Chapter 14: The Great Production

The Earl of Sincerity's household was raided and the entire family exiled to Qiongzhou, yet this caused little stir among the civil officials. After all, civil officials had always looked down on the hereditary nobility, and seeing one of them fall from grace, some civil officials even went about clapping their hands in glee.

But among the circle of hereditary nobles, this news caused a tremendous shock. The several families that had previously been on close terms with the Earl of Sincerity's household directly shut their gates and would not come out, while the others each grew vigilant, sternly instructing their family members to restrain their arrogance, behave properly, and keep their heads down.

Those several families that had been wronged also received appropriate compensation, and their future livelihoods could now be considered somewhat assured.

A few days later, the imperial edict came down: Chief Censor Min Hongxue was permitted to retire, Vice Chief Censor Shi Bangyao was promoted to Chief Censor, and Left Assistant Censor Li Banghua, having gained renown for impeaching a count, was specially promoted to Right Vice Chief Censor.

The fact that Min Hongxue was on good terms with Liu Kongzhao was hardly a secret, so everyone thought it only natural that he should be removed from the post of Chief Censor for being implicated by Liu Kongzhao. With this, the affair of the Earl of Sincerity's household was finally brought to a close.

In the seventh month of the eighth year of Chongzhen, the imperial estates managed by Liu Chao finally finished their planting, and the Bureau Secretary of the Construction Department dispatched by the Emperor also arrived at the estate with several subordinates.

During this nearly month-long period of planting, Liu Chao had not been idle either. He arranged for several eunuchs from the palace and two estate heads to lead people separately in purchasing chicken and duck seedlings, piglets, grain, and the like, while he himself led some of the village's able-bodied women in building quite a number of chicken coops, duck nests, and pigsties. Silver flowed out like water, and Liu Chao was both pained and worried—His Majesty had left one hundred thousand taels of silver, and between buying this and that, more than thirty thousand taels had already been spent. The estate walls and workshops had not yet been built, and he feared the silver would not be enough. If Eunuch Wang blamed him, he would earn a reputation for incompetence!

Worry was worry, but he could hardly delay His Majesty's great enterprise, could he? Liu Chao had his men build several dozen large stoves, purchased several dozen large iron woks, and constructed more than ten stone mills—formal production of military rations had begun. The able-bodied men who had finished planting, under the arrangement of the Bureau Secretary from the Ministry of Works, began busily and orderly repairing workshops and building walls. The entire estate was filled with vigorous vitality.

Although the estate originally had no small number of people, they had all eaten in their own homes. Now His Majesty had decreed that the construction work was not corvée labor and that two meals a day must be provided—this became an enormous problem.

The village labor force participating in the construction numbered about a thousand. Liu Chao ordered people to build several dozen more large stoves beside the ones making military rations. Each stove required at least three village women, and these hundred-odd stoves used up around three hundred farm women.

Every day at the crack of dawn, the farm women began their work—carrying water, mixing dough, letting it rise, kneading it, then laying it out on enormous steaming racks to steam. From the hour of Chen to the hour of Wu, one great winnowing basket after another was filled with coarse flour cakes.

The half-grown boys and girls used small stoves to boil mung bean soup. Steward Liu had specifically instructed that no one doing labor was permitted to drink raw water, saying this was the Emperor's order.

After the children finished boiling it, they poured it into wooden buckets to cool, and once it had cooled enough, they carried or shouldered it to the work site. In the hot weather and doing heavy labor, the body needed to replenish large amounts of water. After working up a great sweat, drinking a bowl of warm mung bean soup both relieved the heat and quenched the thirst.

Zhang Laogao, the village butcher, was slaughtering a large fat pig of about two hundred jin. After slaughtering and scraping off the hair, the pork was handed to the farm women nearby to cut into pieces, while the offal and bones were washed clean and put into a great wok with water and salt to boil. Before long, the fragrance of meat wafted through the air.

The half-grown boys watching the excitement on the side were biting their fingers and drooling. Zhang Laogao, his face full of fierce flesh, fished out several large marrow bones, used a boning knife to strip off the remaining meat, then fished out several smaller bones and placed them all in a large wooden box. Chuckling, he called the boys over to eat. The children feared Zhang Laogao's terrifying face, wanting to eat yet not daring to come near. One bold half-grown boy could not resist and stepped forward, picked up a bone, and began gnawing. Zhang Laogao stood to the side roaring with laughter, and the other children immediately swarmed forward to snatch the food.

Zhang Laogao wiped his sweat with the greasy cloth draped over his shoulder, casually picked up a bowl of mung bean soup and gulped it down in one go, then wiped his mouth. He felt an indescribable contentment—in all his decades of life, this period had been the happiest.

Liu Chao was so busy his heels faced forward. The several young eunuchs from the palace and the two estate heads constantly came to ask him about this and that. He felt that in all his thirty-odd years of life, he had never had more matters to handle than in these past half-month-plus days. At night he returned to his quarters, took a cold rinse, ate dinner, and collapsed onto the bed in sleep, not waking until dawn.

Busy as he was, he felt an indescribable sense of solidity and accomplishment in his heart.

After dismissing a young eunuch who had come to ask for instructions, Liu Chao had just sat down to rest when a lean, capable-looking man in plain clothes walked toward him.

Liu Chao felt he looked unfamiliar and was about to speak when the lean man pulled out a waist token and flashed it at him. Liu Chao's heart jolted—the Embroidered Uniform Guard! And moreover, a personal bodyguard of the Emperor! He hurriedly clasped his hands in salute, but before he could speak, the man gave him a look, signaling him to keep silent. Then he whispered: "His Majesty has already arrived at the estate. He sent me especially to inform you—this is an incognito inspection. You must not disturb anyone, and you must not let anyone learn of His Majesty's identity!"

Liu Chao followed the man to the workshop construction site. From afar he saw Zhu Zhenqing dressed as a scholar, with Wang Cheng'en beside him in a blue robe and small cap. Several dozen sturdy men with bulging waists were spread out around the perimeter, their eyes warily scanning the surroundings.

He hurriedly trotted over to the Emperor's side. Just as he was about to kneel in prostration, he suddenly remembered the guard's instruction and changed it to a deep bow, saying: "Your... sir, if you had come, you should have sent word ahead! This... this humble one failed to welcome you from afar!"

Chongzhen was surveying the completed workshops. Hearing this, he turned his head and smiled: "I've had a few leisurely days these past days, nothing to do at home, and suddenly thought of your place here, so I came to take a look. Well done! I didn't expect that in less than a month, you'd actually have things looking so proper!"

"I don't deserve your praise, sir—this is all this humble one's bounden duty! This humble one feared delaying your great enterprise, sir, so the moment the farming slackened, I hurriedly organized hands to begin work. The workshops are basically complete, so there aren't many hands here—they've all gone to the work site by the walls!" Liu Chao replied, flattered beyond measure, his face beaming with joy.

"How much military ration has been produced? Have the chicken and duck seedlings all been distributed?" Chongzhen asked.

"Let me report to you, sir—military ration has already been produced in excess of thirty thousand portions, all packed in five-jin bags as you instructed, sir. The chicken and duck seedlings have all been distributed to the various households, roughly fifteen chicks and ten ducklings per household," Liu Chao reported.

"Continue increasing military ration output. Also, once the workshops are completed, send people to purchase cloth and cotton and begin making winter military uniforms. You must not skimp on materials or workmanship!" Chongzhen said.

"Please rest assured, sir—this humble one will certainly manage it with care," Liu Chao hastily replied.

Afterwards, Chongzhen, accompanied by Liu Chao, came to the large shed where the military ration was being stir-fried. The fragrance could be smelled from afar.

In the past, the Ming army's military rations had all been made from rice cooked into dry rice, to be soaked in hot water when eaten. Some armies also used flatbreads with holes in the middle strung together on cords, which was convenient for carrying. But the greatest shortcoming of these two types of military ration was their monotonous nutrition, and their taste went without saying. Soldiers expended enormous physical energy in combat and on the march, and flour and rice could provide very little caloric energy. Moreover, even such rations were frequently in arrears—many Ming army officers and men often pursued and fought the enemy on empty stomachs. One could well imagine their combat effectiveness and morale.

The military ration made at the imperial estate combined various grains and added salt, oil, and sugar, providing ample nutrition and calories. One jin of such ration could match several jin of the old kind, and it was convenient to carry—a soldier simply tied a knot in his sausage bag and hung it on his person. Even if each man hung two bags, the ten-jin weight would not impede combat or marching. This was, of course, not Chongzhen's original creation; he had merely copied the experience of a certain later-era army during its early period of growth.

Before the steaming great woks, able-bodied women were strenuously stirring the grain inside with wooden spatulas, waft after waft of fragrance assailing the nose. When a wok was finished frying, it was scooped with wooden spatulas into winnowing baskets beside them, then two farm women assisting lifted them over to the rows of wooden tables set to one side. After it cooled, some farm women began filling the sewn sausage bags. Each sausage bag held about five jin when full, and soon a bag of military ration was packed, tied securely, and then specially assigned personnel loaded them into hemp sacks.

After watching, Chongzhen nodded. This sort of thing he didn't understand himself—this was probably about how it should be done.

Having finished viewing the military ration production process, Chongzhen did not go anywhere else. Walking toward the village exit, he said to Liu Chao: "Tomorrow I will arrange for the Ministry of War to send people to take delivery of the military ration. You must increase production further. Right now, many of our Great Ming's troops are fighting the enemy on empty stomachs. Hearing this weighs heavily on my heart. Officers and men shed blood and sacrifice, yet often cannot even get a single filling meal—this is the court's dereliction, and my dereliction. So you must do your utmost, produce more, and let all of the Great Ming's officers and men eat palatable military ration as soon as possible! After the Ministry of War takes delivery tomorrow, ship it out immediately—first to Governor-General Hong and Governor-General Lu, and subsequent production can be transported to the Liaodong front. Everything depends on you!"

"Rest assured, sir—even if I go without food and sleep, I will never delay the great enterprise!" Liu Chao said with absolute firmness.

"Good, I trust you. Wang Cheng'en, when you return, give Cao Huachun a word—promote Liu Chao to Registrar of the Twelve Directorates!"

Liu Chao was a Steward, rank 6B; Registrar was rank 6A—a promotion of one grade.

Wang Cheng'en acknowledged the order.

Overcome with emotion, Liu Chao's eyes reddened. Fearing the villagers might see and not daring to perform the full ceremonial prostration, he could only bow deeply, hands raised above his head, and say: "This humble one could be ground to dust and still find it hard to repay your kindness, sir! Only by working with utter sincerity can I repay this great grace!" Chongzhen smiled and patted him on the shoulder, then boarded his carriage and set off back to the palace.