Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 514 Going Home
"You can hide it for a while, but not forever!" Cui Laoliu's nonchalant act of killing scared Hu Zengshou so much that cold sweats began to break out on his back again. "Even if I help you bring this illegitimate child back to Han territory, what will happen? What will happen next? Can you really raise him? Where will you raise him, the Lu family or the Liu family?"

"This..." Hu Zengshou's words made Lu Liu's breath pause. These words were so heartbreaking that neither her husband's family nor her own would accept this child. Even if her husband was dead, as she thought, it wouldn't work.

"And more!" Hu Zengshou shouted in a low voice, pinching his throat. "I'm a military household in Fushun, and you're the daughter-in-law of the Lu family in Kaiyuan! We have a child, how can that be justified? If those military officers heard us say this, they'd probably just chop you and me down like a shameless adulterer!"

Speaking of chopping off the head, Hu Zengshou suddenly remembered the look Cui Laoliu had given him earlier, as if he were calculating whether his head could be sold for money. Hu Zengshou subconsciously glanced at Cui Laoliu. If Cui Laoliu had suddenly glanced back at him with a telepathic understanding, he would have been frightened to death. Fortunately, Cui Laoliu was still concentrating on carrying out Ding Xiu's orders and hadn't paid any attention to this side.

"Please, please." Mrs. Lu Liu was completely depressed.

"I absolutely disagree!" Cui Laoliu suddenly turned around. Although he didn't look at them, it still made Hu Zengshou tremble. He shouted instinctively, but the next moment he suppressed his voice. "At most, I can pretend that I know nothing. If you don't cut off his fingers, I can also pretend that I didn't see it. But if you keep pestering me, I will tell this to the military commander!"

Lu Liushi stretched out her hand and tried to pull Hu Zengshou away, but Hu Zengshou pushed her away. "Get out of here!"

Under tremendous psychological pressure, Hu Zengshou became a little crazy. If Ding Xiu or Cui Liu ordered him to kill someone at this moment, he would definitely do it.

--------

On the opposite side of the crowd, Ding Xiu left the crowd and walked to Sahalian's side.

Although Sahalian's meridians had been severed and she couldn't move, neither the new injuries inflicted by Cui Laoliu nor the old pain inflicted by Ding Xiu were fatal. Therefore, until now, Sahalian still stubbornly lived, witnessing the atrocities before her eyes.

"See?" Ding Xiu half-knelt down and pulled Sahalian's hair to force her to face him. "These innocent people are being treated like this because of your stupidity."

"Bullshit." Sahalian was about to retort, but Ding Xiu slapped her in the face, interrupting her stammering.

Ding Xiu continued speaking in Jurchen: "I could have sold these women and those little beasts to Han land, and let them live a good life with my brothers who have food and wages. But you blocked their way. And Su Jiu, he is a good person, honest, hardworking, and filial. Although he is a bit timid, he did not show weakness when he should have. I was planning to give you to him as a reward, so that you can also enjoy a good life. Isn't this better than being the concubine of an old wild boar and being taken care of by a young wild boar, and then being taken care of by the young wild boar's nephews after the young wild boar dies? How dare you use our muskets to kill Su Jiu, letting him die in the borderland and become a lonely ghost?" As he spoke, Ding Xiu slapped Sahalian again. "This is all your fault!"

Sahalian's exposed upper body was covered in mud and blood, and the once delicate peaks were scarred by repeated falls and friction. "Bah!" She spat out blood-stained saliva weakly, enduring the pain and cursing weakly, "You bastards! How dare you say such things? It was you who came into our village to kill and plunder!"

"Yes, that's right. But I want to ask," Ding Xiu's eyes swept across Hu Zengshou, who had pushed Lu Liu away, but quickly shifted back to Sahalian's face. "Where is your father now?"

"In Shenyang, in Liaoyang!" Sahalian said viciously, "He will definitely break through there, kill all the Han dogs in the city, and slaughter all the chickens and dogs in the wild to avenge me!"

"Hahaha," Ding Xiu laughed, gritting his teeth. "That's right! It's because he's in Shenyang, in Liaoyang! That's why I came to you. It was you, a bunch of restless idiots, who started this war. When you were happily sharing the spoils, you should have thought this day would come."

A complicated expression flashed in Sahalian's eyes, but she still said stubbornly: "At this point, what's the point of you saying all this? Kill me quickly! Kill me to avenge your brother!"

"Don't worry, Sahalian," Ding Xiu said with a creepy smile. "The only thing I won't do is kill you. Although I did intend to do so."

"Are you still going to take me to the Han area and torture me?" Sahalian was stunned.

"No, no, no, I'm different from Su Jiu. I have no interest in a dirty thing like you that has been pushed around by two generations of wild boars. What's more, you're already disabled, and your face is so swollen that you can't even be sold at a high price. But not killing you doesn't mean you can live." Ding Xiu helped Sahalian sit up and let her face the women with broken thumbs.

Sahalian seemed to realize something and said madly, "No, no! Kill me, please kill me!"

"People of the Hada tribe, listen up!" As the last finger landed, Ding Xiu began to shout at the captives. "I, Tulushi of the Sakda clan of the Yehe tribe! I have always been a very honest and trustworthy person! Today, I have brought my people here to fight for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and to avenge Buyanggu Beile of my Yehe tribe! Neither the Ming nor my Yehe tribe has the rule of killing surrendered people. You have surrendered, and if I continue to torture you, I would be breaking my promise and breaking the rules. But!" Ding Xiu grabbed Sahalian's hair and shouted at the captives, "This foolish and despicable Jianzhou woman, after we let our guard down, used the Ming Dynasty's musket to kill a beloved relative and brother of mine! She is the one who harmed you!"

The pain and fear temporarily paralyzed the captives' memories, but when "Turushi" said this, the captives immediately remembered the gunshot before the murder.

The captives, having regained their composure, cast angry glances at Sahalian. With the conflict shifted, their hatred for the "rebellious" slave diminished considerably.

Ding Xiu paused, then forced a tearful tone, almost like a joke. "Even though this woman killed my brothers with a despicable sneak attack, the honest Turush won't completely break his promise. So I'll only take your fingers, not your lives." Then, Ding Xiu let go of Sahalian's hair.

Sahalian lay on the ground, not daring to look up, his heart and eyes filled with despair.

Now, she began to regret killing Su Jiu with that musket.

--------

Weining means "to intimidate the barbarians and bring peace to the border areas."

It is said that the history of Weiningying can be traced back to the pre-Tang Dynasty a thousand years ago. At that time, Xue Li and Xue Rengui were ordered to advance from Liao territory to attack Goguryeo by land. Seeing that this place was nestled between mountains and rivers, with dangerous terrain and some flat land, they built a city with rammed earth to station troops and defend against the enemy.

This theory dates back thousands of years, but there's no historical evidence to support it, relying solely on word of mouth. Therefore, its authenticity cannot be definitively verified. The only certainty is that the basic layout of the current Weining Camp, with its "four li circumference and two east and west gates," was established during the reign of Emperor Chengzu, with the most recent large-scale renovation occurring twelve years ago, in the 37th year of the Wanli reign.

In the 36th year of the Wanli reign, the tax inspector Gao Huai was withdrawn, and General Cheng Liang resigned. Liao briefly welcomed Xiong Tingbi, the emperor. From October of the 36th year of the Wanli reign to July of the 39th year of the Wanli reign, Xiong Tingbi spent nearly three years painstakingly cultivating land in Liao territory, building walls, and repairing castles. Weining Camp was renovated during this period.

It was called a renovation, but it was practically a complete rebuild. Under Xiong Tingbi's supervision, Weining Camp was not only reinforced with rammed earth but also covered with bricks. For a border fortress with a radius of only four miles, an all-brick fortification could be considered luxurious.

The quality of the workmanship is quite good.

In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, Xiong Tingbi made his second trip to Liaodong to address the crisis. At the beginning of his tenure, he had few resources at his disposal, forcing him to personally tour the perimeter and survey the situation. During this tour, Xiong Tingbi tasked nearly every border town with strengthening its defenses, including Weining Camp. However, the main engineering work for Weining Camp lay outside the city walls, on the series of towers that snaked eastward along the river for nearly thirty miles. Weining Camp itself required no major renovations. Only the moat needed to be dredged and some lost bricks replaced.

Five days later, in the early morning, Ding Xiu and his team returned safely to the actual control area of ​​Weining Camp along the Taizi River.

Ding Xiu was worrying too much.

The sound of Sahalian's gunshot did travel far and attracted the attention of the surrounding tribes, but the neighboring tribes that heard the gunshot did not send anyone to check.

The reason is simple: it’s not surprising.

From the fall of Fushun to the disastrous defeat at Sarhu and the subsequent loss of Kaifeng and Tiexi, the Ming army continued to lose, and the Jin army accordingly seized many Ming military weapons, including a wide variety of firearms. Compared to the more complex and expensive armor, small cannons and muskets were almost indiscriminate.

By the time the other tribes learned of the tragedy, Ding Xiu and his men had already left for two days. In other words, if Ding Xiu had been a little bolder, or even more greedy, and insisted on taking all the captives from the settlement and selling them, he could have gotten away.

If he really did so, then the "heroic deeds" of the six of them who went deep behind enemy lines, exchanged one person's death for the beheading of ten people, and captured more than 30 women and children would most likely be written into a memorial by a civil servant and sent to Beijing.

Ding Xiu didn't know about these things, and he would never know that he had missed an opportunity that could have made him famous overnight. So Ding Xiu was still very happy and thankful that he could put these gains in his pockets and put them in his pockets. Good money is money that can be safely put in your pockets.

When they saw the first Ming army watchtower, Ding Xiu stopped the team and asked everyone to take off their left-breasted Hu clothing. If they approached the Ming army watchtower wearing this clothing, it would be tantamount to seeking death.

Taking off his left-lapeled Hu clothing, he revealed the typical Ming army cotton armor. This was a light cotton armor made from seven pounds of cotton. It lacked iron armor lining, offering little protection, barely enough to withstand blows and stray arrows. A slightly heavier thrust could pierce it. The greatest advantages of this cotton armor were warmth, lightness, and reduced labor time. As long as there was enough cotton, everyone could have one.

About a quarter of an hour later, Ding Xiu and his entourage, clad in Ming armor, arrived at an open area near the river. Shortly thereafter, the sergeant who had previously stopped Ding Xiu and Li Xian and threatened to send them to prison approached with several guards.

"Captain Ding?" Upon realizing it was Ding Xiu, the sergeant immediately dismounted from his horse, even offering a slightly ingratiating smile. "You've returned victorious!"

"Old Yang!" Ding Xiu also greeted him enthusiastically, and then hugged the sergeant named Yang tightly as if he had met a relative.

"Captain Ding, what are you doing?" Sergeant Yang and the soldiers he brought with him were stunned.

"Brother, I have been living in fear these days, with my mind full of those Jurchen barbarians. Only after seeing you did I realize that I have finally arrived!" Ding Xiu patted Sergeant Yang on the back and finally let him go.

Sergeant Yang seemed to smell the strong smell of blood on Ding Xiu and couldn't help but take a step back. "Did Captain Ding have a good harvest?"

"Level 10. We chopped off ten heads and brought them back." Ding Xiu shook his head proudly and used his two index fingers to form a cross.

"Wow! Level 10!" Sergeant Yang's eyes widened immediately. "You've made a fortune!"

"Whether we get rich or not, it's all because of our Marshal Hou's proper command and the brothers who are doing their job at the risk of their lives." After all, once you enter the system, you learn quickly.

Sergeant Yang stood in awe. No wonder this young man could become a servant and then a team leader right out of the General's Mansion. He even had the presence of Marshal Hou, so he started praising him.

"I remember you only brought five people with you when you went out. The two extra ones were prisoners?" Sergeant Yang turned his head and looked at the people behind Ding Xiu who looked a little tired but also had various smiles on their faces.

"No, there are three more." A fleeting gloom flashed across Ding Xiu's eyes. "Two of them are Han Chinese."

"Hmm," Sergeant Yang's smile faded slightly. As a veteran, it was clear he understood the underlying meaning. "Don't stand around outside anymore. Come sit down in the barracks and rest for a while." Sergeant Yang waved his hand sideways, heading towards the Duntai barracks.

"Let's not sit here anymore. Let's go back now." Ding Xiu shook his head.

"Yes, reporting the achievement is more important," Sergeant Yang said, making way and gesturing to the pier to let him pass. "Then I won't hinder Captain Ding."

"Goodbye," Ding Xiu said, clasping his fists and bowing. "I'll treat you, Old Yang, to dinner once I'm settled in a bit."

"Captain Ding, you are so kind! I should prepare a banquet to welcome my brothers." Sergeant Yang was keenly aware that if he didn't curry favor with him, he would probably have to give a big gift to this young man soon.

(End of this chapter)