nucmednet Chapter 428 No comparison, no harm
Chapter 428 No comparison, no harm
Carrying the heavy responsibility of exchanging arms for warhorses, Lu Gengyu and Ma Wei, along with their entourage, arrived in Dengzhou aboard a cargo ship laden with firearms and artillery.
Dengzhou was no longer the rebel stronghold it once was, a place shrouded in darkness where the lives of its people were constantly in danger. It was gradually regaining its former vitality. Lin Tianming, aside from anything else, was certainly capable. In just a few months, he had brought order to the devastated city of Dengzhou, and it was beginning to regain its former glory as a major northern city.
The Guan Ning Army was even more eager than the Qionghai Army, arriving two days prior. Upon learning of Liu Ye's arrival, Lin Tianming showed them great respect, personally receiving them at the governor's office and simultaneously sending someone to summon the Guan Ning Army. Before their arrival, he warmly entertained Lu Gengyu and his entourage.
Lu Gengyu was a proper county magistrate, so handling such situations was no problem for him. Although he was stubborn and upright, it didn't mean he was clueless about social interactions; he could manage the formalities of officialdom. Ma Wei and the other attendants were either not good at dealing with high-ranking officials or were of low status, so the responsibility of socializing fell to Lu Gengyu.
Lin Tianming enthusiastically told them, "I know about your general's deal with the Guan Ning Army. According to the rules, warhorses cannot be bought and sold privately. Unless the Guan Ning Army uses them for their own purposes, once they reach Shandong territory, these horses are under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Stud."
Having served as a county magistrate in a remote area for several years, Lu Gengyu knew nothing about the imperial horse administration. He was somewhat surprised upon hearing this: "May I ask, Governor, are all horses within Shandong Province under the jurisdiction of the Court of Imperial Stud? Could we exchange them for horses in another location?"
Lin Tianming laughed, “Where can you go? Besides Shandong, the horse administration in the capital region, Beizhili, Henan, Liaodong, Pingliang, Gansu, and other places is also managed by the Taipusi (Imperial Stud). The horses they raise and purchase are supplied to the Beijing garrison, and the rest are allocated by the Ministry of War. Your method of buying Mongolian warhorses through Liaodong and then transporting them to Shandong, bypassing the Taipusi, is ostensibly against the rules. However, the horse administration is now lax, and many rules are no longer followed. The Taipusi is just a figurehead; no one in the Ming Dynasty raises warhorses anymore. As long as you don't make a big fuss about this deal, even if people find out, they'll just turn a blind eye. No one will go to the trouble of complaining to the Ministry of War or impeaching you to the Emperor. Just go ahead and do it with peace of mind…”
Lu Gengyu breathed a sigh of relief: "I see."
"In fact, not only the horse administration, but also firearms such as muskets and cannons are under the unified management of the Ministry of War. If the Guan Ning Army wants to acquire firearms, according to the rules, it can only apply to the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War will then report to the Cabinet and the Emperor in turn before ordering people to manufacture them and then distributing them to the Guan Ning Army. There is absolutely no reason for a military town to manufacture firearms privately and then sell them to another military town."
Lu Gengyu seemed to understand something now. He drew inferences from one instance to another and tentatively asked, "As long as no one goes to the Ministry of War to complain, we can make the deal quietly."
Lin Tianming stroked his beard and laughed, "Rules are rigid, but people are flexible!"
Just then, the Guan Ning Army arrived—it turned out to be Wu Xiang and his son Wu Sangui. The two entered expectantly, only to find Liu Ye absent. They didn't recognize the two men who arrived; they were likely just random subordinates sent by Liu Ye. Wu Xiang remained composed, his face beaming with a smile, revealing neither joy nor anger. Wu Sangui, being young, immediately turned pale.
Wu Sangui rose from a guerrilla to a lieutenant general at a young age, and with the backing of the Guan Ning Army, his meteoric rise was inevitable. He was very arrogant and only paid attention to Liu Ye, who was about the same age as him and capable of leading independently. He didn't take anyone else seriously, let alone a few unknown people.
He glanced sideways at Lu Gengyu and the others, and asked slowly, "You are all under Commander Liu's command. Didn't he come himself? Our Guan Ning Army has shown great sincerity. My father and I personally escorted the warhorses all the way to Shandong, and Commander Liu didn't even show his face. Isn't that a bit too presumptuous?"
Lu Gengyu sensed the other party's dissatisfaction and wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to respond in a way that was neither humble nor arrogant. After all, he hadn't been in this system for long and didn't understand many things, so he was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting a bit tense, Lin Tianming tried to smooth things over: "Qionghai Town is newly established and there are many things to do. It's understandable that General Liu might be too busy..."
Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui were taken aback upon hearing this. Qionghai Town, General? Communication was not well-developed in this era. The imperial edict had reached Lingao, but the news about the opening of Qiongzhou Town had not yet been transmitted to Liaodong through the official gazette. In addition, the Guan Ning Army did not care much about anything outside of Liaodong. Wu Xiang and his son had been on the road transporting warhorses for the past two months, so they were unaware of all this until now.
Seeing the expressions on the father and son's faces, Lin Tianming realized that the two of them didn't know. He explained, "The Qiongzhou Camp has made great contributions in eliminating the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang and the Red Hairs in Fujian a few months ago. Liu Ye has been appointed by the court as the Commander-in-Chief of Pingnan, with the seal of the Dragon and Tiger General, and the title of Right Vice-General. He has established a town in Qiongzhou, named Qionghai Town."
Wu Sangui paused, a bitter feeling rising in his heart. Without comparison, there's no hurt; the other man wasn't much older than him, yet his promotion speed was like he'd been injected with steroids. He himself had risen to the rank of lieutenant general in his early twenties, considered a promising young man, but compared to Liu Ye, he was nothing. During the suppression of the rebellion in Shandong, he was a guerrilla commander, while Liu Ye was a lieutenant general. After finally catching up, good heavens, suddenly a general appeared, and one who was on par with his uncle, Zu Dashou—not some ragtag general.
Wu Xiang's eyes lit up, and his smile widened. He said with a grin, "General Liu is young and promising. If he can't spare the time to come in person, sending his subordinates is just as good! Anyway, the terms have all been agreed upon. It's just a matter of exchanging money for goods." In this day and age, having more friends means having more opportunities. Liu Ye is skilled at manufacturing guns and cannons and rises in rank quickly. He's worth the effort to befriend. A little bit of face-saving is just a passing cloud.
Seeing that the Guan Ning Army had no objections, Lin Tianming said, "Both sides are old acquaintances who fought alongside me to quell the rebellion. I may not be able to help with other matters, but I can provide you with a venue for the exchange and, afterwards, I will do my best to entertain you as a host. You go ahead with your work, and I will host a banquet for you all once you are done."
Wu Xiang and Lu Gengyu both expressed their gratitude, saying, "How could we possibly trouble the Governor?"
"Of course, of course," Lin Tianming said politely before leaving under the pretext of handling official business.
Without further ado, the two sides went directly to the place where the horse was kept to conduct the transaction.
The stables for the horses were located in the south of Dengzhou City. This place was originally where the Dengzhou garrison raised warhorses, and it was also the garrison of Kong Youde, the cavalry commander. Now that Dengzhou is in the process of rebuilding, the stables have been vacated and allocated by Lin Tianming to the Guan Ning Army for temporary use.