Chapter 249: Neighbors

Sturdy warhorses galloped through the valley snows, Liu Chengzong on horseback gripping a short bird gun, laughing heartily.

A dozen or so guards drove herds of massive argali sheep scattering wildly through the river valley.

The argali is the world's largest wild sheep, relatively poor at climbing, so when fleeing they avoid scrambling up cliffs and crags.

In heat during winter, they gather in herds across the He-Huang Valley to seek mates; after brief but violent exertion and a few gunshots, silence returned to the valley.

"Ah, the word 'lust' is a knife over one's head."

Liu Chengzong reined in his warhorse, watching an exhausted argali crash heavily into the snow, roped and slowly dragged off by the guards.

Their final fate, alongside autumn radishes, was to appear on the Lion Army's New Year's Eve dinner table, becoming a superb winter-warming soup.

He raised his gun toward his elder brother and laughed: "Brother, what do you think?"

Liu Chengzu sat his horse beside him, riding a tall warhorse, a firelock in his own hand, and nodded: "The horse is a bit slow, but this thing is very convenient."

Both had switched mounts, now riding large horses from Hequ — these Hequ horses carry Tang-dynasty horse bloodlines, robust and vigorous in build, still bearing traces of that prosperous age.

Whether on muddy flats or the high plateau, they move as if on level ground, with greater carrying capacity than their warhorses, strong power, moderate speed, and slightly less endurance.

Even if their cannons were heavier, a single-horse hitch could still haul them.

As for firelocks, Liu Chengzong carried a modified light bird gun; the priming pan had a wind-shielding brass cover added — before firing, one slowed, flipped open the cover, then pulled the trigger, to prevent the horse's jolting from blowing the priming powder away.

The entire motion had to be steady, fluid, swift, and precise — but for Liu Chengzong, this was not difficult.

What Liu Chengzu held, however, was a long-barreled flintlock pistol with a two-chi barrel.

When crafting the new bird guns, Liu Chengzong had mentioned it in passing, and Shi Chengwo had made him a little toy.

Taking advantage of today's free time for hunting, he let his elder brother Liu Chengzu take it out and play with it.

Liu Chengzu examined the pistol, smiled, and said: "This thing is fine for casual fun, but carrying it into battle would be inconvenient."

Liu Chengzong nodded and said: "It can be equipped on a small scale. It has shortcomings, but also its strengths."

This type of flintlock mechanism is somewhat more troublesome to make than a matchlock; the spring is not a major problem — any craftsman who can make cross-legged scissors can make a spring leaf.

Flintlock and matchlock differ only in the firing mechanism; the barrel and ammunition are unchanged, with identical power and range — for the handicraft industry of this era, there is no technical difficulty whatsoever.

The advantages are no open flame, no fear of wind, no match cord, the possibility of instantaneous discharge, and the ability to form denser ranks.

The disadvantages, compared to the matchlock mechanism, are greater labor, a lower ignition rate, poorer accuracy, and lower reliability.

The low ignition rate can be improved, but the extent of improvement is limited.

The matchlock's ignition mechanism works by pulling the trigger, causing the burning match cord to drop into the priming pan filled with priming powder; the priming powder ignites and, through the touchhole, ignites the gunpowder inside the barrel to fire.

The flintlock's ignition mechanism works by storing force in a spring leaf, using the hammer and flint striking to produce sparks, which ignite the priming pan to fire.

If the hammer's force is small, the ignition rate is low; if the hammer's force is large, barrel vibration worsens accuracy.

And poor reliability manifests in two respects.

On one hand, its components are more numerous and more complex than a matchlock's, bear greater stress, and are more prone to damage.

On the other hand, during use in dense formations, the low ignition rate brings accidents.

A matchlock gunner only needs to ensure the match cord falls into the priming pan and that the priming powder in the pan hasn't been blown away, and ignition is basically guaranteed.

When a flintlock gunner's hammer strikes down, ignition is not necessarily guaranteed; when used by a single person, whether it fired or not is easy to see, but when a row of flintlock gunners fights in formation, during a volley there is a chance of misjudgment, leading to repeated loading of ammunition into the barrel and causing a barrel burst.

In their attitude toward firearms, the Liu brothers were strikingly similar.

Both were very willing to use firearms at any time except in battle, but in combat, both trusted the bow and arrow more.

Liu Chengzu handed the firelock back and asked: "Small-scale equipment — how small?"

"Four or five hundred? It's easier to make than the Frankish breech-loading pistols Shi Chengwo made earlier, and equally suited for cavalry use."

Liu Chengzong said this, then shook his head and laughed: "Training a skilled mounted archer takes three to five years, but for a man to become proficient with this on horseback takes only three to five months — and making two of these takes only thirty man-days of labor."

The hardest part of making a bird gun lies in drilling the barrel smooth and straight, making it fine and durable — this is also the most labor-consuming part.

Compared to a four-chi long barrel, a pistol with only half the length significantly shortens production time.

"But those three to five years are three to five years they can train at home on their own, while these three to five months are three to five months spent training in your drill camp."

Liu Chengzu added: "And what is the cost in between?"

Training cost was an expense greater than equipment, so although the cost of a flintlock was two or three mace of silver higher than a matchlock, in Liu Chengzong's eyes it could be directly ignored.

The cost of one gun — cheap ones six or seven qian, expensive ones barely over one tael, less than two taels of silver.

That bit of money was only enough to maintain a soldier for one or two months.

Liu Chengzong raised his face and smiled: "So we teach according to aptitude and adapt to local conditions. We have few men — how many heroes around here have the means to train at home for three to five years in mounted archery?"

"Using firearms is the general trend. The times have changed."

As Liu Chengzong spoke, his breath condensed into white mist in the air; he stuffed the firelock back into the leather holster beside the saddle, put on thick gloves, and gazed toward the distant snowy mountains.

"Skills honed over ten years like one day — on the battlefield, perhaps struck down by a single cannon shot before even entering bow range. The old era when ten thousand elite troops could conquer the realm grows ever more distant."

Liu Chengzu deeply agreed; in truth, they had not fully lived in that era.

From the time they went to war, the rules of warfare had long since combined cold and hot weapons, but for them in the past, facing the northern invaders, a warrior of superb skill was still invincible.

It was just that seeing the Hequ horses inevitably brought to mind the era when armored cavalry charged across battlefields.

Liu Chengzu's cheeks were flushed red from the cold; compared to the Lion Army camped outside, Xining Garrison was a better place. He wrapped his fur robe tighter, and the two walked their horses toward a wind-sheltered spot. On the way, he sniffled and asked: "Are you really planning to sell blades to the northern invaders?"

Beside crumbling walls abandoned in the river valley for who knows how many years, the guards lit a campfire. The two brothers tethered their warhorses, and Liu Chengzong picked up a few damp chunks of wood and placed them beside the fire, asking: "Father went to see you?"

Throughout the entire twelfth month of the third year of Chongzhen, the Lion Army's leaders had been discussing setting up workshops and opening markets.

Setting up workshops was no great matter — they had the best technology in the northwest, and handcrafting anything of this era posed no technical barrier.

What could limit them was only the small number of senior craftsmen and insufficient raw materials.

So what workshops they set up depended on what raw materials the Qinghai Tuda could provide them.

What had now been finalized were three bureaus: Weaving, Armaments, and Hundred Crafts.

Among them, the Armaments Bureau naturally produced weapons, while the Weaving Bureau handled making clothing, white headscarves, woolen blankets, and other textile work.

The Hundred Crafts Bureau, in Liu Chengzong's vision, was an institution mainly for trade with the Mongols — hiring craftsmen from Xining and the chieftains, accepting orders from Mongol tribes, and producing daily-use goods.

Needs with relatively low technical content, such as farm tools and jewelry, were all handled by the Hundred Works Bureau.

The only thing that could spark debate among them was one item: ironware.

Using ironware to blockade the Mongols was a consistent state policy of the Great Ming. Now that the leaders of the Lion Army all hailed from the Great Ming, they were naturally no exception on this point.

But forced by circumstances, they could no longer ban iron pots. Selling weapons to the Mongols was the crux of their debate.

Father felt his conscience troubled by this.

"Da came looking for me. He asked about the situation of the Huoluo Chi Eight Banners."

The two brothers sat warming themselves by the campfire. Liu Chengzu pulled off his fur gloves and toasted them over the flames, turning his head to say, "Da worries that one day the knives you sell will fall upon the people of Hezhou — how could your heart bear it?"

"I've thought about this too, but the Qinghai Mongols have knives. It can't be stopped."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong raised a hand and pointed toward the distant camp. "That Baiyan — I've talked with him a few times. West of Hami there's a place called Yarkand. They can make not only arms and armor, but also fire lances."

"Yarkand?"

Liu Chengzu chewed over this rather novel-sounding name. "Sounds pretty formidable from the name."

Liu Chengzong shook his head. "In the Jiajing era, their chief was a Mongol half-breed who came over from Hindustan. He brought a sovereign and ten thousand troops, sold the sovereign to the Kazakhs, and swapped for five thousand soldiers. All told, about the same as me — a handful of men. He burrowed into the great desert and founded a kingdom."

To the north are the Oirats and Kazakhs; to the east, the Great Ming and the Tumed. They're trapped in a vast desert themselves — a truly tragic position, a truly harsh environment.

The Great Ming to the east is the most refined and amiable. In principle, whoever dares touch me, I'll fight them.

The Oirats and Kazakhs fight every day. Both are ruthless characters who'll fight whoever's next to them.

And back in the day, Altan Khan, who commanded the Right Wing's Three Tumen, was fierce and ill-tempered. Whether you were next to him or not didn't matter — if he wanted a fight, he'd fly over just to have one. A true overlord of the steppe.

Stuck in such an environment, Yarkand can only shiver in fear. Unable to beat outsiders, they could only fall into internal strife. So according to Baiyan Taiji, Yarkand's current military strength is less than Liu Chengzong's.

Liu Chengzong pointed further north. "North of Yarkand are the Kazakhs and Oirats — those two are the truly formidable ones. Much farther north, there's a river called the Ob. West of the river there's a band of barbarian bandits from the Tsardom of Rus, called the Oros in the previous dynasty. They have fire lances and cannons."

"The Oirat Dzungars are settled around a salt lake. They've been fighting those barbarian bandits for over twenty years, so the Dzungars have firearms and cannons too."

Having said this, he unbuckled his waist saber and laid it across his lap, looking at his elder brother. "Brother, you were in Xining — you know about the smuggling there, right? Baiyan told me, one of these can trade for one Bactrian camel or nine head of livestock."

The elder brother's eyes went perfectly round.

When Liu Chengzong first heard from Baiyan about the arms and armor smuggling trade and its brutally simple prices, his inner reaction had been much the same as his brother's.

A bow and quiver equal three head of livestock.

One waist saber, one pair of vambraces, or one fire lance equals five head of livestock.

One helmet or one high-grade blade equals one Bactrian camel or nine head of livestock.

One full suit of armor equals ninety head of livestock.

Some time ago, another younger brother of Baiyan's on the south side of Qinghai Lake married off a daughter. The groom's family sent betrothal gifts. By custom, when a Taiji marries off a daughter, the betrothal requires fifty head of cattle and one hundred sheep.

Later, the groom's family produced two sets of lamellar armor, and the daughter was married off.

"How much profit is there in this?"

Liu the Lion shook his head and said, "We can't ban this. Even if we don't do it, it's still there. But if we reach our hand forward a little, we can control a larger part of it."

"Win over those willing to follow us, form a coalition to weaken the enemy. The return from selling one blade is enough to manufacture ten fire lances."

Liu Chengzong, satisfied with his brother's expression, slowly nodded and said, "Over time, we'll gain a large pool of skilled craftsmen, capture a huge market, and accumulate enough wealth to pay the army, to circulate back through the market, and even to issue our own paper currency."

Liu Chengzu had been listening with keen interest up to this point, but now his face twisted with disgust as he asked, stunned, "Precious notes?"

"The issuance of precious notes has no silver backing. Paper currency is a receipt — if you don't back it with precious metal, it's a swindle. The court demands taxes be paid in silver, yet expects the common people to spend precious notes as money. Isn't that a joke?"

Liu Chengzong laughed, then spread his hands and said, "We're different. If we have three hundred thousand taels of white silver, we can issue three hundred thousand taels' worth of notes. As long as the market is in our hands, credit is simple. Our market will only accept our notes."

"Qinghai is vast and sparsely populated. Carrying silver is unsafe, but notes are easy to carry. We can establish goods warehouses to purchase raw materials, and even later on..."

Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes and chuckled. "I could print fifty thousand notes and hire fifty thousand Mongol soldiers to fight a battle for me."

Liu Chengzu burst out laughing at this, rocking back and forth. A blast of cold wind made him hurriedly wrap his fur robe tight. "I believe they'd fight a battle for you over notes, but I don't believe you could find fifty thousand Mongol soldiers."

"That's the general idea. Just grasp the gist of it."

Liu Chengzong laughed along. After the laughter, he waved a hand and said, "Selling only weapons won't stop them from raiding us, so fighting is unavoidable. But if our daily goods are sold all across Qinghai, everyone will listen to us."

The expression on Liu Chengzu's face was very complicated, deeply puzzled.

He didn't understand why his younger brother was so keen on controlling the Mongols. He asked, "Are you planning to use Mongols to fight the Great Ming? Rebellion, in the end, is a family quarrel among our own people. Dragging the neighbors in — that won't do, right?"

Liu Chengzong found his brother's phrasing quite interesting and laughed. "Overthrowing the Great Ming is, of course, our own family's affair. But this neighbor who grazes in peace is being bought off by that restless neighbor to the east. Remember that Daiching Chen Qindai spoke of — the Khalkha Mongols."

"A group of Mongols south of the Gobi has already surrendered to the Later Jin's Hong Taiji. Our own family's business — it's not his turn, is it?"

Liu Chengzong's expression turned solemn. "To take a step back, we can't let the two neighbors gang up against us. Hence, trade — each takes what they need."

Liu Chengzu caught the implication and asked, "And to take a step forward?"

"A step forward?"

Liu Chengzong said, "This neighbor once served as our master. Now they've fallen into ruin. Why can't we become their master?"

Having said this, he turned his head to look at Liu Chengzu and asked, "Brother, any plans to find me a Mongol sister-in-law?"