Chapter 86

The implication was clear — what he had just said did not align with Fang Zhenru's thinking. Hearing the tone in Fang Zhenru's voice, Huang Shi immediately understood he could not casually voice his own opinions: "I am dull-witted and speak foolishly. May I ask what my lord's view is?"

"Building a secondary pass inside the Pass is far too risky. If Shanhai were ever lost, the capital would be in crisis and the realm would be shaken." Fang Zhenru dropped all pretense and spoke freely: "Some at court have submitted memorials saying that if we hold the land inside the Pass, the state is already at its zenith, and we can simply watch the Jianzhou slaves destroy themselves! What a joke — if we do not go and exterminate them, how will the Jianzhou slaves destroy themselves?"

"My lord speaks the absolute truth." Huang Shi reflexively voiced his agreement.

This question involved a matter of perspective. Looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, Huang Shi knew that watching the Later Jin destroy themselves was indeed a penetrating insight. After the defeat at Guangning, Wang Zaijin believed Liaoxi was beyond recovery and that it would be better to make Shanhai Pass and Jimen the core of the defense. Huang Shi had once put himself in the position of the Tianqi and Chongzhen emperors — without imposing additional military taxes, there would have been no great upheaval within the Pass, and the Great Ming would have had no worries on its rear.

The Little Ice Age in the northeast had already lasted fifty years and would take another twenty to pass. The Ming had southern grain to rely on; the Later Jin did not. As long as the interior was stabilized and Korea and the Mongols were assisted so that the Later Jin could not plunder, their starvation would be an inevitable outcome.

A time-crosser could borrow the eyes of history, so Huang Shi had an even more ruthless measure — eliminating the Shanxi merchant clique. In the Qing documents he had seen during the Republic era, the intelligence on the capital region that the Shanxi merchants provided to the Later Jin was detailed down to the names of the defending commanders at every pass, the number of soldiers, and the specifics of their equipment, and even included a considerable amount of military situation reports.

In the early Chongzhen years, the famines brought by the Little Ice Age had already completely collapsed the livelihoods of the northeast. Although the Later Jin's domain had only seven hundred thousand people, the common folk traded their children for food; the price of rice once reached eighty taels per shi, and cloth cost twenty taels per bolt. Historically, the Shanxi merchants attached to the Later Jin regime provided Hong Taiji with all of his gunpowder, eighty percent of his grain, and over sixty percent of his metals.

It was through the Shanxi merchants that the Later Jin could convert plundered valuables, antiques, gold, and silver into grain to feed the several hundred thousand people they had captured. The price of rice in Liaodong eventually fell to one tael for four shi; the population increased severalfold, yet the grain price was pressed down to a few hundredths of its peak. By the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the eight great Shanxi merchant houses had hoarded tens of millions of taels of silver in their cellars, and for these services they were granted the status of imperial merchants by the Qing dynasty, creating the legend of the eight great Shanxi merchant houses whose wealth dominated the realm for over two hundred and seventy years.

Although Huang Shi had no proof now — and even if he did, he would have to scheme to profit from it himself — he was certain he had a chance to sever the lifeline of the Manchu Qing. Without the assistance of the Shanxi merchant clique, the Manchu Qing army would rapidly degenerate back to bone arrows and cloth clothing, to say nothing of grain and intelligence. One need not imagine what level the army's mobilization numbers would reach.

Fang Zhenru had no idea of the fine calculations running through the mind of this Huang-Zhuge before him, nor could he possibly possess Huang-Zhuge's kind of strategic judgment: "Grand Coordinator Wang has no thought of recovering and pacifying Liaodong, but is single-mindedly set on a death defense along the Great Wall. I have already impeached him several times. Even Lord Sun and Lord Yuan under his command are quite critical of this."

"Lord Yuan? Lord Sun?" Huang Shi was momentarily stunned.

"Yes, the ones you met today." The two lords Fang Zhenru referred to were precisely the two sixth-rank officials Huang Shi had seen at the Grand Coordinator's residence. "They are both Liaodong Military Defense Vice-Commissioners — Lord Yuan Chonghuan and Lord Sun Yuanhua."

As he spoke, Fang Zhenru was looking down, drinking his wine, and did not see Huang Shi's expression change drastically. Huang Shi gave a hollow laugh and said, "So it was those two lords. I shall remember their names."

"Yes, they also believe that the fortifications should follow the Liaoxi Corridor and be built outside the Pass. Huang Shi, what is your view on this?" Fang Zhenru's words were polite on the surface, but his tone carried not the slightest concern for Huang Shi's opinion.

The Ming people certainly could not predict the future behavioral patterns of the sun, much less foresee that the military farms of the Nine Frontier Garrisons still had twenty years of famine ahead. Perhaps next year would bring a bumper harvest, and there would be no need to impose additional military taxes. Since they already had a ready-made view, why was Fang Zhenru even asking a coarse soldier like him?

Full of suspicion, Huang Shi replied obediently, "I was just about to seek Lord Fang's instruction."

"To recover all of Liaodong, one must first recover the ground beneath one's feet. The two lords' opinion is of course correct. As for Grand Coordinator Wang..." Fang Zhenru weighed his words and delivered his verdict: "Spent force."

So that was it. These civil officials also needed military allies. Huang Shi knew full well that by coming here to dine today, he had already boarded Fang Zhenru's pirate ship and could only follow to the end: "My lord's insight is profound."

"Huang Shi, do you think what I said is right?"

Now Huang Shi understood what task Fang Zhenru was assigning him — to report the views of the civil official faction opposing Wang Zaijin as his own opinion. With the pacification of Guangning and the expedition to Lushun, the rising fame of Huang Shi had finally drawn him into the political vortex. Sun Chengzong, who valued military authority, wanted to hear the opinions of military officers, so Wang Zaijin had summoned Zu Dashou to wave the flag and shout support. And the civil official faction insisting on a different line had found Huang Shi to use as their spear.

Wang Zaijin advocated building a secondary pass inside the Pass; Yuan Chonghuan and Sun Yuanhua advocated building a secondary pass outside the Pass. From the perspective of historical climate, Wang Zaijin was the one who was right, but Huang Shi believed one could not conclude from this that Grand Coordinator Wang was necessarily more capable. After all, the Ming people's perspective and the perspective of hindsight were completely different.

Huang Shi had no intention of delving into whose line was better. The only thing he could do now was to place himself on the winning side. So he answered without the slightest hesitation: "My lord sees clearly across ten thousand li. I am utterly in awe. The Grand Coordinator is indeed deeply mired in spent force."

An utterly unambiguous declaration. At this point, Huang Shi had no room left to maneuver.

"Good!" Fang Zhenru quickly had his private secretary bring over a written memorial — a memorandum addressed to Sun Chengzong in Huang Shi's name. "Sign it. Oh — your mark will also do."

Huang Shi laughed inwardly. He grabbed the brush, did not even glance at the memorandum, and scrawled his name crookedly.

Fang Zhenru put away the letter and said to Huang Shi with a smile, "You need not return to Dongjiang. The pay in Liaozhen is very generous — a Mobile Corps Commander gets five taels of silver a month. For your achievements, I shall also memorialize the court to request a hereditary Company Commander title for you."

So the time for rewards and recognition had indeed arrived.

"I thank Lord Fang for his concern, but I still wish to return to Liaodong to serve. I beg Lord Fang to grant this."

"Your benefactor's family has not been found? Lord Yuan said he would grant you the post of Assistant Regional Commander of Liaozhen." Fang Zhenru had intended to reward Huang Shi for his cooperation and was startled to see him refuse.

"The Liaodong Military Defense Vice-Commissioner, Lord Yuan?" Huang Shi looked up in shock.

"Exactly — Lord Yuan Chonghuan. I have spoken of you with Lord Yuan. He greatly admires your loyalty and courage. Moreover, he is deeply dissatisfied with the progress of the Ningyuan fortifications and intends to have you supervise the construction. Upon completion, he will appoint you as Guan-Ning Assistant Regional Commander and Ningyuan Fort Regional Military Commissioner!"