Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

The old emperor made a quick connection and immediately came up with an idea. “Moreover, if these islands are in the hands of Great Xia, other ships trying to land for resupply will have to pay a fee, right?”

Xie Luoshui widened her eyes slightly.

She didn’t quite understand why a monarch would always think of ways to make money—wasn’t the emperor supposed to be decisive in battle, cold-faced every day, manipulating court politics, and having ministers guess his thoughts?

“That seems about right!” The old emperor subconsciously reached out to pat Xie Luoshui on the shoulder but then stopped midway, recalling her gender. He only said verbally, “That’s all I need to instruct you. You may leave now.”

After Xie Luoshui left, the old emperor immediately summoned the Minister of Revenue and repeated what he had just discussed with Xie Luoshui. “What do you think?”

“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!”

The Minister of Revenue repeated the word “excellent” several times. His eyes gleamed as though they were shining with the light of money. “By occupying the islands, we might not even need to use the navy. We could pull non-death-sentence criminals out of prison and tell them that after exploring each island, they can have their sentence reduced.”

That way, if there are casualties, there would be no need to worry about providing for widows and orphans.

And those prisoners who might rebel would have to consider whether the Great Xia navy would allow it.

But of course, if these people die, the state will have to provide for their families.

The Minister of Revenue frowned slightly.

After a few breaths, his expression brightened, and he smiled widely. “Your Majesty is wise! The training costs for the navy are not something these people can compare to. The money spent on caring for widows and orphans is still much less than maintaining the navy. If they voluntarily explore the islands, it would be the perfect solution.”

And, whether they are criminals or barbarians, they would need to undergo strict military training, which is an essential financial expenditure.

The two money-driven officials quickly arranged the details. Another money-driven official, the Minister of Revenue, joined the group and headed toward the Bohai Sea.

The Vice Minister of Rites heard that the emperor had decided to let the general lead a small group of soldiers to go out to sea with Xie Luoshui.

The reason was twofold: to prevent pirate and indigenous attacks, and also to showcase military power in foreign lands, demonstrating the strength of the Chinese empire. Moreover, this would help open up sea routes.

“Because I understand naval warfare,” said the general, just back from outside, still carrying eggs and meat.

The two of them stood in the small kitchen. The Vice Minister of Rites took the eggs and cracked them into a bowl while the general crouched down to tend to the fire. After blowing on it twice, he switched the air and continued talking, “Don’t worry. The ship is equipped with plenty of military supplies. The emperor didn’t send me to my death.”

“What’s in it?”

The Vice Minister of Rites asked while chopping meat on the cutting board, casually handing the bowl to the general. The general sprinkled salt and added oil before starting to mix the contents.

“We’ve prepared over a million arrows, bows, and strings. As for cold weapons…”

“Zrrr—”

The eggs, mixed with oil and salt, sizzled in the pan.

“Each ship in the fleet is equipped with 50 spears, machetes, sickles, ash pots, grappling hooks, pear-headed darts, small darts, helmets, and rattan shields for each person. As for firearms, each ship is equipped with handguns, matchlocks, flintlock rifles, fire arrows, fire forks, fire thorn cannons, fireballs, gunpowder arrows, iron-tipped harpoons, smoke balls, and 100 copper or iron cannons of various sizes…”

“What about medicine?”

“It’s all there! All the common medicines, in full supply.”

“Common medicines, huh… Don’t you dare eat them!” The Vice Minister of Rites slapped the general’s hand with a pair of chopsticks. “Put the meat in too, I’ll go grab my makeup box from the cart.”

“Makeup box? What’s that for?”

It was said that the Vice Minister of Rites had fallen seriously ill.

Suffering from the unfamiliar climate, he began vomiting and experiencing diarrhea as soon as he arrived in the city by the Bohai Sea, feeling extremely weak.

When Xu Yanmiao brought gifts to visit, several high-ranking officials were already in the room.

The Minister of Rites was holding the Vice Minister’s hand with great concern. “How come your face is so pale? Even when you were running around during wartime, you didn’t look like this.”

Xu Yanmiao peered in and saw that not only was the Vice Minister’s face ashen, but his lips were also white, with dark circles under his eyes. It was clear that he was in very poor health.

The Vice Minister had a cloth tied around his head to block the wind and lay weakly in bed, speaking with a hoarse voice, “It’s probably the sea breeze.”

The Minister of Rites patted his hand. “Rest well. I heard the doctor prescribed you the Four Gentlemen Decoction, with ginseng for tonifying energy. I brought some red ginseng with me. You can keep it.”

The Vice Minister’s face was pale, lacking any color, but his long eyelashes fluttered rapidly. “Thank you, Your Excellency.”

The cloth softened the contours of his face, and the quilt covered his throat, hiding the male features. Marquis Yongchang, who had initially come just to make an appearance, was moved to tears upon seeing this scene.

A grown man weeping uncontrollably, the Minister of Revenue glanced at him and felt his scalp go numb. “What are you crying about?”@@novelbin@@

Marquis Yongchang wiped his eyes. “This is Little Tea Girl! I recognize her! Little Tea Girl must be feeling especially uncomfortable. I have a medicine shop in my house, and I’ll have them prepare the best, most authentic winter worm and summer grass right away.”

He finished speaking and tossed the box out of the window.

—He had only brought the most common, perfunctory herbs due to personal grudges. He was truly a despicable person!

The Minister of Revenue, speechless, could only watch as others also brought various medicinal gifts. One sent Korean ginseng, another sent Dendrobium, while others brought musk, bear bile, cow bezoar, and other expensive medicinal herbs. None of the high-ranking officials would bring a paltry amount, so several large boxes were delivered. The general was deeply moved and repeatedly thanked them.

Xu Yanmiao lowered his head and stared at the silver he had brought with him, feeling somewhat awkward.

[Was I the only one who brought money?]

[Maybe I should wait and give it later?]

He stepped back slowly. After a while, seeing the others leaving, the general personally saw them off with deep gratitude. The door was closed, and Xu Yanmiao paused. “Wait…”

[I haven’t given my gift yet!]

[People might forget who brought gifts, but they will surely remember who didn’t!]

[But if I knock on the door now, what if it’s not the right time?]

Xu Yanmiao thought for a moment, then opened the gossip system to see if there were any issues. If nothing came up, he would go ahead and knock.

The general entered the inner room and closed the door before quickly jumping onto the bed.

The Vice Minister of Rites smoothly lifted the blanket. “Come, let’s see what they’ve sent!”

The author has something to say:

In modern times, it is illegal to privately trade wild black bears, their bile, or gallbladders (seriously).

The setting in this story is ancient, where bears and tigers were known to enter cities and attack people, and even in the forests, they frequently attacked humans. Therefore, in ancient times, there were no regulations to restrict this.

Prices of Chickens:

A certain guest killed a chicken of mine, and as compensation, paid a dou (a measure). A dou consists of one male and one female. The price of a male is thirty coins, and the female costs fifty.

— “Wenxian Tongkao”

Prices of Fighting Roosters:

King of Qi, Yu Lin, was fond of fighting chickens and secretly bought chickens at prices as high as several thousand.

— “Southern History”

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; a river and sea are made up of small streams.”

— “Encouragement of Learning”

About Navigation, using Ming Dynasty technology, which was already quite mature:

The port of Taicang uses a 105° direction for the first watch, traveling to Wusong River, and then switches to a 97.5° direction for the second watch, arriving at Nan Hui mouth.

— “Zheng He’s Maritime Chart”

[Translation: The ship departs from Taicang Port on a 105° course, after 2.4 hours reaching Wusong River, then heads 97.5° for another 2.4 hours to reach Nan Hui mouth.]

Star-following Board:

A star-following board, made by Suzhou’s Ma Huaide, consists of twelve pieces, crafted from ebony. The pieces gradually increase in size, with the largest being over seven inches long. Each piece is marked with one finger, two fingers, up to twelve fingers, all finely engraved, like measuring inches. There is also a piece of ivory, two inches long, with four corners missing, and engraved with markings for half a finger, a corner, three corners, etc., which are placed upside down, indicating it is a type of astrolabe used for celestial measurements.

— “Jiean Old Man’s Random Essays”

Star-following technique for sailing:

This is an astronomical navigation technique used by Zheng He when voyaging to the Western Ocean. To summarize, the star-following technique determines the north-south geographical position by measuring the altitude of stars above the horizon to establish the sailing direction.

Specifically, data needs to be collected for a certain port, such as a destination, at a specific observation time, recording the star’s altitude. Later, while at sea, measurements of the star’s altitude at the same observation time would be compared with the previous records from the destination port to determine the relative north-south position. The key measurement is the altitude of the North Star. If the comparison shows the same data, it means you can continue sailing in the same direction along the same latitude; if the data differs, you need to adjust the course. For example, if the North Star’s altitude is lower than expected, it indicates the current location is farther south, and the ship must adjust its heading north.

This celestial navigation technique was crucial during long-distance voyages when there were no landmarks on land.

— “Research on Star-following Navigation”

Compass:

That night, when traveling in foreign seas, if the stars are not visible, one would use a floating southern compass to determine the direction.

— “The Illustrated Guide of the Envoy to Korea”

A brief note on the coastline of Ming China:

The Ming Dynasty valued the seas and rivers. The sea route starts from Guangdong, Lehui, and extends for 5,000 miles to the border of Annan. It reaches Fujian in 2,000 miles, then Zhejiang for another 2,000 miles, Jiangsu and Shandong for 1,800 and 1,200 miles, respectively. Crossing Baodi, it reaches Lulong, then to Liaodong, over 1,300 miles. The total length of the coastline is approximately 13,300 miles.

— “The Imperial Dynasty’s Writings”

Ship Equipment Setup, referencing Zheng He’s voyages:

“Each warship is equipped with spears, machetes, sickles, ash pots, grappling hooks, pear-headed darts, small darts, helmets, and shields for each person; in terms of firearms, each fleet is equipped with handguns, matchlocks, flintlock rifles, fire arrows, fire forks, fire thorn cannons, fireballs, gunpowder arrows, iron-tipped harpoons, smoke balls, and copper or iron-made cannons in medium to large sizes, all one hundred each…”

— The names of these weapons are taken from “China’s Oceans—A Study on Ming Maritime Military Forces”