Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 111 Taking Power: Fifth-Rank Captain, Three Major Ship Leaders
More than half a month later, at the end of February.

Yuegang is a sandbar on the outer edge of the harbor channel.

A sharp, white, dragon-like blade flashed past several "immortal scum" that looked like giant toads but had human hands and feet.

Blood spurted from their bodies one after another, their corpses separated, and they fell to the ground with a "thump! thump!"

Even after death, his webbed hands and feet continued to twitch in the pool of blood, and his mouth kept opening and closing, reciting familiar scriptures:
"The physical body is a cage, muscles and bones are shackles, and the spirit is an illusion. To obtain an immortal body, one must first refine immortal flesh."

Wang Cheng's clothes were stained with blood, and the blood that hadn't had time to drain from the blade dripped onto the ground. He waved his hand and threw out several talismans that burned all the evil corpses to ashes.

boom!
Standing not far behind him, Zhang Wen held a large, gilded matchlock gun that could be called a cannon. He fired a silver-plated bullet that blasted the head of the last Immortal Scum to pieces.

He killed even more thoroughly than Wang Cheng. With a flash of silver light on the bullet, the immortal scum fell to the ground and died without even reciting the scriptures.

This is the silversmith's specialty, gilding!
On February 16th, Zhang Wen was promoted to the seventh rank official, ahead of his brother Zhang Wu.

The spiritual response comes from the third phase of the Awakening of Insects, "The eagle transforms into a dove," meaning that the eagle, which represents the stern and murderous metal energy, becomes as gentle as a dove during this phase.

A more accurate term for a silversmith would be "goldsmith and silversmith," as they not only possessed exceptional metalworking skills, capable of hand-crafting gun barrels and cannon barrels, but also used precious metals such as gold and silver to add special effects to various tools and machinery.

Its most valuable use on the ship is to consecrate and enchant those bronze cannons!
He has only just begun this work, and with a sufficient supply of gold and silver, he expects to be able to arrange the [Blue Robe] within a month.

Then, having Wang Cheng transform them into "cannon demons" will surely make things much easier.

"Hey, captain, all these invading evil spirits are after our Consecutive."

The number is much lower today than it was a while ago; this wave of evil spirits is finally coming to an end.

Wang Cheng brushed the blood off the precious sword Chiwen and returned it to its sheath.

"Think positively."

With the USS Consepson here, it attracted most of their firepower, and most of the coastal counties and prefectures under the jurisdiction of Minzhou were spared from the invasion of evil spirits.

These evil spirits from outside the wall are just a minor ailment here, but they would be a major disaster elsewhere.

"It's simply our duty as naval officers and soldiers anyway."

With a wave of their hands, the uniformly dressed members of the Green Robe Gang and the Mountain and Sea Society began to clean up the battlefield, ensuring that no evil flesh or blood was left on the ground to pollute the local ecosystem.

Previously affected by the Nine Dragons Spitting Pearls Formation, the Mountain and Sea Curse Restriction had been weakening for several days.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, many strange "immortal scum" smuggled in from outside the wall. Some went to chase after the elixir of immortality in the five adventure ships, while others directly attacked the "humans" who were the raw materials for the elixir of immortality.

During this period, together with those foreign pirates and ambitious individuals, they have stirred up great chaos in the East China Sea.

However, this also indirectly prompted the central government of the Great Zhao to make a firm decision to reorganize the 24 coastal defense garrisons, reform the military system, and delegate the power to recruit soldiers and command.

Before mid-February, the ruler of the state issued a formal edict.

With Lu Yi, who had already returned to the capital aboard the Jianghai Ao, secretly making arrangements, things went very smoothly.

The Ministry of War's appointment followed closely behind the imperial edict that was sent to the coastal areas, and was delivered to "Wang Fugui," the hereditary centurion.

In addition to his nominal sixth-rank hereditary centurion, he was also granted a fifth-rank battalion commander title with real power, which allowed him to recruit and train soldiers into an army of up to 500 men!
Hereditary military officers below the garrison commander; and mid-to-low-ranking officers such as recruited soldiers, such as captains and lieutenants, were all decided by the Ministry of War without the emperor's involvement, and the process was very simple.

Having benefited from having connections in the imperial court, Wang Cheng was thus branded with the Lu family's influence.

As for the official positions that Lu Yunchen promised to the "crew," they were all taken care of. The positions of captain and lieutenant were appointed by the newly appointed commander himself.

The Zhang brothers, Wu and Wen, all rose to prominence along with Wang Cheng, becoming seventh-rank generals who received government salaries!

As Zhang Wen followed Wang Cheng back, he carried a gun in one hand and kept fiddling with the wooden fire stamp on his waist with the other.

Although he was only a lowly officer, it made this young Tanka man, who had suffered humiliation and contempt since childhood, feel a great sense of pride and triumph.

"Hey, Captain, do you think that with this official position, we'll never have to suffer from the bullying of those government officials, soldiers, and constables again?"

To his surprise, Wang Cheng shook his head and warned:
"When you're out in the world, you give yourself your identity."

Having an official position is not only convenient but also troublesome; only our own strength gives us the confidence to stand tall.

Be careful. Although we brothers have managed to get a foothold by getting in touch with the Lu family, and are now able to recruit our own troops and make our mark, we are still able to make a name for ourselves.

However, not everyone in the previous local garrison commanders and centurions had this opportunity.

Their exploitation of military households led to the desertion of soldiers, leaving only a handful of them. If they did not seize this opportunity of military reform, the best outcome would be for them to become small landowners.

Therefore, during this period, there were many people in the area governed by Minzhou who were jealous of us brothers.

When recruiting from the Tanka people, you and Zhang Wu must carefully vet them. This is our foundation for survival and success in the chaos of the East China Sea.

Good fortune may be a harbinger of misfortune.

When the Great Zhao Dynasty was founded, it established 24 coastal naval garrisons, each with 50 ships and 5000 soldiers. This was the earliest garrison system.

"Guards" were established in important towns, and thousand-household and hundred-household units were established on narrow paths and isolated passes.

A commander who leads 5000 men is called a commander-in-chief; a commander who leads 1000 men is called a commander of a thousand men; a commander who leads 100 men is called a commander of a hundred men; a commander who leads 50 men is called a commander-in-chief; and a commander who leads 10 men is called a squad leader.

Each garrison is subordinate to a varying number of thousand-household stations, extending downwards level by level.

Each garrison had its own farmland, where soldiers cultivated the land in peacetime and served as soldiers in wartime, while officers held hereditary positions.

Two hundred years later, the son of a centurion is still a centurion, and the son of a commander is still a commander.

In this situation, what if a soldier harbors a dream of becoming a general?
That won't do, because the general also has his own son. Emperor Taizu was very proud of this military system, boasting, "I maintain a million-strong army without costing the people a single penny or grain!"

Unfortunately, two hundred years later, this garrison system has completely collapsed and can no longer be saved.

Hereditary military officers were themselves the number one gravediggers of the garrison system, embezzling farmland, receiving salaries without working, occupying military posts, and stealing grain transport materials—there was nothing they wouldn't dare to do.

The garrison system has now been completely transformed into a conscription system.

Although hereditary positions such as commander, chiliarch, and centurion were retained as symbols of status and legal standing, most of them have become defunct in name only.

Without a real official position, one could only receive a few bushels of rice as a stipend, which was not much better than that of a commoner.

These officials who successfully rose to prominence and completed their transformation had unknowingly made enemies everywhere.

Zhang Wen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly agreed:

"Yes, Captain, I understand."

All the new recruits who passed the test were first sent to pay their respects to the Heavenly Princess, Madam Yan, and Prince Jing to ensure that there would be no problems with the troops we recruited.

Commander Lu's personal guards were also recruiting soldiers, and I sent many of our brothers in as well.

Once this young master returns after his gilded chrysanthemum session, I guarantee this entire force will only know of the Fourth Prince, not the Emperor.

"That's a good idea."

Wang Cheng nodded approvingly. Zhang Wen, this "lucky one" who gets rich by meeting benefactors, does have some clever ideas. He could be a good advisor.

After the military system reform, apart from selecting a portion of elite officers who were not completely corrupt to be incorporated into the conscription system, all soldiers who would bear the main combat force were recruited from the civilian population.

Farmers, miners, boat people, and fishermen are not restricted; it is up to the military commander to decide.

The renowned "Yu Long Qi Hu" and their Yu Family Army and Qi Family Army started piloting this approach a few years ago; it's not exactly a novel concept.

This was followed by the abolition and reorganization of a large number of military garrisons.

Wang Fugui, a centurion and battalion commander under the Baoshan Thousand Household Office, has also found a new home.

Zhenhaiwei, as one of the four former Great Guards, was preserved.

However, the fortress of Baoshan Thousand Household Garrison has been transformed into Yuegang, a world trade center, and can no longer be converted back to its original military purpose.

Given that the Five Peaks Banner and the Mountain and Sea Society had defeated the powerful gentry faction and the Japanese pirates' allied forces, the imperial court sent officials to reach an agreement with the Mountain and Sea Society representatives, led by Shen Yuting, a high-ranking official:

"The Baoshan Thousand Household Garrison continued to garrison Yuegang, while recruiting a large number of local civilians, young men, and sailors to join the army. Those who were selected were given official positions, with Lu Yunchen, who was not from a gentry background, serving as a fifth-rank Thousand Household Officer and concurrently as a Thousand General."

Wang Fugui, who simultaneously held the dual identities of a hereditary centurion and a disciple of a senior official, was in fact a deputy commander of a thousand households, serving as Lu Yunchen's deputy.

There's no need to worry that the stationed troops will harm the area.

Moreover, after defeating the four major ship captains of the gentry faction, the commoners faction completely seized control of the entire Moon Harbor.

Wang Cheng was also elected as the third chief ship captain as he had hoped.

After his sister Ah Xiao rebuilt the Octagonal Tower and the Eight Directions Ascending Wind Pavilion, she, along with Huang Yuanzhou and Han Zechang, became the new three giants of Yuegang.

Aside from their relatively low rank, their power and prestige were above those of the original eight ship captains.

Moreover, as a link between the Mountain and Sea Society and the imperial court, its position is of paramount importance.

Coupled with his hidden yet powerful dragon aura, even veteran officials would feel uneasy in his presence.

"I am now somewhat unworthy of my position, and my strength is unbalanced."

If one's martial virtue is not commensurate with one's position of power, one may easily fall from grace.

Tomorrow is the long-awaited moment for the respondent 'Lei Nai Fa Sheng,' and it's also time to take on a side job as a [Chao Feng Lang] and learn my master's [Five Emperors' Golden Coin Sword] technique.

As Wang Cheng led his men, who had just fought a fierce battle with the evil spirits, into Yuegang, they were greeted by people all along the way.

"Fourth Master! My restaurant has brewed a batch of fine wine. You must come and try it when you have time."

"Hey, I have some ideas about the old warehouses in the port. May I come in to discuss them?"

"Fourth Master, the sisters of our Yihong Courtyard are eagerly awaiting your presence. If you would like to stay overnight, each girl will be paid fifty taels."

It's not you giving it to them, it's them giving it to you, hehehe.

"Definitely next time."

Wang Cheng quickened his pace and fled in panic.

However, he did not notice that in a private room on the top floor of a nearby restaurant overlooking the harbor, a middle-aged man in an official robe with a gloomy face was coldly staring at him.

Only after his figure disappeared into the distance did he speak softly to the other person beside him:

"I have asked the Imperial Inspector Wang Bengu to plead with the Ministry of War to give our local hereditary officials a chance, with the capable rising and the incompetent falling."

When the time comes, when you come out to challenge those recruiting officers, just break this kid's limbs, as a way of giving face to his patron, Young Master Lu.

This commander does not want to see such traitors appear again.

(End of this chapter)