The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

On the east side of the thatched hut, against the wall, were several stones piled up on the ground. Wooden planks were laid on the stones, and in the firelight, she could clearly see two layers of straw mats on the planks, and on top of the straw mats was a thick layer of wheat straw.

At this moment, two human-shaped nests were made on the straw, indicating that the two people had been sleeping on it before Pan Jun and the others knocked on the door.

Pan Jun took a few steps inside the house and only when she got close to the wall did she realize that the cracks in the wooden wall were stuffed with straw, but there were still wisps of cold wind squeezing in through the cracks.

Pan Yun remained silent.

The two elderly people, their backs hunched over, reached westward and dragged over two low stools for them to sit down.

There were only two stools, so he gathered a pile of straw and invited Miaozhen and the others to sit down.

Pan Yun walked over and sat down, while Miao Zhen and the other two stood obediently behind her without sitting.

The two old people immediately understood that Pan Yun's status was higher than theirs.

The two old people didn't mind. They sat cross-legged on the straw, their cloudy eyes wide as they looked at Pan Yun, and asked in hoarse voices, "You just said, who are you?"

Pan Yun said, "I think I need to reintroduce myself. I am Pan Yun, the Grand Preceptor of the Great Ming Dynasty. Your address was given to me by Yu Qian, the Minister of War and Grand Secretary."

"The Grand Preceptor of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes, which of you is Zhao Shizhu?"

The old man who opened the door for Pan Jun said, "This is me, and this is Hu Ning, a fellow soldier of Zhao."

Pan Yun: "Scouts Zhao Shizhu and Hu Ning, are you willing to return to the team?"

Without a second thought, the two men got up from the ground and stood up, firmly declaring, "Zhao Shizhu (Hu Ning) is willing to rejoin the team and swear to serve the Ming Dynasty to the death!"

Pan Yun asked in surprise, "You all believe what I said?"

Zhao Shizhu grinned and said, “I don’t know if you are the Imperial Advisor, but you must be from the Ming Dynasty. It is rare to see Han Chinese from the Central Plains in this small town. Your accents are still the same, and your faces do not even show any signs of travel. You must be from my prosperous Ming Dynasty. Whether what you say is true or not, at least you are not lying about this point.”

"We only have two worthless lives left, so what if we're lying?"

Pan Yun solemnly said, "I am not lying to you. I am indeed the Grand Preceptor of the Ming Dynasty. I have come to you to rearrange the border strategies of the Ming Dynasty."

Pan Jun looked at Miao He and said in a low voice, "Bring out some food. It's late at night, the dew is heavy, and the weather is cold. We should eat something hot."

Miaohe agreed, and together with Tao Yanbai, they took out rice, flour, and some meat and vegetables from their jade space and started cooking porridge over the stove lit by the two veterans.

Both of them clearly had bad teeth, and porridge was convenient.

The two veterans were dumbfounded as they watched as the men magically produced various items from their sleeves.

Pan Yun didn't explain, but went straight to asking about their situation.

While answering Pan Yun's question, the two veterans also kept an eye on Miao and the other two's movements.

Their small team consisted of six people who made it to this small town alive back then.

Later, one person died in a conflict with the locals, and another went out to deliver the message but disappeared.

They estimated that most of the people died on the road.

So when the second messenger was sent back to deliver the message, it was the two of them who went.

They successfully returned to the Ming Dynasty, but they were too old and never came back.

"I heard that they died of illness less than a year after they returned. It took them four years to travel back to the Ming Dynasty. They must have suffered too many hardships on the way and their bodies couldn't take it anymore," Zhao Shizhu said. "But we did re-establish contact with the border army. For more than ten years afterward, caravans from the Ming Dynasty would occasionally bring us letters and goods."

Pan Yun said, "The border troops received a letter from you eight years ago, saying that you had trained a group of people here?"

Zhao Shizhu smiled bitterly: "That letter was written ten years ago. I never expected it would take two years to arrive. At that time, we heard that the late emperor had passed away and the new emperor was young. We were afraid that war would break out on the border again, so we specifically inquired about the distribution of Oirat troops."

"Although the city we live in is small, it is on the border and is occupied by a large army of the Oirat. Ever since Emperor Taizu Gao seized the throne, the remnants of the former Yuan dynasty have been unwilling to accept it, especially the so-called Golden Family."

Zhao Shizhu and Hu Ning lived among the Mongols and naturally understood their mentality. He said, "Ordinary people are fine. Whether the emperor is a Han or a Mongol noble, they live the same life. Moreover, the former Yuan emperors were not as good as the emperors of our Great Ming Dynasty. They suppressed these tribal people and treated them as serfs."

"But the tribal nobles were not content and always wanted to recreate the glory of their ancestors. Among them, the Oirat and Tatar tribes even had the ambition to surpass the Golden Family."

Zhao Shizhu frowned and said, "However, our Great Ming Dynasty is not prepared enough against the Oirat. Although I am at the border, I can still receive some news. The court has been rewarding the Oirat generously, and the Oirat has also used this opportunity to subdue the various tribes of the grasslands and suppress the Tatar tribe so much that they cannot raise their heads."

"Ten years ago, we realized that if things continued this way, the Oirat tribe would become too powerful. If they were to subdue other tribes, they might even march south and invade our Great Ming. So we wrote back, using plain language to inform them of our address and coded language to urge them to strengthen their border defenses. If there was a way to sow discord among the various tribes of the grasslands, making them unable to submit to the Oirat, that would be ideal. But... alas..."

Pan Yun thought to himself: Even two low-ranking veterans could see the problem, yet the Ming court was completely unaware of it, and border defense was neglected.

Moreover, when such an important letter was sent back, they only extracted an address and a name, without recording anything else. No wonder Zhu Qizhen rushed to the border without knowing anything and suffered a great defeat.

“Less than a year after the letter was sent out, war broke out here. First, two nearby tribes fought over land. After it was finally settled, the Oirat attacked the neighboring Nogai Khanate. The children we adopted either volunteered or were forced to participate in the war, resulting in huge casualties.”

Zhao Shizhu sighed, "The dead are buried outside the city, and the living are scattered in the wilderness. In the end, only the two of us old fogies will keep each other company."

Pan Yun: "How come your house is gone?"

Zhao Shizhu smiled bitterly: "Those children have been with us for twenty years. They are not our own children, but they are better than our own. The dead need to be buried, and the living need to be treated and kept alive. When we didn't have enough money, we sold the house. We had nowhere to go, so we could only build a wooden shed here to live."

Hu Ning: "Fortunately, our skills are still there, and we are better than the people here. We can build a place that can shelter us from the wind and snow. If it were someone else, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to survive the whole winter."

Pan Yun touched the straw strips in the crack and said disdainfully, "Is this what you call impressive? At least you guys build a mud house, what can this wooden house keep out of?"

Hu Ning: "The Taoist priest will understand after living here for three months. Mud houses are not easy to build, and even if you build them, you can't keep them."

“This is not the Ming Dynasty. It’s hard to find sticky soil here. We can build houses with stones, but we are old and most of the children are disabled and can no longer protect us. If we build good houses, we will die even faster.”

Here, houses can be seized, and no government will stand up for them.

Pan Yun understood immediately and frowned, saying, "So, even if I give you things, you won't be able to keep them?"

A glint flashed in Zhao Shizhu's eyes, and he grinned, saying, "With enough money, we can hold out even if we're physically weak."

Pan Yun understood. They didn't have enough money, so they couldn't protect their houses. But if they had enough money, they could protect even the most luxurious houses.

Pan Jun slapped his thigh and said, "Alright, I'll lend you a hand." Miao He had finished cooking the meat porridge, and the aroma wafted out of the pot. Zhao Shizhu and Hu Ning's eyes had already drifted over, and they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

Pan Yun said, "Bring your bowls here, let's eat."

The two veterans carried two large wooden bowls; there weren't even any porcelain bowls here, and they dug these two large wooden bowls themselves.

There were very few living supplies in the house; there were only two pairs of chopsticks, which they had made themselves from wooden strips.

The two veterans said, "The locals don't use chopsticks; they eat with knives or their hands. We found it very difficult to get used to this, so we made our own chopsticks."

The veteran looked troubled, but in the end he reluctantly gave the wooden bowl and chopsticks to Pan Jun so that the guest could eat first.

Pan Yun pushed it back, saying, "We brought bowls."

She took out a bowl and a pair of chopsticks from her sleeve, and the other three silently took out their own bowls and chopsticks as well.

The veteran stared wide-eyed at the three men's sleeves, remaining silent.

The veteran silently ate a large bowl of hot porridge. Water was scarce in this place, so they licked the bowl clean and put it aside. They then silently climbed into bed, covered themselves with straw, and closed their eyes.

Tao Yanbai exclaimed incredulously, "Sigh, how could they..."

Pan Yun raised her hand to stop him, and Miao Zhen said thoughtfully, "They don't think they're dreaming, do they?"

The two veterans opened their eyes, glanced at them, and then silently closed their eyes again.

Pan Yun smiled, not minding at all. She took out two quilts and covered them with them, then opened the door and went out. She walked around outside, wrapped three wooden sticks in yellow talismans, found the right spot, and stuck them in. The cold wind that squeezed into the house was instantly blocked outside.

Pan Yun opened the door and went back inside. The stove was burning, and the temperature in the room quickly rose. She then said to Miao Zhen and the other two, "Let's rest for a while and talk again when it gets light."

The three agreed, sat cross-legged on the thatched floor, and began practicing their internal energy cultivation with Pan Yun.

Pan Yun had been cultivating all night. When she opened her eyes, the three of them were already sprawled around her. Pan Xiaohei was curled up in Miao He's arms, fast asleep. It was so dark last night that the two old soldiers in the room hadn't even noticed that there was a black cat crawling on them.

Pan Yun patted Pan Xiaohei's head and looked up at the wooden bed next to her.

The two veterans had woken up at some point, but instead of getting out of bed, they just stared at them with their big eyes wide open.

The three stared at each other for a long time, until Zhao Shizhu finally couldn't help but yawn, turned his back to Pan Yun, and muttered, "Why did this dream take so long?"

Hu Ning muttered, "I'm holding my pee. If I don't wake up soon, am I going to wet the bed?"

Zhao Shizhu had already closed his eyes, but upon hearing this, he jumped up and kicked Hu Ning, saying, "If you dare to pee in the kennel, I'll kick you out to get soaked in the snow!"

Hu Ning hissed and hugged his leg, saying, "Are you trying to kick me to death?!"

Zhao Shizhu's toes also hurt from the kick, and he hissed twice while holding his foot.

Then both of them froze at the same time, looked down at the blankets still covering them, and stiffly turned to look at the other side of the room.

A young girl was still sitting on the ground, and three young men were lying on the ground; the details were crystal clear.

Zhao Shizhu blinked hard, then opened his eyes wide, his mouth trembling slightly: "It...it wasn't a dream?"

The two of them made too much noise, and Miaozhen and the other two, who were lying down, finally got up with furrowed brows. Because of the strange sleeping position they had been in for half a night, their bodies were stiff and they felt very uncomfortable.

Opening his eyes, he met the gazes of the two veterans and mumbled a greeting: "Good morning~~"

The three of them got up from the ground one after another. Miaozhen stretched and opened the door to go out, intending to let the cold wind wake her up.

Miaohe rubbed her eyes and lifted the pot lid, mumbling, "Junior Uncle, what's for breakfast?"

Tao Yanbai went to poke the stove, muttering, "There's not even any charcoal in this house, and not much firewood left either..."

The two veterans looked on incredulously. After a long while, a scream came from inside the house, waking up everyone on the street.

People started peeking out of their doors, especially those living next to the wooden sheds; they had smelled the aroma of food last night.

This fragrance only used to emanate from the homes of those two elderly people, but it has been rarely smelled in recent years.

They all felt that the two elderly people had finally reached the end of their lives and wanted to treat themselves better.

Therefore, they were prepared to lose two elderly people today, but upon hearing this "ow," they felt that they had only lost one.

So they dressed, prepared their sorrowful expressions, and opened the door to help their neighbor collect the body. But when they opened the door, they saw four young, unfamiliar teenagers stretching and kicking their legs at the entrance of the thatched shed, making strange movements.

Pan Yun is leading her junior apprentice in practicing boxing.

After finishing a set of Eight Pieces of Brocade, she immediately started practicing Tai Chi. When she finished, her whole body felt warm and incredibly comfortable.

The two veterans inside finally accepted this unexpected surprise. They opened the door and came out, their eyes filled with tears as they looked at Pan Jun and the other three: "Last night wasn't a dream after all! Daoist Master, oh no, Imperial Advisor, how about we start over? You can ask me the questions from last night again."

He felt that his answer last night was particularly bad, as it failed to highlight the bravery and indomitable spirit of his team, especially his fallen comrades.

Pan Yun smiled and said, "We'll talk in detail after we finish eating."

Hearing them speaking in a language they couldn't understand, the neighbor couldn't help but call out, "Hey, Uncle Zhao, who are they?"

Pan Yun understood and turned to Zhao Shizhu, saying, "I said you are my great-uncle. I came here to find my relatives on my grandfather's orders."

Zhao Shizhu immediately introduced Pan Yun and the other three to his neighbors, saying they were his grand-nephews and relatives from his hometown who had come to visit him.

The neighbors were delighted to hear this and brought out a basin of milk from their home for him to serve the guests.

Zhao Shizhu happily accepted it and went inside to heat up the milk.

Miaohe followed behind him, and somehow produced two wooden buckets with water inside.

Zhao Shizhu could feel that the temperature inside the room was different from usual; not a breath of wind had gotten in. He and Hu Ning exchanged a glance and neither of them asked any questions.

Having lived to their age, what is there that they cannot accept? (End of Chapter)