Chapter 1024 Prologue

Sea asparagus seeds could also be pressed for oil. Though this year's harvest of seeds was limited, it still provided some precious fats. Lu Wenyuan's three daily meals were cooked with this oil.

Lunch at the farmstead was eaten by Lu Wenyuan alone. Though called "special supply," the standard was actually pitiful. The finest dish on the table was diced Tianchu Factory cured meat stir-fried with eggs, accompanied by a few vegetable dishes—though the so-called vegetables were actually dried vegetables and pickles shipped from Lingao. In November Shandong, not even a green color could be seen, let alone fresh produce. The only thing approaching fresh vegetables was cellared local napa cabbage. Lu Wenyuan's personal secretary had prepared a soup of cabbage and dried shrimp.

After lunch and a brief rest, Lu Wenyuan immediately went to inspect the refugee camp. The camp was situated in a wind-sheltered, sunny spot on the island—yet even so, it remained bone-chillingly cold. Because these were temporary buildings—hastily erected wooden barracks with poor insulation—and what little cotton clothing they possessed could not meet demand, heating relied entirely on brick stoves with chimneys in each longhouse. Daily fuel consumption was enormous.

In the desperate lean season, collecting sufficient firewood proved extremely difficult—there was almost no crop stubble remaining in the fields, and the eastern three prefectures' forest coverage was also sparse.

Fortunately, Shandong contained quite a few coal-producing areas, with small coal mines and reasonable prices. Using his connections in the Shandong church, he could conveniently purchase coal and have it shipped to Longkou by boat.

Upon lifting the thick door curtain of a longhouse, a smell mixing sweat, body odor, and coal smoke rushed to his nostrils. Lu Wenyuan could not help frowning.

He looked up at the long ventilation windows near the roof—fortunately all open, or there truly would be deaths. The chimney showed no sign of backdraft either.

The roof was sloped, fitted with several glass skylights—surprising many refugees, who found this kind Master Lu extraordinarily extravagant. In truth, it merely served to utilize more sunlight and consume less fuel.

The walkway was rammed earth. On both sides, floors were raised with dry-stacked mud bricks—below ran flues utilizing the stove's excess heat—covered with thick wheat straw and dried seaweed. Refugees huddled together in groups of three to five to maintain warmth.

The room temperature was roughly maintained at around ten degrees—basically ensuring no one froze to death.

Lu Wenyuan inspected everything. The building held only old people, women, and children. All able-bodied men had been drafted for work. Currently they were constructing an earthwork rampart and ditch protected by a bastion around the refugee camp. The farmstead could not conduct agricultural work in winter—only construction.

After examining all the buildings, he proceeded to the kitchen to inspect hygiene and ration distribution. They used special relief rations shipped from Hong Kong. Local grain prices were extremely high and quality poor. Lu Wenyuan had already abandoned hope of resupplying grain locally.

Besides relief rations, at his request, "milk substitute powder" had also been shipped from Lingao—rice powder with a little sugar, to save as many children as possible.

Lu Wenyuan inspected the kitchen with meticulous care. He maintained a clear account in mind: The Cheka had tables quantifying every type of relief food consumption down to the gram, requiring each kitchen to strictly follow them.

Accounts and inventory showed no discrepancies. Finally, he particularly noted whether the naturalized citizen cooks showed any signs of gaining weight, wondering whether to weigh them—like all Senators, Lu Wenyuan did not believe in the power of morality. Leaving the kitchen, he asked his entourage for the hundredth time: "Any new news?"

"Reporting Chief, nothing yet."

"Mm." A gust of cold wind blew. Lu Wenyuan could not help shrinking his neck and tightening his cloak—Little Ice Age winters were no joke! He discovered he had developed chilblains: his feet were painful and itchy. Health Department's chilblain cream showed no noticeable effect.

More worrying than the severe cold was, based on his experience, that if temperatures had already dropped this low by early November, Longkou Bay's surface might freeze by the coldest period.

If it was only thin ice, that would not be too troubling. Lu Wenyuan feared the sea surface might eventually freeze solid enough for people to walk across. Shallow, relatively enclosed bays froze thick easily. Even in the twenty-first century, the Bohai Bay still froze extensively during winters. If that happened, the Willow Palisade he had erected on the sand dike would lose its ability to delay enemies, and the farmstead and refugee camp would be directly exposed to attack. The fortifications he was rushing to build addressed precisely this concern.

His gaze turned to the beach. Besides women working on the sand—harvesting kelp, drying seaweed—a team of strong men was running along the beach in sleeveless undershirts despite the cold wind, shouting cadences. A stocky man with a bowl cut, also wearing an undershirt, ran alongside, occasionally shouting loudly.

This was Chen Sigen's Special Reconnaissance Team squad, which had arrived not long ago and was intensively conducting cold-resistance training. Their presence reassured Lu Wenyuan somewhat—the machine guns they carried were truly fearsome weapons.

Due to weather effects, the originally scheduled Northern Expedition Detachment's Shandong Contingent, supposed to arrive a week ago, had not crossed on time. Currently the main force remained stuck in Taiwan. Only an advance company carrying four forty-eight-pounder naval guns had landed on the scheduled date and was now urgently constructing gun emplacements.

He checked his watch. Today was already November 1, 1631. According to the normal historical track, yesterday—October 31, 1631—Kong Youde, sent by Sun Yuanhua to reinforce Ming forces in Liaodong, was on his return march through Wuqiao when, due to supply shortages, his soldiers had "requisitioned locally" and clashed with local gentry. The whole army became restless, Kong Youde was seized, and the mutiny erupted. A rebellion lasting nearly two years—the Dengzhou Rebellion—had officially begun.

Though Qimu Island was quite remote, it belonged to Huangxian County—precisely where rebels and government troops would repeatedly struggle. Given the rebels' high mobility with their mainly cavalry force, no one could guarantee the conflict would not reach this far. Lu Wenyuan needed sufficient means of self-protection—especially now, with the Northern Expedition Detachment not yet in position.

He gazed out to sea, hoping to spot fleet black smoke and sails on the horizon, but there was nothing. The sea stretched empty.

Lu Wenyuan sighed and walked back. On the bastion, soldiers were enthusiastically conducting artillery drill training. Some had simply removed their thick wool coats and trained in just undershirts. But this energy did not infect him. He returned gloomily to the farmstead's conference room and once again asked his secretary "if there was any new news from Taiwan."

"No new news." The secretary replied, but added a new development: Ten minutes ago, a telegram had arrived from Yizhou.

The telegram inquired about Qimu Island refugee camp's reception capacity. If feasible, he planned to transfer some refugees there.

Daoist Zhang had achieved brilliant results in the Yizhou direction. Using the influence of the Zhuang clan of Dadianzhang, he had not only established a firm foothold but was also successfully conducting refugee collection in the name of charity. Not long ago, he had experimentally sent a batch of refugees to Qimu Island to verify whether his planned refugee transport route was feasible.

"Reply to Yizhou: Temporarily do not send more refugees. The current Shandong situation remains unclear, and roads may become impassable..."

He was dictating the reply when Chen Sigen walked in—this fitness trainer-turned-muscular man had a well-proportioned build and rosy complexion. While wiping sweat with a towel, he smiled and said: "Want to join me for the daily sauna followed by fitness training? Guaranteed to warm you up—won't be afraid of cold all winter."

"Thank you, but I do not plan to steam myself then freeze," Lu Wenyuan said weakly, taking a stamp from his inner pocket and pressing it onto the telegram. "Send it immediately."

After Chen Sigen arrived on Qimu Island, he had immediately constructed a sauna room for himself, taking soldiers for saunas daily, then leading them running across the wilderness wearing undershirts. According to him, this was the best way to boost human cold resistance: Finns and Russians both loved saunas.

Lu Wenyuan sent the secretary away, then said to Chen Sigen: "Old Chen, if the rebels attack now, do you believe we can hold?"

Chen Sigen started, then immediately laughed. "It's not a question of holding—it's how we can fight more beautifully..."

"That sounds like big talk—Kong Youde has at least two thousand-plus elite Liaodong cavalry after all."

"Has cavalry ever heard machine guns?" Chen Sigen replied. "Never mind machine guns. My squad is all automatic weapons. Basically after one round of concentrated fire, the enemy will definitely scatter. Fighting a battle of annihilation would be difficult, but routing them is no problem." He slapped Lu Wenyuan's shoulder—so hard he nearly knocked him over. "Besides, there's also the advance company and those few cannons. That alone is enough to give Kong Youde a nasty surprise."

Though Chen Sigen said this, Lu Wenyuan remained somewhat worried. He had already dispatched scouts to monitor the main road to Huangxian daily, to detect the rebels' approach in time.

Chen Sigen, however, held no interest in Kong Youde—Kong Youde's fate had been sealed the moment the Senate decided to intervene. He was leading the Special Reconnaissance Team to participate in Operation Engine not only to provide special operations support for the entire operation, but also with another mission.

The Operation Engine Command's basic attitude toward the Dengzhou Rebellion was "orderly chaos"—meaning the upheaval should expand throughout the entire eastern three prefectures, creating as many refugees as possible for collection. However, their troop projection and personnel transport capacity was ultimately limited. Each period could only evacuate limited numbers. To avoid losing too many people and too much social wealth, the chaotic situation also had to be controlled and "rhythmic"—ensuring places that should be chaotic were completely chaotic, while places that should not be chaotic absolutely were not.

(End of Chapter)