Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

As night faded, the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn. The wilderness outside Guangning City was no longer the deathly still place it had been the night before.

In the chilly morning wind, the sounds of horses' hooves, voices, and shouts mingled with the "bang bang" of axes chopping wood and the "rustling" of soil being dug, like a huge, invisible net, quietly enveloping the entire land.

On the city wall, Chu Ze, clad in black armor, his dark cloak billowing in the wind, gazed into the distance. Ten miles away from Guangning City, tens of thousands of Later Jin troops began to move.

Military tents sprang up from the ground like mushrooms after rain. Tall wooden stakes were lifted by the soldiers, one by one driven into the earth, forming simple yet sprawling wooden fences. Tartar soldiers, carrying shovels, dug trenches like ants, carrying away baskets of soil to build low walls. Soon, watchtowers would also rise from the ground.

Amin's strategic intentions were clearly etched on this land of Liaodong—to starve Guangning to death.

"General, the Tartars are going to wage a protracted war against us." Wang Han stood beside Chu Ze, his face grave. He had stayed up all night yesterday, dealing with the distribution of spoils and the registration of new players. His eyes were bloodshot, but his voice was steady and powerful.

Chu Ze nodded without turning around, only looking at the busy and orderly scene outside the city, and said softly, "They want to starve us to death in the city. But little did they know that there is another force in Guangning City now."

His gaze shifted from outside the city to inside.

Inside Guangning City, a bustling scene unfolded, a stark contrast to the Tartar camps outside the city.

The morning mist had not yet completely dissipated, and in the limited open space within the city, a group of players dressed in coarse cloth shirts were already busy with hoes and shovels. Leading the way was a dark-skinned girl with braided pigtails, carrying several fist-sized crops in her hands, excitedly explaining to a thin old scholar beside her as she walked.

"Mr. Li, look!" Tian Qianhe, also known as the "Shennong Girl" among the players, carefully held up a potato, her face beaming with pride. "This is the 'potato' unlocked from the scroll. Its yield is several times that of ordinary millet! With proper management, a yield of a thousand catties per mu is easily achievable!"

Wearing his monocle, Li Xunyi leaned closer to examine it closely. He had spent his life studying the classics and should have scoffed at these "strange skills and tricks." But when he saw these large, plump crops with his own eyes and heard about their astonishing yield, the Confucian scholar's heart, filled with concern for his country and its people, was utterly shaken.

"A yield of... a thousand catties per mu?" His voice trembled as he took the potatoes, weighing them in his hands and squeezing them, feeling their heavy weight. They were no longer just numbers on paper, but living hope!

Seeing that Li Xunyi had finally been "conquered," Tian Qianhe's face flushed with excitement. She then pointed to the plots of land the players were cultivating and patiently explained, "Also, Mr. Li, we need to implement crop rotation on these plots. Plant potatoes the first year, and beans the second year. Beans can fertilize the soil, and once the soil's fertility is restored, planting potatoes again the year after will yield an even better harvest!"

"Crop rotation? Fertilized land?" Li Xunyi was completely bewildered, but he was drawn in by the allure of "high yield." He shakily pulled out a small notebook from his pocket, writing as he exclaimed, "This is the way of Shennong! The way of Shennong! This old man wishes to hear its details!"

Tian Qianhe beamed with delight; she had finally found an NPC who was genuinely interested in learning. She pulled Li Xunyi along to an experimental field enclosed by a simple wooden fence set up by the players, and began to explain in detail the principles of "intensive farming" and "formula fertilization."

Meanwhile, in an abandoned armory, flames roared and thick smoke billowed. Cheng Huaxue, the "Chemical Fairy," was leading a group of players and craftsmen from Guangning City, busy working around a huge stone mortar.

"The sulfur must be finely ground! The finer the better! The charcoal must be made from willow wood; its porous structure allows for better adsorption!" Cheng Huaxue, her head wrapped in a cloth and her face covered in soot, couldn't hide the excitement in her eyes. Pointing to the craftsman beside her, she loudly ordered, "The same goes for saltpeter! It must be repeatedly purified to remove impurities!"

An old craftsman took a small pinch of black powder, sniffed it, and then rubbed it between his fingertips. He had spent his whole life dealing with gunpowder, but Cheng Huaxue's "ingenious ideas" had broadened his horizons.

"Fairy Cheng, this...this really can increase the power of gunpowder?" the old craftsman asked in a trembling voice.

Cheng Huaxue smiled confidently: "Theoretically, it allows the gunpowder to burn more completely, resulting in a greater explosive force and much less smoke! Just you wait and see!"

She directed the players to mix various ingredients in precise proportions, pour them into a large stone mortar, and then use simple animal power to drive the stone mill for repeated grinding. Soon, the workshop produced a batch of "black powder" that was completely different from before. These gunpowder particles were uniform, dark in color, and incredibly smooth to the touch.

When this batch of new gunpowder was loaded into muskets and tested at the firing range outside the city, the roar was louder than ever before, and the smoke was noticeably thinner. On Chu Ze's [Technology Tree], the node for "Gunpowder Technology (Beginner)" was instantly lit up, and a surge of pure spiritual energy flowed into the scroll.

In a simple clinic within the city, An Ji, the "King Yama's Sorrow" doctor, wearing a self-made monocle, was cleaning the wounds of a wounded soldier with an alcohol swab. Su Qingying stood beside him, holding a bamboo scroll, methodically recording the information of the wounded and sick.

"Master Su, this wounded soldier has a persistent high fever, which is probably due to a cold. Give him plenty of boiled water to drink, and then use ginger slices to make water to wipe his body down and lower his temperature!" An Ji said to Su Qingying without looking up as he skillfully treated the wound.

Su Qingying wrote everything down. She originally thought that a clinic was just about brewing medicine and treating patients, but An Ji's arrival completely transformed the place.

"Everyone who comes into contact with the injured must wash their hands with soap!" Anji loudly ordered the medical staff beside him. "The gauze used for changing dressings must be sterilized by boiling water! Scissors and other instruments must also be sterilized by fire!"

"Illness enters through the mouth! Illness enters through the mouth!" Li Xunyi was also pulled over by Anji to be an "assistant teacher." He stood aside, holding a ruler, and repeatedly explained Anji's popular science principles to the soldiers and civilians who did not understand hygiene.

"Mr. Li, you see, boiling water is a bit of a hassle, but it effectively reduces the spread of disease!" Anji pointed to the players and ordinary people boiling water in large pots and patiently explained, "Look, this is 'disinfection,' which can 'kill' all the dirty and bad things in the water!"

Li Xunyi was taken aback for a moment, then nodded emphatically. Although these "heavenly soldiers" were strange, the principles they spoke always made people suddenly understand.

Meanwhile, next to Zhou Keke's cement factory, Gongshu Ban, whose ID is "Lu Ban Reborn," is leading a group of players in tinkering with a huge wooden structure.

"The lever arm needs to be longer! The gears must mesh precisely! Use mortise and tenon joints here, and leave room for expansion!" Gongshu Ban's tall body hunched slightly as he muttered incantations. He directed the players to transform thick logs into gears that would drive a giant millstone amidst the roaring sound of flowing water.

"Civil engineer! When will this water mill start grinding flour?" a player asked excitedly, carrying a sack of wheat.

Gongshu Ban didn't even turn his head. He simply picked up a piece of wood and quickly carved something on it: "Grinding flour is nothing! This water power can also drive the bellows. In the future, when smelting iron, no one will need to operate the bellows! How much effort will be saved!"

He was obsessed with the efficiency of machinery. In his eyes, the backward productivity of Guangning City was a huge treasure trove, waiting for him to explore it with modern knowledge. The prototype of the steam engine in the cement plant, the linkage between the water mill and the bellows, were all in his plans. His goal was to establish a "semi-automated" production system in Guangning City.

Players are like pioneers, impacting this backward ancient society with modern knowledge. They bring not only improvements to gunpowder, increased crop yields, and advancements in medical care, but also an endless exploration of mechanical manufacturing.

The native NPCs went from initial skepticism to shock, and now to numbness. They no longer doubted whether these "heavenly soldiers" were human; all that remained was deep awe and fanatical faith.

Chu Ze descended the city wall and wandered through every corner of the city. As he looked at everything, a surge of emotion welled up within him.

Tian Qianhe excitedly showed him the newly sprouted potato seedlings, while Li Xunyi chattered incessantly about the wonders of "crop rotation" and "intensive farming." Cheng Huaxue handed him a small bag of newly made gunpowder, showing off its explosive power. Anji led him on a tour of the neat and orderly clinic, explaining the importance of "disinfection." Gongshuban, meanwhile, stood beside the watermill, enthusiastically explaining his blueprint for a "semi-automated production system."

Chu Ze always had a faint smile on his lips. He gave the players the greatest support and continuously imported the technological achievements transformed from the players' "ingenious ideas" into the technology tree of the Mountain and River Map, obtaining a continuous stream of spiritual energy.

"General!"

As Chu Ze was inspecting a supply warehouse, Su Qingying's voice rang out behind him. She ran over with small steps, carrying a thick bamboo scroll in her hands, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, but her excitement was undeniable.

"This is what you instructed: the registration of the newly recruited Chosen Ones' special skills, and the latest inventory of supplies in the city." Su Qingying handed the bamboo slip to Chu Ze, her voice gentle and steady, her points clear and logical. "According to the latest statistics, our grain reserves are expected to last for three months until Tian Qianhe's 'high-yield crops' mature. As for the gunpowder stockpile, Cheng Huaxue and the others have already improved a batch, increasing its power by 30%. The medical clinic's gauze, wound medicine, and other consumables have also had their reserves increased, following An Ji's advice."

Chu Ze took the bamboo slips and casually flipped through a few pages. They clearly recorded the quantity and losses of each resource, even including production cycles and expected output. The numbers on the bamboo slips were densely packed yet meticulously organized, leaving even this modern man in awe.

Su Qingying managed everything meticulously and with exceptional efficiency. Her sensitivity to numbers, control over resources, and calm analytical skills undoubtedly made her a natural-born CFO.

Chu Ze closed the bamboo slip and looked at the woman in front of him, who appeared delicate but was exceptionally resilient.

He had thought he understood Su Qingying's abilities well enough, but at this moment, a thought surfaced in Chu Ze's mind: her management talent was far from being fully realized. The large-scale production in Guangning City needed a manager who could truly oversee the overall situation.

He had a new idea.

"Secretary Su, you've done very well," Chu Ze said softly, his voice carrying a hint of meaning. "But the future of Guangning City requires more than just this. Perhaps you have something more important to do."