MLMD – Chapter 19 Persuading the Old Madam

Seeing the anger on his grandmother’s face, Yue Yang felt a headache coming on as well. It seemed that if he couldn’t convince this old lady, all of his plans going forward would be severely hampered.

After thinking for a while, Yue Yang waved his hand, signaling the two maids who were pounding her back to withdraw. Only then did he take a dispatch report out from his sleeve and hand it to the old madam. “Grandmother, please take a look at this dispatch first. After that, your grandson will explain.”

The old madam took the report, skimmed through it at a glance, and quickly finished reading. Afterward, she said disdainfully, “What’s so special about this? It’s nothing more than starving refugees rebelling because the Yellow River burst its banks. I believe the imperial army will soon wipe out this rabble. Haven’t things like this happened countless times in our Great Ming? I’ve never once seen any group of rebels amount to anything.”

Yue Yang gave a bitter smile. “Grandmother, you’re right. These starving refugees won’t amount to much, and this sort of thing isn’t new. But have you ever thought about why incidents of refugee uprisings have been happening so frequently in recent years? One group gets wiped out, and immediately another pops up, giving the court endless headaches.”

“The Great Ming court is like a strong man, while these rebelling refugees are like weeds. At first, the strong man naturally doesn’t take weeds seriously—one swing of the sickle and they’re cut down. But don’t forget, the strong man is only one person, while the weeds are like chives: cut down one batch, and another springs up immediately. No matter how hard the strong man works, there will come a time when he’s powerless against weeds that can never be completely eradicated.”

“Think about it—this time the uprising happened in Mengjin on the Yellow River. But what if next time it happens in Yingzhou? What would we do then? Just sit around and wait to die?”

The old madam was no fool. Earlier, she had merely failed to think it through in the moment. Now, after hearing Yue Yang’s words, she slowly came to an understanding. “Grandson, do you mean that you think refugee uprisings could also happen here?”

Yue Yang nodded. “Grandmother, it’s not just possible—it’s extremely likely. Look at Shanxi right now. The weather has been unbearably dry, and many fields have already begun to crack. You can imagine how many farming households will reap nothing at the autumn harvest. When the time comes, what will those farmers do when they have no clothes and no food?”

“Even if they don’t want to rebel at first, what if someone climbs up high and gives a shout, leading them to storm the government granaries to seize grain? What will the yamen do? Naturally, it will send troops to suppress them. And once that happens, the outcome will be just like Mengjin—refugees with no way to survive will, for the sake of living, transform into ferocious mobs. These mobs will number in the thousands at the least, and tens or even hundreds of thousands at the most.”

“At that point, Grandmother, do you think our Yue Family Manor, Wuli Fort, or even Yingzhou Prefecture will be able to stay out of it? If we don’t have a militia that answers to us, then with our small estate outside Yingzhou City, without city walls for protection, relying solely on Master Hu and a hundred or so guards—could we withstand the impact of such mobs? I’m afraid that in less than a day, the entire Yue Family Manor would be reduced to ashes!”

The more the old madam listened, the more severe her expression became. Having lived so long, her experience was beyond question. She could tell that Yue Yang’s words were not alarmist nonsense, but something that was very likely to happen in the future. Prepare for danger in times of peace—to someone who had lived more than half a lifetime, this saying was an undeniable truth.

“So that’s why you yielded the Sanggan River to the Wang, Li, and Lin families—in exchange for the position of militia commander?” Truly worthy of being an old hand seasoned by age, she saw through Yue Yang’s earlier concession at a glance.

“Grandmother, your insight is truly piercing!” Yue Yang hurriedly gave a thumbs-up and shamelessly flattered her.

“Enough of that.” The old madam didn’t buy it at all. She shot him a glare and scolded,

“Leaving aside how recruiting men will attract the court’s suspicion, do you have any idea how much it costs to maintain such an army every day? Even if we sold Yue Family Manor ten times over, we still couldn’t afford it!”

Hearing this, Yue Yang smiled instead. He said softly but firmly, “Grandmother, you’re mistaken. Your grandson believes we can afford it!”

Seeing that she was about to get angry again, Yue Yang quickly added, “Grandmother, please don’t be upset. Let your grandson explain carefully.”

Then Yue Yang said with certainty, “Grandmother, you should know that the rice seeds and wheat seeds I mentioned last time have already been obtained. I can guarantee that their yield is at least six hundred jin per mu. Moreover, I’ve also acquired two drilling machines made by the Franks. With their speed—two wells a day—we can drill over a hundred irrigation wells within two months. That way, our good farmland will no longer lack water for irrigation.

“Once the ten thousand-plus mu of land at Yue Family Manor have a bumper harvest, even calculating at only three hundred jin per mu, twelve thousand-plus mu will yield at least three million jin of grain. Think about it—three million jin of grain is enough to feed ten thousand soldiers for half a year, with some left over. Then your grandson will procure another batch of weapons, and our militia will be complete.

“With such a militia in place, not to mention Yingzhou Prefecture—even if the entire Shanxi were thrown into turmoil, who would dare to look down on our Yue Family Manor!”

“Hiss…”

Hearing this, the old madam’s eyes widened. It was as if she were seeing him for the first time. She carefully examined him from head to toe for a long while before finally saying, “Grandson, if you weren’t someone I’ve watched grow up since childhood, I truly wouldn’t dare believe that you’re the same obedient grandson who used to do nothing but bury himself in books. Your changes are simply beyond my understanding. Why have you changed so much compared to before?”

Hearing this question, Yue Yang felt a dull ache in his head. He gave a bitter smile before replying, “Grandmother, perhaps that group led by Wang Chenglin finally woke your grandson up. Now I’ve come to see things clearly—these days, the world is already showing signs of chaos. Whoever has soldiers in hand is the boss. Otherwise, in a time of turmoil, no matter how much money or grain you have, you’ll still become meat on someone else’s chopping block.”

After hearing this, the old madam sighed softly. “Sigh… Grandson, your change is truly too great—so great that even your grandmother can’t see through it anymore. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. But rest assured, no matter what you do, your grandmother will support you. After all, you are the apple of your grandmother’s eye.”

Hearing this, Yue Yang’s heart trembled. How could he not understand? The old madam’s affection for him had already gone beyond all bounds. Even when he wanted to do something so dangerous, she still supported him unconditionally. This was a grandparent’s unconditional love for her grandson.

That said, Yue Yang was not a reckless brute who only knew how to charge ahead blindly. He knew full well that in this era, rashly pulling together a force of ten thousand men would be shocking beyond measure. If he truly did that, he would likely be wiped out by imperial troops before he even finished recruiting.

Yue Yang smiled as he moved behind the old madam, reached out, and began pounding her back. Smiling, he said, “Grandmother, don’t worry. Your grandson isn’t that foolish—I won’t make such a huge splash all at once. As the saying goes, you eat one bite at a time, and you do things step by step. You can’t become fat in a single mouthful.

“For the first batch, your grandson only plans to recruit one thousand militiamen. That way, it won’t appear too conspicuous. Once those thousand men are well trained, we’ll at least have the ability to protect ourselves. The Wang, Li, and Lin families won’t dare push us too hard anymore.”

“And there’s another advantage as well—the matter of our high-yield seeds is bound to leak sooner or later. With this strength in hand, others will at least not dare to press us as aggressively as they did this time, right?”

As he said this, a cold glint flashed through Yue Yang’s eyes. At the end of the day, although the drilling machines he bought from the modern world had solved the water crisis, in the face of the aggressive pressure from the three families, how could he not be burning with anger inside? It was just that, at present, the Yue family was the weakest party, so he had no choice but to bow his head and endure.

The old madam, however, thought carefully for a moment and then slowly nodded. Although she was a woman, she knew that in recent years the Yue family’s prestige had long since declined. Fundamentally, aside from the lack of descendants, the most important reason was that in terms of wealth and manpower, the Yue family could not compare to the other three families. That was why they had been forced to the doorstep and even lost control of the Sanggan River.

If Yue Family Manor had such an elite militia guarding it, how could things have come to this?

Thinking of this, a trace of relief appeared in the old madam’s eyes. She finally nodded slowly.
“Very well. Grandson, you’ve persuaded your grandmother. You’ve already seen this matter further ahead than I have. I won’t interfere anymore. However, I must remind you—although a militia is only a group of village soldiers, they still need a true professional to train them. Grandmother doesn’t have anyone to give you. Do you already have someone in mind?”

Hearing this, a helpless bitter smile appeared on Yue Yang’s face. “Grandmother, your grandson really doesn’t have any good candidates yet. But if there truly is no suitable person, then your grandson can only take the field personally.”

Hearing that, a look of astonishment once again appeared in the old madam’s eyes…