Chapter 977 - Pressure Tactics
The weapon was an antique sword bearing the mottled patina of centuries—by Ming standards, it qualified as a genuine antiquity. The escort guide's eyes flickered with recognition: this was no ordinary blade, and its owner no nameless jianghu wanderer.
Alongside the sword lay three throwing darts and several small bottles containing elixirs and similar concoctions—the typical personal effects of a traveling martial artist.
The most damning item, however, was Zhang Yingchen's portrait. No one carried around a Daoist's likeness without reason.
Min Zhanlian knelt naked on the ground, hands bound behind his back. The position was both humiliating and agonizing. Every slight struggle only tightened the restraints on his joints—no matter how heroic or powerful you were, there was simply no way to generate force.
His heart hammered against his ribs. This binding technique bore the hallmarks of the official bureaus. Had he somehow provoked Dongchang, or some powerful eunuch? At the thought, his extremities went cold.
"What do you do?" Ye Mengyan's voice cut through the silence, his gaze fixed on the prisoner with frigid intensity.
Min Zhanlian started. This person was barely more than a youth, yet those eyes held a cold ruthlessness—the look of someone who killed without hesitation.
"This humble one is a jianghu traveler," he managed, forcing calm into his voice while his mind raced for an escape. "I took a job here but failed to complete it, so I was heading to Jining to catch a boat home."
"Your name?"
"Min Zhanlian." He knew lying would be pointless—better to answer honestly on this count.
"Ah! So you're the so-called assassin?" Ye Mengyan nodded after the escort whispered several words in his ear.
"Yes. This humble one has always taken money to eliminate troubles for others."
"Hired by whom?"
"A local sect called the Nanwuliang Sect—I'm not sure if you gentlemen are familiar with it?" He displayed complete willingness to cooperate, his answers flowing readily. "Three months ago, they sent someone to contact me in Henan. They wanted me to bring men to deal with their problem."
"Kill whom?"
"A Daoist surnamed Zhang." Min Zhanlian decided concealment was futile—who could have known he'd made the fatal mistake of keeping Daoist Zhang's portrait on his person?
What he didn't realize was that without that portrait, he would already be a nameless corpse rotting in a roadside ditch.
"And did you kill your target?"
"This humble one dares not pursue him anymore." Min Zhanlian immediately launched into a recounting of Zhang Yingchen's "miracles." He was cunning enough to speak only of hearsay, never claiming to have witnessed anything firsthand. Since he couldn't know whether these men were Zhang Yingchen's friends or enemies, maintaining some distance was the wiser course.
"Such a half-human, half-demon figure—this humble one truly didn't dare accept the commission," he said. "I had no choice but to take my people and head back. Unfortunately, we lost our horses on the road, and through ignorance and momentary confusion, I offended all of you. For that, I humbly apologize!"
The speech was both reasonable and deftly crafted—it cleanly severed any connection between himself and both the Nanwuliang Sect and Zhang Yingchen. Then he promptly admitted his "ignorance," essentially conceding defeat and acknowledging the other side's superiority. Such a move often satisfied an opponent's vanity enough to secure release.
Though this confrontation had resulted in casualties on both sides, making mercy highly unlikely, he still had to try.
Zhou Ruolan was interrogated as well, and her testimony largely corroborated his. Comparing the two accounts, Ye Mengyan quickly pieced together the truth: this group had indeed come to assassinate Daoist Zhang, but had fled in panic when confronted with Zhang Yingchen's overwhelming "powers."
"This Daoist Zhang plays at supernatural nonsense all day, and he actually has powers?" Ye Mengyan found this incredible—his high school physics had been mostly forgotten.
Puzzled as he was, that evening he met with Zhang Yingchen, and they exchanged information about local conditions.
Zhang Yingchen's requirements were straightforward: use force to protect his missionary activities, strike against the Nanwuliang Sect's local forces, and ensure the safety of both himself and the local church.
"My current situation is delicate," Zhang Yingchen explained. "I'm essentially perched on a precarious balance point—the problem is, I don't know when my actions might upset that balance.
"Therefore, I need force to ensure the balance isn't broken. As you've seen, my opponents have no qualms about using violence. Without violence as backup, I cannot establish myself here, let alone spread New Daoism."
Zhang Yingchen spoke these words while meeting Ye Mengyan's eyes directly, his expression candid. He knew this young man was difficult to handle.
Ye Mengyan found Zhang Yingchen's request distasteful. In his view, Daoist Zhang was obviously running a cult. Personally, Ye Mengyan despised all religions with a passion—he was an authentic atheist crusader, an inquisitor of irreligion. Whether it was Dean Wu, Father Bai, or the two Daoist masters Zhang and Dai, all had received his cold stares. If they weren't "comrades" and using religion weren't current established policy, these people might have received far worse treatment.
"No problem. Who do you want killed?" Ye Mengyan got straight to the point.
"For now, I don't want to kill anyone—"
"How hypocritical."
"Not at all. I don't even know whom to kill." Zhang Yingchen spoke the truth—to this day, he knew nothing specific about his opponents' local organization.
The believers who had defected didn't know much more than he did.
"Then what do you want us to do?"
"Protect my safety at all times. Protect Dadianzhang's safety." Zhang Yingchen's tone grew serious. "From now on, I'm going to start pressure tactics."
By pressure tactics, Zhang Yingchen meant that starting now, he would actively develop missionary activities—shifting from ambiguous low-key operation to high-profile action, aggressively competing for believers, and forcing the other side to respond to him.
The enemy lurked in shadows while he stood in the light. If his opponents remained hidden, he would forever be in danger of attack at any moment. Only by provoking them into major action could he seize the opportunity to lure the snakes from their holes and catch them all at once.
"My missionaries will arrive soon—and I'll also rush-train a batch here myself." Zhang Yingchen spoke casually. "Very soon I'll stir up a small-scale religious dispute throughout Yizhou. I estimate it won't be long before it triggers a religious war..."
"And I'm your Knights Templar, right?"
"Also my Inquisitor." Zhang Yingchen's voice softened. "Little Ye."
"No problem." Ye Mengyan nodded.
Zhang Yingchen asked: "What do you plan to do with those two assassins?"
"Kill them. Bury them late at night."
Zhang Yingchen's heart clenched. Zhou Ruolan was one thing, but thinking of Min Zhanlian's beautiful muscle definition, his leopard-like flexibility, he couldn't help but feel a secret pang of regret: among the natives, it was rare to encounter such a handsome, well-built young man.
Ye Mengyan caught his shifting expression and found it secretly amusing. He immediately reversed course: "If there's a suitable place to hold them, we might as well detain them first and deal with them later."
Their eyes met, and both understood perfectly. Zhang Yingchen silently praised him—unexpectedly, after a few years, Little Ye had become quite perceptive. He had truly matured.
Over the following days, new groups continuously arrived from Jining. First came missionaries dispatched from New Daoism headquarters. Considering that these aged Qiongshan degree candidates mostly spoke only Qiongshan dialect that locals couldn't understand, Zhang Yingchen had requested only the three most reliable missionaries with the best Mandarin to assist with religious affairs. The actual missionary work would be handled by local believers who had defected—for now, he didn't need believers to understand much about New Daoist doctrine. First stake out the territory, then worry about theology.
Next came the rest of First Squad's personnel. Twenty squad members and dozens of Qiwei Station support personnel carrying various equipment and supplies departed from Jining in separate groups. This included large quantities of medicines and New Daoist religious propaganda materials printed by the Hangzhou Station press.
For ease of command, Zhang Yingchen moved his office from inside the Zhuang residence to the small temple outside the compound—now officially renamed "Yunsheng Temple." During the day, he trained missionaries here and directed evangelical work. At night, he still returned to the Zhuang residence to sleep, the better to continue cultivating his relationship with the Zhuang family.
After discussions with the Zhuangs, they reached an agreement on jointly operating a pharmacy. Daoist Zhang's various medicines were known to be highly effective, and Zhang Yingchen used these preparations as leverage to secure quite favorable terms. The most important provision was that the Zhuang family would participate in his charitable projects.
These charitable projects were essentially the same as what Guo Yi had done in Guangzhou. Nominally handling various good works without discrimination, the actual main purpose was receiving refugees for outward transport. Ultimately, the reason Zhang Yingchen had overcome all obstacles to come to southern Shandong alone was precisely to receive flood refugees from this region—missionary work was merely supplementary.
Southern Shandong, including the Xuzhou area in what is now northern Jiangsu, had been flood-prone since the late Tianqi reign. This spring's floods had struck several prefectures again, leaving refugees everywhere. As long as there was grain, there was no shortage of people to recruit.
Grain: the Senate had already prepared sufficient quantities. A considerable portion of relief rations had already been shipped to Hong Kong and was waiting to be loaded aboard ships bound for the Hangzhou Station and Qimu Island. Yizhou was only 200 kilometers from the major Grand Canal hub of Jining, and also 200 kilometers from Rizhao Port—both sea and river transport were very convenient. If they wanted to use the current sub-base on Qimu Island, they could also take the Yi River: departing Yizhou northward along the Yi River, then a short overland stretch to reach the Juyang River into Laizhou Bay. From there, Qimu Island was not far beyond.
This route was obviously most suitable—making full use of existing facilities with sufficient transport capacity. Currently, work teams on the Dengzhou-Laizhou side were surveying this route and preparing ships and warehouses to ensure that relief grain shipped from Hong Kong could be smoothly delivered to Yizhou.
The Foreign Intelligence Bureau's report on Operation Engine pointed out: during the operation, mobile transport within Shandong Province should focus primarily on river shipping. The area had numerous waterways, with many large rivers navigable for vessels of several hundred tons or more.
Note: Due to a momentary oversight, Jining was mistakenly written as Linqing. In the previous ten chapters, all instances of Linqing should read Jining.
(End of Chapter)