Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 501 "Colleagues" (Part 1)

On the first day of the first month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, at Pi Island.

Just after the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), Shen Shikui was ushered out of the noisy banquet by his steward, Shen Zhong. Still slightly drunk, he was helped by two guards and staggered towards the side hall.

The underfloor heating in the side hall was burning too brightly, making his eyes sting. But when he saw the token presented by the messenger—a bronze plaque with its edges worn smooth and deeply engraved with the character "Mao"—he immediately sobered up.

These were waist tokens bestowed by Mao Wenlong upon his many adopted sons and grandsons in the fourth year of the Tianqi reign. Later, when Dongjiang Town was in turmoil, Mao's adopted sons and grandsons gradually scattered, and these bronze tokens never appeared in the public eye again.

I never imagined that I would end up in the hands of a North Korean businessman wrapped in a heavy fur coat.

"Is Master Shen well?" The messenger removed the fox fur earmuffs, revealing a centipede-like scar on his left ear.

Shen Shikui narrowed his eyes slightly. This person did look somewhat familiar, but after more than ten years, his name had long been blurred in the depths of his memory.

"This humble general... was originally Cao Shaozhong, a centurion of the Left Battalion of the Rear Guard of Dongjiang Town." The envoy forced a humble yet eager smile, bowing even lower. "At that time, my superior was Li Jiucheng, the Rear Guard Commander. I still remember that back then, on Pi Island, this humble general once lost money gambling and threw a tantrum, and was even whipped twice in public by you, Master Shen."

"..." Upon hearing this, an inscrutable smile slowly appeared on Shen Shikui's face. His right hand had already quietly reached into his robes and grasped the handle of the flintlock pistol that he never parted with. "What? After all these years, you've come here specifically to seek revenge for those two lashes?"

"Master Shen! You flatter me!" Cao Shaozhong caught a glimpse of several guards with their hands on their sword hilts, silently surrounding him. He knelt down with a thud and kowtowed several times to Shen Shikui. "Back then, I was a fool and ignorant brat! Those two lashes you gave me, Master Shen, were a lesson, a sign of your care, and a spur to action! I am only grateful; how could I dare to harbor any resentment? ... Heaven and earth bear witness!"

"Hehe..." Shen Shikui snorted twice and waved his hand. His guards took a half step back, but their eyes remained fixed on Cao Shaozhong like hawks. "So you didn't risk sneaking into my Pi Island today just to pay me a New Year's visit, did you?"

"Master Shen, it's almost the New Year, and I'm here on behalf of my Grand Commander to bring you New Year's gifts!" As he spoke, Cao Shaozhong quickly stepped aside and pointed to several oilcloth-wrapped bundles next to him—the furs peeking out from inside were glossy and smooth, like white fox fur.

There were also several winter ginseng roots tied with red ropes, their whiskers intact, clearly indicating that they were high-quality ginseng from years past.

Beside it was a brocade box. When the guard opened it, several pearls were revealed. They were round and flawless, glowing with a soft luster, and shimmering in the candlelight. It was clear at a glance that they were not ordinary pearls.

"Who is your Grand Commander?" Shen Shikui picked up his teacup, lifted the lid, blew away the foam, and didn't even lift his eyelids.

"Uh..." Cao Shaozhong shifted uncomfortably on the ground, his voice lowered to almost a whisper, "Reporting to Master Shen, my Grand Commander is... Kong Youde, General Kong..."

"Oh!" Shen Shikui drawled, setting down his teacup with a crisp clinking sound. "Who would have thought! Kong, the former guerrilla commander of my Dongjiang Town, has now risen to the rank of Grand Commander? Congratulations!"

"..." Cao Shaozhong's lips twitched, and his smile became even more stiff. "Master Shen is joking. My title of Grand Commandant was given to my family arbitrarily by the Korean side. It doesn't count at all..."

"Oh, so Kong Youde was appointed Grand Commander by the Koreans." Shen Shikui looked at him with a half-smile. "Does your Grand Commander know that since Korea betrayed the Ming and surrendered to the invaders, it has been a country designated by our Great Ming for punitive expeditions? Moreover, ten years ago, Kong Youde rebelled in Dengzhou and Laizhou, massacring officials and civilians. His crimes were heinous, and he is a wanted criminal whom the court has issued a decree for, with no possibility of pardon! You have come to Pi Island this time to represent Kong Youde and surrender yourself?"

"Lord Shen, please understand..." Cao Shaozhong kowtowed again, his words earnest and almost choked with sobs, "My Grand Commander was once under the command of you in Dongjiang Town, and we both received great kindness from Commander Mao. We were comrades-in-arms after all... Now he is stranded in a foreign land, which is truly out of his own volition... I only beg Lord Shen to remember our past friendship and... to do me a favor..."

"A turnaround?" Shen Shikui leaned forward slightly, his voice scrutinizing. "What kind of turnaround? Do you mean you want me to petition the court to beg for amnesty on your behalf?"

As far as he knew, Kong Youde's rebel army had been making waves in Hamgyong Province of Korea for the past few years, occupying almost half of the province and becoming veritable local tyrants. If they could be recruited by the court and returned to the Ming Dynasty, and then ordered to raid the Qing army's rear from the flank, it would be a good help.

"Amnesty...amnesty?" Cao Shaozhong's eyes flickered instantly, becoming uncertain, and his words stammered, "Master Shen...the court's amnesty has strict rules and conditions...I'm afraid it's...I'm afraid it won't be easy..."

He thought to himself: We live a life of luxury and freedom in Hamgyong Province, why should we lower ourselves to beg the Ming emperor who is so far away to grant us amnesty?

Isn't this just asking for trouble?

"Hmm?" Shen Shikui stared at him, his face suddenly darkening as if covered in ice. "If you are unwilling to surrender, then what exactly do you intend to do by coming to my Pi Island? Do you really think my blade is too weak to cut off the head of your old friend, or that I am too afraid to bring you to the capital?"

"Please, Master Shen, have mercy! We were once both from Dongjiang Town, and we should have some connection. It shouldn't be like this..."

"Alright, stop beating around the bush." ​​Shen Shikui impatiently placed his teacup on the table and dusted off his brocade robe. "Speak, what did Kong Youde send you here for?"

“Master Shen…” Cao Shaozhong rubbed his numb legs. Seeing that the other party didn’t seem to want him to get up, he had no choice but to endure the pain and continue kneeling. “To be honest, although my Grand Commander has established himself in Hamgyong Province of Korea, everything is difficult to obtain, especially iron and weapons. Therefore, he wants to do some business with Pi Island. We are rich in fine furs, old ginseng, deer antlers, and these Dongzhu pearls… We are willing to supply them exclusively to the brothers in Dongjiang Town at a price 30% lower than the market price.”

He took a breath, secretly glancing at Shen Shikui's expression, and continued cautiously, "We...we also want to buy some goods from Master Shen. Iron, cloth, tea, medicinal herbs...if you could have swords, spears, and arrows, old ones are fine too...if, if you could have a few muskets, or one or two old cannons, we would be extremely grateful! As for the price, Master Shen, just name your price, and we will have no objections!"

"Arms?" Shen Shikui suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp as a knife, slashing at Cao Shaozhong. "Has Kong Youde forgotten who he is? He's a traitor! A wanted criminal! And I am the General of Dongjiang, appointed by the Ming Dynasty! Selling arms to you privately is tantamount to aiding the enemy and betraying the country, a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family! Are you trying to kill me?"

Cao Shaozhong was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly, cold sweat beading on his forehead: "Master Shen, you are wise! The Dengzhou and Laizhou incident back then was truly a matter of last resort. We were forced into a corner by treacherous people! In all these years, we have been wandering in foreign lands, and not a day has passed without us longing for our homeland! The Tartars have repeatedly sent people to persuade us to surrender, offering high-ranking positions and generous salaries, but my Grand Commander has sternly refused them all! The Grand Commander often says that we are born as people of the Ming Dynasty and will die as ghosts of the Ming Dynasty. We would rather be shattered to pieces than recognize the enemy as our father!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice rose a little: "In the past few years, we have not forgotten our roots! We often send out small teams to penetrate deep into the areas controlled by the Jurchens to kill their scouts and eliminate their fortified villages, just to do our part for the Ming Dynasty! We purchase weapons and strengthen our forces in order to better harass the Tartars' rear and defend the Liaodong front for the court!"

"Oh?" Shen Shikui leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest, a playful expression on his face. "That sounds quite grand. Then let me ask you, since you've fought the Tartars so many times, how many heads have you taken? Have you sent them to any government office to verify your achievements?"

"This..." Cao Shaozhong was speechless for a moment, his face turning pale. He stammered, "Master Shen... even if we... even if we beheaded the Tartars, we have nowhere to report the heads, no one to record our merits... so, in these dozen or so battles, although we killed hundreds of enemies, we... we haven't taken any heads..."

"Hmph!" Shen Shikui sneered without any attempt to hide it, shaking his head. "Alright, alright, Cao Shaozhong, stop with the tricks! I, Shen, know exactly what kind of people you are. You're more courageous than anyone when it comes to fighting the soft persimmons of Korea; but if you were to turn around and fight the real Tartars, you'd probably run faster than anyone else! I'm curious, why don't you go and join the powerful Tartars in that poor, desolate place in Hamgyong Province, instead of going through all the trouble of crossing the ocean to find my Pi Island to do business?"

His voice suddenly turned cold, and his gaze sharpened: "Cao Shaozhong, tell me honestly, did you also approach the Tartars, but they didn't give you the benefits you wanted, or their offer was too low? After being rebuffed, you remembered your old colleagues and turned to our Dongjiang Town, didn't you?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Shaozhong shuddered violently, his head drooping completely, and he dared not look Shen Shikui in the eye again.

Sure enough, this Mr. Shen was as shrewd and capable as ever; no trick could escape his notice.

Shen Shikui's words hit the nail on the head. The Qing army did recruit them, but they didn't provide them with food or weapons. They were only given the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Jingdong Army and ordered to attack the settlements of the new Chinese. How could they dare to do that?

Therefore, we can only beg for help from Pidao.
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(End of this chapter)