Chapter 65: News of an Old Friend

The regulations for local militia in the Ming Song Kingdom.

The "Zhihai Stockade" had five warships when at full capacity.

I won't even think about thousand-liao ships, and I won't mention five-hundred-liao ones either; let's just count them as small-to-medium warships of three-hundred-liao, or six hundred tons.

Five ships would still require five "Hundred-Guard" commanders to serve as captains;

Ten deputy Hundred-Guards to serve as civil and military first mates;

Fifty squad leaders to serve as boatswains, vanguard heads, and other such core personnel;

And five hundred regular soldiers and fifteen hundred minor soldiers to serve as armed sailors.

A military stockade composed of over two thousand officers and soldiers, plus the families of the military, would inevitably have nearly ten thousand people.

That is why the "Zhihai Stockade" was built so large.

However, only a local militia would have the bizarre situation of a mere Eighth-Rank Seal-Holding Governor commanding an army of two thousand.

An Eighth-Rank Seal-Holding "Great Star Chief" in the Ming Song regular army would have no more than three hundred and forty-three soldiers under their command.

But their "soldiers" must be young and strong, well-fed and well-rested, and follow an instructor to practice weapons and drills for at least three to five months.

"Regular soldiers" must have survived three years on the battlefield, be neither wounded nor disabled, and be daring enough to fight and kill.

If they were to face off against the ragtag mob of the "Zhihai Stockade," a single land-based charge would result in a total victory.

In a naval battle, the militia of Zhihai Stockade might hold out a little longer, but they would end up in the bellies of fish, which would be even less dignified.

Therefore, no matter how many militia soldiers there are, the Imperial Court is not afraid.

On the contrary, they encourage militia commanders to act with discretion when recruiting, prioritizing quantity over quality to better suppress rebellious commoners...

Five Hundred-Guards and ten deputy Hundred-Guards—even if the stockade is understaffed, it is impossible for there to be none at all.

Li Yunbo was cornered by Zhang Gui's questioning. With no other choice, he could only tell the truth: "Governor,

Zhihai Stockade was originally established by your Pingyang Zhang Family;

The Muxiangchuan Li Family, where I am from;

Along with the Zhehai Tao Family and the Xiongsen Island Zhao Family.

Therefore, regardless of the stockade's rise or fall, officials above the rank of deputy Hundred-Guard can only be filled by descendants of our four families.

To this day, although most positions are vacant, it is not to the point where there isn't a single Hundred-Guard or deputy Hundred-Guard.

But, but the former Governor of the stockade, Tao Songbai, had a very close personal friendship with Zhang Yan, a strongman from the Blackwood Town on the Giant Serpent Head Island in the Outer Wild Ocean, who was once of your Zhang Family.

Starting about ten years ago, Zhang Yan's subordinates would occasionally transport goods from Blackwood Town to the stockade..."

Zhang Gui widened his eyes and interrupted Lao Li:

"Are you saying that ten years ago, Zhihai Stockade became a wharf for Zhang Yan to smuggle goods into the interior behind the family's back for personal gain?"

Li Yunbo corrected him dryly: "That is exactly the case.

What's worse is that Zhang Yan's fleet still transports goods here from time to time."

"But Zhang Yan is no longer the Chief Manager of the Pingyang Zhang Family; he is a great pirate of the sea who 'killed his kin and betrayed his clan.'

If he were caught, he could be torn apart by five horses without even needing a trial.

Having reached this point, he has completely lost all scruples.

Who knows when he might have a whim and raid a commandery or county, becoming a rebel leader.

If you are still entangled with him, once the matter is exposed, it won't be as simple as smuggling for profit.

How many heads do you have to lose!"

"That is exactly why all the Hundred-Guards and deputy Hundred-Guards in the stockade have claimed illness and are recuperating.

I'm afraid they won't show their faces for the rest of their lives."...

Zhihai Stockade is similar to what Zhang Gui knew in his previous life as a "self-funded and self-managed public institution."

The logic behind its existence is that several influential local figures in Pingyang Commandery City, in order to protect their own property and reputation,

Spent a lot of money and favors to lobby the higher-ups, securing an Eighth-Rank militia establishment that was self-funded and self-managed.

At first, the big shots spent money and effort for their own interests and face, and the yamen ran quite prosperously.

But time passed.

The big shots who handled this matter one by one grew old and weak, either dying of old age or stepping down to live in seclusion.

And with the changes in the political situation, the role of this yamen became less and less, approaching zero.

Consequently, the families to which the big shots belonged began to be unwilling to continue investing.

However, things like establishments that affect the stability of an organizational structure are harder to abolish than to establish in any stable and mature government across any dimensional universe.

Therefore, although Zhihai Stockade no longer has a reason to exist, it must exist.

Even if it has now become a malignant tumor, it remains so...

And since Zhihai Stockade has become such a quagmire, how successful could the descendants of the Zhang, Li, Tao, and Zhao families who mix in it be?

Even they, without exception, know that the military stockade's entanglement with the great pirate Zhang Yan is already fraught with crises.

Even if part of the reason is that they are the parties involved and "ducks know first when the spring river warms," this matter is certainly no secret among the upper echelons of the four families.

After understanding the cause and effect clearly, combined with his own experiences, Zhang Gui pondered for a moment and guessed the truth, suddenly laughing out loud:

"So that's how it is. Zhang Yan's power on the sea has actually intimidated all four of our clans.

Especially the new clan head of our Pingyang Zhang Family, Zhang Qitai, whose younger brother died and whose father was implicated, losing all face and retiring into seclusion.

He was also frightened by the very person who started all this.

And Zhihai Stockade cannot be abolished; it doesn't matter if there are fewer Hundred-Guards or deputy Hundred-Guards in the stockade, but it is truly unjustifiable to have no Seal-Holding Governor.

This term's stockade Governor had to be someone from the Zhang Family.

As a result, at just the right time, some big shot in the Pingyang Zhang Family casually sent me, a nobody who didn't even have a generation character a few days ago, to take the position and be the scapegoat.

Truly a person with ideas!

Hahahaha..."

"It's just that I don't understand, Governor Li, why have you, as the deputy Governor, stayed in the stockade all this time?"

Hearing Zhang Gui's laughter, Li Yunbo felt his heart beat faster for some reason, his head dizzy and swollen, and he said tremblingly:

"I, I am already ninety years old.

A few years ago, when the plague broke out, my children and grandchildren, my children and grandchildren all died.

Now that I am alive, I am just, just cultivating merit for the afterlife.

To tell you the truth, if it weren't for the fact that I am too old, and being promoted another half-rank to become the Governor of Zhihai Stockade would be, would be improper.

And the elders in the clan didn't agree.

I would have already taken this scapegoat position."

Zhang Gui heard the sincerity in his words and stopped laughing.

He calmed down, pondered for a moment, and finally asked: "Is there any stolen loot from Zhang Yan currently in the military stockade?

How often do his people usually come?"

"Zhang Yan's people usually come to us once every ten days or half a month.

The leader is named Guan Xihui, who looks refined and full of scholarly air.

But legend has it that he can transform into a green-skinned shrimp demon in the sea, with the ability to swallow boats and break ships.

Less than half a year after turning to banditry, he earned the nickname, Green Shrimp Demon.

The last time he came was on the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month.

Not only did he not bring any goods, but he also transported away all the thousands of red-white spears, horizontal blades, ring armor, and so on that were stored in the military stockade.

Counting the time, excluding the New Year, he should come once after the Lantern Festival."

Zhang Gui was stunned: "Transporting so many weapons from here doesn't look like plundering.

So it seems that after Zhang Yan turned the world upside down, he didn't just become a pirate; he also reopened his own weapon workshop.

Truly a master of many trades."

"Hmm?"

"It means that the great pirate Zhang Yan is now not only specialized in being a pirate, but also maintains the ability he had before of managing overseas towns and side-line smuggling businesses.

And that subordinate of his, the whale-tearing Guan Xihui, I knew him before.

He is also a capable person.

It will be just right to meet him next time he comes."

While speaking, thinking of Guan Xihui's refined smile and his two faces—one with teeth like steel and eyes revealing a beast's heart—Zhang Gui couldn't help but grit his teeth.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 66 =====