[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-287":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Stealing Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1220904,1614,"Chapter 287: Chapter Forty-Four: Reversal","stealing-ming-chapter-287",287,"\u003Cp>On the twenty-seventh day of the tenth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, at Funing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the phenomenon of failing to acclimatize is unavoidable, Huang Shi had always believed that a considerable number of cases were caused by illness, because the proportion of such patients in this era was simply far too high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Six years of experience in Liaodong had proven that Huang Shi’s judgment had some validity, and men like Hu Qingbai had also been constantly refining the relevant hygiene regulations. In the past, when campaigning in Liaodong, Changsheng Island’s non-combat attrition was far lower than that of friendly forces. Now that they had relocated thousands of miles to Fujian, many officers were extremely worried about the soldiers’ physical condition, and a few extreme individuals even believed that twenty to thirty percent of the soldiers would die from failing to acclimatize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Huang Shi did not share this view. The Great Ming’s official appointment system required officials to serve away from their native places, and transferring officials from one distant corner of the realm to another was routine, yet no one had ever heard of such high mortality rates among those officials. From this, Huang Shi deduced that the high rates of illness and death among soldiers were primarily due to poor nutrition, as well as inadequate management and care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Reporting to the Grand Commander, new cases of diarrhea among the officers and men have decreased by fifty percent today, and the total number of sick has dropped by twenty percent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Qingbai, the divine physician of Changsheng Island, reported loudly to Huang Shi with a trace of pride. Throughout the sea voyage and after arriving at Funing Garrison, Hu Qingbai had been bustling about from top to bottom, enforcing strict hygiene regulations. All officers and men had to drink boiled water, each man had to eat a portion of vegetables every day, and anyone who fell ill received immediate treatment and close care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm, very good.” This news let Huang Shi breathe a sigh of relief. Through the collective efforts of all the officers and men, the failure to acclimatize had been minimized. Of the more than twenty thousand Liaodong officers and men, although over three thousand had fallen ill so far, the hygiene regulations Hu Qingbai had summarized over many years had produced an enormous effect. The sick were isolated and controlled, vomit and excrement were promptly cleared away, and they could also get enough boiled drinking water through their attendants. Under these highly effective hygiene regulations, the death toll was held to single digits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grand Commander, these are herbal medicines mentioned by the local Fujian military households. We have already recorded them all, and those that prove effective will also be incorporated into the hygiene regulations.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi merely glanced casually at the medical list before handing it back to Hu Qingbai. In fact, Hu Qingbai had handed it to Huang Shi precisely so he could give it that casual glance. Now, with the constant internal division of labor within the army, Huang Shi had gradually become ignorant in various fields. Take the military training that He Dingyuan was responsible for, for example. A few years ago, Huang Shi had been He Dingyuan’s teacher and had once made He Dingyuan prostrate himself in admiration with a stolen training method, but now, compared to He Dingyuan, Huang Shi was a complete layman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last time Huang Shi inspected training on Changsheng Island, he discovered that the military terminology He Dingyuan had tinkered out for training had already become piles and piles, more than half of which Huang Shi could no longer understand. He Dingyuan even seemed somewhat impatient with Huang Shi’s constant questions, and the implication behind his words was — Grand Commander, you just need to know the command signals for the battlefield; when the time comes, I will certainly hand over a batch of well-trained officers and men to you. As for how I trained them, if you have the time, go read the training regulations yourself; don’t hang around me for no reason and delay my proper official business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, Huang Shi summoned Song Army Supervisor from the training corps to make inquiries and discovered that the training regulations had indeed made great progress. It was not just He Dingyuan alone — even these professional instructors of the training corps had already left Huang Shi far behind in this area. After a bout of lamentation, Huang Shi gave up the idea of thoroughly familiarizing himself with the entire training process, and from then on, for specialized regulations in other areas, he also let go and allowed the men below to handle things themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The envoys Huang Shi had sent to Quanzhou and Xiamen had both returned. Whether it was the Fujian Provincial Governor Zhu Yifeng or the South Route Vice Regional Commander Yu Zigao, their replies to Huang Shi were all extremely courteous, telling him to rest for a month or two first, and then they would arrange for colleagues to hold a welcoming banquet for him. Both letters greatly praised Huang Shi’s martial valor and reputation. Not only did Huang Shi not see the slightest hint of civil official arrogance in Zhu Yifeng’s letter, but even Yu Zigao expressed that he had no objection whatsoever to Huang Shi assuming the post of Fujian Commander.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although their words were polite, that did not mean Huang Shi could be presumptuous. The most pressing issue of settling in had already been resolved, so Huang Shi hurriedly set off for Quanzhou to pay his respects to the Provincial Governor, and then he would also have to go to Xiamen in person, in order to dispel as much as possible the misunderstandings and estrangement between himself and Yu Zigao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before departing, Huang Shi again summoned the local old boatmen and shipbuilding carpenters to inquire about the shipbuilding situation. Just as Huang Shi had feared, large timber was indeed already very scarce in Fujian and Guangzhou, and it was also hard to find suitable large timber even in neighboring Zhejiang. Transporting timber from Yunnan and Guizhou was extremely expensive and time-consuming, so in recent decades, the large timber for the naval fleets of the three provinces of Yue, Min, and Zhe had mainly been purchased from the Southern Seas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, ever since the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli reign, after the Wanli Emperor sent men to carefully investigate the gold and silver mines in the Luzon region, the Spanish had remained constantly wary of China. Thus, it was said that the quality of the Southern Seas timber purchased in recent years was not very good either, because the Spanish felt that the Great Ming harbored ill intentions, and top-quality large timber was a strategic material for the fleets of any nation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing this account, Huang Shi and Fan Le exchanged a glance. The Spanish hostility had already erupted once in the thirty-sixth year of the Wanli reign. After discovering that Wanli had sent men to reconnoiter the terrain around Manila, they feared a Great Ming invasion was imminent and therefore carried out a massacre targeting the Chinese in Manila, in which over three thousand people perished, and the Chinese merchants who had assisted Wanli in reconnoitering the terrain were also hanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This massacre infuriated Wanli, who issued a palace directive ordering the Grand Secretariat to deliberate on a punitive expedition, but this met with the firm opposition of the Fujian Provincial Governor. At the time, it had already been confirmed that there were no silver mines in the Luzon region, and that the Spanish transported silver from other regions to Luzon to trade with China, so even if an attack on Luzon succeeded, nothing would be gained. On the contrary, it would cut off one’s own source of money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wanli Son of Heaven seemed to find the Fujian Provincial Governor’s argument very reasonable, so in the end he merely sent an envoy bearing a state letter to Manila to demand an explanation, stating that he had sent men to search for silver mines in Manila merely out of idle boredom and absolutely without the slightest ill intent. The Spanish also seemed to accept Wanli’s explanation and apologized for the matter, but estrangement between the two sides emerged from that point on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few years ago, the Great Ming fought another prolonged war with the Dutch at Penghu, and the Ming army expended enormous effort before finally driving the Dutch out of the Penghu Islands. The Dutch were now also extremely unfriendly toward the Fujian Great Ming navy. Therefore, even if the Spanish were willing to sell large timber, the Dutch might not necessarily allow it to pass through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This issue had also been introduced to Huang Shi by Fan Le and Desmond. But that fellow Fan Le was quite slippery; he said that since he was now an officer of the Great Ming, he would certainly consider the Great Ming’s interests. That Desmond was also considering joining the Great Ming military household, and his views were basically the same as Fan Le’s: as hired personnel, they would absolutely never fight against their motherland; but once they became Great Ming officers, then the Great Ming would be their motherland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These two fellows were both Dutch vagabonds who had become overnight nouveaux riches after arriving in China. Huang Shi did believe in their loyalty, but if war ever broke out in the future, they would certainly have to be kept in the rear. Huang Shi decided to immediately dispatch a team of messengers to Kuandian; this messenger team would include three combat engineers and several shipwrights: “It seems we must discuss the timber issue with Chen Jisheng.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Jisheng certainly did not have enough manpower to haul large timber down from Mount Zhangbai every day, so the first thing Huang Shi thought of was using the rivers. After all, behind Kuandian was the Yalujiang; as long as Chen Jisheng felled the trees and tossed them into the river, Mao Wenlong could intercept them at the river mouth and load them onto ships bound for Fujian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, all this would have to wait until the weather warmed and the Yalujiang thawed. Huang Shi included several combat engineers in the messenger team precisely to help Chen Jisheng study the terrain and water currents. Chen Jisheng was already wretchedly poor in Kuandian, and Huang Shi believed that the idea of cutting down large trees to sell for money would certainly interest Vice Regional Commander Chen greatly — the trees there were as plentiful as the sand in an Arab’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the several shipwrights Huang Shi sent, they would naturally also remain long-term in Kuandian with the combat engineers. Huang Shi intended for them to be responsible for instructing Chen Jisheng on what kind of trees to cut. As a modern man, Huang Shi still felt some resistance to reckless deforestation, and he worried that if he did not send men, Chen Jisheng would madly chop down every single tree he laid eyes on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We still need to find a naval architect. I’ll have to write to the Jesuits again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi was a thoroughgoing pragmatist. Although he could not say for certain that Chinese Guangdong-style sailing ships had no future prospects, in his history, Western ocean-going vessels had already proven successful. So Huang Shi did not overthink it and decided to take the path of large Western-style warships. And his senior advisors, Fan Le, Deng Ken, and the others, were all Westerners, so they naturally and resolutely supported Huang Shi’s decision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most important issue in building seagoing ships was treating the timber. For this purpose, Changsheng Island had even built a hydraulic sawmill. The efficiency of this machine in sawing wood was, of course, far superior to human labor. A plank that required ten strong men an entire day to saw took less than a single two-hour period under the hydraulic saw. But this hydraulic machine, like all the other machines on Changsheng Island, faced the problem of severely wasted production capacity. In the past, Changsheng Island had neither the money nor the need to produce large numbers of seagoing ships, and the precious hydraulic resources had to be used for other heavy machinery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Fujian had abundant water power, and Huang Shi was eager to establish a navy, so the hydraulic saw suddenly had a bright future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After arranging the work at hand, Huang Shi immediately set out with his men for Quanzhou. Fujian was mountainous, and Huang Shi felt that rather than taking the winding and twisting official roads, it was better to travel by sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What a huge fish!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enormous! Who has a bow? Quickly, bring a bow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No bow…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No bow? Then use a fire lance, oh, and there are javelins too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time Huang Shi was drawn to the stern by the clamor, he saw Zhang Pan standing at the stern facing the sea, a fire lance pointed straight at the water’s surface. Young Zhang had closed one eye and was carefully aiming; several men stood in a row beside him, all holding already-lit fire lances in their hands, their postures just like when they were doing marksmanship training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Apart from this group of fire-lance men, several others had also boarded the small boat at the stern. Each of them held a javelin and seemed ready to hurl them into the sea. Including those men who were preparing to go into the sea to retrieve the dead fish, everyone on the ship was peering nervously into the sea, all rubbing their hands and eager to kill the fish for a grand feast. The corners of these Liaodong officers’ and men’s mouths were practically drooling, and they craned their necks so far out that not a single one of them noticed Huang Shi had arrived behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Pan was concentrating intently on aiming at his target. Whether or not his shot hit, several javelins would be thrown simultaneously. Several large fish were following behind the stern; the small boat would go over to retrieve them after the attack, so as not to scare the fish away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sudden loud shout came from behind, startling Zhang Pan so much that he shuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi called out again, walked into the crowd, and sternly ordered: “Put out all the match cords… and you few, come back aboard, do not touch these fish.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying this, Huang Shi still felt it was not enough and issued an additional order: from now on, no one was permitted to touch the large white fish that followed behind the ship’s stern; violators would be dealt with as disobeying a military order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Zhang Pan was also a general now, he was simply too young and playful, so he lacked any general’s authority. And although Huang Shi himself strove to cultivate an approachable image, his achievements shone so brilliantly that none of his subordinates dared look him straight in the eye. After this recent charge into Liaoyang, even He Dingyuan had become much more compliant, and the number of times he talked back or argued with Huang Shi had decreased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing Huang Shi’s order, the men could only silently watch the large fish that made their mouths water swim behind the ship, swallowing the saliva back down their throats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This kind of fish…” Huang Shi remembered that dolphins did not belong to the fish category in biological classification, but never mind that, as long as everyone understood: “This is a divine fish, and must absolutely not be offended.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whoa!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At these words, the crowd instantly erupted as if a pot had boiled over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“See for yourselves, this white fish is the incarnation of the goddess Mazu, the guardian deity of seafarers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pod of white dolphins was leaping joyfully behind the stern. Huang Shi pressed his palms together and solemnly paid his respects to these dolphins. The goddess Mazu had been the guardian deity of navigation in the Min Sea for a thousand years; during the Song dynasty, the worship of Mazu had already spread from the Min Sea to the Yue Sea and the Zhe Sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Liaodong men on board had mostly been farmers for the first half of their lives, some of the more widely traveled ones recalled the name of Mazu. Since the Ming dynasty, the number of Chinese ocean voyages had greatly increased, and many Ming ministers, including Zheng He, would sincerely pray to the goddess Mazu before embarking on a sea journey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Great Ming’s national power grew day by day, the Ming people built numerous temples to Mazu around the South China Sea and erected a great number of stone steles extolling the goddess. By the Tianqi reign, Mazu was the undisputed guardian deity of navigation in Southeast Asia and the Indochina region. Even when the Spanish and the Dutch first arrived at Malacca, they too prayed to Mazu, calling her the guardian goddess of these waters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the history Huang Shi knew, the Manchu Qing nearly completely destroyed China’s maritime culture, and Mazu gradually degenerated from a widely influential goddess into a local deity. Although those ignorant barbarians caused China to lose its influence over Southeast Asia for centuries, outside of China, the seeds the Great Ming had planted for the goddess took root and sprouted. By the Republican era, whether before Mazu temples in Vietnam or Indonesia, the incense offerings to the goddess still burned unceasingly. At such moments, every descendant of the Yellow Emperor could proudly say: Look, these are the places our ancestors sailed to; this is the civilization they bequeathed to the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Although Fujian has no shortage of water, the soil is mostly sandy, so the land’s yield is limited and insufficient to support the people. Since ancient times, the men of Fujian have mostly set sail to sea, leaving the women at home to farm the land. Only in this way could they have enough harvest to live a good life…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi recounted the hazy legends about Mazu from his memory, and the officers and men around him listened with solemn expressions:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But storms come without warning. To catch more fish, the fishermen who went out to sea would sometimes be gone for days, and many of them never returned. Mazu was from Hui’an. Her husband and several brothers all went out to sea to fish one after another, and not a single one came back. Mazu waited and waited on the shore, but no loved one ever returned. In the end, she threw herself into the sea and transformed into this divine fish…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dolphins often rescue sailors and fishermen who fall overboard, sometimes even carrying them back to shore. When fishermen are fishing, dolphins also often follow behind their boats. At such times, sailors and fishermen would shout loudly: Look, Mazu is protecting us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mazu lives forever in the sea and can never come ashore again. She is the guardian deity of the brave and hardworking fishermen, and also the guardian deity of the wives waiting on the shore. She ensures that hard work is rewarded and that lovers can reunite… protecting the living beings along the coast, unchanging for a thousand years as if it were a single day.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing Huang Shi’s words, the men on the ship also pressed their palms together and bowed their heads in respect toward the white dolphins behind the stern. Including Zhang Pan, the de facto controller of the Loyalty to the Sovereign and Love of Country Catholic Church, everyone sincerely prayed to the sea goddess of the Chinese nation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Golden sunlight slanted down from the firmament, dyeing the South China Sea in shades of pink. The snow-white dolphins leaped out of the water one after another, joyfully bringing up strings of glistening droplets, as if dancing for this voyage and bestowing upon them the blessings of the sea goddess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After arriving in Quanzhou, Huang Shi first paid a visit to the Fujian Provincial Governor. The next day, he led his men around the city. Having lived on Zhangsheng Island in Liaodong for far too long, Huang Shi found himself a little unaccustomed to suddenly being in a bustling, prosperous place like Quanzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Since we're in Quanzhou, we absolutely must see the East and West Pagodas. It would be a real shame to miss them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking up to Kaiyuan Temple, Huang Shi once again gazed up at the magnificent East and West Pagodas. He had been here once before. But compared to his last visit, Huang Shi was now considerably older, while Kaiyuan Temple was over three hundred years younger — a fact that left one not knowing whether to laugh or cry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as he had at Shanhai Pass, Huang Shi once again played tour guide for his subordinates: \"Kaiyuan Temple was built during the Tang Dynasty and has a history of over a thousand years. Since the Tang era, Quanzhou has been a major southeastern port. Merchants from the Western Regions and the Arab lands came in an endless stream. Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and other faiths were all introduced to our China one after another. The Tang Dynasty treated all religions equally; as long as they did not fight among themselves, their temples were all protected.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the Song Dynasty, Quanzhou had advanced further to become China's most important maritime port. Song goods set sail from here, bound for Vietnam, Thailand, India, and beyond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came the Mongol Yuan invasion, which plundered and emptied the wealth China had accumulated over centuries. After the Great Ming was founded, the state had virtually no currency available for trade. Zhu Hongwu collected no more than one hundred thousand taels of silver annually in taxes. Under such a severe shortage of hard currency, China's domestic trade nearly degenerated into barter, and taxation almost completely reverted to in-kind payments. Against this historical backdrop, Quanzhou rapidly declined, its commerce withering to the point of near extinction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, before Huang Shi's eyes, Quanzhou Harbor was once again a scene of a thousand sails racing and a hundred ships vying for passage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quanzhou underwent another transformation during the Longqing reign of the Great Ming. The Longqing Emperor was the father of the Wanli Emperor. This Son of Heaven was a kind and honest man, but he had the misfortune of having formidable figures like Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng all gathered in the Grand Secretariat. The honest are bullied. During Longqing's reign, the Grand Secretariat not only gave the Emperor nicknames but also repeatedly mocked him, saying that rather than troubling himself to question the Secretariat's views, the Son of Heaven would be better off returning to the rear palace to sire a few more imperial princes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his six years attending court, the Longqing Emperor never dared utter a single opinion to the Grand Secretariat beyond \"Yes, yes\" and \"Good, good.\" By the end of the Longqing reign, Grand Secretary Gao Gong had begun to proclaim that the Great Ming's Son of Heaven should not have the right to \"retain and withhold\" the Secretariat's draft rescripts — meaning the Emperor should have no veto power over the Grand Secretariat's decisions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The honest and kind Longqing Emperor, constantly hearing the Grand Secretariat fret over currency at court, took it upon himself to dispatch eunuchs to Fujian to open the Moon Port in Zhangzhou, exchanging Chinese silk for overseas silver. This sea route is what Westerners call the \"Maritime Silk Road.\" By the time the Longqing Emperor passed away, he had left Zhang Juzheng thirty million taels of silver earned through maritime trade. Zhang Juzheng relied on this wealth to complete the silver-standard reform, transforming the Great Ming's in-kind taxes into monetary taxes in one stroke. When the Wanli Emperor took power, that Son of Heaven, who cared for money more than face, declared the abolition of ship permits and imposed taxes on every single cargo ship that set sail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, censors and ministers accused Wanli of competing for profit with the common people, and claimed that ever since Wanli abolished ship permits and switched to collecting maritime taxes, the seafaring folk had been \"suffering from cold and hunger, their misery beyond words.\" But the Wanli Emperor, steadfast in his money-over-face stance, argued that if taxation made maritime trade unprofitable, then the people would simply stop going to sea. The fact that more and more ships were setting sail proved that even after paying taxes, the maritime merchants still had money to be made.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wanli also shot back at the censors and ministers: Are the seafaring folk all fools? Or do they have so much silver at home that they insist on paying His Majesty a maritime tax even when they know they'll take a loss?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with a Son of Heaven who treated imperial dignity as nothing, the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty truly had no recourse left — apart from cursing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bells of Kaiyuan Temple echoed long and deep around Huang Shi and his party. Inside, the monks beat their wooden fish drums with a steady thump, solemnly chanting sutras with majestic dignity. The incense and candles offered by visitors sent up wisps of ethereal blue smoke, as if draping another layer of sacred radiance over the masters' robes. Huang Shi and his men held their breath and fell silent, moving slowly and softly through this thousand-year-old temple. Like the other devout men and women, they reverently offered a stick of incense to the Bodhisattva, left a small donation, and then quietly departed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Truly remarkable.\" Zhang Pan and the others, who had rarely seen such thousand-year-old relics back in Liaodong, were all visibly stirred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Indeed.\" Only after stepping out of Kaiyuan Temple's main gate did Huang Shi let out a long, heavy breath. Faced with such ancient, historic sites, he always felt an involuntary sense of awe, and a faint trace of pride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaving Kaiyuan Temple, Huang Shi led his men to get something to eat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Wanli reign, Quanzhou had been at its zenith. The streets were now filled with merchants coming and going, loudly conversing in every accent of the Great Ming. Blond, blue-eyed white men and charcoal-skinned black men were also a common sight. The Liaodong men pointed at these people, chattering endlessly with the wonder of those who have seen little of the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Here in Quanzhou, we can sample all sorts of Fujian's local specialties.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Better than pickled cabbage? No way, right?\" Hong Antong immediately displayed his deep attachment to his homeland's cuisine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi smiled faintly. After living so many years in Liaonan, he had grown quite fond of the food there too: \"Every region has its own character. Just as in Dalian we eat green clams, in Tianjin we eat hemp clams, in Fujian... we eat venus clams.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The streets of Quanzhou were lined with many snack shops. Though it was already late October, the weather was still warm. Outside many shops, one could see several strapping men, stripped to the waist, each wielding a wooden club and pounding furiously at something, producing a thunderous crackling noise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the personal guards asked curiously, \"What are they doing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They're making meatballs and fishballs,\" Huang Shi once again played the guide. He told his deeply curious subordinates: Northerners usually add some flour to shape their meatballs, but Fujian is different. The young men at the meatball shops are pounding the meat; they'll keep pounding until the meat is extremely springy before making it into balls. \"Fujianese like to use fish with stickier flesh, like shark, to make fishballs. They always boast that Fujian fishballs are so bouncy you can drop one on the ground and it'll spring three feet high. Some Fujian meatballs even have fillings inside — like fishballs stuffed with pork filling, giving you both the crisp, bouncy texture of fishballs and the rich aroma of pork meatballs...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright. Let's pick this place to sit.\" Huang Shi pointed to a shop by the roadside. The four young men outside this shop were pounding with particular vigor; you could tell at a glance that this shop's meatballs would definitely have a good chew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once they sat down, a waiter immediately came to take their order. The waiter's half-baked Mandarin gave Zhang Pan and the others quite a headache, since their own Mandarin wasn't much better either. Huang Shi had to handle the waiter alone. In the end, Huang Shi even made a point of ordering a local specialty with great aplomb: \"O-a-jian, extra shrimp!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bizarre pronunciation left Zhang Pan, Hong Antong, and the others staring blankly. The waiter, however, simply nodded, answered \"Right away,\" and turned to leave. Huang Shi smugly explained to them: \"That's just the Liaodong sea oyster. But the sea oysters here in Fujian are smaller; the Fujianese call them 'pearl oysters.' 'O-a-jian' is pan-fried pearl oysters with scallions — very fragrant.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Pan and the others all stared dumbly at Huang Shi, as if looking at a complete stranger. Finally, Hong Antong stammered, \"Truly worthy of my lord — to have investigated even these matters so thoroughly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi declined to explain further and merely burst into hearty laughter. The waiters soon brought out chive pockets, taro buns, and fried meat rolls, and they all dug in while the food was still hot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Great Ming had lifted the maritime ban, merchants from every nation had flocked to Quanzhou to trade. By the Tianqi reign, the total number of Arab and European merchants who had chosen to settle here exceeded tens of thousands. Over the decades, in addition to traditional Chinese temples, brand-new mosques and churches had also been built within Quanzhou's walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the setting sun sank in the west, all the various temples rang out with sonorous bells. Clergy of different faiths sang aloud, waving their arms toward the sky, pouring out their boundless praise and reverence for the divine. Quanzhou Harbor was packed with ships from all corners of the world. Though the sky gradually darkened, the marketplace remained bustling. Shops lit their candles one after another, and great crowds of citizens and traveling merchants lingered along the streets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magnificent spectacle of such a major commercial port naturally left frontier soldiers like Zhang Pan and Hong Antong so awestruck they could barely eat. Even Huang Shi himself was equally amazed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Huang Shi's previous life, records of China's prosperous maritime trade had been almost entirely destroyed. Often, one could only catch a glimpse of the southeastern coastal trade of this era through the contemporaneous notes of Europeans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the fortieth year of the Wanli reign, the Spanish in Manila wrote: \"The Maritime Silk Road grows more prosperous by the day. Chinese merchant ships sailing from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou to Manila form an unbroken stream, creating a passage across the sea. At first glance, one could almost leap from ship to ship, hopping all the way from Manila to Quanzhou.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although piracy had been growing more rampant since the Tianqi reign, maritime trade still continued. This was precisely the fundamental reason Huang Shi dared to take out loans. Had he not been reborn in the Ming Dynasty after the Longqing-Wanli reforms, but in any other era, Huang Shi would simply have been unable to conduct import-export trade free from government quotas, and he would never have been able to repay his debts in this lifetime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This place is wonderful. No war, no barbarians who don't even have a written language and know only rape and plunder.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Pan's sigh of emotion drew a chorus of assenting murmurs, but it shattered Huang Shi's good mood in an instant. Just outside his window seat, men and women with happy smiles streamed past in an endless flow, and the laughter of children could be heard from time to time. The crowd on the street — happy, serene, peaceful, and carefree. At the harbor entrance, a late-arriving sailing ship was slowly making its way toward its berth, its white sails gently lowering. If you listened closely, you could almost hear the joyful songs of the sailors, home at last...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Huang Shi had never come to this time and space, then in just over twenty years, of this crowd filling the streets — whether white-haired elders or innocent, adorable children, whether vigorous young men or contented young girls — on average, two out of every three would be slaughtered...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a catastrophe would not be confined to Quanzhou alone. The entire land of Shenzhou would sink into a sea of blood. Hundreds of shipyards along the Fujian-Zhejiang coast would be burned to the ground along with their ships. Every living person within thirty li of the coast would be brutally murdered...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why must our people suffer such a calamity? Why must our unarmed civilians be massacred? Why must our civilization endure such a reversal?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who is tolerating evil, allowing it to grow into a menace? And who are those who betray our nation and push our people into misery?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last day of the tenth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign. Liaoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The four beile were gathered in council. Amin, his face dark, said, \"Our envoy has returned from the Khorchin Mongols. According to them, the Khorchin chieftain is still ill, and it doesn't look like he'll recover anytime soon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daišan let out an angry, low growl: \"Lies! These faithless, treacherous Mongols are the most unreliable of all!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By all reason, given the close ties between the Khorchin Mongols and the Later Jin, their chieftain ought to have come in person to mourn Nurhaci. But ever since Huang Shi had stirred up those rumors, the Khorchin chieftain had been perpetually ill, and his eldest son had also suddenly become too busy to come. Hong Taiji had repeatedly extended invitations, but they kept making excuses and refused to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though inwardly anxious, Hong Taiji still wore an expression of complete confidence. He turned to the listless Manggūltai beside him and asked, \"Fifth Brother, what do you think?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh?\" Manggūltai seemed startled, lifting his head to stare blankly at Hong Taiji, his eyes dull and lifeless. \"What are you talking about? I didn't catch it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Taiji cast a disappointed look at his fifth brother, then repeated the matter of the Khorchin Mongols. As Manggūltai listened, his head slowly drooped. After Hong Taiji finished, he merely muttered a few words in a low voice: \"I have no thoughts.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since Nurhaci's death had been exploited by Huang Shi, Manggūltai had been practically a broken man. Hong Taiji had several times taken the initiative to invite Manggūltai out hunting with him, but each time Manggūltai had calmly refused: \"Eighth Brother, go play by yourself. I'm not in the mood right now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when news came that Huang Shi had left Liaonan did Manggūltai seem to briefly awaken from his delusions, a near-mad joy bursting from his eyes... but it lasted only a moment. Hong Taiji watched helplessly as the flame in Manggūltai's eyes gradually dimmed, flickered, flickered, flickered... until it was utterly extinguished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Manggūltai sank back into complete despondency, merely uttering in a low voice: \"He will still come back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Taiji had always prided himself on being imperturbable, but Manggūltai's tone was so sorrowful, so desolate, that even the iron-hearted Hong Taiji felt a pang of grief upon hearing it. Now Manggūltai lingered in a half-dead state all day, always distracted during council meetings, preoccupied with fiddling with a strange-shaped, simple ornament around his neck — it seemed to be two metal rods crossed together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Masters! The four masters!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Later Jin niru commander stumbled in, hastily shouting to the four beile: \"Someone has come from the Ming State — it's the Ming State's Liaodong Provincial Governor. He has sent men to mourn the Old Khan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three beile other than Manggūltai all rose to their feet. After clarifying the situation, Hong Taiji was so agitated his voice trembled: \"Quickly, invite them in.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Hong Taiji hurriedly turned his head toward Manggūltai, who was still sitting there in a stupor, his hand still unconsciously fiddling with the cross. Hong Taiji shouted excitedly: \"Fifth Brother, quickly, go invite the merchants of Liaoyang, the lamas, and all the Mongol tribesmen here!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh?\" Manggūltai raised his head: \"What did you say? I didn't catch it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The official sent by Yuan Chonghuan announced loudly with an arrogant air: \"Condolence gifts: five hundred taels of gold, five thousand taels of silver.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Many thanks to the envoy of the Celestial Court.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daišan, Hong Taiji, and Amin bowed humbly in return, then respectfully ushered Yuan Chonghuan's envoy into the banquet. This time, a Lama had also been entrusted by Yuan Chonghuan to accompany that Liaodong official to Liaoyang, and this intermediary was naturally invited into the grand feast as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The social luminaries of Liaoyang were once again mobilized. Although the four Beile now stood shoulder to shoulder as equals, Hong Taiji was, after all, nominally the Great Khan of the Later Jin, so he personally escorted Yuan Chonghuan's envoy to the seat of honor. Then, with Hong Taiji leading the way, round after round of toasting began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the banquet ended, Hong Taiji's mood suddenly became excellent again. Yuan Chonghuan's envoy had said that the Ming court had not acknowledged Huang Shi's merit in killing Nurhaci. Although the Later Jin and the various Mongol tribes had long known this, and understood that the main reason the Ming court refused to acknowledge the merit was the issue of the head, Hong Taiji believed that inducing the Liaodong Provincial Governor's envoy to utter these words in public would still carry great significance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Send Dorgon to the Ming state as a hostage. We desperately need a period of respite.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daišan and Amin both deeply approved of this proposal put forward by Hong Taiji. As Amin nodded, he did not forget to add: \"Excellent. This way, the Mongols will most likely think we are about to accept amnesty, or at least have reached a preliminary agreement with the Ming state, so at least we can do some trading. Hmm, if it really won't do, we can also add Dodo and send both brothers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the council, Manggūltai maintained his usual silence. His brothers had long grown accustomed to this, so they did not ask for his opinion again. After the meeting dispersed, Hong Taiji walked over to Manggūltai's side and patted him on the shoulder: \"Fifth Brother, let's go home. We have finished our discussion.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know. I did not miss a single word of what you just said,\" Manggūltai replied in a deep voice. When he raised his head, Hong Taiji was startled to see a long-absent sharp gleam in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Eighth Brother.\" Manggūltai suddenly reached out and grasped Hong Taiji's arm, his tone rapid yet resolute: \"Let us seize this opportunity and simply surrender!\"\u003C\u002Fp>",6514,"2026-06-04T07:54:54.057Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","4e798a75e6d0bc176484d71492b7fdaf62e2d0e4ae51579cdeb770dd4003b16b","stealing-ming-chapter-288","stealing-ming-chapter-286",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]