Chapter Seventeen: Weihaiwei

  Weihai Garrison, located in the territory of Ninghai Prefecture, Dengzhou Prefecture, Wenden County, 320 miles away from Dengzhou. It was established in the 31st year of Hongwu and was named after "Wei Zhen Hai Jiang". It is one of the later batches of garrisons, with only three thousand households under its jurisdiction, far less than the usual five thousand six hundred people. In the first year of Yongle, the garrison city was built, with a circumference of 6 miles and 18 steps, a height of 3 zhangs, a width of 2 zhangs, and a moat that is 1 zhang 5 chi wide and 8 chi deep. Compared to Jizhou and Tianjin, the scale is much smaller.

  A Fu ship and a Zhu Yin ship sailed past Qingdao and Hei Island, docking at the wharf outside Weihaiwei City. After Song Wenxian, Chen Xin, Liu Minyou and others disembarked, they swaggered through the drill ground and into the city. The soldiers seen along the way were almost unrecognizable as such, with not a single one wearing neat clothes - even beggars of later times dressed better than them. They held rifles or spears in a sloppy manner, huddling together to avoid the wind at the city gate. There were some shops on the streets, but pedestrians were scarce, giving off a desolate atmosphere. After entering the city, Liu Minyou led several soldiers to buy grain as provisions for the pioneering phase. Chen Xin and Song Wenxian went directly to the Weihaiwei Commandery Office.

  Because it is now under the jurisdiction of Dengzhou, Song Wenxian holds the governor's letter in his hand and comes down as the leader. Chen Xin can only temporarily serve as a subordinate, half a step behind Song Wenxian, to the Weihai Wei Commandant's Office on East Street.

  A snot-nosed and dirty-looking guard came up to interrogate, Song Wenxian picked up the frame, didn't even look at the guard: "I am Vice-Commissioner of the Imperial Censorate, subordinate to Grand Coordinator Sun of Dongjiang, I have come on important official business, call your commander out."

  As soon as he heard that it was the personal attendant of Donglai, he was so shocked that his mouth opened wide and the two tubes of snot almost slipped into his mouth. He quickly sucked them back into his nostrils and stumbled into the government office. Before long, a middle-aged man with a merchant-like appearance came out. As soon as he saw Song Wenxian, he made a bow and started to pay his respects.

  "Isn't this Mr. Song? Do you still remember me, I am Wang Yuanzheng, the commander of Weihaiwei, who visited Governor Li two years ago and was received by you?"

  Song Wenxian stared for half a day and couldn't remember, these guards were too many, some of them only came once every few years, and casually said: "So it was Lord Wang."

  Wang Yuanzheng hastily invited the two of them in. After entering the second hall, he asked Song Wenxian to take the upper seat and carefully arranged for someone to bring tea. Chen Xin knew the rules of officialdom, although he had a powerful backer, but Wang Yuanzheng was after all a Tongzhi, several ranks higher than himself, so he sat in the lower right-hand seat.

  Song Wenxian drank a mouthful of tea and asked Wang Yuanzheng, "Mr. Wang, I have come with a letter from Mr. Sun to be personally handed over to Commander Yang. Do you know where Commander Yang is?"

  As soon as Wang Yuanzheng heard that there was a letter from the Governor, he hastily said: "Just now I have already sent someone to invite him. Governor Yang has been unwell for several days and is resting."

  These guards officers usually have few things to do, and it's normal not to come to work. Even this Wang Yuanzheng is wearing casual clothes, which can be seen that they are very casual on weekdays. According to the information obtained by Song Wenxian, under Weihaiwei, there were two Tongzhi and four Zhihui officials in charge of various affairs such as tuntian, verification, camp training, patrol, grain transportation, defense, sentry duty, entering the guard, garrisoning, military equipment, etc. On weekdays, each has its own duties. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the camp training and garrisoning had long been suspended, and the military households were all farmers.

  Wang Tongzhi was respectful in his attitude, and Song Wenxian had no choice but to wait. He had nothing to do, so he asked Wang Yuanzheng, "It's been two years since we last met, I don't know what important matter the honorable Tongzhi is handling at Weihaiwei now."

  Wang Yuanzheng stood up and replied: "Your subordinate is in charge of the tuntian and caoyun."

  "Yes, there aren't many grain ships coming from the sea nowadays. Lord Wang's affairs mainly involve tilling the land now."

  "Mr. Song is well aware that the number of ships coming from Jiangnan to Weihai is not large, with only over 30,000 stones transported each year. They usually do not stop at Weihai, and only take temporary shelter in the sea area in front of the temple when encountering a typhoon. There are not many things to deal with. On the other hand, the affairs of the garrison are complicated, and I am entangled in such matters every day, leaving me little time to pay respects to the various officials in Dengzhou."

  Song Wenxian glanced at Chen Xin, and Chen Xin nodded slightly to him. Song Wenxian understood and introduced to Wang Yuanzheng: "Lord Wang, this is Chen Xin, the military household who was promoted from the previous battle in Ningjin. He cut off the enemy's scout and was promoted to hundred households for his merit. The Governor-General highly appreciates him and has decided to let him be appointed as a thousand households, and he will be stationed in Weihaiwei later." Song Wenxian now represented the Governor-General's office and did not say anything about asking Wang Yuanzheng to take care of Chen Xin. He had the Governor-General's letter, which further elevated Chen Xin's status, so Wang Yuanzheng knew what to do.

  Weihai Wei has produced a letter of introduction for Chen Xin, and Wang Yuanzheng knows that this person is arranged by Zhongdaotai. Now the Governor also wrote a letter, the background is very strong, he doesn't care about official dignity, stands up and salutes Chen Xin: "It turns out to be Chen Qianhu, if there's any difficulty in the future, just speak up, I will definitely do my best to make arrangements."

  Chen Xin still followed the official rules and knelt down to Wang Yuanzheng, saying: "I'm new here and there are many things I don't understand, please instruct me, sir."

  Wang Yuanzheng saw that Chen Xin didn't put on airs just because he had a strong backing, so he relaxed and let his guard down. The Weihai Garrison was full of powerful women who were not to be trifled with, many people having relatives here doing business, and when trouble broke out, it would also give these small officials headaches. Looking at Chen Xin, he seemed like a refined and reasonable person.

  Wang Yuanzheng personally helped Chen Xin up and politely asked: "Chen Qianhu, how many people have come with you that need to be accommodated?"

  "The subordinate has brought over a hundred people, mostly strong men and women, with the intention of organizing them into military households. I request that Your Excellency allocate some land to them, so they can start farming as soon as possible."

  Wang Yuanzheng looked embarrassed, he didn't expect that the real hundred households would bring more than a hundred people. According to the regulations of Mingchu, each household was 50 mu, and a hundred people were 5,000 mu. However, the good land had been occupied by the officials, and Wang himself had taken over more than 1,000 mu. Most of the military households had become tenants of various officials.

  Song Wenxian reminded on the side: "Mr. Sun's intention is that Chen Qianhu has intercepted and killed Jian Nu's fine work at sea, and in the future, patrolling the nearby seas will also be done, and a coastal fort needs to be set up."

  He lifted out Sun Gong, and Wang Yuanzheng's heart tightened, so he said: "The subordinate will do his best, after a while Yang Zhihuishuai arrived, the subordinate will discuss with Yang Gong again, no matter what, some land must be allocated."

  Chen Xin knew that he should take advantage of this opportunity to ask for more things, otherwise Song Wenxian would leave in a few days and these people would find countless excuses to shirk their responsibilities. He still wanted some land, which could be used to collect some grain as compensation.

  At this moment, a fat man in a red military uniform emerged from the back hall, with a leopard-shaped badge on his chest, and his head was round and round, his official uniform was also puffed up, like a big ball topped with a small ball, without any trace of the poverty and weakness of a military family.

  As soon as he saw Song Wenxian, his face lit up with warmth and hospitality, and he waddled over, rubbing his hands together: "Mr. Song's esteemed presence honors our humble abode, why didn't you inform us earlier so we could personally welcome you at the dock? As a result, sir has been kept waiting for too long, forgive me, forgive me."

  Chen Xin looked at this fat man, a third-grade military officer. He didn't greet Wang Yuanzheng first, so he should be the one in charge of commanding.

  As expected, Song Wenxian also put aside his reserve and stood up to return the courtesy. He smiled and said: "Lord Yang is even more robust than before, I heard that you have taken in two new concubines, I only found out recently and didn't get a chance to offer my congratulations, it's me who should be apologizing for the oversight."

  This man was Yang Yunong, the commander of Weihaiwei. Looking at his appearance, he must have had a lot of oil and water in his daily life. After all, he was the head of a guard, and Chen Xin, no matter how powerful his background was, had to show respect for this current official, so he immediately knelt down and paid his respects.

  Yang Yunhong took three steps in one stride, lifting Chen Xinyi's arms with a speed that didn't match his physique: "Quickly get up, this must be the famous Chen Qianhu who captured the bandits. Indeed, hearing about someone is not as good as meeting them in person. Just look at his majestic demeanor! To say that Governor Zhang has a discerning eye for people, it's really not something we can compare to."

  A few words, he praised the governor, and also praised Song Wenxian and Chen Xin. No matter whether the leader is present or not, he must seize every opportunity to flatter him. This person seems to have a deep understanding of officialdom and has an extremely good memory. In his heart, Chen Xin had already defined him as an old oil slick in official circles.

  The commander-in-chief of the Wei camp was selected from among the qualified commanders, deputy commanders and assistant commanders of the Wei camp, and re-examined every five years. Originally, it was assessed by the Shandong Governor's Office, now it is the Dengzhou Governor and the Coastal Defense Department. The assessment is also an important source of income for them. After Director Sun finishes assessing his subordinates, he himself has to take silver to Beijing for inspection, and the silver also needs to be sent upwards, so the assessment is just a formality, and silver and talent are the most important things. Just looking at Yang Yun's treatment of people and things, it is two grades higher than Wang Yuanzheng, and his appointment as commander-in-chief is well-deserved.

  Song Wenxian smiled and flattered: "Sun's vision is naturally not to be said, he also attaches great importance to Yang Zhihuai, from which it can be seen that Yang is also a rare talent in the country."

  The two men burst out laughing, then flattered each other for a couple of sentences before Song heard the wise words and returned to normal. He took out Sun You's and Zhong Daotai's letters and handed them over to Yang Yunchong. Yang Yunchong received them with both hands raised high, knelt down on the ground and bowed before carefully opening the letter.

  Chen Xin naturally knew that the letter was nothing more than praising himself and asking Yang Yuncong to take care of him, although he wouldn't say anything about special treatment. The fact that a letter was written especially for him already showed his attitude. Yang Yuncong read the letter respectfully, with no particular expression on his face.

  He carefully put the letter away, placed his hands on the tea table, and then looked up at Song Wenxian, "Both of you in the letter consistently praised Chen Qianhu, I am truly grateful in my heart, both of you can send such a strong and capable general to Weihaiwei, it is really a blessing for me."

  Chen Xin hastily showed courtesy, and this official seemed to be not easy to deal with. The letter and the verbal message were both delivered, but he was full of praise without a single useful word. Chen Xin was not good at speaking, so Song Wenxian naturally did not allow this official to make small talk, and directly entered the topic: "Just now, I also told Wang Daren that Chen Qianhu and his men are all brave warriors on the sea. The two officials have placed Chen Qianhu here, not because of any personal motives, but actually in order to prevent the Japanese pirates from coming to our Ming dynasty's territory to stir up trouble. Yang Daren should understand this meaning. How to properly arrange for Chen Qianhu and his men is related to the actual effectiveness of the maritime patrol."

  "Still, Mr. Song has made it clear that I will definitely take good care of him." Yang Yun's small eyes rolled around a few times, he actually didn't quite understand the intentions of the two adults in arranging Chen Xin's affairs, and the reason for catching Jian Nu was just to deceive children, this Weihai Wei is not a place worth visiting, and now the small islands along the Liaodong coast are all under the control of Dongjiang Town, Jian Nu hasn't even eaten his fill, what is he doing running to Weihai? He estimated that it's because there were too many smuggled goods on the Jiangnan sea transport grain ships, and the two adults want to come and take a share.

  Wang Yuanzheng took the opportunity to tell Yang Yunchong about Chen Xinyi's situation, and Yang Yunchong still had a calm expression, unable to discern any thoughts.

  Yang Yun looked at Chen Xin and asked, "Since Commander Chen is patrolling the sea, he must be stationed near the sea to anchor his ships. I have several good ports in Weihaiwei, two facing the Bohai Sea and two facing the East China Sea. Which one would Commander Chen like to choose?"

  "The lower official's duty is to patrol the sea and prevent slaves, so it's better to face the Liaodong Sea in the morning." Weihaiwei City faces east towards the East China Sea, which is not very convenient if it is nearby. The northern coastline and the city are slightly farther away, with two mountains in between, making the location a bit better. Moreover, the anchorage in front of Weihaiwei City has poor wind-sheltering performance, although Liu Gong Island serves as a barrier, but the easterly and northeasterly winds from the two natural waterways to the south and north cannot be avoided, and are more affected by the waves of the East China Sea. Therefore, Chen Xin chose an anchorage facing the Liaodong Sea.

  Yang Yunong and Wang Yuanzheng discussed it with Chen Xindao: "There are two good ports in Liaohai, one is called Shidao Port, and the other is called Mazigang Port, about ten miles away from Weicheng. It's just that this residence and land..." Yang Yunong also showed a bit of difficulty, and there was indeed not much extra land.

  Song Wenxian frowned: "Chen Qianhu is a real hundred households, and Sun Daren repeatedly instructed that we cannot chill the hearts of the people of the world. Yang Zhihui must allocate some population no matter what, and if there is no place to live and no land to cultivate, how can these hundreds of people make a living?"

  "Mr. Song, at present many military households have escaped and registered elsewhere. After handling the documents for the land tax last time, I managed to allocate only twenty households through various arrangements. The two ports near the northern border have limited arable land, but it's possible to allocate one or two thousand mu (about 667 hectares). However, the yield is small and may not meet Mr. Chen's expectations. On the other hand, these two places are coastal areas with abundant fish resources."

  "Oh." Song Wenxian's eyebrows relaxed slightly, and he had played enough. He exchanged a glance with Chen Xin, "Since it's limited by conditions, it can't be blamed on Lord Yang. The residence can be built by oneself, but this place lacks land revenue, so please ask Lord Yang to reduce the allocation accordingly."

  Yang Yun knew what Song Wenxian meant, and it was just a matter of time before the matter was settled. Anyway, these people were extra, and with such a strong background, he didn't think he could get much benefit from Chen Xin, "This official will let go, and then the spring tax and autumn grain will not come to disturb Chen Qianhu."

  Song Wenxian added: "Brother Chen's hands are not enough, this spring and autumn season of the Ban army..."

  Yang Zhihui said with a smile: "It's not disturbing Chen Qianhu." On the surface, he was smiling, but in his heart, he was still in pain. Every year, the two seasons of soldiers from Weihai Wei were also a source of trouble for him. Shandong was an inland province and had never been a key location for military defense. There were very few soldiers stationed there, but the imperial court did not intend to let Shandong be idle. Every spring and autumn, the various guards in Shandong would have to send out troops to Ji Town. These people were mostly unable to fight and were mainly used as laborers. The hard labor of repairing the Ningjin defense line was basically done by these soldiers. Their pay was very low, and they had to take care of their own food on the road. This was a heavy burden for the various guards in Shandong. Song Wenxian, this old man, had trapped himself with his land and not only had to painfully give up 100 or so people but also had to add another 20 households.

  Song Wenxian and Chen Xinlai had discussed this beforehand. Since Chen Xinlai's current official position is low, he has few men under his command. If they can get some land, they will cultivate it; if not, they will reduce their burdens. They want to have more time to train troops and engage in maritime trade, especially with this group of soldiers. They must push them away - having finally recruited these people, how could they be used as laborers?

  Song Wenxian smiled and said, "Then please ask Lord Yang to issue the land deeds as soon as possible and allocate some oxen and farming tools. These people will also be at ease."

  Yang Yun knew he couldn't avoid it, these farm tools weren't his private property anyway, giving some out wouldn't hurt. He turned around and pushed the matter onto Wang Yuanzheng, loudly instructing: "Wang sir, you're in charge of distributing the fields, Chen Qianhu needs draft oxen, seeds, and farming tools, you must make arrangements with all your might, don't delay their cultivation."

  "Yes... this humble official obeys."