Chapter Twenty-Two

  The day passed in lectures to the military commanders at various levels. Anyway, I have always maintained a habit that whenever there is free time, I gather all the heads of these troops together to lecture on new combat theories. These officers also absorbed the new ideas and theories with relish.

  The new guard, Song Mingfeng, who is also the grandson of Song Yingxing, has been calling me. I don't know why, but I always feel that this Song Mingfeng is very different from the previous guards. Shaking my head and muttering to myself: "Forget it, no need to think about these messy things. Maybe it's because of family influence."

  Song Yingxing and others had already arrived at the military camp early, I reckon this ambitious old man didn't sleep well last night either, after all his revenge was about to be unleashed, and it was a place where he could do as he pleased, how could he sleep well?

  When I came out, Song Yingxing was already outside. Seeing this, I immediately went up enthusiastically and sometimes the facade project had to be done: "Old Song, how did you come so early? You don't rest for a while."

  Song Yingxing looked not old at all. He said generously: "Chief, you don't know something." In my repeated request for him to call me by name, I had no choice but to agree to let him call me Chief. If he called me General, it would be even more uncomfortable to hear.

  Song Yingxing continued: "I, an old man, studied your governance plan yesterday and compared it with my own humble work. I found that the policy framework implemented by the leader is unprecedented, and it's also very practical in terms of coordination among various parties. The leader's military prowess doesn't need to be praised by me anymore, but I didn't expect the leader to be so profound in governance as well, which makes me admire you with all my heart."

  I was praised by Song Yingxing until my face turned red, but he didn't know that this was just a trivial matter. This is nothing more than learning from the lessons of history over the past thousand years. So I humbly said: "Song Lao, what are you talking about? Those things were done by everyone's collective efforts. How could I dare to take credit for them?"

  Song Yingxing didn't seem surprised, apparently having some understanding of the matter between them: "Boss, I came here today specifically to ask you for a position. Let's see where you'll place me."

  I took a look at Zhou Lun staring at Song Yingxiong's granddaughter next to him, and said to Song Yingxiong: "Yesterday, I and the political commissar have already discussed it, from today on, you will be the Premier of our base's government."

  Song Yingxing looked at me with a questioning gaze and said, "Which premier is this?"

  I smiled and explained, "The Premier means the Prime Minister of our great Ming dynasty in the past. Now that we are going to establish a new era, we don't call it Prime Minister anymore, but rather Premier. It means being in charge of everything. In the future, we will rely on you, Mr. Song, to help govern the country we have conquered. As for your two sons, one has been appointed as the Minister of Education and the other as the Minister of Science and Technology. The Vice-Premier is waiting for you to take office in Changsha."

  Song Yingxing didn't know what the Premier was for, but he knew what a Chancellor was. When I arranged him to such a high position, he was so excited that he almost knelt down.

  I hastily supported him and said: "Old Song, didn't we agree earlier that this wouldn't be brought up again? Look at you, you've forgotten once more."

  Although he couldn't kneel down to thank him, Song Yingxing was moved to say: "Your old minister will definitely dedicate himself to the great cause of the leader and die after exhausting all his efforts." After finishing speaking, he took the document I gave him and left for Changsha.

  I looked at Zhou Lun, who was still indulging in the colorful scene, and said: "Look at you, your old habit has recurred again, hasn't it? Since we arrived here, I haven't seen you have such a situation again. How did it happen today?"

  Zhou Lun took a good half day before squeezing out two words from his mouth: "Beauty."

  I slammed a hammer on his head and said, "Alright, alright, after we take down Jiangxi, I'll go be your matchmaker."

  Zhou Lun made a disgusting face and said: "A Xiao, Brother Xiao, you said it yourself. From now on, I won't marry anyone but that woman."

  I gave him a white eye and said: "It's not her who won't marry, I really don't know how you read books."

  Just as we were joking around, Guard Song Mingfeng reported from outside, his voice filled with urgency: "Chief, an urgent telegram from Changsha."

  I gave Zhou Lun a slight push, and the two of us straightened our bodies. In front of outsiders, we still had to maintain this leader image. Only after doing all this did I say to the outside: "Little Song, come in."

  Song Mingfeng pushed open the curtain and walked in, saying: "Chief, there is an urgent telegram from Changsha. The military factory in Changsha is about to face shutdown. Xiangtan is a bit better. Vice Premier Xu instructed me to ask if you can quickly occupy Jiangxi's largest copper mine production area."

  I took the telegram from Little Song's hand, and for a moment I felt that this hand was like a woman's hand, without any rough feeling. Then I thought again, maybe it's because he was born into a rich and noble family that he doesn't need to do anything.

  I pondered for a moment, and the military factory in Changsha suddenly stopped production, which was a big problem for us. After half a silence, I said: "It seems that we can only slow down the situation on the side of Jinggang Mountain first and send a telegram to Zhang Lianzhang ordering him to change the direction of the war as soon as possible."

  Zhou Lun also sank into thought for a moment, apparently he too had realized the severity of the issue and said: "Alright, but in order to alleviate the current crisis, tell Xu Jin to contact the major merchants in Yue State and have them transport some goods from outside through their channels first. The production line must not be stopped, I heard that there is not much gasoline left to maintain the operation of the production line, I think alcohol can replace it. If alcohol really doesn't work, then let him use water power instead, after all, Xiangjiang River is right there. How to do it specifically is his problem, we are only responsible for the firepower situation. This kid, if you don't give him some pressure, he will push everything onto you."

  I sat in front of the desk and poured a cup of good tea from Junshan Yunnan, saying to Security Guard Xiao Song: "You come have a cup too. This is Hunan's good tea."

  Xiao Song walked over after a brief pause and said to me: "Thank you, Chief. My grandfather told me about someone before he left and asked me to tell you."

  I asked strangely: "People, what people."

  Xiao Song said in his sharp and clear voice, "This man is a naval commander from Taiwan. His name is Shi Lang, I don't know if the leader has heard of him."

  Upon hearing this, I immediately exclaimed: "Is it Shi Lang who recently attacked Xiamen?"

  Xiao Song nodded and said, "That's the one. However, my grandfather guessed that this person would arouse a bit of suspicion from Zheng Chenggong and wanted to get rid of him. Isn't the leader planning to establish a navy? I think this person is very suitable."

  I looked at him with some surprise and said, "Little Song, I didn't expect you to have such great talent. Keeping you by my side as a guard is really a waste of your abilities. How about this: help me build an underground team?"

  Xiao Song looked at me with tears in his eyes and said: "Chief, did Mingfeng do something wrong?"

  I comfortingly said: "Mingfeng, I didn't mean it that way. I really feel sorry for you. When I asked you to form a secret army, my intention was for them to lie in wait everywhere, gather information and recruit talents."

  Xiao Song also looked at me and said: "Yes, Mingfeng guarantees that he will not disappoint the leader's trust."

  I smiled and said, "Then go tell Garrison Commander Tang Ke Feng about it. From now on, you can just report directly to me. As for the name of our troops, I think we'll call it Ming Feng - the lingering wind of the Ming Dynasty."

  Ming Feng nodded and said: "Yes, thank you for the promotion, Chief."

  Taiwan.

  In the courtyard of a wealthy family, a young man looked at his parents with tears in their eyes and said: "Father, brother, I, Shi Lang, will repay your kindness for as long as I live." After finishing speaking, he secretly left from the back door, where his family was already waiting to receive him. Not long after, a group of Ming dynasty soldiers burst into his home, and his parents and brothers were all taken away. This is Zheng Chenggong's "deep hatred".

  Looking out at the vast ocean, the distant islands had already disappeared from view, and all around was a dark expanse of sea. Shi Lang stared blankly at the sea: "Heavens, why is it like this? What will become of me, Shi Lang? Should I surrender or wander aimlessly? The choice to wander means that for the rest of my life, I'll never be able to avenge myself for my loved ones."

  As the sea water crashed against the ship, Shi Zhan fell into a bitter struggle. A soldier walked over and said: "General, I have something to report that concerns your future fate."

  Shi Leng looked at him with a puzzled gaze and said: "You, you are what kind of person's spy."

  The soldier couldn't help but reveal a hint of pride, saying: "I am a member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. A member of General Mingfeng's troops, our general heard that you were in trouble and specially dispatched us to come and rescue you."

  Shi Leng looked at the soldier's face and saw a strong aura, muttering to himself: "I didn't expect that even a small soldier in this army could have such an aura."

  Shi Lang said: "Rescue me? What ability does Shi Lang have that makes your general attach such importance?"

  The soldier smiled and said, "General Shi Lang, the naval commander on our side is already waiting for you, and our ships are much better than Zheng Chenggong's. They are all warships with 1/4 inch thick iron armor. When the time comes, General, it will be easy to avenge your family."

  Shi Leng was a connoisseur and upon hearing about the ironclad ships, his eyes lit up. He asked the soldier, "When can I meet your commander?"

  The soldier said: "General, after we land ashore, there will be people coming to pick us up, please rest assured."

  I took a look at the latest legal code sent over by Xu Jin's people, and I excitedly said to Zhou Lun: "Ah Lun, this Song Yingxing and Xu Jin together are really something special. Look, the Chinese Legal Code is out!"

  Aaron took the book from my hand and looked at it, saying: "Yes, this book is still quite intact."

  I picked up the letter on the table and started reading it.

  A Xiao: Recently, things have been going well. Since Song Yingxing arrived, there's been a lot less for me to handle, after all, someone has come to share the burden with me. I'm reporting some good news, Yi Tianxing's troops have taken over Yiyang, Loudi, Changde and other areas.

  But those ethnic minorities in western Hunan are not easy to deal with. For now, we have given up the idea of attacking that side. We will consolidate our newly occupied areas as much as possible, and also found a large mineral deposit in Lengshuijiang according to our previous memory, mainly antimony ore, as well as some other minerals.

  In addition, the coal mines within Hunan have also been utilized to meet the needs of metallurgy as much as possible. The situation with various new-style schools is also good, under the management of the Minister of Education, these children have easily accepted new educational methods and textbooks. I think we don't need to worry about our future reserve talents, the autumn harvest is very good.

  The entire occupied area of Hunan has achieved a bumper harvest under Song Yingxing's personal supervision, and farmers have begun to use the new agricultural tools he manufactured. After my research with him, he organized many original handicraftsmen (actually scientists, but called handicraftsmen due to their social class during the Ming dynasty) based on some of my submissions and suggestions, forming a civilian technology development research department and a military technology development department, both of which have achieved good results. I told him about the principle of hydrogen, and now he is also starting to study this thing. I went to the place where he was researching and estimated that it would soon be successful. The merchants in Yueyang are very supportive of our work, after all, they are now dependent on us, and if we fall, they will not have a good life either. The development of party members among the people is going well. Song Yingxing and his two sons have also joined the Republican Party.

  Lei Feng recently returned to Changsha. His troops have already joined forces with Zeng Qing and quickly captured Nanchang. Old Song's intention is that after capturing Nanchang, he wants to send his second son to Nanchang, because after all they are from there and the foundation is a bit better. I discussed it with Old Song and agreed.

  Li Dingguo is not very happy with our deployment in Yunnan. The other day, he sent someone to negotiate with me, but I drove him away to your side. You can have a good talk with them now. Also, there's the issue of ships. Due to the lack of iron ore, we don't have enough resources to build real ironclad warships, so we just wrapped a layer of iron sheets on large wooden boats. I think it's enough to deal with the Qing army who can't even swim. Currently, we have 8 large ironclads, over 20 medium-sized ones, and more than 100 small wooden ships here. The naval commander has not been arranged yet, waiting for Shi Lang to take office.

  The third short-term training session of the Military Academy has already graduated, and the fourth session has just started. I won't send the graduates of the third session to your place. I'll keep them for myself to form a military unit for Yitian Xing. The tax revenue has reached a new high again.

  The entire base has a population of over 5 million, and the monthly tax revenue has reached 2 million taels of silver. The people's living standards are still relatively affluent. However, after deducting education subsidies and birth subsidies, we only have 1 million left to allocate. The construction of basic infrastructure is also pressing.

  I hope you will consider this carefully and it would be best if you could confiscate more property in Jiangxi for me. Confiscate the corrupt officials' money. The area of Yueyang City has expanded three times its original size, and it was built entirely according to modern urban planning, so there are no city walls outside. I have stationed a regiment near Hubei in Yueyang, which should be safe.

  As for other situations at the headquarters, I am not very clear about them.

  Sincerely,

  Xu Jin, Deputy Premier of the State Council

  November 3rd, 1656