PFC Chapter 47: One life, no boat!
Chapter 47: One life, no boat!
The Weihe River Supervisory Office, a temporary government office.
Before Zhu Ming arrived at the Weihe Shipyard, Yuan Keli was reviewing shipbuilding ledgers when a series of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door. Before anyone could announce their arrival, the door was kicked open.
Shen Yourong barged in, plopped down on the chair opposite her, and started chugging tea from the teapot.
Yuan Keli didn't even look up: "Again?"
"Here we go again." Shen Yourong put down the teapot, wiped her mouth, and her voice suddenly rose, "Old Yuan, if you don't give me an explanation today, I'll set up a shed and live here right outside your office!"
Yuan Keli put down his pen and finally looked up: "What's your explanation?"
"Eight thousand! A full eight thousand!" Shen Yourong raised her hand to indicate the number eight, her anger blazing. "My navy is already short three thousand men, and you, without a word, allocated all the trained soldiers to that Xuanwu Guard."
"Yuan Jiehuan, open your heart! I, Shen Yourong, have served you for years, transporting materials and overseeing the construction of warships. Even if I haven't done anything meritorious, I've certainly put in the hard work! And what have you done? You've given all your manpower to that barbarian Xiong!"
"Xiong Tingbi, Xuanwu," Yuan Keli corrected him.
"I don't care if they're bears or turtles!" Shen Yourong exclaimed, slamming her hand on the table. "Those are my soldiers! The navy you trained one by one! You think you can just transfer them like that?"
Yuan Keli was silent for a moment, then asked, "When did the soldiers I trained become your soldiers?"
"We're practically family, we've been cooperating with Dengzhou and Laizhou for decades!" Shen Yourong retorted shamelessly. "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine!"
"Come on! If you want soldiers, train them yourself!" Yuan Keli was speechless. Was this old guy in front of him still Shen Yourong, who had worked with him in Dengzhou and Laizhou?
"Give it or not!" Shen Yourong gave her final ultimatum.
"We have no soldiers, but you can take my life!"
Yuan Keli said it casually.
"Shameless!" Shen Yourong changed her tune, her voice trailing off. "If you don't have soldiers, at least give me a few ships!"
What kind of ship?
"Warships," Shen Yourong leaned closer. "How many ships has your Weihe Shipyard built in the last six months? Give me a few to modify, mount some cannons, and they'll be warships. My navy doesn't even have a decent sentry boat. What am I supposed to use for patrolling the seas?"
Yuan Keli looked at him and said slowly, "I have no boat, but I can take your life."
"Yuan Jiehuan! You!"
"These are grain transport boats, and each one has a quota. If one is missing, the capital will have one less unit of grain," Yuan Keli interrupted him. "If you want boats, go ask His Majesty."
Shen Yourong choked, staring at him, her chest heaving for a while before she suddenly deflated, leaning back and speaking in a low voice, "Jiehuan, do you know what I saw when I went to the capital to report on my duties half a month ago?"
Yuan Keli didn't respond, waiting for him to continue.
"His Majesty summoned several important ministers and held a banquet in the Qianqing Palace."
Recalling the banquet held in Qianqing Palace that day, Shen Yourong exclaimed excitedly, "The scale and grandeur of it were simply amazing!"
"So what?" Yuan Keli asked, his expression completely unfazed, as if he hadn't noticed Yuan Keli's insomnia. "It's just an ordinary banquet, isn't it?"
"They also summoned the commanders of the Six Heavenly Guards and the newly appointed governors of the Three Great Camps," Shen Yourong said mysteriously. "Did you know that many of these people are young, new faces?"
"Isn't this normal?" Yuan Keli thought for a moment and said slowly.
Shen Yourong paused, then lowered her voice even further: "Jie Huan, you say the young people are all taking the stage, how long can we old guys stay in court?"
Yuan Keli did not answer immediately.
He recalled that autumn last year when he was suddenly summoned back to the capital by a secret imperial decree.
At that time, he was in charge of the coastal defense of Dengzhou and Laizhou. He thought that Japanese pirates had invaded the country, so he crossed the sea to Beijing overnight. When he arrived at Wenyuan Pavilion, he only saw Sun Chengzong and handed him a scroll of notes.
It is said that Emperor Tianqi (Zhu Ming) remembered Yuan Keli's merits in establishing Dengzhou and Laizhou, and reinstated him as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War in August.
Then he was asked to go to the Weihe Shipyard to supervise shipbuilding and train the navy.
He went to the Wei River with his notes in his pocket.
He stayed there for more than half a year, watching the keels in the shipyard stand up one by one and the soldiers train batch after batch.
He knew in his heart that what His Majesty wanted was a navy capable of sailing the seas.
But he didn't expect that after the massive explosion at Wanggongchang in May, His Majesty would suddenly transfer eight thousand people from the Wei River.
These were elite soldiers he had personally trained.
Those people were incorporated into the Xuanwu Guard, under the command of Xiong Tingbi, and immediately set off to the flood-stricken areas around the capital for disaster relief.
He thought about it all night and understood the next day.
Disaster relief is the outward appearance; establishing authority is the underlying purpose.
In the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, the country was plagued by frequent floods and droughts, rampant banditry, and fierce factional strife within the imperial court.
What Your Majesty wants is to let the world see an army that does not belong to civil officials, nor to eunuchs, but only to the Emperor himself.
This army can provide disaster relief and pacify the people; naturally, it will also be able to quell rebellions and defend against enemies in the future.
"Serving the people of the Ming Dynasty with all my heart!"
This is what Zhu Ming said to Yuan Keli in his imperial edict.
At the time, Yuan Keli felt that these words were too plain to be an imperial edict, but after pondering them for several months, he found them increasingly insightful.
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Shen Yourong.
"Old Shen, Old Shen, His Majesty still needs us. We can't let the younger generation ruin important matters!" Yuan Keli said meaningfully. "Have you been spending too much time with those people and developed some illusions?"
That group of people were Gao Panlong and others from the Donglin Party.
After all, Yuan Keli knew that Shen Yourong was close to them.
However, in the present Ming Dynasty, the incessant struggle between the Donglin Party and the eunuch party has caused instability in the border troops and unrest among the people.
Yuan Keli then spoke up to remind Shen Yourong.
"Don't worry! It's a bit of a pity that Lao Gao and the others are going back to Beijing for their work report this time!" Shen Yourong sighed.
"It's good that you know, but I'm afraid you've gotten too deeply involved!" Yuan Keli understood from Shen Yourong's tone that he was also disappointed in Donglin.
"Wei Zhongxian of the eunuch faction is truly ruthless!" Shen Yourong nodded. "Now, he seems to have been completely subdued by His Majesty, taking the blame for everything, it almost made me laugh to death!"
"Our Emperor is quite capable!" Yuan Keli said calmly.
"That's right! When I was inspecting the sea, I didn't take the points His Majesty had told me to pay attention to seriously," Shen Yourong said after a moment of silence, "but it wasn't until that fellow Wang Tiqian went down the sea route to the South Seas that I realized His Majesty's concerns were correct."
"Old Shen, it's good that you understand!" Yuan Keli nodded sincerely.
"So, in order to resolve His Majesty's worries, you must use your remaining five thousand naval troops and four hundred warships to support me!" Shen Yourong said, her eyes narrowed.
Damn it! This old beggar Shen has been using all sorts of tricks to get his navy and ships these past few days. It's really annoying.
"Get out! I have neither soldiers nor ships, but you can take my life!" Yuan Keli looked at the greedy old face and was speechless.
"How about we first assemble a thousand naval troops and two hundred warships!" Shen Yourong was willing to lose all face for the sake of soldiers and ships.
"Heh! Get lost! Get as far away as you can!" Yuan Keli said impatiently.
"Alright, alright! Just five hundred sailors and fifty ships..."
Before Shen Yourong could finish speaking, a servant hurriedly entered. "Lord Yuan, that person is coming again. He'll arrive this afternoon."