White-robed Minister

Chapter 197-0195 [Shenji Camp]

Xu Lai didn't ask Ding Xiaomei what she was there for, and Ding Zhengchen also avoided the question.

They talked only about their past in Guangzhou until they returned to Guwei Village, where Xu Lai invited Ding Zhengchen aside for a private chat.

"Erlang comes from a family of merchants, so he should be quite knowledgeable about business, right?" Xu Lai asked.

Ding Zhengchen replied, "I am truly ashamed of being so obsessed with money."

Xu Lai comforted him, saying, "Commerce is a legitimate profession, and there's nothing to be ashamed of. I hope you will utilize your strengths and serve as the clerk in charge of the Qin City Commerce Bureau."

"What is Qinzhou City's Yiwu?" Ding Zhengchen had never heard of this name.

Xu Lai explained, "Qinzhou and Tongyuan Army engage in mutual trade. Some goods are plentiful but unsold and therefore cheap, while others are scarce and expensive. Some Qinzhou merchants even collude to manipulate the market. Therefore, Wang Jiyi (Wang Shao) suggested establishing a Market Exchange Bureau, whereby the government would purchase unsold goods and provide loans to small and medium-sized merchants to control the market and prices, and prevent large merchants from disrupting the market."

"I see." Ding Zhengchen understood immediately.

Xu Lai said, "Because the Tongyuan Army lacked capital, the initial funds were borrowed from the Qin Prefecture government, and later the Sichuan-Shaanxi Tea and Horse Bureau was also brought in. Some time ago, the imperial court officially approved the matter and may send a supervisor. This supervisor will definitely be a person of the Vice Chancellor Wang Anshi."

Xu Lai acted first and reported later when he opened the Market Exchange Office, and it took a full year for the court to approve it.

Since the imperial court has approved it, it will naturally send officials to take charge.

From now on, the top official in charge of the Qinzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce will definitely be a confidant of Wang Anshi. The second and third in charge will be Cai Kang and Gong Dingchen's men, respectively.

Previously, Wang Shao concurrently served as the head of the city's affairs department, but now he doesn't have that much energy. This is because he also has to be responsible for the newly recovered Weiyuan River Valley area, overseeing the registration of households and the management of agricultural land there.

In order to enhance the self-sufficiency of the border regions, Xu Lai's actions differed from those of Wang Shao in history when he opened up the borders.

He couldn't control the Qiang people in the mountainous areas, but the Qiang people in the river valleys had to be registered as ordinary citizens, changed to Han names, and pay taxes on their land!

After Wang Shao stepped down from his position in the Municipal Affairs Bureau, the Bureau was left without proper oversight.

Ding Zhengchen is about to take up a senior clerical post in the Market Affairs Bureau (handling mortgage loans and managing warehouses), and is tasked by Xu Lai to keep a close watch on the area to prevent Wang Anshi, Cai Kang, and Gong Dingchen's men from causing trouble.

Xu Lai instructed, "For now, you can only serve as a clerk. I will recommend you to the court for an official position. If anyone in the Qinzhou Prefecture's trade affairs office engages in favoritism, corruption, or bribery, and you are unable to handle the situation, report it directly to me."

"I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

Knowing that he bore a heavy responsibility, Ding Zhengchen quickly stood up and bowed to express his commitment.

Xu Lai remained silent, waiting for Ding Zhengchen to speak.

Ding Zhengchen stammered, "My younger sister wanted to come here herself. At first, my father and I strongly opposed it, but she somehow persuaded him."

Xu Lai hinted, "In such remote places, it is very inconvenient for women, and my family is also staying in Qinzhou City."

This was to have Ding Zhengchen send his sister to Qinzhou City to settle down, and then send her back to their hometown in Guangzhou at some later.

Ding Zhengchen, however, wanted to test the waters further: "Alas, my younger sister has someone she loves, and her marriage has always been a headache for her. She says she'd rather be a hero's concubine than a common man's wife."

Xu Lai put it more bluntly: "With my current official rank, I can only take one concubine. I already took one last year."

Ding Zhengchen really wanted to say: You should be promoted soon, and you'll be able to take two concubines next year.

But saying such things would make the atmosphere awkward, so Ding Zhengchen could only say, "Then I'll send my little sister to Qinzhou City to settle her in."

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"Okay." Xu Lai nodded with a smile.

Ding Zhengchen left the pacification hall and returned to the guesthouse where he was temporarily staying. He briefly explained the situation to his sister and then instructed her, "Go back to Qinzhou City and stay there first. Yang Shisanlang (Yang Shu) is the magistrate there. You can ask him for help if you need anything. If you are still thinking about that matter, try to get on good terms with Xu Sanlang's wife."

This is to have Ding Xiaomei take the route of the wife, first establishing a friendly relationship with Pianpian, so that Xu Lai's side can naturally follow.

Despite feeling wronged, Ding Xiaomei smiled and said, "Don't worry, I understand."

Ding Zhengchen has his own troubles. He can pass the imperial examination every time, but because of his mixed-race identity, he can't get a special quota even once.

Ding Xiaomei was in the same situation; she could only marry the son of a merchant in Guangzhou or a scholar who could not achieve official success.

The sons of merchants were one thing, but the scholars were incredibly picky. This was because the scholars the Ding family could approve of were undoubtedly among the elite. And these elite scholars had their own pursuits, which the Ding family couldn't easily control.

This has put Ding Xiaomei in a very awkward position regarding marriage; she's neither good enough for a high-ranking couple nor a low-ranking one, and the situation has dragged on until now. She has made up her mind: rather than staying in Guangzhou and being picky, she'd rather come here and become Xu Sanlang's concubine.

It's just about getting along well with the legal wife; it's nothing to be ashamed of. Anyway, after marrying into the family, I'll still have to please the legal wife; this is just a rehearsal.

That evening, Xu Lai hosted a private banquet, inviting Bu Chao, Yu Shanyuan, Huang Zhirou, Wen Zhonghe, Guo Shen, and Ding Zhengchen.

Introduce these fellow Cantonese to each other so they can cooperate in the future.

Apart from Yu Shanyuan, who has already been appointed as acting official, and Bu Chao, who has been appointed as a military officer, all the others are currently civil officials, and Xu Lai will continue to recommend them to the court.

Of course, Xu Lai not only recommended his fellow townsmen, but also local people who had served him.

Zhao Long, from the Zhao family of Tianshui, had already become a military officer last year through Xu Lai's recommendation. Li Shen, from the Li family of Tianshui, was also recommended by Xu Lai, but unfortunately the court did not approve his application.

The more merits Xu Lai makes in the future, the higher his success rate in recommending talents will be.

Time passed day by day, and the wheat harvest had been underway for half a month.

With the imminent receipt of 50 strings of cash for military expenses, Xu Lai became wealthy and arrogant, directly purchasing grain from archers and civilians at the fair price.

Once the wheat is dried, store it in the warehouse immediately!

The wheat harvest was still underway when Wang Shao brought three people to introduce to Xu Lai: "Xu Anfu, these two are my fellow townsmen, and both of them have passed the imperial examinations more than once—this is my son."

Wang Shao also started calling for reinforcements, even summoning his eldest son, who had just turned 15.

Now that the Weiyuan region has just been recovered, the next step is to continue expanding the territory, which will require even more civil officials. Xu Lai was pleased with this and directly instructed Wang Shao to arrange his own duties.

This year, when recommending talent, Wang Shao called on his fellow townsman Xu Lai to also recommend someone.

As for Wang Shao's eldest son, Wang Hou—

Xu Lai said, "Chu Dao (Wang Hou) is handsome and intelligent, why not keep him by my side?"

Wang Shao was quite pleased and said to his son, "Aren't you going to thank them?"

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Wang Hou quickly bowed and said, "Thank you so much for your guidance, Governor Xu!"

Wang Hou is far too young, only 14 years old. It's unrealistic to expect him to do anything directly; it would be better for him to be Xu Lai's assistant, helping with miscellaneous tasks and learning real skills through observation and experience.

In two or three years, Wang Hou, who will be sixteen or seventeen years old at that time, will have grown into a "Hehuang expert" and become familiar with the official affairs of the Pacification Office and the Military Office.

That night, Wang Shao simply dumped his son there, letting him sleep in the back of Xu Lai's post-mortem residence. He was truly acting as a lackey, on call 24/7.

Bu Chao has already become a military officer; only Chen Xiaoyi remains here.

Chen Xiaoyi led Wang Houxuan to his room and explained the situation: "Young master's family is all in Qinzhou City. Apart from me, there isn't a single servant here. Cleaning and washing are done by servants who come to the door every day. Meals are provided by the government office, and water for bathing is fetched from the officials' quarters."

After hearing this, Wang Hou exclaimed with genuine admiration, "A dignified pacification commissioner, yet so frugal and simple!"

Chen Xiaoyi said, "Our duty is to help organize the study and personal correspondence. Then, we follow the young master around every day, doing some chores that outsiders are not comfortable doing. The young master also allows us to accompany him when he meets with his subordinates or visits other officials."

All of Xu Lai's books have been moved from Qin Prefecture.

Bored, Wang Hou couldn't resist pulling out a few books. He wasn't interested in those that were available in stores; he only picked those that weren't.

Mathematics, Geometry, Preliminary Discussions on the Analects, Preliminary Discussions on Mencius —

Wang Hou quickly flipped through the books. He didn't look at the "Mathematics" and "Geometry" books in detail for the time being, but he treasured the other books related to Confucianism.

One day, Wang Hou took some time to visit his father and excitedly said, "My lord, Governor Xu is actually a great Confucian scholar!"

Wang Shao laughed heartily: "How do you know he's a great Confucian scholar?"

Wang Hou said, "I secretly read many of his new interpretations of Confucian classics, and they are different from what the teachers taught."

"Then you can learn slowly," Wang Shao said.

Wang Hou added, "I also read the book 'Mathematics,' which is extremely profound and subtle. Governor Xu even asked me to copy the manuscript and send it to friends in the capital and Weizhou. Those manuscripts are about trigonometric functions and analytic geometry. Not a single character can be copied incorrectly; I have to check it more than three times."

Wang Shao said, "I know about trigonometric functions and analytic geometry; they're specifically used for launching artillery. I've heard they're incredibly profound, and only two math students study them."

"Are cannons really that powerful?" Wang Hou asked.

Wang Shao laughed and said, "You'll see for yourself. Yesterday, a batch of three-barreled guns arrived in Weizhou. You'll probably be amazed by them soon."

With the current level of metal smelting, matchlock guns were expensive to manufacture and took a long time to produce. After Xu Lai and Shen Kuo communicated through letters, Shen Kuo finally developed the three-eyed musket.

The advantage of this thing is its low cost and short construction period; it can be directly cast from pig iron.

Wang Hou soon witnessed it.

Xu Lai ordered all the military officers within the Tongyuan Army's jurisdiction to select tall and strong archers, gathering a total of two hundred men for training.

"Shenji Battalion".

The Shenji Battalion was commanded by Yu Ping, the former chieftain of Guwei Village, and was considered Xu Lai's direct mobile force.

Two hundred strong men, all wearing armor weighing 58 jin (24 catties) each—the heaviest infantry armor in the Northern Song Dynasty, with a full set weighing 88 jin (44 catties).

The armor, weighing 58 jin (approximately 24 catties), provides both defense and mobility.

At this moment, the two hundred burly men stared at the fire pokers in their hands, completely unaware of what they were meant to be used for.

The front end consists of three cast iron pipes, firmly bound together by wrought iron hoops. The rest of the body is made of wooden sticks, making the whole thing resemble a spiked club.

Yu Ping shouted, "Watch closely!"

Two hundred burly men looked at Yu Ping with curiosity.

In front of him stood many straw figures. Yu Ping lit the fuse of the three-eyed weapon, and with a "boom," three straw figures were knocked down.

This time it was a volley of shot.

The three-barreled gun has three leads that can be twisted together, allowing for simultaneous or burst fire. Simultaneous fire means all three barrels fire at the same time!

To increase the firing area, smaller lead pellets can be used, with three pellets loaded into each barrel to fire shot.

A volley of shot, where each three-eyed mortar fires nine small lead pellets in an instant—specifically designed for close-range fire against lightly armored or unarmored dense formations.

Of course, this method is difficult to penetrate heavy armor.

To deal with heavy armor, you must use the single-shot loading mode, which can guarantee penetration of heavy armor within thirty paces!

After firing, there's no need to reload; just swing the three-barreled gun and charge, using it like a spiked club.

I wouldn't feel bad if it got damaged, since it's made of cast iron, so the cost is low and the construction period is short.

After Yu Ping demonstrated the various modes, the two hundred strong men of the Shenji Battalion were dumbfounded.

Wang Hou, standing next to Xu Lai, was also dumbfounded and said, "If tens of thousands of such divine weapons could be made, it wouldn't be difficult to pacify the Western Xia."

Xu Lai said, "Tens of thousands of guns are too cumbersome. For the four routes along the Song-Xia border, three thousand guns are sufficient for each route. Three thousand Shenji Battalion soldiers will be responsible for breaking through enemy lines, while the other troops will take the opportunity to charge. If we encounter a Western Xia fortress, we will use artillery to bombard it!"

Wang Hou fantasized about that scene, his blood boiling with excitement.

When he looked at Xu Lai again, his eyes had turned into admiration.

Xu Lai was waiting for Shen Qi's provisions.

If Shen Qi's supplies do not arrive on time, he will only advance to forty li north of Lintao, wipe out the Jiehe tribe there, and then build fortified villages to guard against the counterattacks of Mu Zheng and Xixia.

If Shen Qi can deliver the supplies on time, Xu Lai plans to march directly to Mu Zheng's lair!

He had three cannons and artillery, and when he attacked the Qiang people who were only wearing light armor and whose formations were disorganized, it was like beating a three-year-old child.

In fact, even without firearms, as long as the Song army maintained unity, it could still crush the Qiang coalition.

These Qiang people are really too weak.

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