Puzhou City was lively to the point of feeling unreal, and it left Bin Sheng and his team completely dazzled.
Every street was packed with shops. Snack stalls lined the roads, sizzling and steaming from morning to night. Food was cheap, portions were generous, and the variety was overwhelming. Mixed in among them were all kinds of strange delicacies said to be bestowed by Dao Xuan Tianzun, each one richer and more delicious than the last.
Bin Sheng and the others had no resistance at all.
They dug out the "spy operation funds" Huang Taiji had issued them and began sampling everything in sight. A bite here, a drink there, something curious to try, something interesting to buy. A little at a time, without noticing, the silver began to vanish.
Wandering aimlessly as they ate and spent, they eventually found themselves standing before the Puzhou Grand Theater.
After asking around, they learned that this place showed something called a "movie." That evening, a new one was premiering, titled The Heartless Scholar and the Sentimental Lady.
Bin Sheng checked the remaining funds. According to the principles of reconnaissance, anything unfamiliar in the Great Ming was worth investigating. With that justification firmly in mind, he bought tickets for himself and all ten members of the support team, and they entered the theater together.
The story itself was simple.
A poor scholar set off for the capital to take the imperial examinations. Along the road, he collapsed from hunger. A merchant's daughter happened upon him, saved his life, fed him, cared for him, and gradually fell in love. The two secretly pledged themselves to each other.
The scholar swore that once he achieved success in the examinations, he would return and marry her.
He did achieve success.
Afterward, he married the Prime Minister's daughter and completely forgot the merchant's girl.
In the end, the merchant's daughter threw herself into the river. The scholar rose to become a marquis and later a prime minister.
The story was viciously satirical, a classic piece of critical realism.
Even though they were spies, Bin Sheng and his team could not help but curse the scholar aloud. The entire theater rang with angry shouts.
"That heartless scholar, I know him!"
"He's Xiao Tianzuo from Mu Guiying, and Zu Dashou from Dalinghe!"
"Yes, yes, that's him. He even played Huang Taiji!"
"All the evil in the world, he's done it all himself."
The words "played Huang Taiji" hit Bin Sheng and his men like a hammer. Their expressions stiffened.
"What is this supposed to mean?"
"Are these Han people using our Jin Emperor as entertainment?"
"This must be recorded."
"We need to watch more films and figure out what's going on."
They decided not to leave Puzhou for the time being. Bin Sheng led them to the ticket seller and questioned him at length. After a great deal of effort, they finally obtained the screening schedule for the coming days.
Only then did they piece things together.
The film that featured Huang Taiji was called The Xuan-Da Defense. It depicted the Jin invasion of Xuanfu and Datong several years earlier, as well as the Han defense.
This immediately piqued their interest.
They stayed in Puzhou for three full days, eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves, all while waiting for The Xuan-Da Defense to be re-screened.
Originally, they had expected a film that smeared the Jin people, portraying them as clowns or savages. To their surprise, the movie did not deliberately vilify them at all. Instead, it emphasized the strength of the Jin soldiers.
On screen, the Jin warriors were fierce, highly skilled, and terrifying in combat.
When the Ming troops of Xuan-Da and the local militias clashed with them, they were consistently pushed back, suffering heavy losses.
Again and again, the film hammered home the same message. The Jin soldiers were extremely strong. They could not be taken lightly or dismissed as mere barbarians.
Bin Sheng felt a chill of unease. He whispered to his support team, "These Han people genuinely respect our Jin nation. They don't look down on us the way others do."
The others nodded in agreement.
Near the climax of the film, reinforcements from Gao Family Village arrived. Beneath the walls of Daizhou, they used flintlock rifles and cannons to repel the Jin soldiers, saving the protagonist. The protagonist then joined the Gao Family Village Militia with firm resolve.
The screen faded to black.
Bin Sheng pointed sharply. "There. That part."
One of the support team members whispered, "I know that battle. The troops attacking Daizhou were badly beaten. We always thought it was the Ming Divine Machine Regiment. I never imagined it was the Gao Family Village Militia."
"This intelligence is extremely important," Bin Sheng said quietly. "Remember it."
They had never expected that watching a movie would yield information of such value. It seemed that their spending had not been entirely wasteful after all.
They continued to linger in Puzhou, eating, drinking, and watching films under the excuse of gathering "intelligence." Along the way, they accumulated a strange collection of knowledge, including titles like Dao Xuan Tianzun Demon Slayer The Movie, Summer at the Chang'an Factory, and A Gao Family Village Love Story.
Lao Nanfeng's Flower World Star Agency had begun producing its own films in large numbers. Using crude video-editing software installed on tablet computers, they clumsily stitched scenes together. The special effects were cheap and rough, barely more than five-coin filters.
Even so, the common people loved them.
Bin Sheng and his team found themselves watching one film after another, growing increasingly absorbed.
They had no idea how many days had passed when a support team member finally spoke up in a low voice.
"Boss Bin, the funds are gone."
"What?" Bin Sheng was startled. "Gone already? We brought a whole sack of silver."
"There's too much to enjoy here," the man replied helplessly. "Food, entertainment, movie tickets. We lost track."
Bin Sheng pressed his temples, a headache forming. "What do we do now? This money was meant to bribe Han craftsmen and create opportunities to steal the blueprints for those iron vehicles. With nothing left, how are we supposed to continue?"
Going back to ask for more funds was impossible.
He thought it over carefully, weighing every option.
"We'll earn it back ourselves," he said at last. "We've been here several days now. We understand the customs. In this place, as long as you're willing to work, you can earn good money."
He looked around at his men.
"We need funds, and we need access to the Chang'an Automobile Factory. So why not do both at once? We apply for jobs there, just like in Summer at the Chang'an Factory. We earn money openly, and secretly learn how those great iron vehicles are made. Isn't that the best solution?"
The support team agreed unanimously.
Pooling their remaining coins, they bought eleven train tickets and boarded the train from Puzhou to Xi'an.
When they arrived at the gates of the Chang'an Automobile Factory, the first thing they saw was a large recruitment notice.
The factory was suffering from severe production shortages. Both ordinary trucks and combat armored cars were behind schedule, and workers were desperately needed.
Bin Sheng and his men quietly discussed their approach. Each would enter a different workshop, starting from the most basic labor positions. They would earn wages on the surface, while carefully probing for technical secrets beneath.
The infiltration of the Chang'an Automobile Factory had begun.