Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 156 Ranch and Black Water Spring
How to wipe out the Kadar tribe requires long-term consideration.

Since Langya Ridge is only a few dozen miles away from Yizhou City and is not suitable for long-term stay, Huang Sixi asked the tribal leaders to return to the grassland territory first and then slowly discuss ways to deal with the Kadar tribe.

The tribal leaders also knew that the danger had not been resolved and that the Qing troops might still pursue them, so they followed Huang Sixi's advice, temporarily put aside their arguments, and rode fast to the tribe.

After they returned to the safe area of the grassland and were picked up by cavalry from various tribes, they gathered in the territory of the Lobu tribe and swore an oath of blood alliance as agreed.

In order to show their determination to resist the Qing Dynasty, the tribal leaders took the hostages Nalan Xiuji and Nalan Rongruo as sacrifices on the spot.

They also understood the consequences of killing Qing nobles. The Qing soldiers would definitely retaliate. In order to resist the upcoming raid, they once again nominated Fei Hongjin as the leader of the tribes.

This time, the twenty-four tribes worked together, gathered their elite warriors, and put them under the command of Fei Hongjin.

After the troops were ready, Fei Hongjin followed the strategy discussed by the various tribes and sent people pretending to be cavalrymen of the Kadar tribe to deliver the bodies of Nalan Xiuji and Nalan Rongruo to Yizhou City. He also issued a threat, ordering all Qing troops to withdraw from southern Xinjiang, otherwise the Kadar people would kill everyone in Yizhou City.

Afterwards, Fei Hongjin began to lead the army, waiting for the Qing troops to move.

She was a little unsure, and said to Huang Sixi in private: "Master Huang, let's put the blame on the Kadar tribe for Nalan Xiuji's death. Excuse me, this method of blaming others is not very clever. The Qing soldiers should be able to see the truth."

Huang Sixi thought, this is not only unintelligent, it is simply clumsy.

But none of this matters.

He pointed out the key point: "Once Nalan Xiuji's death reaches Nalan Mingzhu and Dogdo, they will definitely vent their anger on others and punish all the Qing soldiers and generals in Yizhou City. In order to protect their official positions and lives, the Qing generals in Yizhou City will identify the Kadar tribe as the murderer and send troops to attack the Kadar tribe first, even if they know that we are framing them!"

In fact, the situation was completely foreseeable.

Now the Qing army generals in Yizhou City no longer have time to investigate the real cause of Nalan Xiuji's death, because before they can find out the result, the Qing court's imperial edict to confiscate the property and exterminate the clan will be sent to Yizhou City.

If they want to keep their official positions and their lives, they must capture the murderer immediately. The Kadar tribe is their life-saving straw. As long as they capture Menglu, the chief of the Kadar tribe, and wipe out the Kadar tribe, they can give an explanation to the Qing court and the Nalan family and avoid being implicated.

Huang Sixi's guess was extremely accurate.

On the second day after Yizhou City received the bodies of Nalan Xiuji and Nalan Rongruo, tens of thousands of Qing cavalry stationed in southern Xinjiang almost went out in full force and rushed towards the territory of the Kadar tribe with murderous intent. Wherever they went, they launched retaliatory burning and killing, and did not even accept any surrender.

The leaders of the Kadar tribe were terrified and led the tribal herdsmen to flee, but unfortunately they had no way to retreat.

The coalition forces of twenty-four tribes, led by Fei Hongjin, had long blocked the escape route of the Kadar tribe, waiting for them to tire themselves out.

All of a sudden, there was an ambush in front and pursuers behind.

The ambushers were all brothers from the grassland who lived in close proximity to each other, while the pursuers were Qing soldiers who were willing to kill without mercy.

It is not difficult to make a choice.

The leaders of the Kadar tribe decisively surrendered to Fei Hongjin.

These leaders were all nobles of the Kadar tribe, and most of them were related to the tribe leader Meng Lu. They thought they could save their lives by surrendering to Fei Hongjin.

Who would have known that this time the twenty-four tribes were determined to work together to divide up the Kadar people. Not only did they want to divide up the pasture territories, they also wanted to divide up the herdsmen's cattle and sheep equally, until they completely wiped out this second largest tribe on the southern Xinjiang grasslands.

Therefore, the coalition forces of the twenty-four tribes only protected ordinary herdsmen of the Kadar people. As for the remaining more than a thousand clan leaders and elders' relatives, including the body of clan leader Meng Lu, they were all abandoned to the Qing soldiers.

When the Qing soldiers saw the nobles of the Kadar tribe gathered together, they immediately captured them.

They wanted to continue chasing and killing, but they saw that the coalition forces of twenty-four tribes were blocking the rear, with more troops than them. This made them very afraid and they feared that they would be surrounded and unable to leave the grassland.

Several generals commanding the Qing troops felt that they had captured the chief of the Kadar tribe and more than a thousand nobles, which was enough to report to the Qing court, so they ordered the troops to withdraw and return to Yizhou City.

Upon learning that the Qing troops had withdrawn from the grassland, Fei Hongjin also led the coalition forces and the Kadar herdsmen back to the territory.

Then he invited the chiefs of the twenty-four tribes to discuss how to distribute the wealth left by the Kadar people.

After the discussion came to a conclusion, she immediately went to Huang Sixi's tent to inform him of the situation.

After they met, she took out a map and spread it in front of Huang Sixi: "This is the map of the ranch of the Kadar tribe. When we swore an oath of blood alliance, Zeng promised to give the ranch to Mr. Huang after we destroyed the Kadar tribe. You can go and receive it at any time!"

Huang Sixi looked at the map and asked, "How big is the ranch?"

Fei Hongjin smiled and said, "Even if you ride a horse for dozens of miles, you are still in your own territory."

Huang Sixi couldn't help but shake his head: "I am a lone man, how can I own such a large ranch?"

"We also took this into consideration when we discussed this matter just now."

Fei Hongjin said considerately: "Among the twenty-four tribes, all of them have taken in refugees from the Central Plains, as well as some horse servants and iron slaves from the Western Regions. Everyone is willing to send these people to the territory of Mr. Huang to help Mr. Huang run the ranch."

She did not give any gifts to the local herdsmen of the twenty-four tribes because it would be inconvenient to manage them, and they might usurp the throne and plot against Huang Sixi to seize the pasture.

She sent the refugees from the Central Plains and the displaced persons from the Western Regions to Huang Sixi's rule, and would never turn the tables, so Huang Sixi could use these people with peace of mind.

Huang Sixi felt that Fei Hongjin's arrangement was very thoughtful. He asked, "How many people are there in total?"

Fei Hongjin said, "There are about four to five hundred women, children, old and young in total! If Mr. Huang only wants able-bodied men, you can also discuss it with the tribe leaders!"

Many of these people have lost their ability to work.

Fei Hongjin couldn't guess Huang Sixi's intention, and didn't know whether Huang Sixi was willing to raise some weak and lonely people for free, so she added the last sentence.

Huang Sixi thought without hesitation: "Since they have families with them, it would be too inhumane to separate them! Let's move all of them to the ranch!"

Fei Hongjin laughed heartily: "I knew that Master Huang was kind-hearted and would not separate them."

Fei Hongjin was in a particularly good mood today. The Luobu tribe she belonged to was originally the third strongest tribe in the southern Xinjiang grasslands. After annexing the Kadar herdsmen, the Luobu tribe has become the strongest tribe in southern Xinjiang, on par with the Kazakhs. However, the Qing army's conquest will continue. After all, they rely on the Central Plains and can continuously dispatch supplies and troops. Whether it is a frontal attack or a confrontation, the Qing army can handle it with ease.

Fei Hongjin had no idea how to resist the Qing troops.

She needs to ask Huang Sixi for advice.

Huang Sixi pointed at the map and suddenly asked, "At the beginning, the 24 tribes made an agreement that after conquering the Kadar tribe, they would give me pastures and cattle and sheep, but not people. Now they have given me four or five hundred herdsmen. Are there any conditions?"

After hearing this, Fei Hongjin thought to herself that not only was Mr. Huang extremely intelligent and brave, he was also good at dealing with people.

She said with a bit of embarrassment: "The pasture of the Kadar tribe is more than enough to support 400 or 5000 people, not to mention 400 or 50000 people! The tribe leaders thought that your pasture was idle anyway, so they wanted to buy the territory from you!"

The four or five hundred herdsmen sent by the various tribes were actually sold to Huang Sixi in exchange for pasture land.

Huang Sixi originally planned to recruit refugees if he encountered them after returning to the Central Plains and send them to the pasture to open up wasteland. However, this would take a long time. After all, a trip from southern Xinjiang to the Central Plains and back could take several months.

If Huang Sixi encountered any sudden incident in the Central Plains, he might not be able to recruit any refugees to the grassland for several years.

During this period, he couldn't leave the pasture empty all the time, as other tribes would covet this piece of fat meat and allow herders to move in without his permission, and he wouldn't be able to drive them away even if he wanted to.

Huang Sixi thought for a while and said to Fei Hongjin, "This pasture was given to me voluntarily by the tribe leaders. If they have such a great need for the pasture, then there is no need to give it to me. I don't need it!"

Fei Hongjin quickly explained: "The tribe leaders gave the ranch to them sincerely. They wanted to repay Mr. Huang for saving their lives, but the nobles were not on the same page with them and kept putting pressure on them to fight for the interests of the ranch. That's why they proposed the conditions for buying it."

The tribal leaders are generally elderly people who are on their deathbed. When they are alive, they will definitely not seize Huang Sixi's pasture because of Huang Sixi's life-saving grace, but it is hard to say after they die.

Huang Sixi thought that if he lived on the grassland permanently, he wouldn't have to worry about anything, and there would be no problem even if he was the only one living on the ranch.

But he was about to return to the Central Plains, and this time he would definitely drive away the Tartars. It was estimated that he would not return to Southern Xinjiang for many years.

He needs to consider the actual conditions of the southern Xinjiang grasslands.

He said, "I will keep half of the pasture of the Kadar tribe, and sell the rest to other tribes. But I have to say this: since I own half of the pasture, it is my private property. I don't want it to be seized by outsiders in the future. If you don't abide by the agreement, I won't be polite."

Fei Hongjin drew out his scimitar with a 'swish! ' and said solemnly: "Master Huang, I can swear to you that if anyone from other tribes dares to occupy your pasture privately in the future, I and the Luobu tribe will hold them accountable and guarantee to expel them all. But if it is the Qing soldiers who invade, then I can do nothing about it."

The twenty-four tribes generously donated the pasture in order to keep Huang Sixi in southern Xinjiang to fight against the Qing army together.

"If the Qing soldiers dare to seize my property, you don't need to show up. I will deal with them myself!"

Huang Sixi raised his hand and pointed at the map: "Hamaya, which half of the ranch do you think I should sell?"

"It's better to sell the northern half!" Fei Hongjin responded immediately.

"Oh, why? Are the pastures in the north not fertile enough?" Huang Sixi asked.

"In fact, the grasslands in the north are more fertile, but there is a black water spring in the north. The black water is flammable and will burn if we are not careful. Every time it burns, some of the grassland will be destroyed."

Fei Hongjin's words immediately attracted Huang Sixi's interest: "Black Water Spring? Is this a natural formation, or was it artificially explored?"

Huang Sixi thought, could it be oil?
Fei Hongjin said: "This matter is actually related to Yang Yuncong. In the early years, a map was found. It was drawn by Adado, a strange man in southern Xinjiang. Adado was the first person to discover the black spring water. He found that as long as Mars and the black spring water come into contact, it will cause a raging fire that cannot be extinguished.

He vowed to find a black spring well, and said, "If I find a black spring well, the grassland will be filled with light." However, he was old and weak, and when he found a spring well, he was already on his deathbed. He drew the news of the spring well on a map and gave it to Yang Yuncong who happened to be passing by! "

The black spring water that Adado was looking for was crude oil.

Southern Xinjiang is originally a region rich in oil reserves.

As early as fifty years ago, Adado accidentally discovered a stream of crude oil gushing up from the ground. He was very surprised. It was late autumn at that time, so he took out a tinder to light a fire to keep warm. As a result, the sparks spilled on the crude oil, which immediately caused a fire.

However, only a small amount of crude oil sprayed out of the ground and burned out in a moment. Adado then traveled all over southern Xinjiang, determined to find another black spring, and finally found it in a barren mountain north of the Kadar tribe.

This barren mountain surrounds a large basin, which is a rich oil mine. The crude oil seeps directly into the ground, forming a small dark green lake.

When Adado drew the map, he thought this place was a great treasure. Yang Yuncong came to check it out according to the instructions on the map, but was greatly disappointed.

What kind of treasure is the black oily water?

Due to frequent fires here, the herders of the Kadar tribe avoided it and gradually abandoned this grassland, but the territory still nominally belonged to the Kadar tribe.

Fei Hongjin didn't want Huang Sixi to suffer any loss, so he suggested that Huang Sixi give up this territory.

Huang Sixi had other considerations.

The next day, he asked Fei Hongjin to lead the way and personally surveyed the terrain of the northern ranch. After he learned that the northern basin was an oil mine, he made a prompt decision to keep the northern ranch and sell the southern territory to the twenty-four tribes.

Fei Hongjin saw that he had made up his mind and did not try to persuade him. After all, the basin did not cover a large area and was hidden among the surrounding mountains. Even if a fire occurred, as long as people were sent to stay nearby to put out the fire in time, it would not cause too much damage.

Fei Hongjin's biggest worry was always the threat of invasion by Qing troops.

After finishing the handover of the ranch, Fei Hongjin went to Huang Sixi to ask for advice: "The nobles of the Kadar tribe have been captured by the Qing soldiers. Will they just give up?"

She really wanted to know whether the heads of Menglu, the chief of the Kadar tribe, and more than a thousand nobles could help the Nalan family vent their anger.

Huang Sixi did not give her an answer, but only said: "Before long, the Qing court will send a new Yizhou general to southern Xinjiang. When the new commander arrives, we will know the attitude of the Nalan family by seeing how he acts."

If the Nalan family refuses to give in, the Qing soldiers in Yizhou City will continue to launch sweeps against the various tribes on the grassland. If the Nalan family feels that the punishment is sufficient, the Qing soldiers will remain in place.

(End of this chapter)