Chapter 286: Section 43: Righteousness and Profit

The officers and their subordinates burst into laughter together, and the heavy mood before departure and the solemn atmosphere of the military discussion were instantly swept clean away.

"Alright, Brother Li, I want you to be the last to leave. Before you go, hand over all our spies and intelligence personnel to my lord Zhang Pan."

"As ordered, Grand Commander. And what about the Jianzhou spies within our army?"

"If they try to flee in the next few days, let them go. If they don't flee, then take them with us." Huang Shi gave the order without the slightest hesitation.

"As ordered." Li Yunrui was not surprised by this command. Since they were going to deceive, they would deceive to the very end, giving the Later Jin side no chance to realize the intelligence was wrong and correct the mistake. "May I ask, Grand Commander, when should we dispose of these spies?"

"Let me think." Huang Shi pondered for a moment. There was no doubt that Li Yunrui could eliminate them after putting out to sea without any problem, but Huang Shi had other considerations on this matter. "There's no need to deliberately eliminate them. We may return to Liaodong someday, and these people might still prove useful."

"As ordered. And one last matter. Liu Xingzuo has sent a messenger with a letter, hoping to leave with us. Since the Grand Commander advises casting a long line to catch a big fish, this humble general suggests we might as well refuse him, and let him continue providing intelligence to Dongjiangzhen from within the Later Jin side."

To Li Yunrui's surprise, this question made Huang Shi ponder for a long while, and only with difficulty did he finally agree with his view. "Very well, but remember to tell Liu Xingzuo that my gaze, Huang Shi's gaze, will forever be fixed on Liaodong, and forever fixed on him."

With official business concluded, Huang Shi stared at Li Yunrui for a while, making the latter thoroughly uncomfortable. After a moment, Huang Shi let out a long sigh. "Brother Li is truly handsome and dignified, with the full bearing of a man."

"The Grand Commander flatters me." Li Yunrui had waited half the day only to hear such a remark, and was completely baffled, so he could only respond foolishly.

Huang Shi picked up the topmost letter from the pile beside his desk, threw it heavily onto the desk surface, and asked with a taut face, "Chief Commissioner Li, do you know who wrote this letter to me?"

Hearing Huang Shi's tone suddenly turn unfriendly, Li Yunrui's heart could not help but grow uneasy. He believed he had never done anything wrong, and besides... Li Yunrui stole a glance at that letter. Although he could not make out the handwriting on it, he still noticed that it was not an official document, and was undoubtedly a private letter, so he honestly replied, "This humble general does not know. I beg the Grand Commander to mete out punishment."

"Last time I went to Liaoyang, it seems you were the one looking after Lady Chen, were you not? It appears you looked after her quite well. Her brother wrote to me and even mentioned you, saying he very much wishes to meet Chief Commissioner Li."

Huang Shi's words made Li Yunrui's heart pound wildly. He vaguely guessed what might have happened, and his square, national-character face instantly flushed as red as Lord Guan's.

"I was only gone for a few days, and Young Lady Chen stayed on Zhangsheng Island for no more than five days, right?" Huang Shi looked at Li Yunrui and suddenly burst into loud laughter, clicking his tongue in praise. "Brother Li, you truly have impressive skills."

After laughing for a while, Huang Shi began to cough. He waved his hand to cut off Li Yunrui's plea for punishment, and handed Zhao Yinqiu's letter to the latter to read for himself. "Assistant Prefect Zhao's younger sister has already returned to the Zhao family, completely unknown to anyone. It's fortunate you're leaving late — hurry and go deliver the betrothal gifts, otherwise it won't be possible to cover this up."

As he spoke, Huang Shi took out a pouch of silver and tossed it into Li Yunrui's hands. "Since your wife is with child, don't be stingy with money. Hire a large cart, and hire an extra old maidservant. Travel by the land route."

"Thank you, Grand Commander."

On the twenty-sixth day of the ninth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Huang Shi set foot on the sea route to Fujian. Most of the officers and soldiers of his several battalions of personal troops had volunteered to follow him, and the military households of Zhangsheng Island also eagerly signed up, vying to go with Huang Shi. In the end, Huang Shi paid out of his own pocket for all pregnant women and mothers with young children to be uniformly hired carts and travel by land down to Jiangnan.

Compared to the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea was as calm as a bathtub. Fortunately, Zhangsheng Island had many experienced sailors, all trained by Heidao Yifu over these years. Although this voyage would also hug the coastline, out of safety considerations, Huang Shi still transferred a batch of sailors back from the Heidao fleet.

The mournful horn sounded, and the birthplace of the great mass of former Dongjiangzhen military households was slowly receding into the distance. These officers and soldiers could only fix their eyes in a silent salute toward the place where they had lived and fought. Although the military households on Zhangsheng Island had all fled here from a thousand li away, Zhangsheng Island at least still belonged to the land of Liaodong, but this long voyage drifting afar — no one knew where they would end up, nor whether they could ever return.

Huang Shi also stood on the ship's deck gazing northward. Zhangsheng Island gradually became a black dot in his field of vision.

"Grand Commander, will we be able to return?"

A soldier suddenly voiced this question from behind Huang Shi, and his words drew a chorus of sighs. When Huang Shi had said they would go south, the officers and soldiers of Zhangsheng Island had all eagerly signed up out of trust in Huang Shi and in this collective. But when they truly faced this moment, a great many officers and soldiers could not help but shed silent tears.

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Huang Shi furrowed his brow, his own feelings complex. He both hoped that the Liaodong affairs would henceforth be settled, and that the Great Ming court would never again summon him back to Liaodong, yet in his heart another voice mocked such wishful thinking, a voice urging him to quicken his pace, to go pacify the She-An Rebellion, and then as quickly as possible make preparations to head north again and clean up the mess.

"Following the Grand Commander all these years, this humble one has constantly met childhood companions in dreams, always hoping that one day I would return alive to my homeland and see that they too had survived the calamity." That soldier's voice trembled slightly, and his slightly parted lips quivered. "But this humble one also knows that this is mostly wishful thinking."

"The elders of our homeland always said that a person must return to their roots like a falling leaf." An officer on the left side picked up this remark with a sigh. Six years ago, he had followed the stream of refugees from central Liao all the way to Korea, losing contact with his entire family along the way, and then happened to encounter Huang Shi putting out to sea. At that time, as a young lad not yet twenty, he had followed Huang Shi to Zhangsheng Island as a male member of a military household, putting down roots and carving out a new world. Now he was again following Huang Shi out to sea, entering a completely new world.

This officer drew a deep breath and said forcefully in a loud voice, "Grand Commander Mao once said, we of Dongjiangzhen are like dandelions, and we officers and soldiers of Dongjiangzhen must put down roots wherever we land."

"Dongjiangzhen, I will not forget you, but we must put down roots. Put down roots..."

The officers and soldiers on the ship all waved their arms with all their might toward the land of Liaodong, pouring out their hearts with all their strength. Huang Shi quietly withdrew from the agitated crowd. He knew he no longer needed to comfort his subordinates.

The twelfth day of the tenth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Dengzhou.

This month, Liu Qingyang had not been idle at all. The merchants who traded with Zhangsheng Island had arranged meetings for him with a large number of firm owners from Shandong and Beizhili. Liu Qingyang tirelessly assured them time and again that this was indeed Huang Shi personally borrowing money, and that repayment was also guaranteed by Huang Shi's credibility. But everyone still seemed somewhat uneasy, and many merchants openly stated that if Huang Shi came in person to borrow the money rather than merely acting as guarantor, they would feel more at ease, and would also consider lending Liu Qingyang more money.

After an emergency discussion by the Dark Council, Liu Qingyang, as the first president appointed by Huang Shi and the plenipotentiary representative for fundraising, finally made the decision to borrow money from the merchants in the name of Huang Shi and Funingzhen. The name of this borrowing was also finalized as: "The Great Pacification Loan."

The planned borrowing methods were to be divided into two types. The first was a loan to be repaid after one year, with an annual interest rate of ten percent — this interest already exceeded the usury rates of Shandong and Beizhili. The other was a loan to be repaid after three years, with interest as high as fifty percent. Both types of loan certificates above would be stamped with the great seal of the "Pacification General."

Once the silver was raised through the "Great Pacification Loan," Liu Qingyang would then, according to specific needs, lend the money to those merchants participating in maritime trade. The standard set by the Dark Council was that, in addition to paying the normal maritime taxes, these merchants' profits would also be shared with Huang Shi as dividends according to the amount borrowed. After making a profit, the merchants could use their dividends to continuously redeem and repay the loans, until the business was completely reclaimed as their own.

But no matter how much money the merchants themselves put in, even if all the funds came from the "Great Pacification Loan," the Dark Council would guarantee them at least ten percent of the dividends. In any case, they would never work for Huang Shi for free. This cooperation model, which was practically making something out of nothing, aroused the interest of many merchants. Although overseas maritime trade was full of risks, the rewards offered this time were truly generous, so in the end, over ninety percent of the patriotic merchants made their choice and began planning to engage in maritime trade.

These days, large numbers of merchants rushed about the docks of Shandong and Beizhili, gathering sea-going ships and sailors, and placing large advance orders for silks and raw silk. For a time, paper was as dear as in Luoyang. Ship rental prices in Laideng, Tianjin, and other places rose one after another, and even sailors' hiring fees rose by at least ten percent.

According to the regulations set by Huang Shi, apart from those previous merchants, anyone who had recently purchased one thousand taels of Dongjiang Army military bonds could also participate in the maritime trade loans, and those who had purchased one hundred taels of military bonds could also participate in the sales loans. As a result, people appeared who made special trips to transport goods to Dongjiang to exchange for military bonds, and then brought them back to demand participation in the Fujian maritime trade plan.

Beyond this, there were also many merchants who, adopting an attitude of not letting even small profits slip by, asked others to buy one hundred taels of Dongjiangzhen military bonds for them, meeting the minimum requirement for participating in the loans, and requested to borrow money to open a few shops. Liu Qingyang told them that once they participated in this plan, they would have to prioritize supplying and selling the goods of the merchants designated by the Dark Council, and they all agreed in one breath.

The newly appointed Prefect of Dengzhou, Zhen Yucun, pretended not to know this was a loan. He reached an agreement with Liu Qingyang, which was that, theoretically, Zhen Yucun was only informed that this was a donation drive for pacifying the barbarians. Whatever nonsense Liu Qingyang got up to was Huang Shi and Funingzhen's own business, and had nothing whatsoever to do with him, Zhen Yucun.

A few days earlier, Zhen Yucun had agreed to lend the central hall to Liu Qingyang for fifteen days. The pretext the two of them found was: Zhen Yucun was acting as guarantor in the name of the Dengzhou government office, guaranteeing that Liu Qingyang was not a swindler, and that the silver donated by the various merchants of Dengzhou would indeed end up in Huang Shi's pockets, to be used in the great enterprise of pacifying the southwest.

Then Zhen Yucun indicated that he needed to go to Jinan to report on his work to the Provincial Governor. Early yesterday morning, Zhen Yucun set out in a great hurry, having agreed with Liu Qingyang beforehand that starting from today, he would spend fifteen days in Jinan before returning.

Before a courtyard packed full of merchants, Liu Qingyang had his subordinates carry out a large chest of blank loan certificates stamped with General Huang Shi's great seal. After displaying them one last time to the visiting merchants, Liu Qingyang invited everyone to come up in order to subscribe for the bonds.

"Five hundred taels of fine silver. Three-year term."

"Right away." While the Zhangsheng Island soldiers on one side counted the silver, the clerk beside them wielded his brush and began filling out the loan certificate, just as he was writing the fifty percent interest.

"Hold on." That merchant reached out his hand to stop the clerk's further action. He smiled and pointed at the interest section. "Here, just write one percent."

The clerk's eyes widened. "Three years is fifty percent interest."

"Yes, I know that." That merchant nodded in agreement, and then said with an unchanged smile, "This old man has a vast family fortune, and did not originally come for this bit of interest. I came today entirely because I heard that Grand Commander Huang is dispatching troops to the southwest to suppress the rebellion, and have come especially to contribute a meager effort. Even if there were no interest at all, it would not matter."

Next, another person, without waiting for the clerk to speak, rushed to say, "This humble one here also has five hundred taels of fine silver, likewise a three-year term, and the interest is the same as the old gentleman before me — just one percent will do."

The fellow behind him had a loud voice, and as if afraid no one would know, he shouted out, "This old man's in-laws' entire family were originally from Guangning. It was all thanks to Grand Commander Huang's blessing that they were able to escape with their lives from under the traitor Sun's blade. Last month, my eldest daughter-in-law gave me a big grandson. As soon as I heard that Grand Commander Huang was raising funds in Dengzhou this time, this old man made a special trip to come and support Grand Commander Huang."

Several cheers immediately rang out from the surrounding crowd. Hearing this, the second merchant grew even more excited. He looked around at the crowd and shouted loudly, "This five hundred taels of silver, this old man never intended to ask Grand Commander Huang for it back anyway. Hey~~~ What this old man values is Grand Commander Huang's general's seal. From today on, it shall be my household's treasure to safeguard the home, certain to bless this old man's family to turn misfortune into fortune and ward off evil spirits."

As soon as these words were shouted, cheers rang out again from the crowd. Many people nodded in agreement, all saying that Huang Shi's righteousness reached to the heavens, and that even donating some silver to him was only right and proper. Even more people chimed in one after another, "To be able to invite Grand Commander Huang's baleful aura back home — even spending a hundred taels of silver would be worth it."

"Many thanks to you, venerable sir, for your righteous assistance." These two were near the front of the line. When they first spoke up, Liu Qingyang had feared they were here to cause trouble and had quickly strained his ears to listen carefully. The interest these two wanted was merely symbolic, after all. Since Huang Shi had said this was a loan, their asking for one percent interest was also to give Huang Shi face.

Liu Qingyang walked over, took the brush from the clerk's hand, personally wrote out the loan certificate with care, and handed it to the first merchant. "Please keep it safe, venerable sir."

That merchant took the loan certificate and looked it over several times, then said in astonishment, "I said to fill in one percent interest, and that would be fine. Why did you still fill in fifty percent?"

"For the venerable sir's righteous act, I thank you on behalf of Grand Commander Huang. However, for today's loan, it has already been set at fifty percent interest, fair to both young and old. I beg the venerable sir's kind understanding." Liu Qingyang bowed respectfully. The crowd fell silent for a moment. That old merchant repeated himself several more times, stubbornly insisting that the interest rate be lowered a little.

But Liu Qingyang was even more stubborn than he was. Although his words were exceedingly polite, he insisted unyieldingly on the fifty percent interest. "If the venerable sir is so inclined, please lend my master more silver. Of course, the interest will still be fifty percent."

In the end, that old merchant could not out-stubborn Liu Qingyang, and had no choice but to reluctantly accept the loan certificate with fifty percent interest written by Liu Qingyang, and walked away looking extremely awkward. While listening to Liu Qingyang argue with the old man earlier, the second person behind the old merchant had already worn an expression of indignation. When he saw that Liu Qingyang had also written him a loan certificate for five hundred taels of fine silver, three-year term, and fifty percent interest, this merchant, though he knew full well that the person he faced was a general, still could not help but jump three feet into the air:

"General, this commoner is willing to donate this silver to Grand Commander Huang. That old gentleman just now was also acting out of righteousness, willing to share the nation's burdens. Why must you, General, stubbornly obstruct us? Are you not a subordinate of Grand Commander Huang? Why do you oppose even our wish to aid Grand Commander Huang's military funds?"

"Many thanks for this gentleman's lofty sense of honor. My late father was also a merchant from Beizhili, and I know well that earning a bit of silver is no easy task…" Liu Qingyang could not possibly harbor the slightest dislike toward merchants, for he himself came from a merchant family. But after he explained this, the merchants in the central hall all began to feel a sense of kinship with him.

Hearing Liu Qingyang speak of the hardships of running a trade, the myriad toils of escorting and transporting goods along the road, these merchants felt it even more keenly. The second merchant sighed a few times, then loudly declared: "General, if I may, I have absolutely no problem putting out these five hundred taels — consider it repaying a debt of gratitude on behalf of my in-laws. True, earning some money is not easy for us. But when it's time to contribute effort, we contribute effort. If each man puts out ten taels of silver, we can at least add a round of wine and meat for the brothers under Grand Commander Huang."

The merchant's words drew another wave of agreement. Seeing that he had once again stolen the spotlight, the man felt pleased and turned to leave: "Forget it, I'll just leave these five hundred taels of silver here. I don't want Grand Commander Huang's IOU either."

As the merchant loudly proclaimed this, he strode toward the door with his head held high.

"Stop him."

Liu Qingyang shouted from behind. At the sound, the Changsheng Island soldiers guarding the door crossed their long spears and blocked the merchant. The merchant was clearly hot-tempered; his expression changed drastically at the sight. No longer caring about Liu Qingyang's rank, he spun around and cried out indignantly: "General, what is the meaning of this?"

By the time the merchant turned back around, Liu Qingyang had already parted the crowd and walked over. Holding the five-hundred-tael IOU in both hands, he said in an unwavering tone: "This gentleman, my Grand Commander has a military order. This 'Great Pacification Loan' is a loan, not a donation. Whoever leaves silver behind must be made to take the IOU with him. This certificate — I must ask you, sir, to accept it."

Looking at the fifty-percent interest written on the IOU and the vermilion seal of the "Pacification General," then raising his head to glance around, the merchant realized that everyone in the hall was staring fixedly at him. Instantly feeling a great loss of face, he waved his hand furiously: "I came here today sincerely and wholeheartedly to contribute military funds, not in the least to covet this fifty-percent profit. The General thinks far too little of me."

Liu Qingyang maintained his posture of holding the IOU in both hands and repeated, unmoved: "My Grand Commander has an order. Today it is a loan, not a donation. Since this gentleman has left silver behind, he absolutely must take the IOU with him."

The merchant felt he simply could not back down with any dignity, so he shouted in a fit of pique: "If the General insists on refusing contributions, then I would rather take my silver back with me!"

Liu Qingyang was silent for one second, then waved a hand to have the five hundred taels of silver brought forward. Facing the dumbstruck merchant, he said: "In that case, please take your silver back with you, sir."

The merchant and Liu Qingyang stared at each other for a moment. Finally, with a snort, the merchant snatched the silver from the Changsheng Island soldier's hands and turned to leave in a fury. Liu Qingyang waved a hand behind him, and the guards at the door stepped aside to let the man pass.

……

On the twentieth day of the tenth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Huang Shi's forces arrived at Funing.

After reaching Funingzhen, Huang Shi hastily organized men to purchase fruits and vegetables while vigorously reinforcing sanitation regulations to help his troops through the period of acclimatization. At the same time, he personally led the engineering corps to survey the local geography.

"Truly worthy of Jiangnan — water is everywhere here."

Since the onset of the Little Ice Age, rainfall in the north had dropped sharply. For fifty years, several generations of Liaodong men had never seen a river with abundant water. Fujian was crisscrossed with mountains and threaded with countless rivers, which drew envious exclamations from the Liaodong soldiers newly arrived in this land. Fan Le immediately selected several sites for constructing waterwheels and also drew up preliminary plans for building reservoirs:

"Grand Commander, have the craftsmen from Changsheng Island come as quickly as possible. I don't know whether we'll need to build many reservoirs, but for the time being windmills are certainly useless. With the water volume here in Fujian, running our machine tools in three shifts a day will be more than enough."

Huang Shi nodded in agreement. Once the sailors on the sea vessels had rested for a few days, they would set out again to return to Liaodong. In two months they would bring back large numbers of machine tools and skilled workers. What Funingzhen needed to do now, before they returned, was to build enough waterwheels. Whether or not reservoirs would need to be built in the future, Huang Shi knew he could massively expand the production of water-powered machine tools.

The military farmlands of Funingzhen did not seem very reliable, because many of the military fields existed only on paper. Over more than two hundred years, many so-called "unclaimed lands" had been occupied by civilians. Whenever disputes over land arose between soldiers and civilians, the local government offices generally sided with the peasants — after all, they were all subjects under their jurisdiction.

Still other so-called "unclaimed lands" had been taken by military households and hereditary junior officers. Huang Shi knew that if he forcibly reclaimed the occupied land, it would be tantamount to snatching food from the mouths of many impoverished military households. Those hereditary junior officers, though powerless to oppose Huang Shi, were people whose interests Huang Shi was unwilling to infringe upon, lest he provoke panic among the old hands of Funingzhen, making them think these Liaodong men intended to wipe them out completely.

The most crucial point was that although Fujian had no shortage of water, its land could not compare to the fertility of Liaodong. Many of the military farmlands were sandy mountain plots. Huang Shi's veterans were all men accustomed to the great plains of Liaodong, and the quality of the land left them far from satisfied. In the end, Huang Shi simply let the fields continue to lie fallow for the time being. After all, many of these men had not tilled the soil at all in recent years, instead working on the various construction projects Huang Shi had initiated. Now Funingzhen had a hundred things waiting to be built, with no shortage of work to be done, so Huang Shi simply sent the military households off to the worksites to keep laboring.

As for the future? Huang Shi reckoned there would never be a shortage of work going forward — it could only increase. So in his heart he was not particularly worried. As long as the sea trade could be launched with great fanfare, Huang Shi could simply pay to buy land, and sooner or later he would be able to buy it all back.

"Good. Everything is in place. Now we wait for news from the Lu merchants." Huang Shi stamped his foot on the ground beneath him. As long as the Lu merchants were willing to run sea trade along the southeastern coast, this land would quickly become Huang Shi's primary source of income. The sea route from Fujian to Japan was not far either. Based in Funingzhen, his penetration into Zhangzhou would not only not weaken, but would steadily intensify.

"Fujian is fine in every way, except it lacks large trees."

Over the past two days, Fan Le had accompanied Huang Shi across quite a bit of Fujian. Because Fujian had a tradition of seafaring since ancient times, over the course of a thousand years all the large timber had long since been felled to build ships. Whether Huang Shi wanted to run sea trade or to clear out pirates, he would need to build ships in large numbers, yet the timber in Fujian suitable for constructing large warships was pitifully scarce.

Facing the stretches of saplings on the Fujian hillsides, Fan Le, Huang Shi's chief waterwheel expert, could not help sighing: "Back in our Liaodong days we lacked sufficient water power. Now we have water power, but we lack timber."

Huang Shi also questioned some of the local military households of Fujian. In recent years, if the Great Ming naval forces of Fujian, Guangdong, and Zhejiang needed to build large warships, they generally transported timber from the Yungui region, or imported it from the Indochinese Peninsula and the Southern Seas. Large timber in Fujian and Guangdong was far too scarce and certainly insufficient for any large-scale shipbuilding effort.

"Perhaps in the future we can ship it from Liaodong." One of the water conservancy workers accompanying Huang Shi on the terrain survey had once stayed in the Kuandian area. The ancient forests of the Mount Zhangbai region had always been Chen Jisheng's best barrier. The mobile corps of the Dongjiang Right Associate Division hunted black bears there in peacetime and fought the Later Jin troops in wartime — the forest sea was like their homeland.

The Great Ming had ruled Mount Zhangbai for over two hundred years. Although there were many Liaodong Han people, they had mostly only hunted there and rarely felled trees. Thus the trees there were all tall and dense. According to that military household, trees so thick that two men could not wrap their arms around them were everywhere on Mount Zhangbai. Moreover, the northeast was bitterly cold, so the trees grew relatively slowly and the wood was denser in texture — it should be very suitable for shipbuilding.

"It's not entirely out of the question," Huang Shi did not immediately dismiss the idea. The maritime shipping cost for timber was still hard to estimate, but if it was not too high, it would truly be hard to find anyone with more timber than Chen Jisheng. Besides, the quality of Mount Zhangbai timber was matched by few other places: "We might really have to go back to Dongjiangzhen to buy timber. Hmm, cutting timber is certainly more convenient than digging ginseng all over the mountains. Vice Regional Commander Chen may not have much else, but he has forests. His timber is surely the cheapest sold anywhere under heaven. Besides, I could even give him some steel saws for free."

After letting everyone share a relaxed laugh, Huang Shi stood with his hands clasped behind his back for a long while: "But all this is for later. All of it requires vast amounts of silver. Only after Brother Liu has raised the funds can we truly spread our wings."

……

Seven days earlier in Dengzhou, after that merchant had stormed off with his five hundred taels of silver, Liu Qingyang had gone back to work as if nothing had happened. At the time, many were somewhat puzzled, not understanding why General Liu would drive away an enthusiastic contributor. But work was busy then, so everyone had no choice but to keep their doubts to themselves.

Afterwards, some busybodies raised this question with Liu Qingyang. Liu Qingyang pondered for a moment and felt that directly stating his own thoughts might not be easily understood by his subordinates. So he said lightly to the Changsheng Island officers and soldiers: "Let me tell you a story. It is a story about a sage and the sage's disciple."

Liu Qingyang had read quite a few books in his youth, which naturally included the Analects, so he could draw upon the life and deeds of Confucius with ease: "It was during the Spring and Autumn period. The state of Lu enacted a law: if a person of Lu saw a fellow countryman sold into slavery abroad, as long as they were willing to pay to ransom that person back, then upon returning to Lu, the state would compensate them. This law was enforced for many years, and many Lu people stranded in foreign lands were thereby rescued and thus able to return to their homeland."

"A truly good law!" the listeners exclaimed in unison.

"Later, the sage had a disciple named Zigong, who was a very wealthy merchant. He ransomed many Lu people from abroad but refused the state's compensation, because he considered himself to have no need of that money and was willing to bear the burden of ransoming people on behalf of the state."

"A truly good man! Truly worthy of being the sage's disciple." The crowd once again cheered for Zigong in unison.

At the crowd's praise, Liu Qingyang merely smiled faintly. He waited until the voices had quieted somewhat, then said: "But the sage roundly rebuked Zigong without end, saying that Zigong's action harmed heaven and reason, and brought disaster upon countless Lu countrymen in distress."

"Ah—"

Everyone immediately let out cries of astonishment. Since Confucius had said this deed was wrong, they naturally believed that Zigong had indeed done wrong. Yet no matter how they thought about it, Zigong seemed a good man, and he had clearly done a great good deed to ease the state's burden — how could it have harmed heaven and reason?

As the Changsheng Island officers and soldiers buzzed with discussion, Liu Qingyang only smiled and said nothing. After a while, having failed to reach any conclusion, they gathered around Liu Qingyang again and cried out in unison: "General Liu, please don't keep us in suspense."

"The sage said that all things under heaven come down to just two words: righteousness and profit. What the original law of Lu sought was merely the word 'righteousness' in people's hearts. As long as a person, upon seeing a countryman in distress, could feel compassion, as long as he was willing to take the trouble to ransom that person and bring his countryman back to the state, then he could accomplish a good deed. Afterwards, the state would compensate him, so that the doer of the good deed would suffer no loss and could also earn everyone's praise for the 'righteousness' in his heart. Over time, those willing to do good deeds would grow more and more numerous. Therefore, that law was a good law."

Liu Qingyang gave the crowd some time to digest this. He saw them all nodding silently, their faces showing expressions of deep thought.

"The sage also said that what Zigong did, while it won him even higher praise, simultaneously raised the standard of 'righteousness' demanded of everyone. Henceforth, those who ransomed people and then went to the state for compensation might not only fail to receive anyone's praise, but might even be mocked by their countrymen, who would reproach them, asking why they could not share the state's burden as Zigong had. The sage said that Zigong's action set 'righteousness' and 'profit' in opposition to each other. Thus it was not only not a good deed, but rather the most detestable of evil deeds."

Looking at his subordinates, all standing dumbstruck, Liu Qingyang sighed again: "The sage also said that after Zigong's act, many people would begin to pretend not to see their countrymen in distress — because they were not as wealthy as Zigong, or because they did not enjoy the limelight as much as Zigong did. Many Lu people would therefore be unable to return to their homeland. That is why the sage said Zigong's action harmed heaven and reason."

The group fell silent for a time. After who knew how long, a timid voice finally spoke up: "After Zigong did this deed, did the situation in Lu truly turn out as the sage predicted?"

Liu Qingyang glanced at this man who dared to doubt Confucius and said meaningfully: "The sage is the sage."

In the minds of this group, Confucius was practically a godlike figure, and they had long been mentally prepared for this outcome. Yet when that man had asked the question, in their hearts they had faintly harbored a hope — a hope that Confucius might have misjudged just this once, and that those Lu people in distress could still be saved as they always had been.

So when Liu Qingyang confirmed that Lu's good law had consequently fallen into disuse, everyone let out heavy sighs. Liu Qingyang seized this opportunity to drive the point home: "That merchant today who insisted on making a donation — he himself did not even realize that what he wanted to do was exactly what Zigong had already done. If I had agreed today to accept his donation, or agreed to write only one percent interest, then others who wished to profit from the interest would come under criticism. They might then follow suit, donate a few taels of silver, and hurry away. And once word of this spread, no merchant who heard of it would believe that we are truly borrowing money and paying interest."

Liu Qingyang rallied his spirits and poured out what was on his mind: "The sage said that if practicing benevolence and righteousness could yield ample profit, then all under heaven would be filled with benevolent and righteous men. This is what is meant by righteousness and profit being inseparable. The Grand Commander often says that whether they are the soldiers of Changsheng Island or the merchants who sell goods to our Dongjiang, all are righteous men serving the nation. That is why we on Changsheng Island treat our soldiers with great generosity and grant the merchants every possible profit. As I see it, the Grand Commander's approach accords with what the sage said, and thus it is grounded in sound and proper principle."

The crowd listened with wholehearted conviction. Liu Qingyang had set the interest as high as fifty percent precisely in pursuit of large sums of silver, and only by offering high interest could he possibly attract large loans. If today, for the sake of a small gain, they turned the loan into a donation drive, then although they might get tens of thousands of taels of silver for free, they could forget about the original plan to raise over a million taels.

"General Liu's insight is profound."

At last, everyone voiced their sincere and convinced approval.

At this praise, Liu Qingyang smiled faintly again: "The Grand Commander entrusted the heavy responsibility of raising funds to me. This matter concerns the food and clothing of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers on Changsheng Island, concerns their weapons and armor — how could I dare not devote every effort and think thrice before every action? You must all firmly remember: every act of lending money to help our Changsheng Island is a righteous act, and every person who lends money to our frontier troops is a righteous man. We absolutely must not let righteous men suffer loss. Moreover, the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of Changsheng Island all depend on the aid of these righteous men. If we hope for more righteous men to step forward, then we must first do our utmost to help these righteous men gain profit."

Today was already the third day of the "Great Pacification Loan." Liu Qingyang suddenly spotted two familiar figures in the crowd. The two men seemed to have met and conferred before entering, and they walked straight toward Liu Qingyang together.

The first to speak was the merchant who had stormed off in anger three days earlier. He bowed deeply to Liu Qingyang and said with emotion: "General, I gave much offense the other day. I beg your forgiveness."

Without waiting for Liu Qingyang to return the courtesy, the merchant immediately continued in a loud voice: "That day I went back and discussed it with my in-laws and my brothers. In our other trades, even after three years we don't see fifty percent profit. Since profit is to be made either way, we might as well use it to aid Grand Commander Huang. Today I intend to bring forty thousand taels of silver to the General, with a term of three years, if you please."

"However," the loud-voiced merchant shifted his tone and hurriedly added before Liu Qingyang could thank him, "this sum concerns the family fortunes of myself, my brothers, and my in-laws. So I must ask clearly: exactly how does Grand Commander Huang plan to repay the principal and interest?"

When this merchant spoke, the elderly merchant beside him also listened and nodded along, every sentence clearly striking a chord deep in his heart. This old gentleman likewise intended to put up tens of thousands of silver taels. Although Huang Shi’s reputation was resounding, they still harbored doubts, always somewhat worried that Huang Shi would simply take this silver and directly funnel it into military pay.

"That is only right and proper." Liu Qingyang answered in a ringing voice, pointing with full confidence toward the row of seats behind him, which were already packed with quite a number of merchants: "Gentlemen, please take the seats of honor. I have already arranged the documents, and am just waiting to clear up any doubts you may have."

These documents that Liu Qingyang had prepared would patiently inform them of the uses for the loans. Although the detailed inner workings of the operation could not be disclosed, the plan had already categorized and laid out expenses such as chartering ships, purchasing goods, and opening shops, along with a good deal of related budget estimates. The merchants making the loans were thus considerably reassured, and with Huang Shi’s reputation—which today was enough to shake the realm—the slight misgivings in their hearts vanished like smoke and scattered clouds.

By the end of the tenth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, when Zhen Yucun returned to Dengzhou from Jinan, Liu Qingyang had already, in those fifteen days, raised over two million seven hundred thousand silver taels for Huang Shi.