nucmednet Chapter 101 Recruiting Sun Yuanhua
Chapter 101 Recruiting Sun Yuanhua
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If the cannon-casting technology amazed Sun Yuanhua, then the shooting of the arquebus filled him with utter admiration. He completely forgot the purpose of his trip to find Liu Ye, and excitedly grabbed Liu Ye's wrist, saying, "Such a powerful weapon, if presented to the court and forged into tens of thousands of troops, what fear would we have of the Tartars' cavalry and archery!"
Liu Ye calmly withdrew his hand and said, "Lord Sun, you're overthinking it. Whether it's cannons or muskets, besides yourself, who in the court truly cares? Where will the silver for casting cannons and making muskets come from? And who can guarantee that these cannons and muskets won't be made with shoddy materials and corners?"
These three sharp questions were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing Sun Yuanhua's passion. He thought for a moment, but couldn't answer any of them with a straight face. Indeed, apart from him and Xu Guangqi, other officials in the court did not value or understand the importance of firearms; the court collected millions of taels of silver in taxes every year for the Liaodong campaign, which were spent on the Guan-Ning front, leaving no extra money to purchase cannons and muskets; even if silver was allocated to manufacture firearms, the officials in charge of the production would embezzle funds, from high-ranking officials to low-ranking clerks in the Ministry of War, with everyone taking a cut, leaving at most 30% of the silver actually used for manufacturing. With insufficient funds, the consequence was naturally shoddy workmanship, resulting in unusable firearms.
Sun Yuanhua tried to defend himself: "His Majesty is working hard to govern the country. Perhaps the officials, inspired by His Majesty, will change their bad habits and work together to manufacture firearms to fight against the Liaodong Tartars..." However, he lacked confidence in his words.
"Hehe, Lord Sun, I'm afraid you yourself don't believe this, do you? You travel thousands of miles to become an official only for money. If you want to prevent officials at all levels from embezzling this silver, the sun will rise in the west!" Liu Ye said with a smile.
Sun Yuanhua was speechless. Even he himself, in order to conform to this unspoken rule of officialdom, had to go along with the crowd and set aside 10% of the money for purchasing military horses to bribe officials at all levels of the court. He was even ridiculed by Li Jiucheng and left speechless.
"Lord Sun, you might as well think about this carefully. Even if you manage to survive your return to the capital, can you guarantee that you will be reinstated? If you are a nobody, who will care whether the cannons you recommend are effective or not, and will the Ministry of Revenue be able to allocate the funds?"
Sun Yuanhua raised his head, his face filled with sorrow: "Knowing it is impossible, I still do it. I only ask to be worthy of the Emperor's grace and the common people. It is better than living a life of mediocrity and doing nothing."
Liu Ye patiently persuaded him: "To do something knowing it's impossible is the act of a reckless fool. Lord Sun, instead of going back to your death, why not keep this useful body and find another way to contribute to the common people of this world?"
"Try another approach?" Sun Yuanhua was momentarily at a loss.
Liu Ye's words sounded reasonable. Looking at Liu Ye, a phrase popped into Sun Yuanhua's mind: "A capable minister in times of peace, a ruthless hero in times of chaos!"
Such a person could amass a fortune in business or lead an elite army; if placed in the right position, he would be a pillar of the Ming Dynasty. However, if left unchecked, he could become even more troublesome than the likes of Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader, and given time, might even become another Huang Taiji—after all, Nurhaci started his dynasty with only thirteen suits of iron armor.
Sun Yuanhua made up his mind to stay in Qiongzhou Prefecture, to watch over Liu Ye, and to guide him onto the right path, so that he would become a pillar of the court, not an adversary. The Ming Dynasty already had two major hostile forces, the Tartars and the bandits, which tied up most of its financial and military resources, and could no longer afford to have such a formidable enemy.
He composed himself and said, "Fine, just tell me straight. What is your purpose in going to such lengths to lure me to Qiongzhou?"
Liu Ye said, "I've already said it, it's better to stay and be of use than to go to the capital to die. Does Lord Sun think my humble abode can accommodate someone as great as you?"
After taking a deep breath, Sun Yuanhua nodded: "As long as you don't become an enemy of the imperial court, I am just a criminal awaiting punishment. If you don't mind, you can stay in Qiongzhou Prefecture."
"All done!" Liu Ye was overjoyed. This was a high-ranking local official, a governor! He smiled and introduced Sun Yuanhua and his subordinates: "It's truly an honor that Lord Sun is willing to condescend to stay! Come, let me introduce you..."
Everyone stepped forward to greet Sun Yuanhua. Having heard Liu Ye's introduction, they all knew that this Lord Sun had once served as the Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, and they all became extremely vigilant. Who was a Governor? A high-ranking official of the imperial court, and now he was under the Lord's command! Everyone was extremely excited and felt a great sense of honor.
Sun Yuanhua greeted everyone one by one. Although he had been dismissed from his post, "environment shapes character, and upbringing shapes physique," and the aura of a high-ranking official remained. He simply bowed slightly, yet everyone was filled with awe and fear. After listening to Liu Ye's introductions, he remained outwardly calm but inwardly quite surprised. Liu Ye had indeed gathered quite a few people, including clerks from the Nanjing Ministry of War.
After inspecting the new city, and without stopping to show Sun Yuanhua the arsenal and live-fire exercises with guns and cannons, and successfully persuading him to stay in Qiongzhou, Liu Ye finally showed signs of fatigue. Seeing this, Yan Guang said, "My lord has been dealing with the rebels for many days and has had a long journey. Why don't you go back to your residence to rest? We can take care of Lord Sun."
Liu Ye nodded. Among his subordinates, only Yan Guang and Sun Yuanhua, who came from the Ministry of War in Nanjing, could have some common ground. Although their ranks differed greatly, they were both scholars after all.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Yan."
He said to Sun Yuanhua, "Please bear with me for a few days, Lord Sun, and I will find you a suitable house."
Sun Yuanhua waved his hand: "From now on, don't call me 'Sir.' As I've said, I've been dismissed from my post and am no longer the governor. If you wish, just call me Mr. Sun. You don't need to specifically search for a residence; any place to stay will do. The key is to live next to this young man." He pointed to Liang Xiaoming. Today, he had broadened his horizons and had many new ideas that he wanted to share with Liang Xiaoming.
Liang Xiaoming nodded, "Being neighbors with Lord Sun and exchanging ideas on a daily basis is a great pleasure in life." As a pure technician, he had no desire for power and only liked technical things, but he had no kindred spirits in this era. This Sun Yuanhua was a rare technical official among the ancients. Discussing his experience in casting cannons with him was much better than talking to a brick wall like Liu Ye.
Liu Ye clapped his hands. "It's decided then! We'll arrange for the Portuguese to stay close to you, Mingzi?"
Liu Ye made an OK sign with his hand.
Sun Yuanhua pulled an old man out from among the Portuguese and said, "I have another request. I would like to ask that my old friend Wang Zheng also live with me so that we can take care of each other."
Liu Ye asked curiously, "When you left that day, besides you and the barbarian, I don't remember anyone else?"
"Hehe, I was fooled by you back then. I didn't know we were going to take such a big risk to leave the city. I thought we were just going back to the capital. When I changed into the clothes of those shop assistants, I changed Wang Zheng into them too. He was walking with Wu Duowang and the others at the time, you just didn't notice." Sun Yuanhua laughed. "If I had known that we would be in mortal danger when leaving the city, I wouldn't have brought him with me. If he had stayed at the governor's office, he might have been able to save his life. Now, by some twist of fate, he has come to Qiongzhou Prefecture with me."
I see. Liu Ye didn't know Wang Zheng well and only thought of him as an ordinary staff member. He nodded and said, "Very good, the two of them living together will keep each other company."
Seeing that he didn't care about Wang Zheng at all, Sun Yuanhua explained: "Don't underestimate Liangfu. He was baptized like me. Before serving as my staff, he was the military supervisor of Liaohai. His experience in politics and officialdom is no less than mine. Moreover, his knowledge of Western weapons and academic studies is far superior to mine."
To his delight, it turned out to be an even more senior technical official; this was another unexpected gain. He earnestly said to Wang Zheng, "Since you are so talented, how can you be wronged? How about building another residence right next to Lord Sun?"
Wang Zheng was very interested in what he saw and heard after disembarking and was eager to learn more about it. He didn't care much about food, clothing, or lodging. He smiled and pointed at Liang Xiaoming, saying, "No need to trouble yourself. Just stay with Chuyang. You can also exchange ideas with this young man when you have nothing to do."
Seeing that he said that, Liu Ye stopped insisting.