Chapter 437: An Opportunity to Infiltrate the Ming Army

When Old Nan Feng heard there was a special reward just for him, he was incredibly excited. He quickly followed Zhao Sheng into the cabin. Inside, he saw a strange, squarish object placed there.

It was a smartwatch!

Li Daoxuan had specifically obtained it from an online shopping site. Made in Huaqiangbei, it cost just over one hundred Yuan. It boasted a high-definition screen, unlike ordinary children’s watches that had a very grainy appearance.

Its screen was so fine that even when magnified 200 times, it remained viewable.

The watch face was about one-point-something centimeters in length and width. To the tiny people inside the diorama box, it stood almost a head taller than a person.

Old Nan Feng stood before this “giant screen,” somewhat bewildered. “What on earth is this?”

“Watch carefully. I’m only showing you once,” Zhao Sheng said as he stepped in front of the watch. He wiped his hand over the screen, and the dark screen instantly lit up.

Old Nan Feng gasped, “Wow? A fairy mirror?”

Zhao Sheng continued maneuvering by dragging his finger left and right across the screen. Soon, he found the “Play Video” button. Tapping it revealed dozens of video clips. He randomly selected one, and the video began to play.

As the images flickered to life, Old Nan Feng’s eyes instantly widened and glued themselves to the screen. “An immortal fairy is singing and dancing! Wow, that fairy is wearing so little! Her arms and legs are bare.”

Zhao Sheng covered his eyes. “I shall not look upon this. It would be improper. I shall take my leave now. You… watch it slowly.” He turned to leave.

Old Nan Feng was deeply moved. “The Deity uses this fairy mirror to show me the song and dance of an immortal fairy from the immortal realm! Hahaha… this… this is far more impressive than the performances in the decadent pleasure quarters south of the Yangtze.”

“Hey, go easy on watching it,” Zhao Sheng couldn’t help but warn with grave seriousness as he exited the cabin. “This thing can only be used for one or two shi chen (two to four hours). After that, it needs to be sent back to the Deity to replenish its spiritual power.”

“Only one or two shi chen?” Old Nan Feng wiped away the drool that had unconsciously dripped from his mouth. “Sufficient! That’s sufficient! In this one or two shi chen, I will watch all the dances of every single fairy immortal in this mirror!”

Zhao Sheng shook his head with a smile, walked out of the cabin, and closed the door. Just before it shut completely, he heard Old Nan Feng inside, attempting to sing along out of tune with the song: “Yǒu yīdiǎn àimèi, tōutōu dúcóng de kāixīn…” (There’s a little ambiguity/flirtation, secretly happy alone…)

While clandestine developments were beginning in Shanxi,

Li Daoxuan’s attention had already shifted to Hancheng, located along the Tongguan Road, part of Tongzhou Prefecture within Xi’an Prefecture of the Shaanxi Deputy Minister’s Office.

The next key target for Gaojia Village was Hancheng.

As mentioned earlier, a “road” (dao) meant a military district. Tongguan Road was a strategic chokehold connecting Xi’an and Luoyang. As a vitally important city within the Tongguan Road, Hancheng held pivotal significance.

The court maintained a substantial military garrison here.

Every time bandits attempted to encroach upon Hancheng, the court took it extremely seriously. Hong Chengchou had been sent here and twice soundly defeated Wang Zuogua, and had also inflicted heavy losses on Wang Jiayin.

However, once Hong Chengchou was promoted to Provincial Governor of Yansui, Hancheng ceased to be under his jurisdiction. It belonged to Shaanxi province. The Yansui General could not interfere here; crossing jurisdictions for military action was a grave taboo, punishable by dismissal at best, or execution at worst.

What to do now that there was no tough commander in charge? Send in another one!

At this time, 1,500 Ming soldiers were garrisoned in Hancheng. Their commander was none other than the newly returned General of Shaanxi, Wang Chengen.

Li Daoxuan’s perspective now extended to cover Hancheng. Locking the “observe” function onto the central command tent within the military camp in Hancheng allowed him to see Wang Chengen. The general was frowning, a deeply troubled expression etched on his face.

Li Daoxuan considered this meeting his second encounter with this military man. The last time he had seen him was in Chengcheng County. Back then, Wang Chengen had been leading troops intending to suppress Fan Shanyue. However, the urgent situation in the capital forced Wang Chengen to hastily withdraw his forces back to Xi’an, join up with the other four garrison commanders, and head to the capital together.

He had been away for the better part of a year. It was only after the Jurchens retreated that he was finally transferred back. Upon his return, he learned that most Shaanxi bandit gangs had crossed into Shanxi province. Only the brothers Shen Yikui and Shen Yiyuan were still causing disturbances in Northern Shaanxi.

Wang Chengen then led his forces to Hancheng and stationed himself there.

From this position, he could guard the western bank of the Yellow River, preventing the Shanxi bandit army from suddenly crossing back into Shaanxi.

This was a critically important task, and he took it very seriously.

But…

He lacked grain! He also lacked soldier’s pay!

Logistical support had virtually dried up. His soldiers not only had little food, but were also critically short of essentials like gunpowder and lead bullets for their firearms. He honestly didn’t know how much combat effectiveness his hungry and demoralized soldiers could muster if they actually had to face down a bandit horde.

The moment Li Daoxuan focused his “observe” ability on Wang Chengen, he heard the general ask a trusted aide beside him, “How many days of grain do we have left?”

The aide replied in a low voice, “Stretching it thin, and letting the men eat only half their fill… perhaps we can last five more days.”

Wang Chengen sighed heavily, “Aiii… Only five days even at half-rations? How can we fight like this? If bandits attack now, everyone will just drop their gear and run.”

The aide whispered, “General, you’re different from other commanders. You never let your troops plunder the people. That’s why our grain stores, ahh…”

Wang Chengen furrowed his brow. “Perhaps ask the magistrates of the neighboring counties? Borrow some?”

The aide lowered his voice further, “North of Hancheng is Yichuan County. That’s under Yansui jurisdiction, not Shaanxi province. They certainly won’t help us. To the south… well, you know about Heyang County… Heyang suffered terribly from bandits before we were transferred to the capital. Back then, Fan Shanyue, the Heyang bandit chief, was particularly fierce. The Heyang magistrate, Feng Jun, was constantly harassed and out of his depth. He sent several letters begging the Provincial Governor for help. Not long ago, he even submitted a memorial saying he couldn’t collect the taxes – told them they could have his life, but no tax grain. What makes you think we could borrow grain from him?”

Hearing this, Wang Chengen couldn’t help but offer a bitter laugh.

He had indeed heard about this scandal. The magistrates of Chengcheng and Heyang Counties had both submitted memorials to the Provincial Governor declaring they couldn’t pay the taxes. Their refusal had been shockingly insolent and unyielding.

Subsequently, the former Provincial Governor Wang Shunxing also joined their defiance. Even the newly appointed Provincial Governor continued the “unyielding” stance. The Emperor, left with no choice, had finally decreed to waive the taxes for those areas. This affair had become common knowledge throughout Shaanxi…

Who did he, Wang Chengen, think he was to try borrowing grain from two such unyielding, unreasonable magistrates?

Hmm?

Wait a minute…

Something didn’t add up here.

Wang Chengen suddenly spoke up, “Do you remember? The night before we marched to the capital, in Chengcheng County? We received extraordinarily warm hospitality. Magistrate Liang Shixian of Chengcheng County even sent over bowls of potato and cured meat rice. All our soldiers ate their fill and thought it delicious!”

The aide was jolted out of his gloom. “Ah! That’s right! Your subordinate ate heartily too! Looking at it that way… they clearly weren’t short on grain then!”

Wang Chengen persisted, “So why, when tax time came around, did they suddenly play the helpless beggar?”

This matter held a distinct air of strangeness.

The aide suggested, “Perhaps… perhaps this subordinate should go to Chengcheng County and look into it? Maybe we can borrow some grain from there to alleviate this urgent crisis?”

An interesting development approaches! Li Daoxuan mused internally. This might just be a prime opportunity for me to infiltrate the Ming army.