prosperous age

At the Qitai military camp outside Tianjin, many soldiers who had returned victorious from Japan were still gathered.

In this eastern expedition, in addition to the Jizhou troops led by Dong Yiyuan who have already returned to Santunying to rest and reorganize, the Liaodong garrison troops also boarded the warships prepared by the imperial court two days ago and set sail, preparing to disembark directly at Gaizhou by sea.

The Liaodong troops remaining in Tianjin were only the newly trained soldiers trained by Qi Jiguang, including four battalions of infantry, cavalry, chariots, and supply troops.

The reason why they were left alone and stationed in Tianjin was naturally because Li Chengliang had his eye on this powerful Liaodong army when selecting soldiers.

It must be said that Li Chengliang still preferred to use the troops from Liaodong.

Regardless, Qi Jiguang succeeded him, and he was also the commander of this army a few years ago.

However, the timing of this renewed eastern expedition is indeed difficult to predict, so Li Chengliang did not intend to directly request personnel, but instead let the soldiers choose for themselves first.

Anyone willing to go on the expedition with him will not only receive the full amount of farewell money from the court, but will also receive two years' worth of military pay in advance.

This military pay was something he secured from Zhang Ke; it was the full amount of military pay.

Report to Wei Guangde, and whether the silver comes from the Ministry of Revenue and is transported to Tianjin by the Ministry of War, the amount must be exactly the same.

Moreover, from the moment they set out, their pay was double the wartime pay, meaning their benefits were top-notch.

In other words, as long as one is willing to follow Li Chengliang to the Eastern Continent, the military pay for two years will be more than forty taels of silver, in addition to various guarantees.

To be honest, such generous treatment would normally be very attractive.

Unfortunately, these officers and soldiers who returned victorious from Japan are now truly not short of money.

Many people had dozens of taels of silver in their hands, some as rewards issued by the imperial court, and others as spoils of war looted from Japan.

So far, the number of soldiers recruited from the Liaodong army is only a little over 1,200.

There is still a considerable gap between the two thousand people Li Chengliang hoped for.

Therefore, Li Chengliang increased the reward, which was that each person would receive two more years' worth of military pay as a reward from the imperial court upon returning to the country.

The document was submitted directly to the Ministry of War, signed by Zhang Ke, and then submitted to the Cabinet for approval, before being formally approved by the Directorate of Ceremonial.

With such a generous reward, the number of people was finally gathered, and then Qi Jiguang began training them.

These two thousand men consisted of an infantry battalion with two divisions totaling over 900 men, a cavalry battalion with two divisions totaling 500 men, and a chariot battalion and a supply battalion with one division each, comprising 24 vehicles and approximately 500 men.

During the process of Qi Jiguang helping with the choreography, Li Chengliang also learned a lot from Qi Jiguang.

Well, he did this in order to use barbarians to control barbarians.

Knowing that Westerners were skilled with firearms, he naturally had to use the Ming Dynasty's most powerful firearms force to defeat the Westerners head-on, so that they would be afraid and dare not covet the land occupied by the Ming Dynasty.

Following Qi Jiguang's training and constantly exchanging experiences, Li Chengliang has not only retained his skill in achieving victory through surprise attacks, but has also learned the art of defending against large-scale enemy firearms.

Now, Li Chengliang has 2000 Liaodong New Army soldiers and 1000 of his own personal cavalry, of which 1500 are individual cavalrymen.

However, in Li Chengliang's eyes, the cavalry battalion trained by Qi Jiguang was not really a cavalry unit, but rather a mounted infantry unit.

Their fighting style was surprisingly based on infantry combat, with cavalry serving only as their means of rapid mobility.

The main weapon that enabled them to defeat the powerful enemy was 30 tiger-squatting cannons.

Of course, things have changed under Li Chengliang's leadership.

He wasn't very interested in the Tiger Crouching Cannon, a disposable item, so he kept only 20 Tiger Crouching Cannons and replaced them with 10 medium-sized Franconian cannons, which were still mobile cannons mounted on horseback.

It must be said that the Persians' practice of mounting camels on camels gave him considerable inspiration.

Unfortunately, the Tiger Crouching Cannon was no good; its recoil was even greater than that of the medium-sized breech-loading cannon.

They lost several horses, but ultimately failed.

Qi Jiguang was very interested in this approach and made changes to his cavalry battalion.

One cannot help but suspect that the so-called Eight Banners organized by Nurhaci and Hong Dai of the Later Jin Dynasty were very likely modeled after the Qi Family Army.

The archery skills claimed by the Manchus were, strictly speaking, actually the cavalry infantry tactics of Qi Jiguang's cavalry battalion.

Aside from pursuing fleeing enemies on horseback, the Later Jin cavalry primarily engaged in infantry combat in direct battles.

The attack was led by Bayara soldiers, who were all heavy infantry with extremely strong defensive capabilities.

Behind them, other Later Jin soldiers used heavy arrows to pierce through the enemy's formation.

This tactic, employed even without the full range of firearms available to Qi Jiguang's army, enabled them to prevail in the wars at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

It is evident that Qi Jiguang's new military system had its merits, and Nurhaci was indeed adept at adapting to local conditions and responding to changing circumstances.

"Well, Ru Mo, you've managed to train him to be human."

Although the time was short, it was a newly formed military organization, so even though the organization was temporarily set up, the soldiers adapted very quickly.

In just half a month, Qi Jiguang had trained these 2000 men to be quite well-trained.

"Well, that's about it. The capital has already urged us twice, so it's time to report back."

Li Chengliang, riding alongside Qi Jiguang, spoke solemnly.

To be honest, he's not really keen on going to the Eastern Continent anymore.

After all, staying in the Ming Dynasty would allow one to enjoy a life of luxury, so there was really no need to strive for a marquisate.

But since I had already agreed, there was no chance for him to turn back now.

Both of them were under a lot of pressure during this period.

The imperial court was waiting for them, and the warships of the East China Sea Fleet were ready at the Tianjin port, waiting for them to set off at any time.

"Yes."

Qi Jiguang only replied with one sentence, and then remained silent.

He could probably understand Li Chengliang's feelings at this moment. He had just been granted the title of Earl, and then he was sent thousands of miles away to fight for the country.

If it were him, he would also hesitate.

Even with the promise of a noble title, he might impulsively agree, but he might also refuse.

He could understand Li Chengliang's feelings at that moment; perhaps he was starting to regret it.

However, at this point, no one can change the outcome.

The two men turned their horses around in perfect unison and slowly headed towards Tianjin.

Wei Guangde had no time to consider Li Chengliang's feelings, because he had already received an urgent report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Portuguese at Temasek appear to have amassed another batch of firearms for a trade, likely with the Kingdom of Aceh.

"Now Aceh is constantly provoking Old Port, and the two sides clash from time to time. It seems that they are already prepared."

Wei Guangde looked at Liu Shouyou and whispered, "Any news of Sumatra?"

"Not yet, but judging from the timeline, the Western Navy should have already transported officers and soldiers to Old Port for support in Myanmar."

Liu Shouyou immediately replied, "This subordinate has already relayed the message to those below: news from Burma and Palembang should be relayed as soon as it arrives."

"It's still too slow."

Wei Guangde couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Although I am very dissatisfied with the current way of transmitting messages in the Ming Dynasty, it seems that there is no better way.

"Now that the imperial territory has expanded considerably, the Embroidered Uniform Guard needs to find ways to expedite the transmission of information."

I hope to establish a method to transmit information from the frontier to the capital within half a month.

Wei Guangde said to Liu Shouyou.

"This"

Upon hearing Wei Guangde's request, Liu Shouyou looked troubled. In fact, the Jinyiwei's intelligence transmission routes were the fastest method available at the moment.

Aside from the Clippers and the Horse, he couldn't think of any other way to transmit messages faster.

Wei Guangde knew he was asking the impossible; in the era before telecommunications, it seemed impossible to achieve.

Unfortunately, he didn't understand telegraphs; otherwise, even a brief message sent via telegraph could have connected all parts of the Ming Dynasty in a timely manner.

"Okay, that's settled. Report back immediately if there's any news."

Wei Guangde sighed and said, "Also, we must stop the trade between the Portuguese and Aceh no matter what."

Wei Guangde's words were essentially meaningless.

Such an order had already been passed on, and if possible, it would naturally have been prevented.

Moreover, even if someone is sent to deliver the message immediately, the transaction may have already been completed by the time they arrive.

After all, overseas communication is indeed too troublesome.

When Liu Shouyou took his leave and left the cabinet, the Western Navy fleet had already entered the Strait of Malacca and was passing right under the noses of the Portuguese.

"Is the Ming Dynasty sending aid to Old Port? Your Excellency, have you noticed those transport ships? There are quite a few people on board."

On the roof of the Temasek Governor's Mansion, the Governor and the city defense commander stood, observing the Ming fleet sailing in the strait through a telescope.

"Any news from the Philippines?"

The Portuguese governor did not respond, but instead asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"No."

The answer was very brief.

"The Ming Dynasty's strength in the Far East is too great; they should be able to fight on two fronts simultaneously in the Philippines and Palembang."

With the Spanish military strength, the Philippines simply couldn't hold out.

The governor sighed.

"Actually, if they were willing, it would be difficult for us here as well."

Your Excellency, do you intend to eliminate those Ming Dynasty merchants?

There are now over a hundred Ming people living here, and among them there must be spies they sent out.

For Temasek's safety, I still hope that there are no Ming people in the city.

They should only be allowed to live in the outer city; this will greatly improve the security of our inner city.

The city defense commander reiterated his suggestion.

After a large number of Ming Dynasty merchants appeared in Temasek, and especially after they influenced the prices of Eastern goods, the city's garrison commander instinctively rejected these merchants who had been residing there for a long time.

They not only trade here, but what worries him most is that they buy properties in the city and arrange for their so-called family members to live here long-term.

Well, many of them are guards, and they all look like they come from military backgrounds.

According to the results of his investigation, there were as many as twenty or thirty Ming people in the inner city who posed a certain threat.

Don't think that twenty or thirty people is a small number. You should know that the Portuguese have less than a thousand troops here.

Even with armed sailors and expatriates, they couldn't muster a force of three thousand.

Although twenty or thirty people is a small number, if they are indeed Ming spies, they can put their defenses under great pressure if they storm the city gate at a crucial moment.

As for the outer city, it's not that important.

In fact, Temasek's most important structures are the two outer forts and the inner city, which are the core of the city's defense.

“If we expel their merchants, wouldn’t that give the Ming Dynasty a reason to start a war with us?”
Even if we don't go to war, if the Ming Dynasty bans merchants from doing business with us because of this, our losses will be enormous.

At Haojing, the Ming people are being aggressive, and Goa is also demanding our full cooperation and efforts to appease them.

It's best to avoid provoking Mingren; this transaction will be postponed.

If, as you say, the Ming people have planted spies here, I'm afraid the news will leak out.”

The Portuguese governor, reminded by the city's defense commander, also realized that the Ming people in the city were probably not just simple merchants.

At this time, it is even more important not to infringe upon the interests of the Ming Dynasty.

Otherwise, if the Ming Dynasty were to truly decide to take action here, it would be very difficult for Portuguese merchants to sail their ships into Southeast Asia to conduct trade.

The luxury mirror will surely be lost forever.

At least they still have the right to reside there, providing a place for merchants and sailors to rest.

"If the deal is terminated, it will be difficult to explain to the Sultan of Aceh, and future transactions will be problematic."

Do you think there's a future?

In response to the city defense commander's words, the governor pointed to the fleet in the strait and said, "I wasn't sure before, but look at those ships behind, their decks are full of people."

The Ming people sent at least two thousand men to support Palembang, perhaps more.

They have too many people, and their weapons too. They could easily amass an army of five thousand, or even more, here.

After speaking, the governor put away his telescope and placed it in the telescope strap beside him.

"Perhaps the Ming people have already planned to completely occupy that large island across the water and will not give them another chance."

The Sultan of Aceh, now he should be thinking about how to beg the Ming Emperor to spare his life.

After the governor finished speaking in a deep voice, he turned and left, paying no attention to the commander beside him who had once again raised his telescope to observe the Ming fleet.

"That's too barbaric. If you win, you have to kill the enemy."

When the city defense commander put down his telescope, he couldn't help but sigh.

He couldn't quite understand the wars between Eastern countries.

In the West, although wars frequently break out between countries, the victors generally accept the surrender of their opponents with gentlemanly grace.

Nobles during wartime also received the best treatment as prisoners of war.

Okay, this is all money, and it can all be sold for money.

Even the cheapest soldiers could be sold as slaves.

But in the East, he heard that losers were usually killed.

Their soldiers, generals, and nobles, many of them, will be killed until they are tired of killing.

There's no way around it; it's difficult for Westerners to understand Easterners, just as Easterners often don't understand Westerners either.

Since the medieval chivalric system, Western warfare has emphasized "honorable surrender".

The defeated side may retain its weapons, military rank and dignity, and even basic living security under certain conditions, while the victorious side has an obligation to treat prisoners of war well.

Compared to the collectivist orientation of "loyalty above life" in Eastern culture, the West places more emphasis on the individual's right to survival and human rights.

Surrender is not considered a moral stain, especially in cases of involuntary capture or extreme hardship, where society generally holds a tolerant attitude.

Then there are the nobles, who can return with dignity through redemption without affecting their status.

“Going abroad to work in a colony is really risky.”

At that moment, the Temasek city defense commander began to have doubts for the first time about accepting the order to be sent to the East.

Because it's too unsafe here; your life could be in danger at any moment. (End of Chapter)