[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-304":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},1220921,1614,"Chapter 304: Section Fifty-Six: Reconstruction (Part One)","stealing-ming-chapter-304",304,"\u003Cp>On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, Mao Wenlong once again sent a letter to Huang Taiji requesting peace talks. This letter reached Liaoyang in the first month of the second year of the Chongzhen reign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dongjiang has sent another letter. This time they explain that when Scholar Ma set foot on Dongjiang Island, he was discovered by several personal enemies. These enemies then went to Mao Wenlong to air their grievances. Mao Wenlong felt he had no intention of helping them take revenge and even had them flogged. Enraged, these men then went to report to the Ministry of Revenue official Huang Zhongse. Huang Zhongse then arrested Scholar Ma. Hmm…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Taiji paused here. He carefully examined the context again and continued reading aloud to his brothers: \"That is exactly what was said before. What follows is that Mao Wenlong seized the man back from the Ming Ministry of Revenue, but the matter was thereby exposed, so he had no choice but to hand Kuoke over to Huang Zhongse to be taken away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tsk, tsk!\" Amin, who was listening in, could not help but let out exclamations of admiration. As soon as Huang Taiji finished speaking, he leisurely began to analyze the situation at the time: \"Wenlong was truly far too careless. The Ming Ministry of Revenue's Huang Zhongse had already come ashore on the island on the fourth day of the fourth month. Wenlong knew full well these were secret negotiations, yet he insisted on bringing Kuoke from Tieshan over to Dongjiang Island… Hmm, Wenlong's brain seems rather dull as well. When Scholar Ma's several enemies came to him to file a complaint, he merely had them flogged and expelled, never once imagining that these men would go to Huang Zhongse to report the matter, nor did he think to notify Kuoke and the others.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Correct. The letter says exactly that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amin laughed heartily a few times and voiced even more admiration: \"Wenlong knew that the matter of negotiating peace and betraying the Ming with us could not be leaked, and that Scholar Ma, who was responsible for translation, might let something slip. So he dispatched troops to snatch Scholar Ma back from the Ming Ministry of Revenue, and then immediately killed him to silence him. But Wenlong must have then reconsidered—this would too easily arouse suspicion. So he arrested Kuoke, who knew all the inside details, and handed him over to Huang Zhongse, in order to prove his innocence to the Ming court. So Wenlong is actually this stupid? How come I never saw it before?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Taiji nodded in agreement: \"It's not just that. Mao Wenlong says he bribed Ming court officials with forty thousand taels of silver just to save Kuoke's life. He seems not the least bit worried that the Embroidered Uniform Guard could get anything out of Kuoke's mouth. Moreover, he is even less worried that Huang Zhongse would betray him, nor does he explain why he waited until the Ministry of Revenue arrested the man before he went to snatch him back and then hand him over… The relationship between Huang Zhongse and Mao Wenlong must be extremely good, as close as blood brothers. Yet Huang Zhongse would arbitrarily arrest Mao Wenlong's man, and Mao Wenlong has just recently denounced his brother Huang Zhongse to the Ming court as utterly devoid of conscience, for counting only thirty-six thousand troops on Pi Island.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And Wenlong's eye for people is also remarkably sharp. That Huang Zhongse truly did not betray him, and the Ming court even rewarded Wenlong for binding and delivering Kuoke.\" Amin chuckled a few more times, then asked Huang Taiji with a grin: \"Then what are we waiting for? Why haven't we paraded Wenlong's envoy through the streets and then executed him by slow slicing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because this time Mao Wenlong is again saying he wants to join us in a pincer attack against the Ming. In his letter, he claims that for the Dongjiang Army to strike Shandong and Nanjing is as easy as turning over one's hand, and that afterward he would coordinate with us in a north-south pincer attack on Shanhai Pass.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amin let out a snort of laughter: \"Perhaps charging through the Great Ming Gate in Beijing would be more useful!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course it's nonsense. But even if we handed this letter over to the Ming court, it would be useless. I reckon Mao Wenlong has long since reported this letter to the Ming court in his routine dispatches, so no one could use it to accuse him of plotting rebellion or colluding with the enemy.\" Huang Taiji's guess was not wrong in the slightest. Mao Wenlong had indeed notified the Great Ming court of these letters early on, and had explained to the court that this was a ploy to lull the Later Jin into complacency. In his previous life, Huang Shi had also seen these memorials from Mao Wenlong in the Dongjiang routine reports and the Guoque.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And by the time of the Shuangdao Incident, Yuan Chonghuan likewise felt he could not accuse Mao Wenlong of colluding with the enemy, because no one colluding with the enemy would promptly report his correspondence with the enemy to the imperial court. Yuan Chonghuan also seemed to think that accusing Mao Wenlong of plotting rebellion was somewhat too shameless, because no traitor with a functioning brain would certainly report his rebellion plans to the imperial court either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the charge Yuan Chonghuan laid on Mao Wenlong was using improper wording in his letter to the Later Jin, and moreover faithfully submitting such letters to the throne was an act of disturbing the imperial hearing. \"Your memorial contains the phrase 'taking Dengzhou and seizing Nanjing as easily as turning over one's hand,' which is utterly treasonous and heretical, devoid of the proper conduct of a subject—this is the third capital offense.\" Yuan Chonghuan believed this charge was perfectly reasonable and would surely gain the approval of the Great Ming court. As the saying goes, \"With reason, one can travel anywhere under heaven; without reason, one cannot take a single step.\" Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan felt there was no need to send Mao Wenlong to the imperial prison to follow legal procedures. After reading out the charges, he immediately executed Mao Wenlong first and reported it afterward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amin thought it over and felt that what Huang Taiji said made sense. Mao Wenlong was in a place fraught with trouble and absolutely would not dare conceal the matter without reporting it; otherwise, the censors would surely impeach him within an inch of his life. So he asked: \"Then what do you propose we do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mao Wenlong's wild ravings are most likely just another attempt to trick us into sending another envoy for him to seize. This time I will again release his envoy and send him back with a letter telling Mao Wenlong that we agree to continue peace talks. Mao Wenlong will inevitably be overjoyed and sit waiting for us to dispatch an envoy. We will take advantage of his complacency to launch a surprise attack with our troops, striking the Dongjiang Army's main camp at Tieshan. I've heard that Mao Wenlong has recently been thinking of counterattacking into Liaodong and has stockpiled quite a bit of grain and fodder there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm. This is an excellent plan. Let's do it.\" Daišan, who had remained silent all along, finally voiced his opinion. It seemed that Huang Taiji had summoned everyone together today to discuss matters precisely for this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manggūltai, as usual, offered no opinion. After Huang Taiji had properly arranged the military matters, he raised his voice again and said: \"There is one more matter, concerning Liaoxi. The Ming's newly appointed Viceroy of Jiliao, Yuan Chonghuan, has already arrived at Ningyuan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manggūltai flipped his eyelids and said with utter contempt: \"Isn't that just that rat? The former Provincial Governor of Liaodong. I heard he got promoted this time by boasting again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. Yuan Chonghuan guaranteed the new Ming ruler that he could 'pacify Liao within five years,' and so in one breath he obtained command authority over three garrisons and one guard.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ha!\" Manggūltai let out a loud, roaring laugh, his face full of scorn. He raised his left fist before him, pointing his little finger straight up at the ceiling: \"Pacify Liao in five years! On what basis? Just on that mouth of Yuan Chonghuan the Unmoving Mountain? If he dares come, I'll crush him with one little finger!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amin listened and shook his head repeatedly, sighing with an expression full of pity: \"Yuan Chonghuan the Unmoving Mountain. Ah, you guys are far too harsh. I can't bear to listen anymore. Isn't he just a big bluffer? People without self-awareness will sooner or later suffer the consequences of their own actions. Instead of sympathizing, you go and mock him further.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yuan Chonghuan seems to have some self-awareness after all. In the several months since he took office, he has done nothing but single-mindedly demand things from the new Ming ruler, obviously looking for excuses to get himself off the hook for the grand promises he made.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"However, the new Ming ruler seems to have particular confidence in Yuan Chonghuan. Whatever authority he wants, he grants; whatever money he wants, he gives. I've heard that Yuan Chonghuan has already demanded over six million taels of silver. Such an absurd demand, and the new Ming ruler not only agreed to it, but also agreed that the silver and grain would not be audited and no supervising official would be appointed, leaving Yuan Chonghuan to act with sole and arbitrary authority.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amin suddenly saw the light and said: \"Oh, so I originally thought only Yuan Chonghuan was a half-wit. Turns out the new Ming ruler is also an idiot. They truly are a perfect match of ruler and minister. Hmm. Six million taels of silver a year without audit—the Ming civil officials and military officers must be seeing red and rushing in. If Yuan Chonghuan doesn't share the silver with everyone, he's asking to die. Ah, it's just pitiful for the soldiers of the Ming's Liao Garrison.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daišan also nodded and said with a grave expression: \"I've heard the new Ming ruler is still just a child. He still doesn't understand that the key to judging a person is not to listen to what he says, but to watch what he does.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Taiji, seeing that Manggūltai had no intention of speaking, continued: \"Yuan Chonghuan has spun a monstrous lie in matters of national military importance. Afterward, instead of honestly trying to remedy the situation, he relies on even more lies to cover it up. To satisfy his absurd demands, the new Ming ruler has even imposed a large increase in agricultural taxes. Once this matter is exposed, he won't come to a good end. So Yuan Chonghuan has no way out now. Our opportunity has arrived.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What opportunity? Again using peace talks to win over the Mongols?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, that is the bare minimum. But perhaps we can do even better—for instance, have him help us get rid of that toad Mao Wenlong.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Huang Taiji finished speaking, a silence fell over the council hall of the four beile. Manggūltai several times seemed about to speak but swallowed his words each time. Amin still wore a cynical smile on his face, but the smile at the corner of his mouth seemed somewhat stiff. In the end, it was Daišan who spoke: \"That would be very difficult. He already can't achieve the pacification of Liao in five years, and you still want him to deal with Mao Wenlong for us? How is that possible? It's like a man already at a disadvantage in a fight—how could he cut off his own arm?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yuan Chonghuan is a man who is obstinate and self-opinionated, and he always does things to the extreme. Now he knows he has no chance of pacifying Liao by force, so if we merely hint at the possibility of peace talks, that gives Yuan Chonghuan his only chance. I suspect he will certainly clutch this life-saving straw and never let go.\" Huang Taiji smiled faintly, his face showing an expression of full confidence:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"After the two battles of Ningyuan and Ningjin, I have seen Yuan Chonghuan's character very clearly. We only need to spread word that we have long harbored intentions for peace, but are worried about retaliation from Dongjiang Garrison after we withdraw beyond the border walls. We could also say that our feud with Mao Wenlong is as deep as the sea, so as long as Mao Wenlong is there, we dare not confidently negotiate peace. Then Yuan Chonghuan may very well get rid of Mao Wenlong for us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amin clapped his hands and laughed: \"Haha, your idea is good, but I have an even better one. Go tell Yuan Chonghuan that we want peace talks, but the Ming court refuses. So it would be best if he let us break through the passes once, straight to the walls of Beijing. That way the peace talks can succeed. Haha, wouldn't that be better than just dealing with one Mao Wenlong?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Taiji, as if he had not detected the sarcasm in Amin's words, replied in a flat tone: \"That is not impossible either.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amin put away his smile, looked Huang Taiji up and down twice, gave a cold snort, and said no more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So, do you all agree to my sending someone to Ningyuan to probe? We must first see whether Yuan Chonghuan is truly desperate for peace talks.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the thirteenth day of the first month of the second year of the Chongzhen reign—the very same day as in the original history—Huang Taiji sent a letter to Ningyuan, initiating the second round of peace talks with Yuan Chonghuan. The terms Huang Taiji proposed were: the Ming state would give a one-time payment of three hundred thousand taels of gold and three million taels of silver as a peace settlement. In addition to this, an annual tribute to the Later Jin of one hundred thousand taels of gold and one million taels of silver would be required. In exchange, the Later Jin could withdraw beyond the border walls and return Liaodong. Huang Taiji claimed these peace terms were already very cheap, and asked Yuan Chonghuan for his views on the matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This letter immediately received an enthusiastic response from Yuan Chonghuan. Besides the envoy he dispatched, he also had Lama Li, who had long moved among the various Mongol tribes, act as an intermediary to prove his sincerity for peace. In his reply, Yuan Chonghuan raised only one point of disagreement: \"I beg that the annual tribute be slightly reduced.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the tenth day of the second month, Dongjiang Island.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haha.\" Seeing Huang Taiji's reply, Mao Wenlong burst into loud laughter, slapping his palm on his knee without stopping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kong Youde, standing to the side, saw Mao Wenlong laughing so heartily and could not help but ask: \"Foster father, are the Jianzhou slaves sending another envoy?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No. Do you really take the Jianzhou slaves for fools?\" Mao Wenlong reined in his smile slightly. This had been a stratagem he had painstakingly devised, so he explained to Kong Youde with considerable pride: \"The Jianzhou slaves must think I want to trick another envoy from them to seize. But this time I only did it to lull them. Now that they are negotiating peace with me, their guard is surely somewhat lowered. Let us go and launch a surprise attack on Yizhou.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fifteenth day of the second month, Mao Wenlong led his troops in a raid on the Later Jin forces stationed near Yizhou within Korean territory. This Later Jin unit mainly belonged to the Later Jin Mongol Right Wing. In this battle, the Later Jin army suffered a crushing defeat, and the Ming army took four hundred and fifty heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past history, this single haul of four hundred and fifty heads alone equaled the total number of heads taken by the Liaoxi Army in the two battles of Ningyuan and Ningjin—that is, the entire combat achievement of the Guanning Army, which the Great Ming court had spent over twenty million taels of silver to maintain over the past eight years. In this timeline, although Huang Shi's presence had made the Liaoxi Army look somewhat better on the surface, this battle by the Dongjiang Army was still considered a substantial victory. After the four hundred and fifty heads were sent to Denglaizhen for inspection, the civil officials confirmed that these heads were \"every single one genuine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, just as Mao Wenlong returned to Dongjiang Island and was about to hold a banquet to celebrate, he learned that the Later Jin army, using an envoy as cover, had launched a surprise attack on the fourteenth day of the second month and overrun the Dongjiang Army's main camp at Tieshan, killing over two hundred Dongjiang soldiers, capturing several hundred civilians from Dongjiang Garrison, and setting fire to Mao Wenlong's Tieshan warehouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing that rations for several thousand men had been destroyed in a single moment, Mao Wenlong, in his fury and desperation, forgot what he himself had just done and immediately dispatched an envoy to Liaoyang to see Huang Taiji. In the letter, Mao Wenlong rained furious curses upon Huang Taiji: \"Little did I know you are full of a hundred cunning schemes—on one hand negotiating peace with me, on the other hand coming to stealthily raid and plunder my people. Such fickleness and treachery, where is your conscience? Where is heaven's justice?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Huang Taiji received this letter on the first day of the third month, he sent a reply reminding Mao Wenlong that he had been doing exactly the same thing. By the time the reply arrived, Mao Wenlong's anger had already subsided, so the tone in his subsequent reply was somewhat more relaxed. However, Mao Wenlong maintained that Huang Taiji's hands were not clean either,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>fickle and inconstant, and that among virtuous men there had never been one who acted with such reckless violence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Mao Wenlong magnanimously declared he would let bygones be bygones. If Huang Taiji was willing, he still hoped to continue the peace talks. But Huang Taiji refused to continue negotiating. Thus, the second round of peace talks between Dongjiang Garrison and the Later Jin finally broke down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fifteenth day of the third month of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, Xiapu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After five months of reorganization, the naval forces of Funing Garrison had finally taken shape once more. In the first month, the Funing Garrison Armaments Department had produced its first twenty-four-pounder cannon. By the end of that same month, the first eighteen-gun warship was completed. After repeated modifications, this eighteen-gun warship was equipped with two twenty-four-pounder cannons, eight eighteen-pounder cannons, and eight twelve-pounder cannons. The warship was completed and launched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This warship had a full displacement of five hundred and fifty tons. Each broadside had four eighteen-pounder cannons and four twelve-pounder cannons, while the two twenty-four-pounder cannons were deployed on the centerline. Thus, the entire ship required ten gun crews to operate the eight broadside gun positions and the two centerline gun positions. Each gun crew still used a six-man system, with four ammunition handlers assigned. According to specific tests by Funing Garrison, once a naval gun crew reached six men, adding more personnel could not increase the rate of fire, while four ammunition handlers ensured sufficient manpower to replace casualties at the gun positions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ship's complement totaled two hundred and twenty sailors. Besides the one hundred men in the ten gun crews, the remaining soldiers primarily trained in sail handling and boarding combat. All soldiers were equipped with firelocks and long sabers, and each was also issued a breastplate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the original design, the number of gun positions on this warship had been greatly reduced, with broadside guns decreasing from thirty to sixteen. This was mainly to increase the ship's sailing speed, as well as to accelerate the shipbuilding speed and reduce production costs. A thirty-two-gun ship would likely weigh over eight hundred tons, and Huang Shi still felt it was somewhat not worth it to build such large ships as disposable warships.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The construction speed of this smaller type of warship was indeed much faster. By the third month, Funing Garrison had already completed twelve disposable warships and had also produced a batch of small disposable gunboats for auxiliary use. In addition, Huang Shi had purchased twenty small seagoing vessels from Zhejiang, intended for amphibious landings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The large logs purchased at the beginning of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign had now been air-drying for over two years. According to the shipwrights' calculations, by the end of this year, the earliest few should be ready for use in ship production. However, Huang Shi would rather wait a bit longer; he felt that since he had already waited two years, enduring one more year was not unacceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is a new type of weapon from our Funing Garrison Armaments Department.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Huang Shi finished speaking, he gestured for Bao Bowen to hand the item to Yu Zigao. The old general chuckled as he accepted the weapon. Still chuckling, he said: \"Mobile Corps Commander Bao is truly capable. Our Funing Garrison always has new types of weapons appearing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Zigao raised the firelock that Bao Bowen had presented, examined it front and back for a moment, and asked curiously: \"Where is the match cord on this firelock?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is a flintlock rifle. It doesn't use a match cord.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long period of modification, the Ordnance Bureau had finally completed the flintlock rifle. Because this weapon requires no match cord, it has a higher firing rate on the battlefield, especially in naval combat. Furthermore, since the flintlock uses no open flame, it allows for faster and greater loading efficiency. Yu Zigao loaded the ammunition, cocked the firing mechanism according to Huang Shi's instructions, and then fired a shot at an uninhabited spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Very easy to use. It seems far better than those matchlock arquebuses that need a stand,\" Yu Zigao delivered his judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Venerable General Yu is right; I see it the same way. The Ordnance Bureau has already produced fifty of these rifles and would like to ask Venerable General Yu to take them onto the battlefield to see how they perform.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Very well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Xiapu and Ningde area was the naval training base for Funing Garrison, and also the region where government forces were strongest. There was no hope whatsoever of obtaining any supplies nearby, so naturally no large bands of sea marauders operated there. And with the rebuilding of the Funing Garrison fleet, small bands of sea marauders were soon driven out of these waters by government troops as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the sixteenth day of the third month, the Funing Garrison fleet once again sortied in full force. The warships remaining from the last naval battle had all been scrapped. This time Funing Garrison deployed twelve newly built large ships, over eighty various small craft, and twenty transport sea vessels, with a total of over twelve thousand officers and men. After setting out, the government forces quickly entered the waters near Fuzhou Prefecture and carried out a series of sweeping operations against the sea marauder outposts around the Mazu Islands. After a brief rest at Meihua Station, they headed straight for Pinghai Guard in Xinghua Prefecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After arriving at Quanzhou on the twenty-fifth day of the third month, Huang Shi disembarked and took the overland route directly to Quanzhou Prefecture, while Yu Zigao led the main fleet further south toward Yongning Guard, preparing to attack Jinmen Station and Zhongzuo Station (Xiamen).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since the Zheng forces had entrenched themselves at Zhongzuo Station, the maritime trade of Zhangzhou had been cut off entirely, and the entire region from Haicheng to Tong'an had been forced into a state of maritime prohibition, placing enormous economic pressure on the Funing army. Huang Shi and Zhu Yifeng were both anxious to recapture Zhongzuo Station — aside from its military significance, it was also to cast off this great burden as soon as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to reconnaissance by the Funing Garrison Military Intelligence Bureau, the supplies and manpower of the sea marauders at Zhongzuo Station had recently shown a trend of gradual decline. Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xiangqi were not only unable to recruit new soldiers, but also seemed to have lost both the interest and the capacity to do so. Recently, Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xiangqi had both dismissed some new recruits, which the Funing Garrison staff department believed was for the purpose of conserving supplies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, desertions among the sea marauder rank and file were growing more and more frequent. Most of those men had joined the sea marauders in the first place just to earn a meal, but ever since Huang Shi returned to Fujian, the good days were gone forever. The strength of government forces in Minnan was growing by the day. From the time Huang Shi ordered the maritime prohibition in the first year of the Chongzhen reign to the present, a year and two months had passed, and the sea marauders were gradually sinking into a seemingly endless conventional war and war of attrition. Since the prohibition, merchant ships had also vanished from these waters. The sea marauders could neither plunder merchant ships nor repeatedly avoid defeat by government troops on land. The supplies, resources, and intelligence they obtained grew scarcer and scarcer, which greatly affected the marauders' morale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of the second month and the beginning of the third month of this year, Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xiangqi, representing the numerous pirate bands of the Minhai region, twice sent envoys to Quanzhou. On their first visit, they had already shed the arrogance they displayed after last year's naval victory. The sea marauders indicated that they only wished to obtain Zhongzuo Station as a base. Beyond that, they also expressed that they could not accept being reorganized into regular units, because they had to consider the lives of tens of thousands of brothers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing this, Zhu Yifeng replied coldly that if they truly cared about the lives of tens of thousands of brothers, they should immediately and unconditionally\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>surrender and submit to the disposition of the authorities. After saying this, Zhu Yifeng once again ordered his men to drive the pirate envoys out with flailing clubs, and at the same time published these demands of theirs, along with the court's rejection, in the official gazette. Although they knew it was a great loss of face, the sea marauders still sent another envoy with the greatest speed. This time they expressed willingness to make concessions on the issue of maritime trade, as long as \"the court can give our brothers a mouthful of food to eat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the beginning of the third month, Zhu Yifeng already knew that the naval rebuilding work was nearing completion, which meant he was finally about to emerge from his days of hardship. In excellent spirits, Provincial Governor Zhu this time not only did not have the man beaten, but even rewarded the envoy with a cup of tea. Then, with a genial expression and gentle tone, Zhu Yifeng told the envoy: To oppose the imperial court is a dead end!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yifeng declared there was no such thing as \"granting a mouthful of food.\" The land of Fujian is His Majesty's land, and the seas of Fujian are His Majesty's seas. The authorities would accept only unconditional surrender. The pirate envoys had come mentally prepared for a beating. Seeing that Provincial Governor Zhu's attitude seemed relatively agreeable this time, the envoy hastily explained, expressing that they were willing to return to His Majesty's rule, and that Zhu Yifeng could raise whatever demands he wished — they, the sea marauders, would consider them seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his surprise, these words sent Zhu Yifeng into a towering rage: \"Who's haggling with you? Do you bandits take the government office for the vegetable market at your doorstep?\" He then ordered the government office runners to drive the pirate envoy out with flailing clubs, and subsequently published the dialogue between the two sides in the official gazette.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, hearing that government forces were once again launching a major punitive expedition against Zhongzuo Station, the sea marauders summoned their courage and came forth once more to give battle. Zheng Yiguan and the others also had some understanding of the authorities' predicament. Everyone knew that this rapid establishment of a navy must have cost an enormous sum, and that as long as government troops could not regain command of the sea, Fujian would have no maritime trade revenue for a single day. Thus they still hoped to make the authorities feel that annihilating them would cost more than it was worth, and thereby gain bargaining chips for negotiations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the first day of the fourth month, in Quanzhou, when Yu Zigao entered the city this time, the streets were truly emptied of people. Over the past three days, government forces had fought three fierce consecutive battles against the sea marauders between Fuquan Station and Yongning Guard. The first two were indecisive, while the third was a minor victory for the government forces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During training this time, Yu Zigao had been far more cautious than before, and the ship captains, having had the previous experience, had also matured considerably. For five months, Yu Zigao had eaten and drunk together with the officers and men, firmly resolved to endure hardship and wipe away past disgrace. Apart from the factors of Yu Zigao and the officers, the soldiers in the Funing Army fleet this time were also generally much more seasoned, with more former Penghu fleet officers and men returning to serve. Besides, Fujian had never lacked experienced sailors. The main problem in the last operation was simply that the new recruits were too inexperienced, and there was little coordination among the officers at various levels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that the morale of the government troops had turned around, the sea marauders immediately felt the strain. After all, the government forces had an overwhelming advantage in equipment. Their nearly one hundred warships were equipped with over six hundred cannons, so in the opening artillery duels of these three naval battles, the sea marauders were always suppressed. But in the first two battles, when the sea marauders deployed fireships, the government forces carefully retreated to avoid their edge, then relied on their numerous cannons to beat them back. The result was that although the sea marauders were not outmatched in spirit, in reality they suffered considerable hidden losses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time the third naval battle began, Yu Zigao felt that the sea marauders seemed to have exhausted their tricks, so he did not retreat again. As a result, the fireship flotilla was utterly routed by government troops who were growing ever more accustomed to warfare. Because of the government forces' intense firepower, the pirates' boarding actions were also largely unsuccessful, their formations easily broken up. And in the final close-quarters fighting, the firelocks, which nearly every government soldier carried, inflicted horrific casualties on the sea marauders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, because night was falling, both sides withdrew from the battlefield without a decisive outcome. But in this engagement, the government forces lost only a few small craft, while sinking over twenty of the sea marauders' vessels, large and small. Yu Zigao estimated the sea marauders' losses at around two thousand men. The government troops' advantage in artillery was simply too great, especially when firing at close range — after each cannon salvo, flesh and blood flew everywhere on the pirate ships.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Funing Army casualties were just over three hundred. To a force of over ten thousand government troops, this was truly negligible. It was only that their gunpowder was nearly expended, so they returned to Quanzhou to resupply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi asked briefly about the situation. It sounded as though Yu Zigao had indeed fired with considerable intensity, but there was no helping it. After all, this was a newly trained fleet, and Yu Zigao was still rather reluctant to engage in boarding actions, fearing the troops might collapse. Huang Shi felt his handling of the matter was correct. As long as silver was spent where it should be, it could not be called waste: \"Heavy gunpowder consumption is nothing. We are government troops; we have gunpowder in abundance. Relatively speaking, soldiers are more precious. We simply had too few soldiers who had been on the battlefield before.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well said, well said. I shall immediately have someone allocate gunpowder.\" After hearing the account of the battle, Zhu Yifeng was instantly all smiles, grinning from ear to ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord Zhu, Grand Commander, if the bandits dare to engage government troops at Zhongzuo Station this time, this old man is certain he can annihilate them completely! If they flee, this old man will pursue them to Tongshan and is determined to catch them all in one net.\" Not only Yu Zigao, but Huang Shi and Zhu Yifeng as well were all very confident about capturing Xiamen. The three of them were overjoyed and prepared to feast and drink, and of course they did not forget to order pigs and chickens slaughtered to reward the officers and men of the Funing Garrison fleet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After drinking, Zhu Yifeng went home in high spirits. Once home, he was so excited he could not fall asleep for a while, so he walked into the courtyard to admire the moon. After drinking two pots of tea, Zhu Yifeng swayed back to his study and dictated an essay, preparing to publish it in the Quanzhou official gazette the next day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing the essay, Zhu Yifeng played two games of chess with his son, then went back to his room to sleep, his face wreathed in smiles. That sleep was the soundest sleep Zhu Yifeng had had in a year; even the sound of the wind outside could not disturb him. When he startled awake from his dreams just before dawn the next day, he first sat up nervously, grabbed the clothes beside his bed, and sniffed them. Smelling the lingering scent of alcohol still on them, Provincial Governor Zhu let out a long, comfortable sigh, then fell heavily back onto his pillow, relaxed and at ease, and slept a sweet, lingering morning sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>",5778,"2026-06-04T07:54:54.057Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","bbacc61292feefac32fc584b1282b25990c585ba3a0286faeb94c00212cf1a9f","stealing-ming-chapter-305","stealing-ming-chapter-303",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]