Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 128 Cutting out the roots
Hetuala is more than 300 miles away from Fushun City and is the garrison of Jianzhou Zuowei.

The Jurchens in the Ming Dynasty were divided into three groups: the Jianzhou Jurchens located in the south of the Hunhe River, the Haixi Jurchens located in the north of the Hunhe River and reaching the Songhua River in the north, and the Wild Jurchens living around the Changbai Mountains.

The Jianzhou Jurchens were actually not a nomadic civilization, but an agricultural civilization.

It was not until Nurhaci annexed the Haixi Jurchens that he truly possessed cavalry.

It was spring at that time, and the people of Jianzhou Wei were either working hard in the fields, or weaving nets to hunt in the river, or taking knives and forks and going back and forth in the mountains to look for prey.

There is peace and quiet in the city of Hetuala.

It is called a city, but in fact it is just a fortress built of bricks, two zhang high, about ten zhang long, and seven or eight zhang wide.

A few long streets make up the entire city.

The most prominent people in the city, apart from the conductor's family, are the blacksmith and the butcher.

Just after noon that day, a team of disguised Ming troops slowly arrived outside the city of Hetuala.

The leader was a man in his forties, tall and with a pair of piercing eyes on his fair face.

His name was Li Kui, and he was a leader of Li Rubai's personal soldiers.

He was personally responsible for provoking the enemy and inspecting the city's defenses.

Looking at the palm-sized city, Li Kui couldn't help but feel disdainful. He tightened his clothes and ordered, "Let's go in and see what treasures are in this broken city that are worth the efforts of the higher-ups."

Shiyuri nodded and followed closely.

As soon as I entered, the smell of feces and urine came into my nose.

Looking around, the streets were in ruins, the bungalows on both sides of the road were also in tatters, and the paper pasted on the windows was torn to pieces by the wind.

The floor of the street was bumpy, with a pool of yellowish mysterious liquid accumulated inside.

The Jiannu people, wrapped in cashmere sweaters, were in a hurry, and it seemed that even they could not stand the smell.

In the sky, black smoke stirred up by burning objects dyed half of the sky black.

"Bah, what damn bad luck." Li Kui spat heavily, then walked towards a wine and meat shop on the street.

Seeing a group of people coming in, the boss with a fierce face just glanced at them and said coldly: "Mutton, 30 cents per pound, wine 50 cents per pound, if you want to eat wine and meat, pay first."

"Fuck it, you even give me money first, who do you think you are?" a young man next to Li Kui cursed.

"If you don't want to eat, get out!" The boss chopped the knife hard on the knife board, his face ferocious, and shouted, "Don't think I don't know what you Ming people are doing here? You must be here to capture my Jurchen sacred eagle, the Saker Falcon!"

In his impression, there are quite a few Han people dressed like this every year.

The purpose was no other than to capture their sacred eagle, the Saker Falcon.

This falcon is majestic and powerful, with a ferocious nature. It is called the king of all eagles and is favored by the dignitaries of the Han dynasty.

Every spring, hunters seeking wealth and fame would run to Liaodong to catch them.

"We are not here to catch eagles." Li Kui glanced at the boss and said with a smile, "It is not easy to catch eagles. We are not lucky enough to do that. We are going to Changbai Mountain to dig old mountain ginseng."

"Really?" The boss confirmed with his eyes wide open.

"You have to bring equipment to catch an eagle, right? Look at us. We don't have anything with us, do we?" Li Kui stood up, patted his body twice, and said jokingly, "Look, we have nothing."

"Oh, so you're going to dig old ginseng."

The boss then breathed a sigh of relief and went to the steaming boiler to cut ten pounds of mutton himself.

Then he took out a jar of good wine, brought it to Li Kui and his party, and said, "Eat it. We are reluctant to give it to ordinary people."

“Thank you.” Li Kui nodded and thanked him, then started to feast with his men.

"By the way, what's your name?" After three or two glasses of wine, Li Kui couldn't help asking.

"Baturu." The man looked up and answered.

"A brave man." Li Kui murmured in a low voice, and then he looked the thin man up and down, and couldn't help but teasing him, "You are so arrogant, you don't call yourself that, do you?"

"What? You don't allow us to call you by that name?" Baturu glared at him, his temper rising instantly.

Li Kui shook his head, wiped his lips, and opened his mouth with a mouthful of yellow teeth: "You can call me whatever you want, we don't eat for free, you just drink and eat, come with us, you run this wine and meat shop and it's not profitable, come with us to dig ginseng."

"No, there's a lot of snow and wind there, and there are savages. We don't want to lose our lives." Baturu shook his head, looking scared.

"Bah, you are such a Baturu? I think you'd better just call yourself a coward." Li Kui originally wanted to save this man's life, but he didn't appreciate it, so he shook his head and gave up the idea.

Baturu was not annoyed by the ridicule. He just smiled and started cutting vegetables on the chopping board.

After Li Kui and his companions had eaten and drunk their fill, they left some money and walked out of the store.

When they reached a secluded place, a soldier could no longer wait and said anxiously, "Boss, what is there to explore in this broken city? Just kill a lone barbarian and change him into our official army's clothes. Then once the garrison arrives, won't the city be pacified?"

"You know nothing. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." Li Kui hit the man's head hard and taught him a lesson with his eyes piercing, "We need to see how many exits this city has and where to retreat. Cut the grass and root it out, understand?"

"If you want to do it, you have to do it thoroughly."

"Yes." The man touched his head and agreed with a look of grievance.

"Okay, Wang Neng, you take three people to explore the road behind the city. Be careful and don't let them get away. Xiong Kuo, you take five people to find out the defense strength in the city." Li Kui looked around at his men and gave orders in an orderly manner, "The rest of you follow me, while looking for the lone barbarians, we will explore the strength of the city."

"Yes."

Several people shouted in unison and then dispersed together.

Just as the few people infiltrated, in the commander's hall in Hetuala City, a burly young man in his early twenties was sitting opposite someone. The person sitting on the left was Aixinjueluo Shuerhazi.

The man on the right was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a broad forehead and face, a tiger body and an ape waist. He was wearing a thick armor, with only a resolute face showing.

It was the "dead" Aisin-Gioro Nurhaci!

In the 11th year of the Wanli reign, his father and grandfather both died in the civil strife caused by his uncle's attempt to persuade him to surrender. From then on, he set his ambition and vowed to unify the Jurchen tribes, holding a blood feud for his father and grandfather.

At the same time, he also knew that Ming Dynasty was now a strong lion.

He was so strong that even a dog he raised could bite him to death at any time. Therefore, he did not dare to openly oppose the Ming Dynasty like his grandfather Wang Gao and his uncle Ata.

He could only smile apologetically to the murderer of his father and serve him as a dog.

I just hope that the master will be happy and give him two bones to eat.

A month ago, he had just annexed the troops of Jianzhou Youwei, and wanted to press on with the victory to annex several more Jianzhou tribes in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, he was suddenly told by his brother that someone wanted to take his life.

His first reaction was surprise.

Especially after learning the man's identity, he was horrified.

Jinyiwei.

This organization, which was hated by everyone in the Ming Dynasty but also made people shudder at the mention of it, actually targeted him.

His first reaction was not to resist, but to run away.

Later, he thought, since he had been targeted, there was no point in running away. As long as he was alive, these people would be like vicious dogs, biting him tightly and not letting go.

Since they want my life, I might as well give it to them.

So he and his good brother put on a good show.

Silence lasted for a while. Shuerhaqi looked at his expressionless brother, leaned forward, and cautiously asked, "Brother, have we been too active recently? Even the Jinyiwei have their eyes on you."

"No, we have been very well behaved recently, so this disaster shouldn't have happened." Nurhaci shook his head.

"That's the old dog Li Chengliang. He thought our gifts were not enough, so he made up the story about the Jinyiwei to scare you!" Shuerhaqi's face was grim, he gritted his teeth, and said indignantly, "Last time this old dog conquered the Haixi Jurchens, our people were in the front and suffered the most casualties. Not only did he not give us a reward, he also scolded you."

"Even for his concubine's birthday, he asked us to pack a generous gift. Do you think this is still possible?"

Nurhaci was also furious, his cheeks flushed red. He clenched his fists, slammed the table hard, and cursed: "Li Chengliang, that old dog, I will chop off his head sooner or later to commemorate the spirits of my father and grandfather in heaven."

After he finished speaking, his aura suddenly leaked out, and he lowered his head and murmured, "But now is not the right time. If we show even a little disrespect to him, it will definitely lead to a devastating blow."

Shulhazi nodded.

Nuharchi continued, "We need to keep Li Chengliang stable. No matter what he wants, as long as we can give it to him, we will give it to him.

He also needs a dog to guard his house in Jianzhou, otherwise his position will not be stable. "

The Ming Dynasty has always believed in the strategy of "Liao people guarding Liao" for the land outside Liaodong Dusi, that is, to support a loyal indigenous force and suppress the rest of the tribes.

If anyone dared to show up and disrespect the Ming Dynasty, Li Chengliang would personally lead his troops to fight.

If anyone was close to the Ming Dynasty, Li Chengliang would naturally give some sweetness and benefits. It was in this gap that Nuharchi annexed Jianzhou Guard and Jianzhou Right Guard.

Seeing that he was loyal and needed such a vicious dog, Li Chengliang turned a blind eye.

"The price he asked for this time is very high." Shulhazi shook his head, with a hint of powerlessness in his tone.

"What does he want?" Nurhaci asked.

"Ten Saker Falcons, they said they were to be presented as tribute to the Emperor of Ming."

"Why doesn't he just go and grab it?!"

The flesh on Nurhaci's face twitched, and his pupils were instantly filled with blood.

The Saker Falcon is the king of all eagles and was presented as tribute to the Emperor of Tang as early as the Tang Dynasty.

Because of his wild nature and the fact that he lives in an extremely hard-to-find place, even experienced hunters find it difficult to catch him.

In order to catch this thing, many hunters die on cliffs every year.

"Ten. Weren't there always three or two in the past?" Nurhaci looked at his brother and asked tentatively.

"I don't know." Shuerhaqi shook his head and asked with a frown, "Should we give it or not?"

"Give it to him!" Nurhaci gritted his teeth, his face full of determination, "Now that it has come to this, even if he wants peaches from heaven, we have to pick them for that old dog."

"Well, I remember there are four Saker Falcons left in the mansion from previous years. Send three of them over first to keep him steady. We'll take another Saker Falcon out and try our luck to see if we can catch a few more."

"I'm not that lucky." Shuerhaci shook his head.

"Even if we're not that lucky, we have to try. We can't just wait for him to come with his army to block us."

Nurhaci said, stood up and adjusted his armor, then said, "I am dead now, so you are now the helmsman of Jianzhou. After a while, you will go to the Ming Dynasty in person and inherit my position."

"I understand." Shulhazi nodded.

"I'm leaving now. I'll leave the affairs of Jianzhouwei to you."

(End of this chapter)