Chapter 440: Formally Entered the System
Chapter 435 of "The Great Ming in the Box" opens presenting key developments: Wang Jiayin was a bit dumbfounded hearing this: āA salt smuggler has ships, cannons, firearms,... Read on!
Wang Jiayin was a bit dumbfounded hearing this: āA salt smuggler has ships, cannons, firearms, and built a large stockade? That audacious?āBu Zhan Ni: āUtterly outrageous! Who knows where she gets her nerve? Playing this big, isnāt she afraid the government will wipe her out? She even attacked my men.ā
Wang Jiayin considered this seriously for a few seconds: āBrother Bu Zhan Ni, donāt rush into this matter. Allow me to think it over carefully. Iāll give you a reply soon.ā
Bu Zhan Ni cupped his hands and left.
Wang Jiayin thought to himself: I donāt give a damn about Bu Zhan Niās men dying. Helping him seek revenge would just waste manpower. Itās not uncommon for their underlings to fight amongst themselves anyway. I have no need to wade into this muddy water. Now, this salt smuggler named Xing Honglang is quite interesting: building a stockade, having cannons, firearms, and ships. Seems rather capable.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Salt smugglers oppose the court too; thereās a good chance she could be recruited as one of ours.
If I could recruit such a capable person into my ranks, it would be far more useful than relying on wild cards like Bu Zhan Ni.
Having thought this far, he had already made up his mind. He quickly sent a trusted confidant, ordering him south along the east bank of the Yellow River to the ancient ferry dock, to recruit Xing Honglang into his rebel army.
Hancheng. Li Daoxuan was holding a bowl of Liangpi. His vision was following the Gaojia Village grain transport team. Along with this batch of grain came Shi Jian and White Cat.
Shi Jian was grinning cheekily at White Cat: āWang Xiaohua!ā
White Cat angrily retorted: āDonāt call me that! You know perfectly well my bandit name is White Cat. Call me White Cat!ā
Shi Jian: āThat wonāt do. Weāre about to enter Hancheng city. If anyone hears you using your bandit name, it could cause trouble.ā
White Cat: āā¦ā
He was utterly helpless. Shi Jian called out again: āWang Xiaohua!ā
White Cat: āCanāt you just not call me unless itās necessary?ā
Shi Jian laughed until he doubled over: āNo can do, Wang Xiaohua! Hahahaha, I just canāt help myself, want to call out your name.ā
Veins visibly pulsed and bulged on White Catās forehead.
Just then, a group of people emerged from the Hancheng city gate tunnel. Leading them was Shaanxiās Commanding General, Wang Chengen.
Shi Jian and White Cat instantly stopped fooling around. Both their faces became dead serious.
Wang Chengen strode over quickly. He glanced at the grain carts, overjoyed: āMany thanks to Chengcheng County for once again aiding this General. This favor is one Wang Chengen will never forget.ā
His confidant pointed out Shi Jian and White Cat. Wang Chengen immediately understood: these two were precisely the people the Chengcheng County Magistrate wanted to sneak into his army to mix in and gain military merits.
Such things were unavoidable for anyone working within the system. Colleagues would always want to arrange their sons or nephews into your department to loaf around. Although Wang Chengen was considered a decent general, even he couldnāt escape this kind of convention. He nodded: āStarting now, you two will work under me. I donāt have any particularly lofty posts to offer you both for now. How about you serve as Captains for the time being?ā
So-called Captains were military officers managing around a hundred men, the same as commanding a company.
His army wasnāt short of Captains. All soldiers were already accounted for under their existing Captainsā commands. Meaning, he was giving them āempty titles.ā Nominally in charge of a hundred soldiers, but without a single soldier actually under them.
Mixing in for military merit? Holding an empty title wasnāt strange at all.
Shi Jian and White Cat were mentally prepared and didnāt mind. They cupped their hands: āMany thanks, General! Weāll work hard.ā
After this greeting, they were now formally entered the system.
They collected their identification tags and were assigned a tent. Happily, they headed towards their tent.
They hadnāt walked far when someone blocked their path. A rugged man who looked tough, radiating killer intent ā he must have killed countless fierce bandits with his blade. He spoke very rudely straight away: āIām surnamed Ma. The brothers here all call me Captain Ma. Letās make this clear: I earned my captainship blade by blade, sword by sword. Iām not like you two, sneaking in through connections and back doors. I despise slackers like you. From now on, donāt swagger around in front of me to piss me off, got it?ā
Hearing him speak like this, Shi Jian and White Cat both smiled.
Alright, this kind of situation had also been foreseen by the Deity. Moreover, the Deity had long prepared a method to deal with such people.
They hadnāt come to General Wang Chengenās army to pick fights, but to infiltrateā¦ and infiltration, naturally, meant winning hearts and minds first.
And winning hearts and mindsā¦ well, it naturally meantā¦
Throwing money at them was key!
Shi Jian walked towards Captain Ma with a smile: āBrother Ma, your formidable fighting skills, I admire them as soon as I see them! Ah, how dare I swagger before you? I respect you immensely! Look, hereās a little welcoming gift I prepared. Please donāt think itās too little. Take it first. Later, Iāll send you some local specialties from my hometown.ā
While saying this, he stuffed a large silver ingot into Ma Captainās hand.
Captain Ma froze. Before he could react, he found a large silver ingot, at least five taels heavy, clutched in his palm. Dammitā¦
Wang Chengenās officers hadnāt received military provisions or pay for a long time. They were literally so poor they couldnāt lift the pot lid. Suddenly, someone shoves five taels of silver at you. You tell me, donāt you feel like calling him Dad?
Captain Maās expression instantly changed. From vicious and menacing one moment, he became amiable and warm the next: āHuh? Hey, hey, hey? Brothers, a moment ago, Iā¦ that wasā¦ā
He was a bit awkwardly embarrassed: āWhat I said before didnāt sound good. Forget it! I was talking nonsense like a child. Please, brothers, donāt take it to heart. From now on, whatever you need, find Old Ma!ā
Right then, White Cat also approached another nearby captain. He flipped his hand and stuffed an equally hefty silver ingot into the manās grasp: āBrother, weāre new here. Tonight, letās host a banquet, invite everyone to eat, deal? Everyone present gets treated! All comers included!ā
Someone next to them said: āWeāre in the military camp. Canāt drink liquor.ā
White Cat: āNo problem, no problem! Weāll have tea instead of alcohol! Eat more meat!ā
Meat!
The word instantly made the eyes of all the starving soldiers nearby shine bright.
Shi Jian and White Cat made sweeping bows to the people around them: āBrothers, rest assured! With us two here, you wonāt go hungry belly from now on. Tonight, the two of us foot the bill. Weāll go to the best restaurant in Hancheng and eat like kings!ā
āThe restaurants donāt have any grain to open up shop either!ā
āThatās fine. Weāll bring our own grain. Pay the chef wages, just get him to cook it into dishes. Easy, right?ā
āGood!ā
āGreat!ā
The bunch of grunts were overjoyed. These two new āconnection-haversā were damn good at handling people! Such connection-havers, the more the better!
Shi Jian and White Cat exchanged a glance and thought: Success! With the Deity backing us up, turning these people into our own folks was effortless. Just throw resources at them hard, and itās done.