I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

On the second day of the fifth lunar month, in Liaoyang City, Liaodong.

General's Residence.

Zhang Xueyan, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and Governor of Liaodong, and Li Chengliang, the General Commander of Liaodong, gathered together to read the documents sent by Shen Nian.

Li Chengliang handed the document to his youngest son, Li Rumei (his fifth son), who was standing to the side, and then looked at Zhang Xueyan.

"This...this...Isn't Minister Shen's action implying that we are incompetent in governing Liaodong?"

Zhang Xueyan shook her head slightly.

"No, I think his order for us to conduct a self-inspection, demanding a complete ban on gambling, human trafficking, and oppression of lower-ranking military households in Liaodong, plus lenient punishment for deserters, is already giving us enough face. If this Minister Shen really gets angry, he could turn Liaodong upside down!"

"So what should we do next? Apologize to the court? No, I must plead for Yuan Cheng; he is a rare and formidable general under my command!"

Zhang Xueyan shook her head again.

"No, we absolutely cannot go against Minister Shen. We must carry out whatever Minister Shen instructs us to do!"

At this moment, Li Rumei, who was in her early twenties, pouted and said, "Your Excellency, hasn't Minister Shen already lost power and left the cabinet? Why should we still be so wary of him? If he comes to Jiliao to develop trade, the fighting capacity of the Liaodong soldiers will inevitably be affected. It's not that we are violating the law, but that the military funds allocated by the court are insufficient, so we have no choice but to take shortcuts!"

"Shut up! This is an adult's conversation, who gave you the right to interrupt!" Li Chengliang glared at him.

"My child knows I'm wrong!"

Li Rumei reluctantly bowed to Li Chengliang and admitted her mistake.

Zhang Xueyan looked at Li Rumei and said, "Minister Shen has been stripped of his cabinet minister status, but he has not lost power. At least he is our backer. If Minister Shen retires, your father and I will definitely be transferred away from Liaodong within half a year. We may be forced to retire, or even be investigated and have our property confiscated!"

Upon hearing this, Li Rumei looked puzzled.

Zhang Xueyan explained, “The court has always considered us to be Grand Tutor Zhang’s men, and we have indeed obeyed Grand Tutor Zhang’s orders without question. However, after Grand Tutor Zhang passed away, was stripped of his honorary titles, and had his property confiscated, we became a thorn in the side of some officials. Don’t think that your Li family’s position in Liaodong is unshakable just because of your military achievements. His Majesty can replace all the generals in Liaodong with a single decree!”

"Now, the only one who can protect us is Minister Shen!"

"Minister Shen left the cabinet at his own request, volunteering to serve as governor of Jiliao. Given His Majesty's reliance on him and his abilities, he will surely return to the cabinet."

"Before Minister Shen arrived, His Majesty's edict told us that Minister Shen was here to promote trade between Ji and Liao, and that we should cooperate fully. Judging from Minister Shen's plans in Jizhou, His Majesty will agree to whatever changes Minister Shen makes to Liaodong."

"General Qi is very clever. Even if Minister Shen asked him to become a businessman, he would be happy to do so!"

“We should also consider our future. We can’t keep thinking that the Li family can guard Liaodong for generations and never decline because of their military achievements. That’s impossible. Now that Minister Shen is here, I think if we can cooperate with him to ensure that the people of Liaodong are well-fed and clothed and reduce the amount of war in Liaodong, we will have accomplished a great feat. In recent years, other places have seen rapid development in commerce, but Liaodong looks like a large military camp. We should make a change!”

Li Chengliang nodded in agreement.

"Yes, if we don't want to ruin our reputation in our later years and have our property confiscated, we have no choice but to listen to Minister Shen!"

Li Chengliang had been in Liaodong for a long time, and the illegal things he had done, such as accidentally killing civilians and impersonating Tatars, brewing and selling wine privately, and smuggling ironware, would have been enough to get him chopped off even if he had ten heads.

However, if they can win the hearts of the people and increase commercial taxes through trade, the imperial court will definitely not bring up past grievances.

On that day, Li Chengliang ordered all guards under his jurisdiction to crack down on gambling, human trafficking, and oppression of lower-ranking military households, and to severely punish officials who failed to implement the orders.

……

Meanwhile, inside Ningyuan City.

After several days of reorganization by Shen Nian, both the inner and outer cities have regained their vitality, and many military households who were persecuted by forced labor in the city have been brought in.

Today, Ningyuan City, and even the entire Liaodong region, faces the same problem: many military households but little farmland.

Even if they were allocated land, after deducting the land tax, it wouldn't be enough for a family to eat and drink.

Soon, Shen Nian had an idea: he planned to carry out a population migration.

The military households in Liaodong who were homeless and had no land to cultivate were transferred to Dongfang Port (Vladivostok), which had not yet begun construction.

Shen Nian's goal there was not just to build a port, but also a city capable of accommodating 100,000 people.

Shen Nian immediately wrote a memorial to the court, requesting that only after the young Wanli Emperor's approval could Shen Nian launch the call to action and implement the specific plan.

These days.

Within Ningyuan City, the most exhausted person was Hai Rui, and the happiest person was also Hai Rui.

The officers in the city were all used to extorting money and favors, and they were all bandits who were accustomed to sucking the blood of soldiers, seizing their land, and enslaving them.

They are difficult to tame and difficult to get them to change.

But Hai Rui could.

They had all heard of Hai Rui's great name and knew of all the heroic deeds he had done. They admired people who dared to sacrifice their lives for their ideals.

Hai Rui reasoned with them, explaining what kind of soldiers the future court needed, how they could support their families, and how they could strive to change their fate.

At present, what all the soldiers in Liaodong lack most is etiquette and moral education.

Shen Nian ordered people to write and print Hai Rui's speech, intending to spread these rules throughout Liaodong.

……

Three days later, Shen Nian received a joint letter from Zhang Xueyan and Li Chengliang. The two men greatly respected Shen Nian and said they would strictly carry out Shen Nian's orders to prevent a situation like that in Ningyuan City from happening again in the various guards of Liaodong.

Shen Nian couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

These two are quite clever.

If they have any intention of going against Shen Nian, then Shen Nian will have no choice but to deal with them first.

Two days later, the young Wanli Emperor's reply was delivered to Shen Nian.

He fully supported all of Shen Nian's decisions, and directly ordered Shen Nian to send people to escort Yuan Cheng and others back to the capital to be handed over to the Three Judicial Offices for questioning. As for the new commander and deputy commander of Ningyuan City, they were all appointed by Shen Nian, and all that was needed afterward was to report to the court.

……

In the blink of an eye, it was May 26th.

Shen Nian and her group stayed in Ningyuan City for a full month.

During this month, Shen Nian was transforming Ningyuan City, while also allowing enough time for the commanders of other garrisons to carry out their own transformations.

Shen Nian has already dispatched the Imperial Guards to investigate secretly.

If any military officers in Liaodong still dare to buy and sell people, or run casinos and brothels, Shen Nian will definitely punish them severely.

In the afternoon, Shen Nian appeared on the outer city wall of Ningyuan City.

He gazed ahead, waiting for someone, an old acquaintance who said he would definitely arrive in Ningyuan City before June.

Once Shen Nian has been waiting for him, she can entrust him with the task of conducting a preliminary survey of Oriental Port (Vladivostok).

……

May 28th, afternoon. Just as Shen Nian was inspecting the city's granaries, a member of the Imperial Guard rushed in to report: "Minister, Shen Maoxue, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Trade Commissioner of Liaodong, has entered the city."

Shen Nian, her face beaming with excitement, said, "Quickly prepare the horses, I'm going to meet him!"

This Shen Maoxue was the top scholar in the imperial examination in the fifth year of the Wanli reign, a great talent who was famous throughout the country before entering officialdom.

Since Shen Maoxue became the trade envoy, he has been very successful in Liaodong. From the beginning, when he led troops to annihilate the Mongols and Jurchens who were disrupting the market, he was offered a reward of a thousand sheep. Now, he is hailed as the God of Wealth of Liaodong by many Mongol and Jurchen merchants.

With his talent, he expanded the market outside Kaiyuan City in Liaodong tenfold and formulated a series of trade policies that the Ming, Mongol, and Jurchen people had to abide by.

Before Shen Nian entered Liaodong, he wrote to him, wanting to meet him in advance to discuss the improvement of Liaodong's trade. Later, he received a reply that Shen Maoxue would be able to come to Ningyuan City by the end of May.

……

In front of the inner city gate.

Just as Shen Maoxue was about to enter the city, Shen Nian rode up at breakneck speed and waved, saying, "Doctor Shen, welcome to Ningyuan City!"

Shen Maoxue was surprised that Shen Nian would come to greet him personally. He quickly dismounted and knelt down, and his entourage also knelt down.

"Your humble servant Shen Maoxue pays his respects to Minister Shen!"

"Please get up quickly, please get up quickly! We've been waiting for you! Come on, let's go back to the General's Mansion first. We won't talk about serious matters today. You should rest first, get a good night's sleep, and then we'll chat for three more days!"

"Your humble servant will obey!" Shen Maoxue was infected by Shen Nian's emotions, and his smile was very bright.

He was indeed exhausted after running around for several days, but Shen Nian's enthusiasm instantly revitalized him.

……

The next day, early in the morning.

After having breakfast, Shen Nian and Shen Maoxue went to the council hall of the General's Mansion together.

Apart from the two clerks standing by, there were only the two of them in the hall.

At this moment, several screens were placed in the hall, and large sheets of paper were pasted in front of each screen. The papers contained either text or simple diagrams, which dazzled Shen Maoxue.

In addition, there was a bamboo basket of documents directly in front of him.

Shen Nian got straight to the point: "Let me tell you what I want to do in Liaodong first, and then we'll break down the tasks and complete them one by one."

“No problem!” Shen Maoxue nodded.

At present, he only knows that Shen Nian wants to greatly promote trade between Ji and Liao, so that Ji and Liao can be self-sufficient in military expenses and the people of Ji and Liao can live and work in peace and contentment, but he does not know the specifics of what he intends to do.

Shen Nian then began to explain her thoughts.

The text and illustrations on the paper were to assist Shen Nian's explanation. As for the bamboo basket of documents, they were a summary of the people's livelihood and commerce in Liaodong, compiled by Shen Nian's people, including which places were rich in products and which had good road conditions and were suitable for doing business.

Shen Nian spoke quite quickly, and Shen Maoxue would immediately ask questions if he didn't understand something.

The two talked and answered each other, and before they knew it, it was noon.

Since neither of them wanted to interrupt, Shen Nian ordered someone to bring some snacks and tea, and then the two continued their conversation.

It wasn't until dusk that Shen Nian finished speaking.

Upon hearing Shen Nian's story, Shen Maoxue opened his mouth in astonishment, wide enough to fit six eggs.

Shen Nian's idea was absolutely insane.

He wanted to build a port city that could accommodate 100,000 people, and Shen Nian chose a location not in Liaodong, but in the heart of the Jianzhou Jurchen territory.

Moreover, the city that was built was not a military defense city, but a commercial city.

What drove him even crazier was—

Shen Nian wanted the Jianzhou Jurchens, Haixi Jurchens, Wild Jurchens, Koreans, Japanese, and lower-class military households from Liaodong to live harmoniously in this city.

He wanted to allow merchant ships from Jiangnan to pass between Korea and Japan, directly to this new city, thus creating a new maritime Silk Road.

If Shen Nian had only mentioned this idea to him, he would have shaken his head vigorously.

Because it's too difficult to achieve!

This is like building a warehouse full of gold and silver treasures inside a thief's den—it's simply impossible.

But Shen Nian told him about the destructive power of cultural and commercial warfare, how to plan the city, how to attract merchants from all over the country, how to use Jibei Port as a springboard to make the new city develop rapidly as a port, how to gather manpower and resources, how to raise funds, how to ensure that the barbaric Jurchens could have enough to eat without plundering, and how to provide a new home for the refugees in Liaodong...

Furthermore, Shen Nian directly compared this new city to Quanzhou, where maritime trade is currently booming.

Shen Maoxue's task was to rely on his connections and resources in Liaodong over the years to determine the location of the new city, identify the problems that needed to be solved in building the new city, and determine how to coordinate with the barbaric Jurchen people, etc.

Shen Maoxue felt that this might be the cause he would dedicate his life to.

“In the early days, it will inevitably be tough and tiring, and there may be various military conflicts. But once it reaches a certain scale, there will be no more war in the northern border. I need a person who is both literate and martial to be my vanguard general. Are you willing? If you feel that you are not up to the task, I will not force you!” Shen Nian looked at Shen Maoxue, her eyes full of expectation.

If Shen Maoxue refuses, Shen Nian will not try to persuade him; what he needs is a helper with unwavering conviction.

"Yes, very much so! It is my honor, Shen Maoxue, to do such a great thing!" Shen Maoxue said excitedly.

"Alright, from now on, you'll be the vanguard, and I'll coordinate the rear. You can leave any problems that can't be solved to me!"

"No problem!" Shen Maoxue said confidently.

……

The following day, Shen Nian and Shen Maoxue continued their meeting and began to formulate a more detailed plan.

Their reports to the court wouldn't be very detailed, but the execution plans had to be very detailed, taking into account all sorts of unforeseen circumstances.

Five days later, with a lot on his mind, Shen Maoxue left Ningyuan City in a carriage filled with a large bamboo basket of documents.

At that moment, he felt his whole body was filled with power; this was the power of faith.

Shen Nian also began to address some of the remaining issues in Ningyuan City.

He planned to leave Ningyuan City on the tenth day of June.

Ningyuan City is located west of Liaodong Town. Shen Nian and his party need to pass through Guangningwei and Haizhouwei before they can reach Liaoyang City, the seat of Liaodong Town.

After arriving in Liaoyang, Shen Nian will stay in the city. Once he has revitalized the commerce of the entire Jiliao region and increased local tax revenue, he will devote all his energy to building a new city.

Shen Nian will not be so polite to those Jurchens.

If they disobeyed orders and were unwilling to live a peaceful life, Shen Nian would banish them to a place further north.

That new city of the future will only welcome those who abide by the rules and can bring value to others. (End of Chapter)