[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-97":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},1220714,1614,"Chapter 97: Section Five","stealing-ming-chapter-97",97,"\u003Cp>The other person Zhao Manxiong recommended was Li Yunrui. Like Bao Jiusun, he was also literate — such talent was simply too scarce. After meeting Bao Jiusun, Huang Shi had assumed Li Yunrui would be a fishing expert, but after Zhao Manxiong’s brief introduction, he learned that this man actually had considerable talent for gathering intelligence, placed great importance on reconnaissance work, and had accumulated quite a few insights. During the time Huang Shi was away from Changsheng Island, Li Yunrui had helped Zhao Manxiong devise the system of rotating fishing boats to monitor the southern and northern Xin Estuary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yunrui’s original name was Li Rui, courtesy name Zongyun, a native of Panyu in Guangdong, and the eldest son of a wealthy family. He had been imprisoned for causing a death and was sentenced to die. But his father bribed the local officials and successfully shifted the blame onto a bandit named He Laoyao who shared his cell, making that fellow the scapegoat in his place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another scum! Huang Shi made that judgment silently, but in these times, whatever fell onto your plate was what you ate — if a man could read, you used him even if he was scum. Then again, no Ming intellectual who wasn’t scum would ever come join the army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Li Yunrui arrived in Liaodong under He Laoyao’s name, his standard of living plummeted — no money, and even less women. The iron-blooded life of the military camp had also failed to reform his thinking. Incorrigible as ever, last year Li Yunrui actually attempted to rape a girl of fourteen or fifteen — which the Ming dynasty probably did not consider a child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yunrui, having failed in his attempted rape, was thrown into prison again to await death. Fortunately, it coincided with Mao Wenlong’s shortage of troops, and Li Yunrui, knowing he was doomed anyway, signed up for the death squad. After arriving in Liaodong, Li Yunrui used the great victory at Zhenjiang to clear his record, restored his original name Li Rui, and even became a Vice Squad Commander after the Korean campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Beast.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those were not Huang Shi’s words. When Li Yunrui recounted his experiences to Huang Shi, his face still showed no shame. The several officers listening in, though they wore expressions of disapproving contempt, all managed to control their emotions — except for He Baodao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi also felt this scum’s crimes were truly hair-raising, but Ming soldiers were mostly such desperate fugitives. Those banished to the frontier garrisons were either bandits like Ma Qianzu or villains like Li Yunrui and Bao Jiusun. Jin Qiude counted as a rare decent man among them… No wonder Ming people looked down on soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yunrui’s face remained unchanged, as if he had heard such words many times before. This level of swallowing insults without flinching was practically approaching the Dao… but Huang Shi appreciated it. He Baodao was rebuked into silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Continue…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yunrui’s emphasis on intelligence came from the searing pain of the Korean disaster. By his own account, Li Yunrui had not been in the army long, but he had already escaped certain death four times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This humble officer was originally under my lord Zhang Yuanzhi. After the recovery of Zhenjiang, I was assigned to Squad Commander Ma Bo’s unit. Squad Commander Ma was ordered to return to Longchuan to transport grain. The Jianzhou slaves surrounded Zhenjiang after we left, so this humble officer was fortunate not to die at Zhenjiang — that was the first time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi nodded: “In the tenth month of last year, the Jianzhou slaves made a surprise attack on Longchuan. You escaped from there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Replying to my lord, that night this humble officer and three brothers were ordered to go to the Beishan main camp to transport bedding and clothing. We had just reached Beishan when we saw flames rising in the direction of Longchuan. The entire Longchuan force was annihilated. Squad Commander Ma and the other brothers all gave their lives for the country. Only a few of us from the unit survived.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This man was indeed blessed with a charmed life — that already made two escapes from certain death. Huang Shi continued questioning: “I have heard that that night, after the Jianzhou slaves failed to find Regional Commander Mao at Longchuan, they immediately attacked the Beishan main camp.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord sees clearly. At that time, the Beishan main camp was also in chaos. Among over a thousand brothers, fewer than a hundred had weapons. Though some preparations had been made, they still could not withstand five thousand Jianzhou cavalry. The camp fell before dawn.” As Li Yunrui spoke, the muscles on his cheek twitched, as if he were recalling the panic of that night — several thousand unarmed able-bodied men crying out helplessly as they were slaughtered wantonly by the Later Jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you believe reconnaissance is the army’s most important task?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord is wise. This humble officer believes that not only is reconnaissance necessary, but we must also proactively dispatch spies into Later Jin territory and actively prevent the Jianzhou slaves from infiltrating our own forces. This humble officer believes that reconnoitering the enemy’s situation is a matter of one gaining while the other loses — the better we do, the worse the Jianzhou slaves fare. Korea is the example. If our army had begun military intelligence reconnaissance early, we would not have been ambushed, and still less would the Jianzhou slaves have been able to map out our deployments.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though these were general observations, Huang Shi felt it was not bad for a low-ranking officer to have such understanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These words you have spoken today — have you never reported them to your previous superiors?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This humble officer’s rank is low and his words carry little weight, and many of his specific ideas were not accepted by his superiors. Furthermore, this humble officer does not possess the valor of my lord, and so has never been promoted. This humble officer has also been scorned by his colleagues for escaping death by playing dead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Baodao was sneering again — this was originally very discourteous during a military council, but Huang Shi was so familiar with his temperament that he simply pretended not to notice. Such cowardly conduct would indeed be despised in the Ming army, especially when one recalled Li Yunrui’s bold exploits in bullying women. Huang Shi also felt some displeasure in his heart: “Escaping death by playing dead — that could not have been easy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord sees clearly.” Li Yunrui accepted the praise without the slightest shame — if it was praise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the fall of the Beishan main camp, Li Yunrui fled south together with routed soldiers and refugees. The Ming troops, having no weapons, were completely shattered, with officers and men no longer under unified command. Several hundred soldiers and civilians were driven along by twenty Later Jin cavalrymen. After running several dozen li through the icy snow, many died with blood gushing from their mouths and noses. They finally fled to Yihu Forest north of Linpangguan, where the entire force was annihilated. Only Li Yunrui seized the right moment and hid alone among the corpses, escaping with his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Baodao, who had been sneering throughout this long account, finally snorted through his nose: “Several hundred men, who would rather run themselves to death than counterattack twenty Jianzhou slaves — truly a pack of cowards.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yunrui showed no reaction to this mockery, still maintaining his self-righteous demeanor: “Many people have reproached this humble officer in this way. But at that time, morale had already collapsed. Everyone was dazed and just running south. Anyone who stopped would have had to face twenty pursuing Jianzhou slaves barehanded and alone. You may say there were several hundred men, but they were less effective than a single well-ordered squad. What this humble officer could do at the time was seize the opportunity to survive and preserve these lessons.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that He Baodao was about to speak again, Huang Shi immediately barked: “Company Commander He, hold your tongue.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi had already set aside his contempt for Li Yunrui. For a man to face his own cowardice directly was a rare virtue. To maintain a clear head in dire straits, formulate a plan, and preserve oneself — that was even more difficult. Falling down was not strange, but being able to climb back up every time was very rare. This Li Yunrui had escaped death four times. Huang Shi did not believe in any damn luck, still less in some instinctive nose for danger. This man was probably someone with very keen powers of observation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His experiences at Zhenjiang and Longchuan were probably not as simple as he made them sound either.\u003C\u002Fp>",1468,"2026-06-04T07:54:30.907Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","53fea920ddd91174ea5b0656509b91b3d942180e52bb1b921e22f27a0fb46d4f","stealing-ming-chapter-98","stealing-ming-chapter-96",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]