Taiheiki

Chapter 236 New Ship
"Could it be that the Emperor intends to use this as a pretext to bring his birth mother from Hejian to Luoyang? This is troublesome!" Dou Wu thought to himself. Although, according to the rites, the current Emperor's mother was not the woman who brought him into the world, but his own daughter, the current Empress Dowager Dou of the Great Han Dynasty, which was also the source of his legitimacy in wielding imperial power, the rites could not sever the natural bond between mother and son and their blood ties. The only thing he could do was to marginalize and neutralize this woman as much as possible, so that the public would forget her. Therefore, Dou Wu decided to first probe the Emperor's true intentions before devising a countermeasure.

"Your Majesty's longing for your mother is clear to me!" Dou Wu said in a deep voice, "But I wonder what Your Majesty's intentions are? Does Your Majesty wish to visit her?"

"I know that these are turbulent times, and Your Majesty should not travel lightly. I have no intention of visiting Hejian!" Liu Hong preemptively revealed Dou Wu's prepared plan: "I only wish to send someone to present her with my letter and some tributes from all directions to express my longing!"

"I see! That's perfectly fine!" It turns out the Emperor only wanted to write a letter and send some gifts to that woman, which is no problem! Dou Wu visibly breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing!" Liu Hong said.

"What's the matter?"

“My mother has a nephew named A-Chong. I grew up with him and we are very close. I even saw him in my dream last night, and I miss him even more when I woke up. I would like to invite him to Luoyang to keep me company. Is that alright?”

Compared to the first request, the emperor's second request aroused Dou Wu's vigilance. Having another childhood playmate by the emperor's side was nothing, but it meant that there would be such a person by the emperor's side. Whenever the emperor saw him, he would remember where he came from, who he originally was, and how much he had sacrificed to ascend to the throne. This was exactly what Dou Wu was trying his best to avoid.

"If that doesn't work, then at least recruit him as a court official!" Liu Hong said, "A court official in one of the three departments will suffice. What does the General think?"

Dou Wu realized he couldn't say no again. Although he had personally helped the emperor to the throne, ultimately, the empire still belonged to the Liu family. This was the consensus of everyone for the past four hundred years, and all those who dared to challenge this consensus had died and their families exterminated.

Therefore, if I want to maintain control of the court, I need his cooperation. Not to mention, as the scale of the war expands, the power and army in the hands of Feng Kun and Wei Cong are also expanding, while Luoyang City is becoming increasingly empty. In order to ensure the court's authority over these guys, I need to maintain a good relationship with the emperor, so that I can use the emperor's authority to intimidate foreign officials.

"So, Dong Zhong is to be appointed as a Gentleman of the Three Departments? Your humble servant understands!" Dou Wu said, "The Imperial Secretariat will issue the edict today!"

"Very good!" A satisfied smile appeared on Liu Hong's face: "General, you are indeed a pillar of the nation!"

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Regarding Wei Cong's sluggishness in the spring and summer of 169 AD, later historians generally hold two views: one is that Wei Cong already harbored disloyalty to the court at that time. His supporters use the contrast between Wei Cong's swift and decisive military actions in Jiaozhou and Linyi and the subsequent series of military actions, and believe that Wei Cong's actions in these months were extremely abnormal and can only be explained by the fact that Wei Cong already had the intention of sitting idly by and waiting to see the outcome, and then looking for a way to usurp power.
Another view holds that Wei Cong was loyal to the court at least before 170 AD. His delay in the spring and summer of 169 AD was due to the fatigue of the army's long march and the need for sufficient time to prepare the Jiangling navy. Their evidence is the sudden growth of the Jiangling navy.

According to historical records, for hundreds of years afterward, the Jiangling shipyard became synonymous with the power of the imperial navy. Whoever controlled it controlled the entire Yangtze River system. The only force that could rival it was the Nanhai Shipyard in Panyu, which was also built by Wei Cong.

Jiangling.

"You guys, make three copies of Lord Wei's blueprints according to the old rules. Send one copy back to Panyu, store one copy in your personal library, and send one copy to the workshop for trial production! You two, come with me to the dock with Lord Wei to watch the new ship being launched and tested, and see if anything goes wrong!"

"Here!"

Compared to a year ago, Xie Bing was a completely different person. He had a short beard, wore a scholar's cap, and had a leather bag containing stationery and a dagger hanging from his waist, looking every bit the upright official. Now he was Wei Cong's secretary, with a salary of six hundred shi (a unit of grain).

His primary responsibility was to manage Wei Cong's private library, which housed as much technical information as possible that Wei Cong had recorded: external characteristics and samples of various useful minerals, hydraulic blowers, blast furnaces, ore washing machines, long-range catapults, sloops, four-wheeled carriages, and so on. These technical documents contained not only text but also numerous diagrams, making them truly priceless. Of course, many of the drawings in the library were merely Wei Cong's memories or even ideas, far from being realized, requiring craftsmen to bring them to life using their own skills and experience. Therefore, Xie Bing, originally a painter, also bore the responsibility of communicating and coordinating with the craftsmen, and had the authority to apply for funds from Wei Cong's private treasury to advance these new technological projects.

"Lord Wei, I'm late, please forgive me!" Xie Bing arrived at the dock, panting, with two of his men. Wei Cong was already on the ship. He nodded noncommittally: "Let's set off!"

"Yes, sir!" the captain responded, turning to give the order. As the winch turned, the anchor, covered in river mud, slowly rose from the water. The "Chang Le," towed by two tugboats, slowly left the dock. At the same time, the white linen sails rose along the mast, billowing in the river breeze. The sharp bow cleaved through the water, and the ship glided across the surface like a bird flapping its wings.

The "Changle" was the first two-masted sailing ship produced by Jiangling Shipyard. This type of triangular sail was first invented by the Arabs. Compared with the traditional square sail, this sail can use Bernoulli's law to generate air pressure difference, allowing the ship to sail at an angle close to 70 degrees to the wind, thus achieving curved forward movement under headwind conditions. Moreover, the triangular sail is arranged longitudinally through the mast, and its area is much larger than that of the traditional square sail. Even in coastal and inland areas with variable and weak winds, it can sail with the help of the wind.

After the Arabs invented the triangular sail, it was quickly introduced to Southeast Asia through merchants. Wei Cong, having discovered this type of sail on Southeast Asian merchant ships, immediately ordered its trial use on his own vessels. However, due to the narrow waterways and shallow draft of the Lingqu Canal area, large, deeper-draft, and faster sailing ships like this could not navigate it. Therefore, Wei Cong only brought smaller, shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boats from Jiaozhou; these new types of ships had to be rebuilt in Jiangling.

"Wow, that's fast!"

"Look at that flag! This boat is sailing against the wind! How can it move against the wind without oars? Is this some kind of magic?"

"Shut up! Marquis Wei is standing right there. What do you mean? Does Marquis Wei think he's some kind of sorcerer?"

The Jingzhou scholars on deck were completely stunned by the "Changle's" astonishing speed and ability to sail against the wind. While the people of Jingzhou were not unfamiliar with ships, this was the first time they had ever seen a vessel like this. Xie Bing glanced disdainfully at the group of Jingzhou bumpkins out of the corner of his eye, then stepped forward and whispered to Wei Cong, "My lord, is there anything else you should be aware of? If possible, we can begin full-scale construction at the dock!" Wei Cong didn't immediately reply. He simply walked along the ship's hull, inspecting the waterline, and suddenly asked, "How many ships can be started simultaneously at the dock?"

"Nine boats, five of which are dry docks, and four will be built on the shore and towed into the water. Therefore, only smaller boats can be built. The keel and ribs are all ready. As long as you give the order, construction can begin!"

"Hmm!" Wei Cong finally gave an answer this time: "Then let's get started! The imperial court has already appointed the Left General of the Central Army, so we can't be too negligent, can we?"

Xie Bing lowered his head. He knew that many times he didn't need to answer Wei Cong's questions because the person he was asking the questions to was himself, not someone else.

After this brief trial voyage, Wei Cong announced an important message to the scholars of Jingzhou on the dock: he would be leading troops to suppress the E'zhai in a month and a half.

This simple message was like a bomb, exploding over the heads of every household in Jiangling City.

Although everyone knew it was inevitable, no one expected it to happen so quickly—the bandits and the imperial army were locked in fierce battle across the vast area between the Dan and Han rivers, and a decisive victory was still a long way off. It was hard to imagine Wei Cong joining the fray at this point—was this Left General of the Household truly a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty?

However, given the current situation, the bureaucracy of the entire Nan Commandery, and even some neighboring regions, began to act swiftly. According to the imperial edict that had just been issued, the court had promoted Wei Cong to Left General of the Household, granting him the authority to execute officials below the rank of two thousand shi without prior approval. In this area, besides Wei Cong himself, the only other person with the rank of two thousand shi was Han Chun, the Prefect of Nan Commandery.

However, amidst this tense atmosphere of preparation, observant individuals noticed that Commander Wei Cong did not convene a meeting of his generals to discuss the campaign strategy. Instead, he was busy raising military funds, especially at the shipyard, which he visited frequently. His secretary, Xie Bing, practically lived at the shipyard. Clearly, Wei Cong was focusing his future efforts on the navy.

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Nie Sheng entered the room and bowed to Wei Cong, who was standing next to the map: "Godfather, I've arrived!"

Wei Cong turned around and sized up the young man in front of him. If you ignored the still-childish face and only looked at the body wrapped in the brocade robe, this was already a fully grown man—no, it should be said that he was a real strongman. Wei Cong nodded in satisfaction: "Asheng, you've become even more robust in the months I haven't seen you!"

Nie Sheng replied somewhat embarrassedly, "I had nothing to do in Lingling, so I practiced riding and archery and spear fighting every day, hoping to be of service to you."

"Haha!" Wei Cong laughed, patting his godson on the shoulder: "You'll have your chance to make a name for yourself eventually! Come, sit down and let's talk!"

"Thank you, Godfather!" Nie Sheng obediently sat down on the brocade cushion opposite the table. "Are you going to send troops to quell the Moth Bandits? I heard about it on the way here. Please let me be the vanguard!"

"No rush!" Wei Cong poured Nie Sheng a glass of water. "By the way, I remember your stepmother was from the Zhou family of Lujiang, right?"

"Not bad!" Nie Sheng took a sip of water. "She was lucky. She stayed in Chaisang and later came to Jiaozhou with me. As a result, she escaped a calamity. Otherwise, if she had returned to Lujiang, she would most likely have died at the hands of the Moth Bandits!"

"Hmm, I remember after she came to Jiaozhou, she asked to see me once through you, it seemed like there was something she wanted to discuss! Right?"

"That's true, this woman is very restless!" Nie Sheng said, "If it weren't for the bloodline my late father left behind, I wouldn't care about her at all!"

"What I mean is, do you have people from the Zhou family of Lujiang under your command now?" Wei Cong asked.

Nie Sheng finally realized the main point of his adoptive father's conversation. After a moment's thought, he replied, "Yes, there is a cousin of the Zhou family named Zhou Jin under my command, leading fifty men. However, this fellow is cowardly and not good at martial arts. If it weren't for my late father's sake, I would have sent him back long ago!"

“Zhou Jin, right? I need him for something!” Wei Cong ignored his adopted son’s complaints: “Also, treat him well. If we attack Lujiang next, you won’t be able to do without him!”

"Lujiang? You're going to attack Lujiang next?" Nie Sheng was taken aback. "Aren't we heading north to Xiangyang and Wancheng? I heard that the Moth bandits are fighting fiercely with the government troops there!"

"Just because they're fighting over there, we'll go over there?" Wei Cong laughed. "You should understand the principle of avoiding the strong and attacking the weak, right? The court is fighting the court, we'll fight our own. Why should we follow the court's orders? We're not cows!"

"Hmm! Come, take a look!" Wei Cong stood up and walked to the map. "This is Xiangyang, and this is Wancheng. The main force of the Moth Bandits is currently fighting the imperial army in this area. If I get involved, the imperial court will definitely send us to fill those bottomless pits. How many pits can we fill with our small force?"

Even if we eventually wipe out the Moth Bandits, our forces will be almost completely depleted. Then the court will issue another edict, rewarding those who have contributed, and might appoint me to a high-ranking position like Commander of the Imperial Guard or Grand Minister of Agriculture, transferring me back to Luoyang and taking back Jiaozhou. Wouldn't that bring peace and happiness to the world? The only ones who might be unhappy are us. Why should we shed blood and sweat, lose all our resources, and end up with nothing?

(End of this chapter)