Ming East India Company

Zhang Yanyu sat sideways on the recliner, while Bai Wenzheng recounted the recent situation word by word.

Upon hearing that the Bai family was about to be defeated, Zhang Yanyu first raised an eyebrow, his face showing a hint of seriousness and concern. When Bai Wenzheng revealed his plan to launch an expedition to Ryukyu, Zhang Yanyu was filled with disbelief. By the time Bai Wenzheng explained the matter of borrowing troops, Zhang Yanyu's face had turned deathly pale, and he could no longer breathe.

"Brother, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that your plan is incredibly audacious. If it fails, I'm afraid both our families will be executed!"

Bai Wenzheng grabbed Zhang Yanyu's hand and said:

"Don't worry, what happened today is known only to heaven, earth, you, and me. If things go wrong, I will absolutely not implicate you, my brother."

Zhang Yanyu shook his head again:

"It's not a matter of whether you tell or not. Using government troops for private purposes is already a serious crime, let alone privately dispatching troops to conquer a 'country that cannot be conquered'? Besides, without guerrilla permits, I can't mobilize troops at all. Even if I wanted to help you, there's nothing I could do!"

Bai Wenzheng was speechless for a moment. Although he had been in the business world for many years, he didn't really know much about the military officers of the Ming Dynasty and didn't know how to respond to this.

Bai Ye, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly raised his head and knelt down to move in front of Huang Yanyu:

"Uncle, as far as I know, the actual number of soldiers in the various garrisons in the southeast has decreased by six or seven out of ten. Now, you probably only have about a hundred or so household servants under your command who are capable of fighting!"

Huang Yanyu was taken aback. He hadn't expected Bai Ye to be so knowledgeable about military affairs, but he still nodded subconsciously.

"That makes things easier. We'll only borrow the old, weak, sick, and disabled who aren't part of the household guards. If they ask us, we'll say they've deserted. As long as the number of household guards doesn't decrease, the army's fighting strength will remain. If someone comes to investigate, we can just temporarily hire a couple of peasants to fill in."

Huang Yanyu's brows relaxed slightly, but he still seemed somewhat hesitant.

"What if we get questioned about this from above..."

"Just say we're sending troops to suppress the Japanese pirates. Ryukyu is so close to Japan, and they've had long-standing ties with Japan. What's wrong with us sending troops to fight the Japanese?"

Bai Ye's words hit the nail on the head, finally putting Huang Yanyu's mind at ease.

"If that's the case, then I'll lend you a hand, Uncle..." Zhang Yanyu muttered, still somewhat reluctant.

Bai Wenzheng realized there was a way:

"Tomorrow I will have someone send 40,000 taels of silver over, to help you out, my brother."

"How can this be allowed?" Zhang Yanyu quickly waved his hand.

"Well, since I've come here to ask for help, how can I not offer something in return? Just accept it!"

Although out of sight, Bai Ye could still feel Bai Ling's almost murderous gaze.

Before Zhang Yanyu could say anything more, Bai Ye immediately changed the subject:

"How many troops can my uncle currently muster?"

"The entire Haicheng Thousand-Household Garrison has a full strength of only about a thousand men. Subtracting the hundred or so household servants, there are only three or four hundred men that can be mobilized. And the number that can go to sea with you is probably even less..."

As for the garrison in Haicheng Camp, their numbers are not much larger than those of the garrison, and they also have several other commanders, making it difficult for me to bypass them and directly deploy troops…”

Zhang Yanyu's jurisdiction included the soldiers of Haicheng Camp and Haicheng Thousand-Household Garrison. According to the principle of the Ming Dynasty's system of balancing large and small troops, in reality, only the garrison of Haicheng Thousand-Household Garrison could be mobilized on a daily basis.

"Give each person who sends troops four taels of silver upfront; that should be enough to buy some people out."

"I estimate we can pull out one or two hundred people."

"That's enough. Are there any of these people who can ride horses?" Shiro asked.

"Those who can ride are there, but those who are good at archery are not."

"Anything that can be ridden around on horseback is fine."

"That's enough."

……

Subsequently, Bai Ye discussed the matter of borrowing weapons with his uncle-in-law. Zhang Yanyu agreed to give the Bai family more than twenty suits of armor, two signal cannons, and a hundred or so rusty old helmets.

"But, Wild Boy, even if you manage to borrow men, how can they fight? These soldiers are all old, weak, sick, and disabled, completely incapable of fighting. I usually only use them to save face and bolster my morale. What use are they to you?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan," Bai Ye said confidently.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Bai Wen was overjoyed and quickly asked Bai Ling to take out the yellow wine from the carriage. He and Zhang Yanyu drank to their hearts' content on the spot.

Fearing that Zhang Yanyu might change his mind, Bai Ye and Bai Wenzheng led men to the Haicheng Thousand Household Garrison's camp that very night to retrieve the weapons.

"These two flare guns were borrowed from the Wuyu Water Fortress by the Thousand Households, and they weigh over 120 jin (60 kg). It was exhausting."

Bai Wenzheng directed several servants to unload the two cannons from the carriage and drag them into the cellar behind the ancestral hall. He returned panting heavily.

Bai Ling had already prepared the meal at home, but her lips were puffed out, and she looked sullen.

While serving the dishes, she scolded playfully:

"Uncle Ming already agreed, so why do you still want to take out tens of thousands of taels of silver, Father? Do you really think this silver is like chives growing in the ground? It can fill a puddle overnight..."

Bai Wenzheng, however, did not take it to heart:

"Look at you, being so petty again. If we don't use money to tie your uncle to our side, he can jump ship and back out at any time. After all, helping you in this kind of situation is a favor, not an obligation."

Now that money is involved, a basic foundation for cooperation has been established.

Shirano added:

"And the reason we have to retrieve the armor and cannon tonight is to create a fait accompli, so that my uncle will have no way to back out."

Bai Ling was still unconvinced after hearing this:

"You two are happy, but where are you going to find so much spare money? The total amount of silver that the family can take out is only thirty or forty thousand, and the rest is all tied up in raw silk."

"Next, we need money for going to sea, money for preparing food, and money for paying resettlement allowances to the servants and garrison soldiers. So tell me, where will the money come from next?"

As expected, you don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. Now, Bai Ye and Bai Wenzheng stared at each other, at a loss for what to do.

Bai Wenzheng thought for a while, and finally said helplessly:

"Since things have come to this, we have no choice but to borrow money. Lingwa, tomorrow you go door to door and borrow a boat loan. No matter how high the interest rate is, agree to it."

While grumbling, Bai Ling directed the servants to slaughter livestock overnight. It was the custom of the Yuegang merchants that when asking for a loan, regardless of whether it was possible, they had to bring some "goods" to the door to show their sincerity.

……

The next morning, Bai Wenzheng sent someone to deliver 40,000 taels of silver to Zhang Yanyu's residence. Zhang Yanyu accepted half of it and returned the other half.

However, Bai Ling calculated that it was still not enough, so she first sent Bai Ye with five thousand taels to the garrison to recruit people.

Bai Ling herself led her servants to various chambers of commerce in Yuegang to borrow money.