bullyxtreme Chapter 047 Mao Wenlong Tryes to Intercept
Chapter 047 Mao Wenlong Tryes to Intercept
Chapter 047
"Scholar Chen, you should believe that studying requires talent, shouldn't you?"
Chen Ying smiled and said, "I remember that the youngest Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in our Great Ming Dynasty should be Yang Tinghe, the Grand Secretary who served four emperors and was the chief minister of two. He became famous at a young age, passing the provincial examination at twelve and the imperial examination at nineteen. Apart from Xie Jin during the Hongwu era, no one can surpass him. So here's the question, Scholar Chen, you must have had many classmates who studied all their lives. What did they study?"
"Reading can clarify one's aspirations and cultivate one's character..."
"Come on!"
Chen Ying curled his lip dismissively and said, "My students don't necessarily study to become officials. As long as they have talent, they can certainly study the Four Books and Five Classics and learn how to write the eight-legged essay. Ordinary people without talent, as long as they can recognize a few thousand characters, can follow their personal interests. If they want to learn painting, they can paint to cultivate their character; if they want to learn medicine to save lives, they can study medicine; and of course, if they are interested in agriculture, they can study agriculture. I want to use Shahe Academy to cultivate outstanding talents in all walks of life in the Ming Dynasty, not a bunch of bookworms who only know how to spout pedantry!"
Chen Wanyan stared at Chen Ying in disbelief: "Commander Chen, you..."
"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'? This school was built with my own money. What I want to teach is entirely up to me!"
Chen Ying showed no respect to Chen Wanyan, the tutor. During the two months that the old man served as the headmaster of Shahe Academy, he was just like a traitor in later generations. Every time he gave a lecture, he spent half of the time cursing the court, the officials, and Chen Ying, and the other half of the time focusing on the lecture.
Chen Ying is no longer the penniless man he once was. He is now wealthy and has the means to hire impoverished scholars from the vicinity of the capital. As long as there is money, those impoverished scholars will definitely be willing to do it.
It should be noted that in the north, the annual income of a teacher in an ordinary private school is usually between fifteen and twenty taels of silver, which is equivalent to between one and two mace of silver and one and six mace of silver per month.
This is the treatment of a scholar who has achieved the rank of Xiucai. If one does not even have the rank of Xiucai, the monthly income may be less than one or two taels of silver. As for a Juren, forget about it.
Poor scholars, rich officials: A scholar who can pass the imperial examination can make a fortune even without doing business, just by evading taxes or colluding with others to evade taxes.
"You...I must impeach you!"
"casual!"
Chen Ying turned to Song Xianze beside him and said, "Bo'an, immediately send someone to the capital. Our Shahe Academy is hiring teachers with an annual salary of thirty taels of silver, including room and board!"
"Yes, brother-in-law!"
Song Xianze lowered his voice, making sure Chen Wanyan could hear him, and said, "Brother-in-law, I can be the headmaster of this school. I'm also a student, so the fifty taels of silver..."
"Teach whatever you want!"
Upon hearing about the fifty taels of silver, Chen Wanyan's attitude changed instantly. Officials in the Ming Dynasty had low salaries and few with real power. A scholar like Chen Wanyan, who was a reader, had no real power and was now living a very difficult life.
Besides the family's expenses, he also had to buy writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, spending money like water. Due to occasional poetry gatherings and banquets with his peers and colleagues, he could only make a living by selling his calligraphy and paintings.
With fifty taels of silver a year, and meals at school, the family could save a lot of money.
Money may not be everything, but you can't do without it.
Chen Ying sneered, "Scholar Chen, if you want to make money off me... then you'd better watch your mouth, or else..."
"knew!"
Chen Wanyan turned and left Chen Ying, which could be considered his last act of defiance.
"stop!"
"What are your orders, Commander Chen?"
Chen Ying smiled and said, "Scholar Chen, would you like to earn some extra money?"
"This is an insult to scholarship!"
"I plan to have students attend Shahe School during the day, and in the evenings, I'll have the military households from the thousand households and the craftsmen from various bureaus come over to learn a few characters!"
"Don't go too far!"
"Five taels of silver!"
"What?"
Chen Ying said earnestly, "Taking 1,500 characters as an example, if a craftsman or soldier is taught to read and write 1,500 characters within three months, and is able to write letters and read books, each person will be rewarded with five taels of silver!"
"really?"
"My word is as good as a nail!"
"Very well, as the sage said, education should be provided to all without discrimination, and I, Chen, have an inescapable responsibility to do so..."
"miser!"
Chen Ying's biggest headache right now is that the general managers of various bureaus are basically illiterate, and the reports and summaries they write are giving Chen Ying a headache. In short, he is short-staffed.
The Ming Dynasty is not lacking in capable people, but the problem is that the managers and accountants trained by various businesses are not being circulated. As for the scholars who fail to pass the imperial examinations, most of them are unbalanced in their studies. They are good at teaching children to read, but they are barely adequate at guiding students to take the county-level examinations.
However, the problem is that talents in mathematics and technology are not as readily available as they are in later generations, so Chen Ying now has no choice but to cultivate his own talent.
Chen Ying returned to Qianhu Residence from the school construction site. Without the disturbance of the mythical beasts, it was much quieter here.
Before he could even catch his breath, his adopted son, Chen Yongren, announced, "Father, Commander Tian of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Vice Commander Xu have arrived!"
"Please come quickly!"
Tian Ergeng received a commendation from the Tianqi Emperor, though it was only a verbal one. However, it made him stand tall; who said the Embroidered Uniform Guard only did bad things?
He keenly realized that helping Chen Boying promote the Tianqi plow and the Huimin seed drill was not only a way to make money, but also a shield, and an excellent opportunity to demonstrate his abilities and gain political achievements in front of the emperor and the eunuchs.
He immediately ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to expedite the process, and also instructed that no one should cause any trouble for vehicles transporting supplies from the Shahe Garrison; anyone who dared to cause trouble would be going against the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Although Tian Ergeng earned more than 75,000 taels of silver and Xu Xianchun earned more than 50,000 taels of silver, in fact, each of the commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard earned several thousand taels of silver, and the centurions earned several hundred taels of silver. The captains or strongmen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who were responsible for the work also earned several dozen taels of silver.
It was a win-win situation. Now, Shahe Police Station was the Jinyiwei's cash cow, and everyone served it with utmost care.
"Commander Chen!"
When Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun arrived, they didn't come empty-handed. They brought more than 700 prisoners with them. Of course, these prisoners were not important figures and didn't have any major problems. If someone helped them out, they could get out. Of course, if no one helped them out, they would have to stay in jail.
"Good bro, that's generous enough!"
Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, wouldn't care too much about 75,000 taels of silver. The problem is that this 75,000 taels of silver is clean money, so he has no psychological burden in spending it.
"I wonder what important business brings the Commander to Shahe?"
"Alas, we both belong to the same rank as Eunuch Wei. Though we are not brothers, we are closer than brothers. I am a few years older than you, but if you do not mind, you may call me Brother Tian!"
Xu Xianchun was well aware that Chen Boying was very adept at handling things and had given Wei Zhongxian many gifts. Despite being deeply favored by the Tianqi Emperor, he was not arrogant, and Xu Xianchun had developed a desire to become his friend.
"Boying, why haven't you paid your respects to Brother Tian yet!"
"Brother Tian, Second Brother Xu!"
"Okay, okay, okay!"
"I wonder what brings Brother Tian and Brother Xu today...?"
Xu Xianchun laughed and said, "That's great! Boying, you definitely need some manpower here!"
"yes!"
Chen Ying said earnestly, "We're currently expanding the school, building houses for the craftsmen, and expanding the city walls. We need people everywhere!"
"I brought you over 780 people, all prisoners. Letting them eat for free in jail is too good for them. You can use them to death; even if they die, it won't be a big problem!"
Xu Xianchun smiled and said, "If you still need more people, you can go to Shuntian Prefecture another day. There are still several hundred prisoners in the Shuntian Prefecture jail..."
"Wow, they really know how to have fun!"
Chen Ying was also very clear that if he didn't want these prisoners, their fate wouldn't be good either; the Imperial Guard prison was a place that would devour people without spitting out their bones.
Xu Xianchun looked at Chen Ying's hesitation and thought he was worried that the prisoners would rebel or escape. After all, Chen Ying only kept three hundred-household units in the entire Shahe Thousand-Household Garrison, with 336 people serving as guards. The other military households were used by him as craftsmen.
"Bo Ying, don't worry about them running away. I'll send you a few jailers; they'll keep these prisoners in check!"
"How can this be allowed?"
Chen Ying had heard in his later life that prisoners in Xida Prison would be contracted out, and that many prisons were privately contracted out, making money through shady means. He never imagined that he would become the kind of person he hated.
Chen Ying pondered for a moment. He wasn't worried about the management of prisoners. In the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, it was also the year that Wei Zhongxian launched a major offensive. All the so-called Seven Gentlemen of the Donglin Party were arrested. Although they died in the fifth or sixth year of the Tianqi reign, in the fourth year, their homes would definitely be ransacked.
"Brother Tian and Brother Xu are very kind, and I am deeply grateful. The Shahe Institute is indeed short of manpower, and with this batch of laborers, many projects can be accelerated."
Chen Yingxian bowed and thanked him, saying, "To be honest, besides running a school to teach children, I've recently had another idea. I'm thinking of building a library in the school... oh, I mean a collection of books. So that the children of Shahe, and even the soldiers and civilians in the surrounding area, can have the opportunity to read books and broaden their horizons. However... this collection of books is empty and really doesn't look right."
Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun exchanged a glance.
Books? These are often the cheapest and most space-consuming items on a confiscation list.
Apart from a very few rare and unique copies, ordinary classics, histories, philosophical works, poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were no different from waste paper to these military men and secret service leaders.
It was common for soldiers to damage or discard items during transport. Even if the items were stored away, they would often end up being eaten by insects or rats, or secretly taken out by clerks to exchange for a few coins.
Chen Ying was willing to spend money to buy it; it was practically helping them dispose of their garbage and he could also make a small amount of money for free.
Tian Ergeng laughed heartily and waved his hand, "I knew it was no trouble! A few books, Boying. Since you're so keen on educating people, take them. What's the point of talking about money? We're brothers, after all. In the future, if you find any confiscated documents or books, as long as they're not forbidden or seditious, we'll have them brought directly to Shahe for you. It'll be my contribution to the children at the Shahe School!"
Xu Xianchun smiled and agreed, "Brother Tian is right. This is easy, leave it to me. Next time there's an operation, I'll instruct my men to be more careful and pack the books separately."
"Your two elder brothers are truly noble. On behalf of the students of Shahe, I express my deepest gratitude! This is not merely a book, but a continuation of our cultural heritage; your merit is immeasurable!"
"Boying, you're too kind!"
Tian Ergeng put his arm around Chen Boying's shoulder and said, "A new restaurant has opened over at Rouge Alley. Let's go try their cooking today!"
Xu Xianchun also dragged Chen Ying by the arm, and Chen Ying could only be led away from Shahe by the two Jinyiwei leaders and headed to the capital.
Chen Ying used his connections with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the two of them tasted the benefits, so naturally they wanted to drag Chen Ying into their scheme.
Almost simultaneously, in the distant Dongjiang Town, on Pi Island, the sea breeze was biting, carrying a salty, fishy smell.
Inside the shrine in Dongjiang Town, the charcoal fire was burning brightly.
Mao Wenlong, dressed in an old robe, sat on a tiger-skin chair, listening to Fu Yingxing, Wei Zhongxian's nephew, enthusiastically recount the great success of the Maoshan Iron Mine and the Huishan Coal Mine.
"Commander Mao, we're on the same side!"
Fu Yingxing was extremely eloquent; in just a few words, he captivated Mao Wenlong.
He was truly poor. Dongjiang Town was a newly established military town by the imperial court in the first year of the Tianqi reign. More than 15,000 troops were transferred to him. Later, he successively rescued a large number of Liaodong people and took in a large number of Ming army deserters. He quickly amassed an army of tens of thousands, like a snowball rolling downhill.
This was because the military discipline of the Ming Dynasty was extremely strict. Once an officer was defeated on the battlefield, if he did not have a powerful backer, he would be demoted to a labor camp. Ordinary soldiers would also be exiled or severely punished.
In the movie "Brotherhood of Blades", Jin Yichuan, a survivor of the Battle of Hunhe, could only hide his identity and escape back to the interior because he could no longer stay in the army.
Mao Wenlong benefited from this policy. He accepted all the defeated soldiers, whether they came from Liaodong or Liaoyangwei, and even adopted the brave ones as his sons or grandsons.
The Dongjiang Army swelled to over 100,000 men, but the imperial court only paid him less than 500,000 taels of silver, less than one-tenth of the Guan Ning Army's salary.
Feeling resentful of the injustice of the imperial court, Mao Wenlong was killed by the Jurchens for his efforts to fight against them. The newly appointed governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, Wu Zhiwang, even accused Mao Wenlong of embezzling funds.
In all honesty, Mao Wenlong did not drink a drop of blood from the soldiers. But the problem is, the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou did not believe him, and the officials of the Ministry of War of the imperial court did not believe him either. Almost all the border troops were embezzling their quotas, but you, Mao Wenlong, are as clean as water.
"Those Musan and Hyesan mountains are located north of Hamgyong Province, next to the Yalu River. The Jurchens used to make a living there, but now they're guarded by those spineless cowards in North Korea. What do they know about mining? They treat all the iron and coal on those mountains like dirt!"
Fu Yingxing elaborated on Chen Ying's argument to its fullest extent: "We don't need to do anything else. Just let the Koreans dig it up themselves. They can dump it onto rafts and let it float down the Yalu River. We can set up a net at the river mouth to catch it, just like picking mushrooms! We can take this iron ore back, smelt it, and it will be excellent iron, enough to forge swords and spears, and make plowshares. Marshal Mao, think about it, what do the brothers in Dongjiang lack? Isn't it iron for making weapons and armor? The imperial court's supplies of weapons are intermittent, so we have to find a way ourselves!"
Mao Wenlong was indeed poor. Dongjiang Town nominally had tens of thousands of soldiers, but in reality, only about 50,000 were capable of fighting. Their equipment was extremely scarce, and their armor and weapons were often patched up. The imperial court's supplies were like a drop in the ocean.
"Is there really an iron ore mine in Maoshan?"
"Is this for real? If Commander Mao doesn't believe it, he can send people to investigate on-site. But, will the North Koreans obediently mine for us?"
Mao Wenlong sneered, "Do they dare refuse?"
To North Korea, Mao Wenlong is now practically an emperor emeritus. If he weren't extorting North Koreans, the Dongjiang Army would be lucky to survive, let alone fight, just by relying on the military pay issued by the court.
The rule of the Ming Dynasty was that military pay was half silver and half grain. Of the 500,000 taels of silver, he could only receive about 250,000 taels of silver in reality. As for grain, it was 200,000 to 300,000 shi.
It sounds like a lot, but the problem is that with tens of thousands of people, each person only gets an average of two shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain per year, and less than one sheng (another unit of dry measure) per day. The standard for disaster relief by the imperial court is one sheng of grain per day for disaster victims.
As a soldier, one needs at least two liters of rations every day to barely have the strength to fight.
Mao Wenlong's mind immediately started working. Why should he transport the steel to Changping? Wasn't that going the long way around? The Dongjiang Army not only had tens of thousands of troops, but also hundreds of thousands of rescued Liaodong civilians. What kind of talent didn't they have?
Moreover, iron smelting was a very mature technology in the Ming Dynasty. Which of the various garrisons didn't have several centurions in charge of smelting? Even if nothing else was useful, Mao Wenlong had several thousand iron smelting craftsmen under his command.
"Someone, go and 'invite' General Kim Bok-soon from Hamgyong Province over here. Tell him I have a lucrative business opportunity to discuss with him!"
Looking at Moon Island on the map, Mao Wenlong instantly had an idea: all he needed to do was send people to seize this island in the middle of the river, smelt steel on the island, and forge weapons.
Of course, the imperial court still had to send gifts; he couldn't keep them all to himself.