Chapter Forty-Seven: The Welcome

A new year brings new beginnings, and now the Huangmen Pavilion is nothing like the struggling place it was last year.

After a year in Xinye, they strictly followed Shen Chen's methods: recruiting refugees, cultivating wasteland, and building estates. Now, they possess over twenty thousand acres of farmland and a total population of about two thousand. The clan soldiers, who numbered fifty at midyear, have grown to one hundred twenty. These men need not work the fields; their days are spent training, sharpening their combat skills. Although their numbers are not large, Shen Chen’s requirements are for elite training, never prioritizing quantity over quality.

Deng Mao and Shen Zhen had served as regular troops on the Han border in their youth, fighting the Xianbei in their heyday more than a decade ago. They deeply understood how to forge military elites. Under their guidance, these hundred and twenty men are now a small but formidable force.

Recently, a Yellow Turban bandit stronghold in the Dabie Mountains, seeing the wealth of Huangmen Pavilion’s estate, sent over a thousand men to attack. Yet they were utterly routed. The key to this victory was not merely the soldiers’ bravery—many faced their first battle, and, outnumbered ten to one, fear was only natural—but their superior equipment.

Their weapons were steel ring-hilted sabers, their torsos clad in small lamellar armor, their gear overwhelmingly superior. The Yellow Turban soldiers, by contrast, wielded ordinary wrought iron sabers, many chipped or rusted. The worst among them carried cast iron kitchen knives, farming tools, hoes, stones, and sticks; not a single suit of armor was to be found. With such a gap in equipment, the Huangmen Pavilion troops were impervious to blades, able to cleave enemy weapons in two with a single stroke. Unable to compete, the Yellow Turban soldiers, led by Deng Zhao and Shen Zhen, were swiftly routed.

The reasons for Huangmen Pavilion’s excellent equipment are twofold. First, the advent of the blast furnace steelmaking method. Though the Han dynasty possessed steelmaking, known as the “炒钢法,” an advanced technique for decarburizing iron, it depended on producing steel from pig iron. If decarburization was insufficient, the result was wrought iron; too much, and the furnace lacked the temperature to produce molten steel. Mastery of decarburization was essential—too little yielded only wrought iron, too much, brittle iron. Using charcoal, their furnaces could not reach the temperatures needed for molten steel, so they invented “hundred-forged steel”: heating wrought iron to near white-hot, hammering it repeatedly to expel impurities, refine grain, and improve performance. Though effective, this method was inefficient—a single piece of steel required thousands of hammer blows. Any mistake by the smith could ruin the entire effort. Thus, even with the steelmaking method, Han dynasty steel output was low, reliant on highly skilled smiths, and impossible to mass-produce.

Shen Chen, however, built blast furnaces and used the “casting steel method,” heating iron ore to liquid, mixing in wrought iron, and letting chemical reactions produce molten steel directly. Efficiency soared. Before the Tang dynasty’s casting steel method, the nation’s steel output was paltry—only 17,855 tons in over two centuries of Western Han. After Tang and Song, annual output reached tens of thousands of tons, and by Ming and Qing, two hundred thousand tons per year. The casting steel method was a revolutionary leap. While not as industrialized as eighteenth-century Britain’s steam-powered eighty million tons, it was still thousands of times more efficient than forging.

The second direct reason was Nanyang’s abundant resources. A vast plain rivaling the Guanzhong Basin, it produced coal, iron, and other vital minerals. Over a dozen Han-era iron smelting sites have been unearthed near modern Nanyang city; many more remain undiscovered. The reserves are astonishing. The Shahe area near Huangmen Pavilion surely holds mineral deposits, though most are buried underground, not open-pit. Han mining techniques could only exploit surface ores; deeper ones were either undiscovered or impossible to mine. Fortunately, nearby Fuyang County, later known as Tongbai County, was a major iron producer, with Tongbai Mountain (formerly known as Dafu Mountain) housing enormous open-pit iron veins, as later archaeological finds reveal.

In fact, Tongbai Mountain has always been rich in minerals, with countless small and medium mining enterprises in later eras. Its depths hold vast amounts of gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, and iron—a world-class resource. Han-era mining could not extract the hundreds of tons of gold, thousands of tons of silver, or tens of millions of tons of iron, copper, zinc, lead, and alkali discovered in later times. Even so, the exposed natural iron ores were already abundant; thirteen Han iron-smelting sites have been found in Tongbai County alone, and many more remain hidden. The reserves are staggering. Combined with resources from other parts of Nanyang, exploited for over a thousand years without exhaustion, the region’s natural wealth is clear.

In this sense, Nanyang truly is a treasure land. Yet, caught in the crossfire of the Central Plains, constant warfare prevented its riches from being fully utilized. Though the Nanyang basin’s resources remain largely untapped, Huangmen Pavilion is gradually growing thanks to them. Perhaps, in the future, it could serve as a base from which to expand.

On December 26th, Deng Hong returned to Huangmen Pavilion with his new bride and Shen Chen. Deng Mao and others led the elders in welcoming them.

Huangmen Pavilion is now transformed: fertile fields stretching endlessly, roads crisscrossing, farms, villages, ponds, and mulberry groves rising everywhere. Beyond farming, there are traditional silk and hemp industries, livestock breeding, and animal husbandry—a vast estate economy in its own right. In the Eastern Han, the great families built their local power on such estates. Now, the Deng clan has established a similar manor, with some serving as officials under Liu Biao, and the Deng family’s heritage is just enough to make them local gentry.

Shen Chen and his party traveled by boat from Xiangyang, up the Bai River, disembarked at Xinye, and then proceeded toward Huangmen Pavilion along the Shahe. The welcoming team awaited at the western village entrance.

Led by Deng Mao, many newly recruited refugees lined the road to greet them; for several kilometers, the way was crowded with Huangmen Pavilion’s people as the convoy approached from the west.

Such a grand reception served two purposes. First, to display the Deng clan’s power to the new bride, lest she disdain her husband if his family lacked strength. Second, to reassure the common folk. Most newcomers were refugees from war-torn Central Plains or Guanzhong, homeless and fearful of war and hunger. If Huangmen Pavilion did not show strength, they would lack a sense of belonging and might flee again. Thus, the welcome was necessary.

Seeing the vast estate, Cai would not look down on the Deng family. The commoners, seeing the Dengs had a high-ranking official under the Governor of Jingzhou as their patron, would also feel secure. It was a win-win.

Yet many wondered: if the Deng clan’s direct heir had taken a bride, why was a child standing beside him? Was it a second marriage? The newcomers whispered among themselves.

“That’s our Deng lord from Huangmen Pavilion, serving under Liu’s command in Jingzhou? He does look distinguished.”

“But the new bride seems…”

“Ah Niu, don’t say anything careless. Without the Dengs, we’d have starved.”

“Huh? Why is there a child beside them?”

“Could it be Deng Lord’s child?”

“No, Deng Lord just married; how could there be a child already?”

Puzzlement abounded. The newcomers did not know why a child accompanied Deng Hong.

In fact, Shen Chen’s leadership at Huangmen Pavilion was deliberately concealed. He insisted on keeping a low profile, for fear of attracting unwanted attention. Also, to preserve clan dignity—if the refugees learned a child was in charge, they might question their choice. Thus, outsiders only knew that Deng Mao, Deng Kai, and other Deng elders managed affairs internally, and externally, Deng Hong, the official under Liu’s command, was the face of authority. Shen Chen’s existence was unknown.

Shen Chen paid no heed to such titles. Among the upper classes, prodigies were not uncommon; many historical records mention child prodigies like Xiang Tuo and Gan Luo, and even within their circles, prodigies abounded—Kong Rong was one such.

Ordinary folk, however, unlettered and ignorant of history, knew nothing of prodigies and would instinctively distrust a child. As in Xuzhou, had Cao Cao not truly massacred Xiapi, the elders of Huangmen Pavilion would not have believed Shen Chen’s warnings. Thus, there was no need for him to stand out among the masses; it was better for him to influence Deng Mao and others, and let them execute decisions.

Upon entering Huangmen Pavilion, Deng Mao and Deng Kai came forward.

“Elder brother, second brother.”

“Uncle-in-law, second uncle-in-law.”

Cai performed a courteous bow, the common ceremony often seen in dramas: right hand over left, left hand pressed to the hip, legs together, knees bent, head lowered.

Shen Chen, however, hopped off the carriage and called, “Grand uncle, second uncle,” without ceremony.

“You rascal,” Shen Zhen said, grabbing Shen Chen’s ear. “You used to bow to your uncles, but after going to the academy, you’ve forgotten your manners?”

“Ow, ow, ow!” Shen Chen protested, thinking that since he was nearly clan leader, a little lack of ceremony was permissible—besides, they were all familiar elders; bowing daily felt too formal.

But to parents, no matter how capable you are, you’re still a child, and discipline remains. He could do nothing against Shen Zhen.

Deng Hong, kindly, laughed, “In-law, use a bit more force. I think pulling ears isn’t enough; you should spank him instead.”

Shen Chen rolled his eyes.

The commotion was soon quelled by Deng Mao, and the group headed toward the pavilion. Only then did the refugees realize the child was from the Shen family, merely returning from Xiangyang Academy.

Arriving at the pavilion, if the outer dozens of miles still resembled ordinary countryside, the place where the first thousand villagers settled had become an estate. The outer walls were built of bricks fired in kilns and rammed earth, stretching about two li north-south and four li east-west, with numerous houses, towers, and watchposts within. Defensively, these were all for now, but for living, there were vegetable gardens, canals, even some farmland, and underground tunnels leading to the rear forests.

This was a standard Han dynasty manor structure; only by further upgrading could it become a fortress. But the manor was not yet fully developed—defensive works were incomplete, and the tunnel was still being excavated. Specialized military craftsmen were needed, and Huangmen Pavilion lacked such talent. Even Shen Chen did not know how Han-era defensive equipment should be made.

He did know about molten metal defense. Though not exactly a glorious tactic, if faced with a large-scale enemy attack, Shen Chen could only think of using molten metal to repel them.

In the midst of bustle, Deng Hong and Shen Chen were welcomed into the estate, formally entering their domain.

Aunts and cousins surged forward; relatives were everywhere.

Cai immediately felt the warmth of rural life. The relatives showered her with praise—beautiful, kind, virtuous, skilled in managing the household—until she felt shy.

Rural women had formidable tongues; with Deng Hong’s current status, none would foolishly offend him, so the new bride received endless compliments.

Surrounded by relatives, Deng Hong first took Cai to the ancestral hall to pay respects—a standard ritual, marking formal entry into the Deng family.

After the ceremony, the feast began. Unlike the grand banquets of noble clans where each guest had their own table, in the countryside things were simpler. The core figures—Deng Mao, Deng Kai, Deng Hong, Cai—held their banquet in the main house, while the villagers set tables outside, celebrating both the successful harvest and Deng Hong’s marriage.

With the New Year only days away, the elders of Huangmen Pavilion marked its approach in their own fashion, ushering in a prosperous new era.