Chapter 49 If You Knew It Would Come to This, Why Act as You Did Back Then

Zhang Chen strictly required the blacksmiths forging the iron barrels to produce superior-quality long iron cylinders.

Crucially, Zhang Chen gave orders that the "heartless cannons" of Zhang Village were only to be fired three times; any cannon that fired three times must be sent back to the forge to be recast.

This would minimize the explosion rate of the heartless cannons to the greatest extent possible.

Whether Liu Lika heard Zhang Chen's words remains unknown, but he rode on horseback, following Zhao Chengxuan, Liu Zongyuan, and the carriages.

After exchanging brief pleasantries with Zhang Chen, Tian Xuewen, Brocade Guard Centurion Yang Fuli, and Shi Keren also departed for Fushan County.

At lunchtime, Liu Zongyuan's mocking words about Tian Xuewen spread and eventually reached Tian Yachun's ears.

Distressed for her father, Tian Yachun followed him back to the county seat.

Zhang Chen resolutely denied that he had instructed a maid to loudly recount Liu Zongyuan's remarks to a female servant in the courtyard where Tian Yachun lived.

On the cinder road leading from Zhang Village to the county seat, inside Tian Yachun's carriage.

Tian Yachun sat facing her two personal maids, Dongmei and Xiaolu.

Tian Yachun had more than a dozen personal and general maids, but she trusted Dongmei and Xiaolu the most.

"Young Mistress, the voice was quite loud. Xiaocao did it on purpose; she meant for you to hear it." Dongmei cursed Zhang Chen softly. "It must have been Zhang Chen who sent Xiao Cao to our courtyard."

"When this humble servant was returning to our courtyard, I accidentally saw Zhang Chen—well, I saw Master Zhang pull Xiaocao aside and speak to her for a moment." Xiaolu lowered her head. Zhang Chen was truly formidable; with just a few words, he had completely refuted the high-ranking officials from the prefectural city, leaving them speechless and utterly devoid of a counterargument!

Zhang Chen was originally their master's husband, and our young mistress's spouse, yet unfortunately, the young mistress did not know how to cherish him. She refused to share the bridal chamber with him and drove him away to Zhang Village. Xiaolu sighed inwardly. Zhang Chen was exceptionally talented, and she felt regret, but a shattered mirror cannot be mended, and spilled water cannot be retrieved—

The Deng-Lai Governor's Office, the Deng-Lai Regional Commander's Mansion, and the Dengzhou Prefectural Office had sent men to Zhang Village to handle the affair of Futou Village, and they intended to deal a fatal blow to Zhang Chen.

Perhaps out of concern for Zhang Chen, at noon, Tian Yachun had sent her personal maid Xiaolu to eavesdrop outside the reception hall.

The doors and windows of the front courtyard reception hall in Zhang Chen's house had been left open, and Xiaolu had overheard a great deal of news.

Before the maid Xiaocao went to Tian Yachun's courtyard, Xiaolu had already informed Tian Yachun of the situation inside the reception hall.

"When that old scoundrel Liu Zongyuan mocked me, Zhang Chen spoke up on my behalf. Zhang Chen is a man who values relationships and righteousness; it is a pity that you missed out on him." Riding a large black horse, Tian Xuewen walked alongside Tian Yachun's carriage. Having practiced martial arts for a few years in his youth, his physical stamina was still acceptable.

"Father, Zhang Chen said that the wife of his past life was also named Tian Yachun." People of the Ming Dynasty were deeply superstitious, and Tian Yachun believed Zhang Chen's words. "Father, I will become Zhang Chen's concubine. He will surely be willing."

"Become... a concubine?" Tian Xuewen was startled, nearly falling off his horse. "You want to become Zhang Chen's concubine? Over my dead body!"

"Yachun, in this lifetime, you and Zhang Chen can never be husband and wife again. Give up this pipe dream!" Tian Xuewen dug his heels into the horse's flanks, furious with Tian Yachun. He cracked his whip and rode off ahead.

"Young Mistress, if Zhang Chen were to take you as an equal wife, Old Master would probably be willing." Dongmei muttered an insult at Zhang Chen. "This morning, Zhang Chen made a great public display, sending over ten people to Jinan City to propose marriage. He wants to take Xu Zihan as his legal primary wife."

"A few days ago, on the twenty-eighth of August, Young Mistress married Zhang Chen, and Zhang Chen was Young Mistress's matrilocal husband. It seems like only a blink of an eye has passed, and now, for Young Mistress to want to become Zhang Chen's concubine is as difficult as ascending to the azure heavens." Xiaolu sighed inwardly. If she had known things would turn out this way, why act as she did in the beginning!

...

At the entrance of Zhang Village.

Those who should have left had all departed, except for Qi Dazhi, who wore a flattering and ingratiating smile.

"Shi Keren is a jinshi, Zhao Chengxuan is a juren from the Wanli era, Liu Zongyuan is a jinshi, and Tian Xuewen is also a jinshi. They are all great scholars of Neo-Confucianism; my father-in-law is a military jinshi who has always styled himself a scholarly general, though he is merely a minor scholar."

"This morning, Brother Zhang single-handedly fought off a group of scholars, reducing all those big and small Confucians to silence and leaving them speechless. Brother Zhang is mighty, and old Qi I admire you to the very ground!" Qi Dazhi gave Zhang Chen a thumbs-up. "Old Qi, cut the crap. Flattering me is useless."

Zhang Chen scolded Qi Dazhi: "You went to Dengzhou City to accuse me, yet you only got a share of fine silks and satins worth two thousand taels of silver. Old Qi, if you had come straight to Zhang Village to find me, I would have given you at least twenty thousand taels. If you put on a pitiful cry and acted poor, I might have given you fifty thousand taels. But now..."

"I knew the Governor's Office, the Regional Commander's Mansion, and the Prefectural Office were dark and corrupt, but I didn't know they were this dark!"

Qi Dazhi cursed Zhang Chen inwardly. The Governor's Office, the Regional Commander's Mansion, and the Prefectural Office were dark, but none of them were as pitch-black and ruthless as this bastard!

"You plundered a total of four hundred thousand taels worth of property from our Qishan Guard and Futou Village, Zhang Chen, and you turtle bastard only brought out fifty thousand taels worth of silks, satins, and copper blocks to send the Governor's Office, Regional Commander's Mansion, and Prefectural Office packing. You are countless times darker than they are!"

"Why aren't you leaving, old Qi? Planning to eat your evening meal at my house, trying to eat back the property losses of your Qishan Guard, aren't you?"

Zhang Chen cursed Qi Dazhi again:

"If you have something to say, spit it out. While my mood is still decent at the moment, I might just agree to it. Word is that your wife is planning to marry your daughter Qi Yuxuan to me as a primary wife. A primary wife is out of the question, old Qi, but out of respect for you, let your daughter Qi Yuxuan be my concubine."

"Yuxuan is my legitimate daughter!"

Qi Dazhi cursed Zhang Chen back: "If it were to be as a primary wife, I could consider it. But wanting Yuxuan to be your concubine? Zhang Chen, keep on dreaming!"

"Are you interested in our Qishan Guard, Zhang Chen?"

Not yet forty years old, Qi Dazhi let out a heavy sigh: "I suppose I'm getting old; I no longer have the heart to fight the Japanese pirates to the death. The shipyard at our Qishan Guard suffered almost no damage that night. Zhang Chen, the Qishan Guard, plus that shipyard, and the land surrounding the Guard—fifty thousand taels of silver. Do you want it?"

The Qishan Guard had been completely slaughtered, plundered, and burned to the ground by the Japanese pirates. If this had happened in the early or middle Ming Dynasty, the imperial court would have punished the culpable officers and soldiers and then rebuilt the Qishan Guard.

Now, the Great Ming was plagued by internal rebellion and foreign invasions, and the court had no spare energy to manage the Qishan Guard—primarily because the court did not wish to expend massive amounts of manpower and resources to rebuild it.

As long as no one accused Qi Dazhi, he could rebuild the Qishan Guard himself, and basically face no repercussions.

"The Qishan Guard doesn't belong to you, old Qi. Do you take me for a fool?" Zhang Chen berated Qi Dazhi: "The workers at your shipyard all fled, but the equipment is undamaged, right?"

Years ago, Qi Dazhi had been an ambitious and moral garrison commander.

At that time, Qi Dazhi had built a shipyard on the coast not far from the Qishan Guard, recruiting many excellent shipwrights.

Qi Dazhi's shipyard was his private property, and he had the right to sell it.

That very night, Yokomichi Keiji had loaded the property and young women of the Qishan Guard onto his ships and had his men burn the houses within the Qishan Guard to ashes.