so that these loan and borrowing regulations can be properly revised in the future."

"My lord, rest assured. This junior officer understands."

"Good. I have no further questions. Oh… have you given that thing a name yet?" Huang Shi was asking about the decision-making group responsible for raising funds. Huang Shi had told Liu Qingyang to cooperate more with the merchants, to engage in more detailed discussions, as involving the merchants would also make it easier to foster a sense of belonging. Besides, regarding the goods, routes, and profits of maritime trade, having a group of experienced merchants discuss it together would certainly yield considerable benefits.

"Not yet. I beg my lord to bestow a name." Liu Qingyang had also prepared a set of regulations for this decision-making body. Huang Shi felt that the magnitude of contribution was the most important criterion for selecting the merchants who would participate in decision-making, and this body would serve as a vital bridge between the merchants and Huang Shi. Whether Huang Shi needed their cooperation, or they needed some kind of privilege from Huang Shi, mutual understanding and communication could all be achieved through this body.

"Hmm… this is a commercial association that cannot be placed on any official surface, and is also for handling complex matters." Huang Shi pondered for a moment. Free competition was inefficient; only monopoly could yield the greatest profit. Although Huang Shi and these merchants were all still small fry at present, that did not prevent them from having grand ambitions. The purpose of establishing this body was precisely to absorb capital and form a trade chain, in order to pursue the maximum profit:

"Then call it the 'Dark Council.' Liu Qingyang, you shall be its first chairman."

"As ordered, my lord."

…

After seeing Liu Qingyang off, Huang Shi summoned Li Yunrui.

"Have the Jianzhou slaves made no unusual movements recently?"

Li Yunrui had begun his report the moment he entered. The Later Jin army in the Liaonan region had never been as docile as it had been recently — it was so quiet it was almost abnormal: "It is just that the Jianzhou slaves' Third Beile, Manggūltai, has shown some strange behavior. He seems to have also established some slight contact with the Jesuits, spending a large sum to buy a batch of crucifixes, saying he wants to convert to Catholicism."

"Oh?" Huang Shi was rather interested in this topic: "Does Manggūltai no longer believe in Lamaism?"

"It seems he no longer does. Not only has Manggūltai driven all the lamas out of the Plain Blue Banner, he has also requested the Jesuits to send him several priests who can tell fortunes, saying he wants to establish a Catholic Church in Liaoyang. It is just that the name he has given the church seems rather interesting…"

Li Yunrui looked up at Huang Shi and reported meticulously: "Translated into Chinese, it seems to be: The Loyal-to-Jianzhou, Love-the-Slave-Chieftain Catholic Church."