Ming East India Company

"Military merits?" This confused Bai Ling. Could it be that getting a few dozen heads counts as military merits? Are military merits in the Ming Dynasty so easy to obtain?

However, she knew she couldn't express these emotions, so she still feigned composure and probed further:

How many military merits do you want?

"I don't ask for much. I just need to be able to work as a military supervisor for the Ryukyuans, and I'll get a share of every military achievement."

"You seem quite confident in Ryukyu! Is military merit really that easy to obtain?"

Luo Sigong quickly whispered:

"Your Highness, there is no need to worry. Ryukyu is overseas, and the ministers and officials in the court have no say in it. Whether Your Highness kills innocent people to claim credit or cheats and swindles, as long as you can get the heads of the Japanese pirates, I, Luo Sigong, will handle all the subsequent procedures."

Bai Ling finally understood what the other party wanted, but still wanted to raise the price a bit:

"The problem is, how many heads should we take? Last time, those dozens of heads cost me a lot of manpower!"

"Your Highness, rest assured." Seeing this, Luo Sigong no longer concealed anything.

"Our Ming Dynasty has never demanded much in terms of the heads of soldiers. The dozens of heads that Ryukyu sent last time already pleased His Majesty greatly. As long as we maintain this level of effort, we will surely receive more military merits."

Immediately, Luo Sigong quickly revealed that Shi Xing and Zu Chengxun had attempted to embezzle dozens of Ryukyu heads in the imperial court.

"How many?" Bai Ling was already greatly shocked. The mighty Ming Dynasty only needed such a small number of heads to claim credit, and the Minister of War and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong were even fighting over them?

What kind of amazing generals are these in the Ming Dynasty?! They don't even catch this many thieves every year in their own country!

Realizing the huge "business opportunity," Bai Ling composed herself and quickly presented her terms:

"In that case, please, Your Excellency, put in a good word for me before the Emperor and suggest that Yuegang be closed, but that Ryukyu be allowed to freely purchase silk from the Ming Dynasty."

"Should we close Moonport?"

"That's right. Yuegang is the only port in our Great Ming Dynasty that can access the sea, but as far as I know, nine out of ten pieces of raw silk exported from Yuegang every year end up in Japan. Now that the Great Ming Dynasty is at war with Japan, it's not unreasonable to close it off temporarily!"

Luo Sigong was also a smart man, and he quickly realized Bai Ling's thoughts:

"The Princess Consort wants our Great Ming to close Yuegang, but allows you to continue trading silk. Then you and Ryukyu can become the sole power, monopolizing the Silk Road connecting our Great Ming to the East. What a clever scheme!"

"No one gets up early for nothing. In any case, it will be the merchants in Fujian who suffer losses. My father-in-law gets the military merit, and I, the Ryukyu people, get the money. It's a win-win situation."

"It's a pleasure working with you." Luo Sigong finally showed the first genuine smile of the night.

Afterwards, Luo Sigong immediately informed Bai Ling of the points to note and the plans for attending court the next day.

Just as Luo Sigong was about to leave, Bai Ling suddenly seemed to have thought of something:

"There's another matter I'd like to ask you, sir. How can you guarantee that you'll be assigned to supervise the army? I think this supervisory position will probably have to be appointed by His Majesty!"

Luo Sigong smiled and said:

"There's no need for Your Highness to trouble yourself with that; I have my own arrangements."

Luo Sigong was overjoyed and extremely excited as he left the meeting hall. He had finally won the gamble that would determine his life tonight.

More than half a month ago, Luo Sigong successfully "turned" Feng Titing into a defection through long-term planning. He used Feng's intelligence to help his superiors Zhang Cheng and Tian Yi lose face with Emperor Wanli and successfully bring down Minister of War Shi Xing.

But in the end, all he got was a "good job" from his boss.

Luo Sigong realized that he had reached the end of his road on the Eastern Depot.

Unlike Zhang Cheng and Tian Yi, who entered the palace as young men to serve Wanli, Luo Sigong entered the palace after he came of age, and therefore actually had family and children before entering the palace.

This also means that he was not trusted by the emperor from the start, and that he has already demonstrated his outstanding abilities to have reached his current position.

After much thought, I came up with the idea of ​​riding on the coattails of the Ryukyu people to gain military merit.

Ryukyu is far overseas, so no one, whether a civil official or a eunuch, would compete with him. Moreover, the Ryukyuans do not understand the Ming Dynasty's system, so he has a great opportunity to use his talents there.

At that time, he could rely on military merits to gain advancement and climb higher among the eunuchs. He could also amass some rewards from the imperial court, and in overseas island nations, there would likely be no officials to impeach him.

Even if one dies overseas, one can still gain a good reputation; perhaps the emperor will remember that he "died for the country" and grant him favors to his descendants.

That's why, ever since the Ryukyu delegation set off, he had been observing them carefully and finally found Bai Ling as a breakthrough point.

Meanwhile, Bai Ling, who had returned to her bedroom, breathed a sigh of relief. With Luo Sigong's guidance, she was more confident about her meeting with Wanli the next day.

The next morning, Bai Ling and Zheng Jiong arrived at the Ministry of War under the "protection" of the Eastern Depot.

Officials from the Ministry of War came to verify the authenticity of the heads provided by Ryukyu.

Because they had been tricked by the eunuchs of the Eastern Depot before, the officials of the Ministry of War hated Bai Ling and her group with a vengeance.

They wished they could use a magnifying glass to find fault with these heads.

Bai Ling personally smashed the wine jar open in front of everyone, revealing the head of the Japanese pirate inside.

Seeing the murderous glares of the Ministry of War officials, Zheng Jiong was trembling with fear, but Bai Ling was very confident. After all, she had carefully selected these heads before setting off, making sure they were 100% standard Japanese heads before bringing them over.

The officials from the Ministry of War present began the three-stage inspection:

Examine the forehead; based on the marks left by the hair ornaments, Han Chinese will have clear grid-like marks on their foreheads, while Japanese pirates will have no hair at the fontanelle.

The Ministry of War officials would consider both of these factors simultaneously: the latter determined whether the head was reliable, and the former determined whether there was any "killing innocent people to claim credit."

The Ministry of War official present examined the head carefully for a long time but could not find any "net-like marks" on the bald head. He had no choice but to admit that the head was "all genuine barbarians".

The second test was to determine the gender. The Ministry of War official brought a vat of cold water, threw the severed heads into it, and the male corpses floated on top while the female corpses floated on their backs.

In no time, all the heads Bai Ling presented were found to be dead, and the officials in charge of the Ministry of War had no choice but to accept their fate.

Undeterred, the officials in charge of the Ministry of War then tried to examine the wound, searching for bloodstains and the condition of the flesh on the head, but ultimately they could not find any evidence of a forged wound after death.

The third inspection was of the prisoners' weapons. This was also the easiest part of the head-on inspection to "grasp and control".

According to the inspection standards set by the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty, it was not enough to report the heads of the captured soldiers; the captured armor, flags, prisoners, and other items had to be considered in a comprehensive assessment.

The presiding official from the Ministry of War approached Zheng Jiong in a sarcastic tone:

"Since your envoy claims that all these heads were obtained on the battlefield, then please produce the relevant prisoners and spoils!"