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

Late at night, at the garrison commander's residence.

The candlelight in the study burned quietly, casting Chu Ze's shadow onto the military sand table behind him. The shadow was long and straight, intertwined with the tiny flags representing the Later Jin's continuous battalions on the sand table.

The city's hustle and bustle had long since subsided. Whether it was Tian Qianhe excitedly planning his famous experimental field, An Ji bustling about in the makeshift clinic, or Gongshu Ban staring blankly at a pile of gear parts in the workshop, they were all fast asleep. The players' unique "logout" mechanism allowed the city to regain its natural tranquility at night.

But Chu Ze did not sleep.

His fingertips traced the rough surface of the sand table, the arc precisely outlining the silhouette of the Later Jin army camp outside the city. The newly erected watchtowers, the deep trenches, and the endless antlers and fences all constructed a three-dimensional image in his mind.

Amin's intentions were simple, crude, yet exceptionally effective.

He wanted to turn Guangning into a completely isolated island, and then quietly wait for the prey on the island to kill each other out of hunger and despair, and eventually rot away.

This is an open conspiracy.

For any besieged city in the chaos of the late Ming Dynasty, this was an inescapable death sentence.

"General, the Tartars are determined to fight us to the bitter end this time."

A soft voice sounded behind him, and Su Qingying entered silently, carrying a bowl of steaming ginseng tea. She gently placed the tea bowl on the table beside Chu Ze, her movements quiet and without making a sound.

After spending so much time together, she could now sense the impending storm brewing in Chu Ze's calm demeanor.

Chu Ze didn't turn around. He pointed heavily at the red area on the sand table that represented Guangning City.

"Yes, they think Guangning is a dead end, but little do they know, things are completely different here now." His voice was deep, carrying a knowing calm. "However, we can't afford to be passive in this war of attrition. Since they want to starve us, why don't we turn the tables on them?"

Su Qingying's breath hitched slightly.

Will it count?

Faced with an encirclement of tens of thousands of troops, how could they possibly turn the tables?

Chu Ze finally turned around, picked up the ginseng tea, and let the warm liquid slide down his throat, dispelling the chill of the late night. He didn't look at Su Qingying, but instead cast his gaze to the deep darkness outside the window.

"We must not only repair the city and develop production, but also investigate and eliminate spies within the city."

"A spy?" Su Qingying's expression changed instantly. For a besieged, isolated city, these two words carried the weight of a thousand troops outside the city.

"That's right." Chu Ze put down his teacup, making a crisp, light sound.

He walked to the window and stood with his hands behind his back.

"Hu Yongqiang's last attack was too clearly targeted. He went straight for the west gate, and the timing was perfect, precisely when our defenses were weakest. Who would believe that he didn't have spies in the city?"

"This group of people is extremely well hidden. They might be an inconspicuous peddler on the roadside, a lowly clerk in the government office, or even a veteran guarding the city. They had already established themselves here before Guangning City was besieged."

Chu Ze's voice turned cold.

"Production is in full swing inside the city. News of potatoes, new gunpowder, water power plants... these things can be kept secret for a while, but not forever. Once this intelligence leaks out, do you think Amin will still be foolish enough to wait outside the city for us to run out of food? He will immediately launch a general offensive regardless of the cost."

Su Qingying's heart sank. These past few days, she had been immersed in the joy of managing supplies and watching the warehouse fill up day by day, but she had overlooked the deadly crisis hidden behind it.

What the general sees is always deeper and farther away.

"Then... what should we do? Should we immediately launch a city-wide manhunt?" Su Qingying asked anxiously, already starting to think about who to investigate first.

"No, that would only alert them." Chu Ze shook his head, a cold smile curving his lips. "Digging them out is a given. But not now. Before we dig them out, they have other uses."

He turned his head and looked at Su Qingying, his deep eyes shining brightly in the candlelight.

"I want you to pretend that there's a food shortage in the city."

Su Qingying was completely stunned.

Pretending to be short of food? What does that mean?

Chu Ze did not explain immediately. He walked back to the center of the study and slowly raised his right hand in front of Su Qingying.

Golden light flowed from his palm, and the ancient and vast phantom of the landscape painting silently unfolded once more in mid-air. Countless data streams, visible only to him, flashed past him like a golden waterfall.

He was going to do something that could never be accomplished using traditional investigative methods.

For the government of that era, investigating spies was an extremely time-consuming, labor-intensive, and low-success-rate task. It essentially involved going door-to-door to interrogate people and using torture to extract confessions. If not handled carefully, it could lead to a large number of wrongful convictions and shake public morale.

But Chu Ze is different.

He is the GM of this "world".

His consciousness sank into the scroll, directly bringing up the player management module. He didn't choose to send out mass tasks; that would cause too much of a commotion. What he needed was precision and efficiency, like a sharp scalpel, cutting open the hidden tumor on the body of Guangning City.

His fingertips traced across the void, and commands were input into the GM backend.

[Trigger-based Hidden Quest Chain: The Silent Web]

[First Stage: Tracking]

[Mission Description: In the darkness, venomous snakes lurk. This city appears united, but undercurrents are swirling. Some who shouldn't be here are using their eyes and ears to pass on Guangning's secrets to the wolves outside the city. Find their trail.]

[Mission Objective: By analyzing information such as population movement, resource consumption, and rumors circulating in the city, identify at least three suspects exhibiting suspicious behavior and provide conclusive evidence.]

[Mission Rewards: 3000 Merit Points, Rare Intelligence Exchange Permission (Beginner), Title [Inner Guard (Apprentice)] .]

[Task recipient (targeted selection): Qin Jue (ID: Shadow Meteor), and 5 other players with the highest scores in logical analysis and stealth reconnaissance.]

The task was generated without any earth-shattering golden light or a system announcement that resounded throughout the city.

The golden mission command transformed into several barely perceptible streaks of light, silently piercing through the walls of the garrison commander's mansion and disappearing into several quiet corners of Guangning City.

……

In the south of the city, on the roof of a dilapidated house.

Qin Jue lay quietly on the roof tiles like a black cat, blending into the night. He liked this feeling, overlooking the sleeping city in the silent darkness, feeling every breath of wind.

Suddenly, a blood-red scroll icon popped up on his player panel without warning, flashing wildly.

You have triggered the hidden quest chain: The Silent Web.

Qin Jue's body tensed instantly, and his usually half-closed eyes snapped open.

Hidden quest! And a quest chain at that!

He quickly read the mission description, and when he saw words like "spy," "clues," and "conclusive evidence," his somewhat lazy heart, which had been idle due to having nothing to do, was instantly ignited.

This... is what he's best at and what he loves to do most!

He preferred the thrill of secretly unraveling clues and finally catching his prey to head-on confrontations on the battlefield.

He clicked "accept" almost without hesitation.

[Title [Inner Guard (Apprentice)]: Your observation skills, disguise abilities, and ability to detect lies receive a slight boost.]

A strange feeling welled up in Qin Jue's heart, and he felt that his senses seemed to have become more acute than before.

He raised his head and looked down at the city again, and the feeling was completely different.

Every alleyway, every window with a faint light, every distant bark of a dog—at this moment, they might all hold secrets in his eyes.

The game has begun.

……

Inside the study of the garrison commander's residence.

Chu Ze closed the GM interface, and the phantom image of the Mountain and River Map slowly faded away.

He said to Su Qingying, "Secretary Su, starting tomorrow, I need you to do a few things."

Su Qingying immediately composed herself and bowed respectfully: "Please give your orders, General."

"First, compile a detailed list of all registered military households, civilian households, and merchants within the city. Pay special attention to those who moved to Guangning from other places before the siege."

"Second, retrieve the records of all goods entering and leaving the city from all government-run and private warehouses over the past month. In particular, I need to track the flow of grain, salt, cloth, and medicine down to every single day and every single transaction."

Chu Ze's voice was steady and clear, and every instruction hit the nail on the head.

"Any subtle, illogical change in numbers could be a clue."

Su Qingying's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

She instantly understood Chu Ze's intention. The general was going to use the comparison and analysis of massive amounts of data to uncover hidden anomalies from seemingly normal daily activities!

This method is simply unheard of!

But her naturally numerically gifted brain immediately sprang into action; she could sense that this method was highly feasible.

Being able to participate in such a confidential and important mission gave her an unprecedented sense of satisfaction from being trusted and valued.

"Yes, sir!" she replied emphatically, her voice full of enthusiasm. "Qingying will definitely organize all the data properly!"

"Very good." Chu Ze nodded. He knew that Su Qingying was capable enough to handle this extremely tedious task.

"Qingying, I understand!"

Watching Su Qingying's departing figure, Chu Ze turned his gaze back to the sand table outside the window.

An invisible net has begun to be woven.

Su Qingying and her data are the warp threads of this network.

Qin Jue and his player team are the weft threads of this network.

This net is not only meant to catch all the venomous snakes in the city, but also to capture the most ferocious beast outside the city.

He believed that this network would make Amin pay a terrible price at some point in the future, a price he could never bear.