Succession (down)

  "The universe is in chaos, but I will guard the integrity of my heart."

  The island has no swan letters, and the village gate is cut off from the sound of chickens.

  The heroic spirit rises from the thorny hills, and the majestic energy shakes the long whales.

  Banners and flags emerge from the thorny bushes, swords and spears shine in the sunlight.

  At the mere mention of it, I am moved by its beauty and filled with joy and trepidation.

  The original barbarian smell has been swept away, and all have returned to Yanjing.

  "Open up the road for tribute again and rebuild the city of surrender."

  Zhu Jin's "Hearing of the Western Expedition's Victory and Composing a Poem with Sincerity"

  In the 28th year of Yongli, Ming Dynasty, and the 13th year of Kangxi, Qing Dynasty, in May 1674, Zhu Jin led his guards Feng Xifan, Chen Xiangwu, and others from Taiwan to Xiamen. The Revolt of the Three Feudatories had begun, and the Qing army defending Xiamen was demoralized and surrendered without a fight when they saw Zheng's army approaching. With this victory, Zhu Jin became overconfident and sent someone to Fuzhou to demand that Geng Jingzhong hand over Zhangzhou and Quanzhou prefectures as well as the promised "all Fujian coastal warships".

  Geng Jingzhong, who was already in control of the entire Fujian province and had extended his reach into Zhejiang, did not want to give up what he already possessed. However, he feared that Zheng's army would become dissatisfied and cause trouble in the rear while he was sending troops to Zhejiang. Therefore, he first sent a trusted emissary under the pretext of making contact to scout out the strength of Zheng's forces in Xiamen, in order to decide how to respond accordingly. As it turned out, Zheng's vanguard had fewer than 2,000 soldiers and only about 100 ships, with extremely limited capabilities. Without any further concerns, not only did he refuse to hand over the two prefectures of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to Zheng's forces, but he also went back on his word, refusing to provide the promised warships and naval forces to Zhu Jin for deployment.

  Zhu Jin, who was excited and eager, suddenly became angry and humiliated after being hit by this unexpected blow. He then surrendered to the commander of Haicheng, Zhao De Sheng, the defender of Tong'an, Zhang Xue Yao, and the aborigines of Hualian in order to show his strength. Seeing that two counties had changed hands, Geng Jingzhong retaliated by issuing an order to restore the border restrictions within his Fujian-Zhejiang control zone, cutting off trade with Taiwan as revenge. The honeymoon period between the two sides had not yet begun when they reached the point of drawing swords against each other.

  ??

  Although Zheng Kezang was very dissatisfied with Zhu Jin's actions, which were favorable to his relatives and hateful to his enemies, he was still too young and had no possibility of intervening in the war, let alone affecting the overall strategy of the Ming-Zheng Western Expedition. With a clear understanding of this, Zheng Kezang could only start from scratch, one step at a time.

  Since he decided to start with his feet on the ground, Zheng Kezang came to Chen Yonghua's signing room, who was in charge of the military and civilian affairs of Dongdu after Zhu Jinxi's western expedition. Although this was not their first meeting, it could be said that they had the closest contact: "Mr. Chen, I don't know how the recruitment of the children's camp is going."

  "Don't worry, young master, Wang had given instructions before he left."

  Although Chen Yonghua was extremely busy every day for the military source and grain supply of the Western Expedition Army, he had already figured out Zhu Jin's mind and still attached great importance to Zou Kaizhi, who had made a stunning performance in the Silver Bell Temple, so the playful Tongzi Camp also received his strong support.

  "The recruitment of people is almost complete, with a total of 150 people, all of whom are young boys around the same age as the crown prince. They will arrive in the next few days and those who arrived earlier have been arranged to stay in the barracks left in Liwu Town. Does the crown prince have any other requirements?"

  Chen Yonghua was humble in his attitude, not at all arrogant because of Zheng Kecang's age. Zheng Kecang was naturally very satisfied with this and asked: "I don't know if the military instructor has made arrangements? Also, people often say that half-sized sons eat dead old men, I wonder how the grain and material supplies are arranged? And how is the military equipment solved?"

  Chen Yonghua looked at Zheng Kecang deeply, thinking that the so-called Tongzi Camp was just a temporary enthusiasm of young people, but he didn't expect Zheng Kecang to have many more ideas, completely like building a regular new army. This made him suspect the true intention behind the other's move. However, thinking again, Zheng Kecang, no matter how extraordinary he acted, was only twelve years old after all, and except for a few thirteen or fourteen-year-old half-grown children in the Tongzi Camp, they were all of the same age as Zheng Kecang. Chen Yonghua secretly laughed at himself for being overly suspicious.

  "Fifty veteran soldiers have been dispatched from various towns to serve as instructors for the Boy Scouts, and military equipment can be obtained from the Ministry of War as needed. As for monthly rations, they will be provided in the same way as regular soldiers. However, the accumulated wealth of Dongning is limited, and it also needs to supply the Wang Shang Army, so financial resources are quite tight. Therefore, no silver pay will be issued to the Boy Scouts, and I hope you can understand."

  As for Chen Yonghua's response to the issue of military rations and armaments, Zheng Kezang was relatively satisfied, but the lack of military pay made him somewhat dissatisfied. However, what the other side said was also true - with Taiwan having only two provinces, it was indeed already overextended in its bid to conquer the mainland, so naturally they had to cut corners wherever possible.

  "Mr. Chen, it's not a problem if the silver coins are not issued, but there are still several patterns of silver badges here, please ask someone to cast them." Zheng Kezang took out a stack of paper samples from his pocket, which were the designs for the medals he had designed. "The size and specifications are all marked on the pattern, and it's not necessary to use pure silver, half silver and lead or copper and lead will do, just need to cast a few more of each style."

  Chen Yonghua took the pattern and looked at it. The format was not complicated, but the original square hole coin had been changed to a solid one in the lower half, with words such as "Wu Yong", "Zhong Qin", "Sheng Jie" and "Guang Jun" written on top. However, he did not understand the purpose of these things and subconsciously thought that this was a fake coin used by Zheng Kezang to reward people, so he advised against it with some headache.

  "The Grand Master, the matter of Qian Chao's law is related to the foundation of Dong Ning. If King Wang finds out, he will definitely punish the Grand Master for his recklessness."

  "Mr. Chen misunderstood." Zheng Kezang explained. "Kezang had read the 'Tongjian' and knew that in the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying about meritorious officials. In our dynasty, it was abolished, so he intentionally set up a similar system in the children's camp to motivate them. However, since the twelve ranks of meritorious officials involved positions in the imperial court, Kezang did not dare to take it upon himself, so he changed it slightly and created medals to award instead. The 'Wu Yong' medal was awarded to those with exceptional martial skills, the 'Zhong Qin' medal was awarded to those who persisted in their training every day, and the 'Sheng Jie' medal was awarded to the winners of each team's competition. As for the champion, it is self-explanatory."

  "The hole left in the upper section is convenient for tying a ribbon, and the ribbon hangs around the neck, which can be said to be admired by everyone, and can inspire others to compete with each other."

  Chen Yonghua was more and more shocked as he listened, "Is this really something a twelve-year-old kid could come up with? It's too unbelievable!"

  However, considering the potential impact of these insignificant silver and copper medals on the military's reward and punishment system, even if Zheng Kezang, the son of the lord of this region, personally requested it, he could not easily satisfy him, and had to report to Zhu Jin for a decision.

  Of course, Chen Yonghua would not personally inform Zheng Kecang of his decision, and instead replied indifferently: "Very well, I will instruct the officials to cast a batch later and send it to the Grand Prince, but the Grand Prince will have to wait for a few more days."

  Zheng Kezang did not expect Chen Yonghua to be so polite, so he was still quite happy and cupped his hands: "Then thank you, Mr. Chen."

  Chen Yonghua busied himself with an air of being willing to share the burden for his superior, saying: "The young master's words are really going to kill me."

  "Mr. Chen is the emperor's trusted minister, shouldering the heavy responsibility of the Western Expedition Army. Now he has to busy himself with my affairs, so a word of thanks is in order." Zheng Kezang knew that he would still have to rely on Chen Yonghua's great power in the next few years, so he kept saying good things about him. Of course, he also knew that too much was not enough, so he said a couple of sentences and then changed the subject. "By the way, Mr. Chen, when the emperor conquers Fujian, there will definitely be war." Chen Yonghua nodded unknowingly. "Will it be like what's written in books, with battles raging on, blood flowing for thousands of miles, and millions of people displaced?"

  Chen Yonghua stared at Zheng Kecang in shock, his mind racing quickly to come up with a steady and calm response: "Young Master, the king's actions are meant to comfort the people and punish the guilty, following the will of heaven. I dare say no one would dare to be so foolish as to stand in the way, even if there were some insignificant clowns who would willingly betray their country, they would be quickly eliminated, and the scene you described would not come to pass."

  "Ah!" Zheng Kezang responded with a hint of a smile, his eyes wandering as if thinking of something else. Chen Yonghua subconsciously glanced at the sun outside the window; he was busy and didn't have time to indulge in this nonsense. Just as he decided whether or not to politely ask him to leave, he heard Zheng Kezang sigh. "I thought I could recruit some young boys from the refugees to join the army, but it seems that's not necessary." Chen Yonghua couldn't help but smile; this was more like a young man's behavior. "Mr. Chen, I'd like to take a look at the barracks in Laiwu Town. Would it be possible to have someone escort me?"

  "Look at what the young master said," Chen Yonghua was eager to say, and immediately shouted towards the outside. "Come in," a thirty-year-old lower-ranking military officer flashed out. "Take the young master to inspect the barracks left behind in Liwu Town." Zheng Kechang made a courtesy and followed the humble and obedient military officer out, Chen Yonghua picked up the document placed on the side and read a few words, his eyebrows furrowed. "Not right, not right, why do I feel that there's something mysterious in what he just said?"

  ??”

  Zheng Kezang rode a small horse, accompanied by a dozen or so inner attendants and guards, and left the city four or five miles away to arrive at the original location of Lǐwǔ Town in Sān Kūi's body. Taiwan adopted the policy of "lodging soldiers among the people", and each town actually had its own garrison land, and the so-called barracks were only a temporary residence for concentrated training. Now, because the main force of Lǐwǔ Town went west, it was empty. Of course, with the arrival of some children's camps, the barracks, which had just been quiet for a while, were still very lively, and many energetic young people, although they cried at night wanting to go home, were also having fun during the day.

  "Look, here comes another one." Zheng Kezang's entourage was still quite large, especially since Zheng Kezang was riding a horse, so it quickly attracted a large crowd of children to gather around. "Hey, which family's young master is this? Look, the tutors are all running over to greet him."

  "Riding a horse is nothing, my family has horses too." A dark-skinned boy spat on the ground. "No matter how powerful his family is, we're all the same here. If he dares to show off in front of us, we'll teach this kid a lesson with our fists."

  "Fight? That's not good." A chubby little boy with a tiger-like head rubbed his head. "I heard my dad say that this is where the young master practices his new army, and they follow military rules. If you fight privately, you'll be flogged, and it hurts to be flogged on the butt."

  "A new army? They're just a bunch of kids in their teens fighting and training?" A slightly older-looking kid chuckled. "My dad said it's because the young master is bored and wants to find some playmates, but the young master is someone important, how could he possibly hang out with us every day? So as long as it's not the young master who comes, no one cares what we do."

  ??”

  Zheng Kezang naturally didn't know what those young men were discussing, and he was now lecturing the leader of the thirty instructors: "Firstly, after everyone has arrived, disperse them and don't let them form cliques by town; secondly, every day at a fixed time get up, go to bed on time, tell them clearly when to invite teachers to teach them reading and writing, when to practice martial arts, when to eat, when to bathe, etc., if there are any infractions, punish them accordingly, if you show favoritism, I'll change the punishment to be for you."

  "In the end, it will be clear." This was what Sun Youlao, a humble general, hastily agreed to. In his view, this was a great opportunity in his life, and if he grasped it, he would have a chance to rise rapidly, so naturally he wouldn't dare not follow Zheng Kecang's footsteps.

  "I will write down the specific training items, and before that, you arrange for them to run laps every day." Zheng Kezang pointed to the flat martial arts ground. "Three times a day, thirty laps each time." Sun Youlao's face turned pale, no wonder he was terrified, this one lap was at least several miles, running ninety miles a day wouldn't kill these half-grown kids? But Zheng Kezang didn't care at all. "It can be done gradually, starting with five laps first, but the last ten laps each time will be punished to clean up everyone's dormitory for that day."

  ??”