Chief Armaments Master of the Ming Dynasty

July 22nd, Jizhou.

Sun Chengzong set off from Tongzhou and inspected the area eastward along the Great Wall.

He was sixty-seven years old. His hair and beard were all white, but his back was still ramrod straight.

He rode the horse very steadily, and even after being jostled on its back all day, he showed no signs of fatigue.

Behind him followed a troop of personal guards, along with several senior officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. These men were suffering terribly from riding, but none dared to complain. For the white-haired old minister at the very front was Sun Chengzong, a veteran of three reigns, Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, and Grand Secretary of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

He had just recovered the four cities of Yongping and driven the Jurchens out of the pass. Now, he was ordered to inspect the border wall of Jizhou, to personally examine the passes that had been damaged by the Jurchens last year, to supervise the repair of the border wall, and to rebuild the defenses.

First stop, Santunying.

Santunying was the garrison of the General of Jizhou and the central point of the Jizhou defense line. Last year, when the Jianzhou Jurchens breached Xifengkou, Santunying bore the brunt of the attack. General Zhu Guoyan led his troops in a desperate defense, and after the city fell, he committed suicide in service to his country. Most of the barracks, warehouses, and armories in the city were burned down. Many sections of the city wall collapsed, and the crenellations were incomplete, resembling a row of knocked-out teeth.

Sun Chengzong stood on the city wall of Santunying, gazing at the ruins within the city. Charred beams and pillars lay scattered haphazardly, and the remaining walls still bore the marks of smoke and fire. Several soldiers were clearing the rubble, picking out usable bricks and stones and piling them aside.

They moved slowly, not because they were lazy, but because they were hungry.

Their faces were swollen, they wore tattered prison uniforms, and they staggered as they walked.

"How long have these soldiers' rations and pay been in arrears?" Sun Chengzong asked.

The newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Jizhou Garrison behind him was named Yang Zhaoji, and he had just been transferred from the Beijing Garrison by the imperial court. He stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, the various camps of the Jizhou Garrison have been in arrears with their pay for more than thirty months."

"More than thirty months?" Sun Chengzong turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife. "Didn't the imperial court just allocate the funds last year?"

Yang Zhaoji gave a bitter smile: "The imperial court allocated the funds, but the money, after leaving the Ministry of Revenue, was forwarded by the Ministry of War, and then distributed layer by layer through the Jizhou Garrison Office. By the time it reached the individual camps, only 30% remained. The actual amount that reached the soldiers wasn't even enough to buy porridge. Commander-in-Chief, look—how many soldiers on this city wall are still wearing their full uniforms? It's not that they don't want to repair the city wall, it's that they really can't pull the rammer."

Sun Chengzong fell silent. He walked up to a soldier who was carrying bricks. The soldier was very young, looking only sixteen or seventeen years old, as thin as a bamboo pole, with his hands covered in bloody cuts.

He was struggling to carry a heavy brick up the crenellation.

Sun Chengzong reached out and helped him lift it. The brick was heavy, weighing at least forty or fifty pounds.

The young soldier looked up at him, his eyes vacant, his lips moving but he didn't know what to say. He clearly didn't recognize this white-haired old minister.

"What's your name?" Sun Chengzong asked.

"Replying to your question, sir, my name is Wang Gousheng." The soldier's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

How old are you?

"Seventeen."

"Who else is in the family?"

Wang Gousheng's eyes dimmed slightly. "Mother is still alive. Father was killed by the Jurchens last year."

Sun Chengzong paused for a moment. "Do you want to go home and see your mother?"

Wang Gousheng was stunned. He opened his mouth, his lips moved a few times, and finally he lowered his head and said in a muffled voice:

"I want to. But my mother told me to be a good soldier and avenge my father."

Sun Chengzong patted him on the shoulder, offering no words of comfort. He turned to Yang Zhaoji and said, "Go, have the rear camp distribute half of their dry rations to the soldiers repairing the city. Let them have a good meal today."

"Commander, this..."

"Give half to them. Also, pass on my order to transfer a batch of grain from the Yongping camp specifically for the soldiers repairing the city."

Yang Zhaoji opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing, only clasping his hands in a fist and saying, "Yes."

Sun Chengzong continued his inspection along the city wall. He walked slowly, each step steady. He stopped in front of a collapsed crenellation and looked out at the rolling mountains beyond the city.

He had been to those mountains before—on the road to pursue the Jurchens and recapture the four cities. The mountains were still the same mountains, the trees were still the same trees. But those who died here could never come back to life.

"Where did the Jurchens come from when they broke through the pass last year?" he asked.

Yang Zhaoji pointed northwest. "Xifengkou, Da'ankou, and Longjingguan. All three were breached simultaneously. The Jurchens first broke through Xifengkou, then divided their forces into two routes, one heading down to Zunhua, and the other attacking Santunying. The garrison in Jizhou was mostly scattered across various passes, their forces dispersed, and they simply couldn't withstand the Jurchens' concentrated assault."

"Xifengkou..." Sun Chengzong murmured the place name. "Let's go. To Xifengkou."

Xifengkou. This pass, located northwest of Jizhou, is an important strategic point on the Great Wall.

The pass is flanked by steep mountain walls, with a narrow valley running through the middle, which was a traditional route for Mongol cavalry to advance south.

The pass originally had city walls, watchtowers, and beacon towers, and was garrisoned by a centurion with three hundred soldiers.

But last October, when the Jurchens broke through the pass here, almost all three hundred defenders were killed in battle. The commander died for his country.

Today, the pass remains dilapidated.

The breach in the city wall is still there. Although it has been temporarily plugged with rubble and wooden fences, it can't even stop the wind.

Many sections of the crenellations on the watchtower have collapsed, and city bricks are scattered all over the ground.

There was no fire on the beacon tower—even the firewood had long since burned down.

Sun Chengzong stood before the breach, gazing at the damaged city wall, and remained silent for a long time.

Then, he turned to the accompanying Ministry of War official and said:

"This pass must be repaired before winter. The Jurchens entered through here last year, and they know this route is the easiest. If they come again next year and this pass is still in the same state, the defense line of Jizhou will be wide open for them."

The Ministry of War official looked troubled: "Commander-in-Chief, repairing the wall requires bricks, lime, and timber, as well as craftsmen and laborers. Bricks and stones can be quarried from the nearby mountains, lime needs to be freshly burned, and timber needs to be procured from the prefectural city. What we lack most are craftsmen—last year when the Jurchens invaded, a number of craftsmen in Jizhou died, another fled, and the rest are either old and frail or have been conscripted elsewhere. As for laborers, this year's drought is so severe that the fields have yielded no harvest, and the people themselves are not even able to feed themselves; where will they find the strength to repair the wall?"

Sun Chengzong looked at him, his gaze calm, yet carrying an undeniable weight.

This gaze made the doctor involuntarily shrink back.

"If we don't have enough bricks and stones, we'll dismantle abandoned watchtowers to make up the gaps. If we don't have enough craftsmen, we'll recruit them from Yongping and Shuntian prefectures. If we don't have enough laborers, we'll pay them wages and provide meals. Didn't the court allocate 20,000 taels of silver for border repairs? We'll use that to buy grain and hire people. As for grain—although this year's autumn harvest won't come through, the grain transport is still ongoing. I will petition the court to transfer a batch of grain from the Tongzhou granary to Jizhou garrison, specifically for border repairs."

"Commander, the grain transported from Tongzhou Granary is intended for the capital; I'm afraid it will be difficult to allocate it..."

“No one will starve to death in the capital,” Sun Chengzong interrupted him. “If the soldiers in Jizhou don’t get enough to eat, when the Jurchens come again next year, it won’t just be the soldiers who die, but also the people of the capital.”

The staff dared not say anything more. Sun Chengzong turned to Yang Zhaoji and said:

"Issue the order: starting today, all passes, watchtowers, and beacon towers in Jizhou shall be inspected one by one, and any damaged areas shall be repaired within a specified time. The Ministry of Works shall be responsible for allocating the necessary bricks, stones, lime, and timber. The Shuntian and Yongping prefectures shall be responsible for requisitioning the necessary craftsmen and laborers. The necessary grain and fodder shall be reported to the court and supplied by the Tongzhou granary. All repair work must be completed before the snowfall this year."

"Yes!" Yang Zhaoji clasped his hands in a fist salute.

Sun Chengzong continued his inspection.

From Xifengkou to Da'ankou, from Da'ankou to Longjingguan, from Longjingguan to Lengkou and Jianchang.

The accompanying civil officials complained incessantly. This old governor was walking too fast, observing too closely, and asking too many questions. They couldn't keep up. But they dared not complain.

Because they knew that the border wall of Jizhou was the gateway to the Ming Dynasty. Last year, this gateway was breached by the Jurchens, whose iron cavalry swept in and reached the gates of Beijing.

During those three months, the emperor lived in constant fear, the entire court was in a state of panic, and the people of the capital region suffered a brutal massacre. If this border wall wasn't repaired, no one could guarantee that Beijing would still belong to the Zhu family next year.

Lengkou Pass is located in the northeast corner of Jizhou, right next to the Liaodong region.

Last year, when Amin abandoned the four cities inside the pass and retreated, he passed through Lengkou. Those civilians who were massacred and those young men who were kidnapped were all taken out of the pass from here. Now the pass is deserted, and the setting sun shines on the dilapidated enemy platform, staining the broken bricks and tiles with a blood-red hue.

Sun Chengzong stood on the city wall of Lengkou Pass, gazing at the continuous mountains beyond the pass.

Beyond the mountains lies Liaodong, the stronghold of the Jurchens.

During his four years as military commander in Liaodong, he built cities, trained troops, and recovered hundreds of miles of lost territory.

He was later impeached by the eunuch faction and dismissed from office, returning to his hometown.

Later, Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, and the eunuch faction was destroyed.

Now he stands on the side wall again, his beard and hair all white, but his back is still straight.

"Before the snow falls this year," he whispered to the area beyond the Great Wall, "I will make this wall stand up again. Let the Jurchens see that the Ming Dynasty is not dead."

The wind blew in from beyond the pass, stirring up dust from the broken bricks and tiles. No one answered him. Only the sound of the wind.