Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 674 Golden Race
In Kaiyuan Prefecture, the autumn harvest is approaching, and the wheat in the fields is ripening for a bountiful harvest.

Zhu Laosan, a soldier of the Kaiyuan Prefecture Guard, was brushing his warhorse by the ditch. Not far away, in a row of wooden courtyards, his wife, who had come from Ryukyu, was packing her luggage with her child on her back.

Like most of the guardsmen, Zhu Laosan distinguished himself in military training and became a professional soldier.

The downside of this job is that you're often away from home, and you only get three months of vacation a year. The upside is that you're exempt from all taxes and corvée labor, and your wife doesn't have to work in the fields; she can work for a government-run labor service company.

Soldiers' salaries were low, only ten silver dollars a month, but the couple owned two hundred acres of permanent farmland. The government organized people to help cultivate the land, and they received 30% of the land rent each year.

As one of the earliest colonists to arrive in Kaiyuan Prefecture, Zhu Laosan had a so-so feeling for this place, but deep down he missed his hometown, a place called Fengyang Prefecture.

He had gone out with the villagers to perform operas and beg for food when he discovered that someone was recruiting immigrants. As the eldest son in the family, Zhu Laosan decided to sell himself for fifty silver dollars and have his younger brother take it home.

Zhu Laosan's greatest wish in his childhood was for his family to have enough to eat. Unfortunately, Fengyang was a cursed place, with nine out of ten years being barren. Things had actually improved a lot in the last ten years, but his family were tenant farmers, and working for landlords wouldn't change their fate. It was better to emigrate by sea and try their luck.

Zhu Laosan would never admit that he sold himself because he couldn't resist the temptation of the fifty silver dollars settlement fee.

Yes, Zhu Laosan initially thought it was just about selling himself into servitude, but when he went with the human traffickers, he realized that it wasn't quite like that.

First, he was well-fed, with plenty of cornbread. When he was sent to Dengzhou, the food was improved, and he could eat fish and meat at every meal. When he was sent to Ryukyu, he was put to intensive training for six months. During these six months, Zhu Laosan was given a so-called uniform and a decent cotton-padded coat, cotton-padded shoes, and a pair of gloves for winter.

The training was tough, but Zhu Laosan gritted his teeth and persevered, achieving the top overall score among the team of 100.

Before boarding the ship to cross the sea, the captain handed him a Japanese woman and told him, "This is your wife. Take good care of her and don't let anyone kidnap her."

My Japanese wife is great in every way, except we can't understand each other's language. It's a good thing I have her, otherwise this long sea voyage would have driven me crazy. It took about eight months, including a stop in a very cold place, before we finally arrived at our new home. My Japanese wife has also learned some basic Chinese.

Hope is a mysterious thing. From his initial desperate struggle of selling himself into servitude to now having a house, a wife, and a son, Zhu Laosan is full of fighting spirit and determined to create a future for his son.

The warhorse has a tuft of gray hair between its eyebrows, so it is also called "Gray Cat". This horse is tall and strong, and it is completely unlike the Mongolian horses that you can see in my hometown.

Beside the gray cat was a packhorse; one person and two horses were standard equipment for guards.

Leading the brushed horse back to the stable, pouring on the special horse feed, adding four eggs, stirring, and sprinkling with salt, the work of serving the horse is finally finished.

The Japanese woman's name is Keiko. Her short stature is a drawback. Zhu Laosan, who is 1.8 meters tall, feels ashamed when he takes his wife out with him, as if he is taking his daughter's hand.

The luggage was packed, and the diligent wife, Huizi, was making pancakes in the kitchen, a skill she had learned at the service company.

Feeling something hard in his backpack, Zhu Laosan sighed softly but didn't say anything.

The dry rifle was taken down from the wall and disassembled. Every part was carefully wiped with gun oil and a rag. The squad leader said that on the battlefield, a gun is a soldier's life.

After cleaning the rifle, Zhu Laosan took off the revolver from his waist and wiped it clean. The gun was good in every way, except that it had few bullets. Each person was only issued thirty rounds, and after the daily training was over, the spent cartridges had to be collected and returned.

Huizi, always with a smile on her face, came out to call Zhu Laosan for dinner. Her son, who was just learning to speak, shouted loudly at Zhu Laosan, which made Zhu Laosan chuckle憨厚ly.

The meal was simple: a large pot of stewed wild beef in an iron pot, a plate of stir-fried bok choy, a bowl of fermented bean paste, and a basket of steamed buns.

This time, I only stayed for ten days, which was a short holiday. Zhu Laosan made sure to finish all the things that needed to be done at home in time.

As dusk settled, Zhu Laosan took his son out for a stroll, while Huizi finished tidying up at home and quickly washed herself. Every time a holiday began or neared its end, Huizi worried that her robust man would be thoroughly exhausted. She didn't know how long she would have to wait for that agonizing feeling before her man finally got his holiday.

Before dawn, Zhu Laosan got up in the dark, saddled the horse, checked its hooves, and attached various equipment. When he led the horse out of the stable, he could still see the morning star when he looked up.

Keiko stood silently at the door, watching the man leave before whispering, "Take care! You must come back!"

Zhu Laosan didn't turn around. He gently spurred the horse's belly, and Gray Cat, receiving the command, trotted up lightly, with the packhorse beside it also trotting along.

More and more hoofbeats converged from all directions, forming a long dragon that stretched along the road into the distance.

After leaving Kaiyuan Prefecture, Zhu Laosan's cavalry unit traveled eastward for five days before entering a small town.

The town has about 500 households, surrounded by a wooden wall and a moat more than two meters wide and one meter deep.

This place is already on the edge of Kaiyuan Prefecture, and the town serves as a window for trade with the indigenous people. Every few days, indigenous people come to trade.

The methods of trading are very flexible. It can be barter or helping with work, such as clearing land and digging ditches. As long as you are willing, you can always find work to do.

Team leader Long Yi went to the town mayor's office and returned with a grim expression. He called a meeting and said, "Things have been unsettled lately. According to the natives who come here to trade, a violent tribe is migrating here. It's a matter of life and death, so everyone be on your guard."

As the platoon leader, Zhu Laosan didn't press for details; he simply obeyed orders.

"I've already sent someone to deliver a message to the commander overnight, and I've also sent someone to the third team, which is the closest, to warn them to be careful. I'm just afraid they might encounter a large tribe."

After the meeting, Zhu Laosan returned to his platoon and told his brothers to get some rest, saying that news might come tomorrow.

The next morning, team leader Long Yi found Zhu Laosan and said, "You all scatter out and scout in several directions, but don't go too far. I hope the mayor's worries are unnecessary."

Zhu Laosan immediately gave the order: the three squads set off in three different directions to scout out the surrounding area.

The relationship between the colonists and the natives was complex, involving numerous tribes with varying degrees of harmony. There were also unfamiliar tribes from other regions, and conflicts could easily erupt between them.

Indigenous tribes have a tradition of following the migration of bison herds. Some tribes only settled down after learning to cultivate crops, but these are a minority.

There have been several recent incidents of indigenous people seizing settlements, none of them large-scale, but the town mayor is worried that bigger incidents are yet to come.

As soon as it was light, the town came alive with activity as people busied themselves harvesting the wheat in the fields. The guards were also busy, some keeping watch while others helped with the harvest.

Zhu Laosan led a platoon of cavalry eastward for a whole morning, until they reached a mountaintop where they gazed eastward at the surrounding mountains.

Suddenly, Zhu Laosan pulled out his binoculars and looked at the valley entrance in the distance. At first, only a few people appeared, natives on horseback, the leader of whom wore feathers on his head. More and more natives appeared, numbering over a hundred.

"You few stay here, the rest of you come with me, let's go take a look!" Zhu Laosan urged his warhorse to gallop towards the foot of the mountain, and then along the river in the valley.

The team split into two, with half of the members staying on the mountain to keep watch and be ready to provide support at any time.

Upon spotting Zhu Laosan and his group, the natives made a whistling sound, instantly raising a cloud of dust as they gave chase. Clearly, this was no friendly tribe, and Zhu Laosan didn't hesitate to turn his horse around and gallop back.

Back at the mountain pass, smoke signals had already been lit. The town was lucky; there was only one pass in this direction, otherwise they would have had to take a detour.

The catching-up natives numbered about fifty or sixty on horseback. After glancing at the terrain of the mountain pass, Zhu Laosan ordered, "Prepare for battle!"

The group immediately took up advantageous terrain, aiming down at what lay ahead. The natives approaching the mountain pass became cautious, slowing their pace and moving cautiously, with muskets at hand, ready to retaliate at any moment.

"Fire!" When they were within 100 meters, Zhu Laosan gave the order to fire. The breech-loading rifles, although still using black powder, had a slightly shorter range than the muzzle-loading Minié rounds, but a much higher rate of fire.

The natives, caught off guard, did not panic but instead prepared to retaliate. However, their opponents were firing from the ground at a distance, making it difficult to aim. They could only endure the fire and advance.

As for how Zhu Laosan distinguished between friendly and unfriendly natives, his method was simple: if only one or two people approached, they were definitely friendly trading partners. If dozens came at once, they were definitely there to rob them. Not all natives are the same; some tribes secretly rely on force and are difficult to communicate with.

Fifty-odd native cavalrymen charged forward. Zhu Laosan steadily held his rifle, aimed, fired, loaded, aimed again, and fired, hitting two targets.

There were only two chances to fire at this distance, but that was enough. The grenade was removed: "Throw the grenade!"

After a series of explosions, the morale of the natives remained unknown, but the horses began to run wildly out of control.

Zhu Laosan calmly picked up his rifle, loaded it, aimed, and fired. The natives ran away.

The battle was short and intense, lasting no more than three minutes. At least half of the natives remained, and three more struggled to run away, abandoning their wounded warhorses and limping back.

The indigenous group in the distance stopped, unsure of their opponent's strength and unwilling to take any risks.

The tribal chief also knew that there was a group of outsiders to the west who didn't look so white; they were said to be gentler and easier to bully, unlike the white people to the east, who were extremely vicious.

Zhu Laosan gestured for his men to mount their horses, while he kept a close eye on the large group of natives ahead. Through the binoculars, it was clear that a continuous stream of horse-drawn carts was emerging from the valley.

After seeing that the enemy had gathered a cavalry force of at least two hundred men, Zhu Laosan did not hesitate at all, turned around and mounted his horse: "Retreat!"

They left without even cleaning up the battlefield, their departure was remarkably swift.

Zhu Laosan and his group did not go far. Instead, they walked about two kilometers before finding a small hillside to continue observing the indigenous tribe with binoculars.

If they're scared off and migrate in a different direction, that would be best. Considering the bison herd's migration route, they should have reached this area recently, so Zhu Laosan has no good hopes left.

There are some small hills in this area, which are quite suitable for observation from a high vantage point.

If the indigenous tribes leave the valley and head straight for Dongjing Town, a battle will be inevitable.

Upon discovering the smoke rising from the east in the town, the town mayor and officers immediately became alarmed and ordered the harvested wheat to be transported back to the town as quickly as possible.

Despite the fact that thousands of acres of wheat had not yet been harvested, they had no choice but to order a halt to the harvest.

The town's beacon fires were also lit, and thick smoke rose like pillars, visible from a great distance.

Because there was only one smoke signal, it was confirmed after seeing it from a distance that the danger was still a day away from Dongjing Town.

Zhu Laosan finally determined that the natives were heading towards Dongjing Town. Instead of turning back to the town, they led their men south and hid in a forest to continue observing the enemy's situation.

The indigenous tribesmen, having suffered setbacks, undoubtedly slowed down. After the vanguard was reinforced with at least three hundred cavalrymen, Zhu Laosan observed that the tribe numbered about three thousand, including about eight hundred able-bodied men.

Upon discovering that the advance troops of the natives were only 200 meters away from the woods, Zhu Laosan ordered them to open fire, fire one shot, and leave without even checking the results.

The volley fire was only moderately effective, hitting only two targets, but it successfully enraged the natives, causing hundreds of cavalry to break away from the main force and give chase.

The natives had clearly never studied military strategy and did not know the principle of not entering the forest. After chasing them into the woods, they tripped over a grenade, and dozens of people perished in the continuous explosions.

Zhu Laosan and his group, having emerged from the woods, showed no intention of going far. Instead, they stopped on a hillside several hundred meters away, calmly watching the natives who had miraculously survived and were still shaken.

Anger, frustration, a desire to pursue and seek revenge, yet fear of being ambushed—these perfectly illustrate the natives' feelings at this moment.

The presence of hundreds of horses and a caravan indicates that this indigenous tribe possessed considerable fighting strength. At least when facing other indigenous tribes, they were very powerful.

Actually, this tribe called the Mountain Eagles came from the east; they fled west after being defeated by the white settlers. Previously, this tribe was larger, numbering over five thousand.

After two brief skirmishes that day, the tribal chief realized that these outsiders were even more difficult to deal with.

These people are said to be from Jinshan, and they are even more powerful than white people.

I had only heard about it before, but this time I actually encountered it. In just one encounter, we lost more than fifty soldiers. It hurt so much.

As the sun began to set, the Mountain Eagle Tribe finally stopped and set up camp to rest.

Further east in New York Harbor, ships from the other side of the Atlantic brought new news and waves of new immigrants.

While Europe was still at war, a new theory was emerging. A renowned scholar published his latest research findings: the people of the Zhou Empire on the mysterious eastern continent were a golden race, belonging to the most evolved race in the world.

This claim, once released, alarmed Europe and quickly spread to the United States.

This view has been endorsed by many European scholars and thinkers who have consistently denigrated Europe, claiming that it has not yet emerged from the darkness and barbarity of the Middle Ages.

The most fervent advocates were British and French scholars. British scholars argued that the Ansar people's bloodline was slightly inferior to that of the Golden Race, which was why they were accepted by the Golden Race-dominated Zhou Empire, leading to the signing of a peace and friendship treaty, and the two countries maintained robust trade relations. In contrast, the Gallic people, through deception, were able to sign a friendship treaty with the Zhou Empire.

British newspapers spared no effort in slandering the French envoy D'Artagnan, saying that he brought a Gypsy woman with him to impersonate a nobleman, and that he was exposed by the nobles of the Zhou Empire and suffered various humiliations. These stories were not fabricated by the British, but were published in articles in the newspapers of the Zhou Empire.

British newspapers also vilified the Spanish, saying that although they arrived early, they were not accepted by the Zhou Empire and were not able to sign a friendly treaty because their deception in the Zhou Empire was exposed.

French scholars, not to be outdone, wrote articles pointing out that the British were all pirates who only gained acceptance from the Zhou Empire by following the French. The French also accepted the so-called "golden race" theory, citing letters between Louis XVI and Emperor Chenghui as evidence that the French and the Zhou Empire had an equal and friendly relationship. They argued that although Louis XVI was corrupt and reactionary, he was addressed as a brother by the Zhou emperor, and the two countries were indeed brotherly nations.

This glory belongs exclusively to France! The British could only look up from their island islands, trembling with fear at Napoleon's military might, and dared not fight back.

(End of this chapter)