Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 364 First Encounter with the Imperial Army

After a brief stop on Changdao Island, Liu Ye led the army to Laizhou, anchoring in a natural harbor on the Laizhou coast. They soon discovered a village after landing.

Compared to the ruins throughout Dengzhou Prefecture, Laizhou Prefecture was in relatively better condition. Moreover, this village, located in the northwest corner of Laizhou City, was fortunately spared from the rebel attack due to the city's fortifications. Inquiring with the local villagers, I learned that the village was called Zhuwang Village, and the place where the "Yuanhang" (a type of warship) docked was also a natural fishing harbor called Zhuwang Port. It was only sixteen li (approximately 30 kilometers) from Laizhou City, a one-hour walk.

After a rapid march, the Qiongzhou camp quickly arrived outside Laizhou city. From a distance, although it wasn't as tall and majestic as the walls of Dengzhou, it wasn't far behind. Banners fluttered atop the city walls, and spears stood like a forest, indicating a heavily fortified defense. After all, it was a city close to the front lines, and Laizhou's defenses were clearly very robust.

In Liu Ye's memory, in the original history, Laizhou was besieged by rebels for more than half a year, and the battle was extremely fierce. The successive Shandong governor Xu Congzhi, Dengzhou-Laizhou governor Xie Lian, and Laizhou prefect Zhu Wannian all died in this siege. Although the history of this timeline was deviated due to his involvement, the major event of Laizhou's long siege remained unchanged. The mottled marks and sunken pits on the outside of the city wall show that a very fierce battle had taken place here. Most of these pits were left by the rebels' cannons when they attacked the city—because they occupied Dengzhou, a large number of cannons in the city fell into the hands of the rebels. The Hongyi cannons, which Sun Yuanhua had painstakingly built during his tenure, were originally intended to be used against the Liaodong Tartars, but unexpectedly became a powerful weapon to attack their own people.

Shi Ying asked, "General, shall we enter Laizhou City?"

"No need. The main target isn't in Laizhou City. It would be a waste of time and effort for us to enter the city. Let's just bypass Laizhou City and go directly to the camp of the pacification army."

The imperial army's camp was currently located in Shahe, at the border of Laizhou and Dengzhou, about fifty li from Laizhou. By the time the Qiongzhou camp arrived in Shahe from Laizhou, the sun was already setting. This journey was quite long for Liu Ye, but fortunately, as the commander of an army, he didn't have to walk; he could ride a horse. In previous battles against the government forces, he had captured some warhorses, which, although they had lost a lot of weight in the hot Qiongzhou, were still usable. He had brought a few with him to Shandong this time. Liu Ye hadn't formally learned to ride a horse in this timeline, but he had attended equestrian clubs in his later life and had some basic skills. While he couldn't gallop at full speed, walking slowly on horseback was no problem.

The military camp in Shahe was extremely spacious, with banners fluttering and tents standing in rows, visible from a great distance from a high vantage point. When Liu Ye and his party arrived five miles outside the main camp, they were stopped by patrolling cavalry.

Liu Ye showed his waist badge and official documents: "I am the military commander of Qiongzhou Prefecture in Guangdong. I have been ordered by the Ministry of War to come to Shandong to quell the rebellion. Please inform me."

The leading officer took it and examined it carefully. It was indeed an official document issued by the Ministry of War, and the officer's badge was also verified to be correct. Then he led him into the camp.

Upon arriving outside the main tent, the guards questioned him repeatedly to confirm he was not a spy. They then ordered the others to wait outside, allowing only Liu Ye to enter. Once inside, the light was much dimmer, and it took Liu Ye a while to adjust.

Two people sat in the center of the tent. One was a civil official, dressed in a scarlet robe, and the other was a white-faced, beardless man dressed in a qilin robe. On either side stood more than ten military generals, each wearing bright armor.

The civil official in the center spoke up, asking, "Who goes there?"

Liu Ye stepped forward, about to speak, when a military officer beside him shouted, "Having seen the governor and the military supervisor, why don't you kneel down and answer them?"

This civil official, referred to as the "Governor-General," is likely Zhu Dadian, the Shandong Governor who commanded the army. As for the military supervisor, given Chongzhen's consistent nature, it's most likely another eunuch.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye hesitated for a moment, glancing at the military officer who was flattering Shangguan, and then at the two people directly in front of him.

His hesitation wasn't about whether to kneel or not—as a modern person, he had no concept of kneeling at all—but rather about whether to act on it immediately or just go through the motions.

Most of the military officers around him looked at him with ill intent, and some of them had gloating in their eyes.

Liu Ye took in their expressions, and one young military officer in particular caught his attention. This young officer didn't seem to be gloating; instead, there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

Looking at the two people sitting at the head of the table, Zhu Dadian's face was ashen, revealing no emotion, while the pale-faced, beardless man next to him looked displeased.

Liu Ye took a deep breath, stood up straight, clasped his hands in a fist and said loudly, "This humble general, Liu Ye, the military commander of Qiongzhou Prefecture in Guangdong, was ordered to go to Shandong to quell the rebellion. Having learned that the army is stationed in Shahe, I have come to pay my respects and await your command."

Before Zhu Dadian could speak, the pale-faced, beardless man spoke up: "Guangdong military commander? Are all people from Guangdong so unruly? Don't they kneel before their superiors?" His voice was unusually sharp; he was indeed a eunuch.

Liu Ye knew that Emperor Chongzhen had always preferred to appoint eunuchs as military supervisors, and those who could serve as supervisors were mostly favored eunuchs. He thought to himself, "I wouldn't even kneel to your master, why would I kneel to you, you damned eunuch?"

He said, “You flatter me, sir. It’s not that I’m being disrespectful. I traveled thousands of miles from Guangdong to Shandong. After landing, I didn’t rest for a moment and rushed to Shahe. My legs are almost broken. Why don’t you ask me how many troops I brought to Shandong first? It’s not too late to establish rules after we’ve finished discussing important matters.”

The eunuch scoffed, "Those useless idiots in the Ministry of War are really grasping at straws in their desperation. Of all the places to send troops, why did they have to send them from Guangdong? I heard that this time they're using your navy to defend against Dongjiang Town crossing the sea to attack. If you ask me, you Cantonese barbarians should just stay on the water. Why are you so busy coming ashore? How many of you are going to come?"

Liu Ye smiled slightly: "Father-in-law, I can't say whether the Guangdong soldiers are useless, but this time when we came to Shandong, in addition to the navy, there were more than just a few people who landed. I brought two thousand men, all of them arquebusiers, and they brought their own light cannons."

These words shocked everyone present.

The eunuch, clearly aware of the power of muskets and cannons, stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Two thousand men? And all of them are musket soldiers?"

Zhu Dadian couldn't sit still any longer and pressed on, "Are they really two thousand arquebusiers, and they even brought light cannons?"

"It is absolutely true. The governor can send someone to verify it."

Now no one cared whether he knelt or not. Zhu Dadian and the eunuch looked at each other in bewilderment, while the military officers around them whispered and discussed among themselves, all digesting this astonishing news.

Although the quality of arquebuses in the late Ming Dynasty varied and they couldn't play a decisive role in battles against the Manchus, they remained irreplaceable as a long-range strike weapon in the Ming army. Apart from the Shenji Battalion in the capital, local military leaders simply didn't have the financial resources to equip themselves with two thousand arquebuses, let alone artillery. Upon hearing this news, these military officers felt the same envy and resentment as 21st-century police officers hearing that their counterparts in Dubai use sports cars as police vehicles.