Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 107 Hard Bones

Spring Horse Market
The horse market is much busier this year than last year, and the market size is also much larger.

A caravan dressed as Khitans entered the territory of Nongjiakou.

This team is quite unusual; the men are strong and powerful, and they're clearly not to be trifled with.

There were only a few women, but they didn't look like poor people.

"This is the horse market for the Han people? It's certainly huge."

The patrolling soldiers glanced at the young noblewoman mingling with the caravan, looked at her a couple more times, and then left.

The young and beautiful woman rode a chestnut horse and at first glance looked like a handsome young man, but upon closer inspection, her slightly upturned phoenix eyes and jade-like skin revealed her true identity.

Her long, black hair was tied up in a high bun like a man's, yet she had the delicate skin of a young woman.

The men's clothes looked dashing on her, making her stand out from the rough and dirty men around her.

He wore an indigo-blue, narrow-sleeved Hu robe, the front of which was half-open, revealing a dark-patterned silk lining underneath. A belt was tied around his waist, from which hung an exquisite silver knife and an embroidered pouch.

She wore deerskin ankle boots with the toes slightly upturned, just like the girl's uninhibited and proud demeanor at that moment.

One of the men on horseback in the group didn't even look at her; he was staring straight ahead at the large market with over a thousand people.

“Last year, this place was renamed Nongjiakou. Mongols, Khitans, and Han Chinese all come here to do business. The taxes are lower than before, and the guards against us are not as strict as before.”

Yelü Baocai, in his forties or fifties, held a horsewhip, his resolute and wise eyes sweeping over many vendors nearby.

The pretty girl next to her, Yelü Poluo, was also looking around, searching for interesting items.

The market has a wide variety of goods, including livestock such as cattle and sheep, but the most common items are various food seasonings, herbs and furs, iron pots and farm tools, salt, tea, silk and porcelain, and so on.

The group dismounted and walked over. Yelü Poluo said unhappily, "You want five horses just to come in? Once we take over this place, let's see who dares to charge us!"

Yelü Bao quickly said, "Be careful, don't talk nonsense here. This is no longer the territory of the Han people. It is now under the control of a mountain farmer named Beiji Wu. If he hears you, he might kill you directly."

Brahma raised his head disdainfully, "I'm not afraid! Father, look, there are so few people here. I heard that the mountain farmers are all Protestant monks, but I haven't seen a single one."

Yelü Baocai also felt strange. The Shan Nong tribe had occupied this place for quite some time, but he did not see any Shan Nong people nearby.

"Let's do business first. There are quite a few Han Chinese merchants here, so we can gather some information."

The group led the carriages and horses to find the person.

You can't see mountain farmers in the city, but you can see people from the Western Regions, Mongols, Han Chinese, Turks, and Jurchens.

Nongjiakou has become a multi-ethnic settlement, where northern nomadic peoples stayed, communicated, and traded.

Yelü Baocai arrived at the tent of a traitor.

"Your Majesty!"

Han Zhong knelt before Yelü Baocai and Yelü Poluo.

Yelü Bao, who was sitting in a chair, reached out his hand and said, "Please sit down and talk. You've worked hard here. I'm relieved to see that you're alright."

Han Zhong said gratefully, "Thank you, Your Highness. I have been doing my best to gather information for you, but I rarely have the opportunity to leave."

Yelü Poluo had no interest in this fifty-something-year-old traitor. He stood in the tent, listening to the story with boredom, and also glanced at the simple, dilapidated tent with nothing in it.

Aside from the stinking cow and sheep hides, there were some fur blankets and pickled vegetables.

Yelü Baocai naturally noticed these things as well.

"Guozhong, aren't you doing business here? Why are you so poor?"

Han Guozhong almost cried.

"Your Highness! This old servant's property has been confiscated. Not only that, the mountain farmers also forced this old servant to work in the fields. They beat him if he didn't work. In the winter, he had to dig coal, dig pits, and carry manure. He only had two or three days of rest a month."

"After the first month of the lunar calendar, I was still chopping firewood and digging coal. For the past two weeks, I've been working in the fields every day for spring plowing. I only had time to come out these past few days because I've been doing business."

"Now the entire Shannong County and the Nine Provinces behind the mountains are full of resentment towards the Shannong tribe and hate Beijiwu to death!"

Yelü Baocai inquired earnestly about the matter of Arctic martial arts.

"I've heard that there hasn't been a snowfall or a drop of rain here all winter. Are we going to launch a military campaign against the south this year?"

Han Zhong immediately replied, "We haven't talked about that yet. I heard that everyone has been busy farming lately. As for the war, some people initially thought about going out to fight, but after being defeated by the Mongols, Xianbei, and Khitan several times, they stopped going out."

Yelü Polu revealed a mocking expression, full of discrimination and contempt for this mountain farmer.

"Apart from the Wen Dynasty, they can't beat anyone else. I think this mountain peasant tribe is a bunch of useless trash. Whether it's Han Chinese, mountain peasants, Mongols, or Xianbei, they're all the same—cowardly trash. Only we Khitans are the strongest; every one of us is a warrior!"

Yelü Baocai said helplessly, "Of the several thousand households that went out to plunder, Wokoji was a surrendered Mongol slave, Tuoba Niu was a Xianbei, and Lü Siming was a Han Chinese. There were no Shan Nong people among them."

Just as Yelü Baocai was defending the face of the Shan Nong tribe and reprimanding his daughter for being arrogant, Han Guozhong also joined in to explain.

"Several thousand-household commanders from the Shan Nong tribe also went out, but most of them returned dead or wounded. Among them were the Ma Jia brothers, both of whom died outside. There were also the Bei Tian brothers, who were close to Bei Ji Wu, but only one of them survived. Bei Gong Ding Bian led a thousand men out, but when he saw more than five hundred Khitan cavalry, he was so frightened that he ran back and was caught up and killed many of them."

Yelü Baocai was speechless.

Even Yelü Poluo, who had just mocked and looked down on the mountain farmers, stopped laughing and instead frowned seriously, completely puzzled.

"How did such a piece of trash manage to occupy the Nine Provinces behind the mountains? Our Khitan Kingdom has wanted to take this place for a long time. We have fought for it for decades and fought several times. We have fought with the Turks, Xianbei, and Mongols, but we still failed to take it."

Just as Han Zhonggang was about to answer, he heard a commotion in the distance.

"The Mongols are attacking!! Quickly, enter the city for safety!"

Yelü Baocai was startled and quickly stood up.

The guards quickly entered the tent. "Your Highness, we must first enter the city for refuge. The Mongols are coming!"

Yelü Baocai did not move, but asked, "Why open the city gates at this time? Aren't you afraid that Mongol spies will sneak in and seize the city?"

The guard explained, "I don't know, but everyone outside is heading towards the city gate."

Yelü Baocai sensed something was wrong, but now everyone was heading towards the city gate, and it would be easy for him to be caught if he acted alone.

"past!"

The group headed towards the city gate. The market was in complete chaos, with shouts from men and cries from cattle and sheep rising and falling.

Outside the Beiyuan Guard, which was defending against the Mongols, a large number of merchants led their cattle and horses quickly into the city.

Many soldiers had already appeared on the city wall, but they did not stop these people from entering.

Seeing someone driving a cargo wagon closer, Lü Siming immediately shouted, "People come in to take refuge! Leave the wagons outside, or you'll die!!"

This is a cart covered with a cloth, so you can't see what's inside, but there are three people pushing it.

Upon hearing this, the merchant below the city raised his head and shouted to Lü Siming, "Sir, please have mercy! This is all top-quality rice and grain; I cannot afford to lose it! I will go in right away!"

Seeing that this man still wanted to reason, Lü Siming immediately said, "Fire the arrows! Anyone who disobeys will die!"

The archers gave the man no chance to speak and quickly shot arrows at the merchant, who was also Han Chinese.

More than a hundred arrows struck the vicinity of the carriage, leaving several bloody holes in the people nearby.

The next second, the businessman who had just pleaded fell to the ground, and five men quickly jumped up from under the cart cover.

Five men, brandishing knives, shouted, "Kill!"

Chaos erupted at the city gate, with many who had been merchants and refugees just moments before transforming into warriors and charging at those nearby.

"Kill them all!"

Lu Siming gave the most correct instructions, without distinguishing between good and bad.

At this moment, a soldier came to report.

"Lord Commander, we have already lit the signal fire to inform Tongzhou City."

Lu Siming nodded. "Let's wait for the farmers to come back."

Nongjiakou was one of the nine prefectural cities. Most of the city's 20,000 to 30,000 people had gone to work in the fields, leaving less than 2,000 people in the city to supervise the horse market.

Arctic Wu had no intention of defense and was currently inspecting agricultural production along the river.

As they spoke, all the people below died, and hundreds of merchants in the distance dared not move forward.

Qiao Guozhong shouted, "Sir! We are merchants from Jinzhou! We are all good people! Please, sir, let us in!"

Lu Siming recognized these people as well. "Come in."

At this moment, Yelü Baocai no longer cared about concealing his identity and immediately shouted, "I am a merchant from the Khitan Kingdom. May I also enter? We can leave our carts and goods behind."

Lu Siming glanced at the person who spoke and said directly, "Come in."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and quickly came in together.

When a dozen or so men had entered the city gate, the Mongol cavalry that the scouts had observed also arrived.

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen saw that the city gates were not completely closed and quickly rushed over.

"Charge! Charge in!"

One of the cavalrymen shouted excitedly.

The others also showed expressions of joy and excitement, never expecting success to come so easily. Lu Siming, on the city wall, was already used to grand occasions.

A guard beside him shouted, "Sir, the catapults are ready."

"Release them!" Lu Siming gave the order directly.

Five catapults hurled boulders a hundred meters away. The heavy boulders fell from the sky and crushed an unfortunate cavalryman to death on the ground.

The archers fired again, and a rain of arrows fell rapidly on the cavalry that had approached first.

More than ten men in the front row were hit by arrows and fell from their horses. The warhorses, frightened by the rain of arrows and boulders, ran wildly.

By this time, the last merchants had returned to Wengcheng and were being supervised to stay in a warehouse specifically prepared for suspicious individuals.

The soldiers raised the drawbridge and closed the city gate.

Upon seeing this, Borjigin immediately shouted, "Take the city gate! A reward of one hundred households will be given!"

Inspired by their leader, the grassland men charged forward recklessly.

The catapults on the city wall required huge stones weighing hundreds of kilograms, and loading them was very troublesome.

But there are many bows and arrows.

Three hundred archers fired simultaneously, and immediately retreated to reload after finishing.

The archers who were waiting behind them moved to the front and began firing again from horseback.

The fine rain of arrows killed dozens of cavalrymen in front.

By the time the cavalry reached the city wall, five volleys of fire had already been fired from the wall.

The merchants' goods and wagons caused the cavalry to crowd as they approached the city gate. Coupled with the corpses of their comrades and the barrage of arrows ahead, they were ultimately unable to stop the drawbridge from being raised.

Once the drawbridge was raised, closing the city gate became much more natural.

Lu Siming watched as the Hu people were killed by arrows. The Tartars tried to retaliate with arrows, but they were quickly riddled with bullets.

"Have they all returned?"

Geng Zhong replied, "They haven't returned yet. The villages with thousands or hundreds of households on the outskirts are also unguarded. They're all farming in the county now, so I'm afraid they can't hold onto their houses."

Lu Siming was well aware of how weak his side's fighting strength was.

Their defense is decent, but their offense is severely lacking.

Moreover, Beiji Wu always thought farming was very important, so he forced the people guarding the city to go farming.

If it weren't for the recent spring market opening, the city's garrison would probably only number a little over a hundred.

Lu Siming shouted loudly into the distance, "Which leader is coming? Dare to state your name?"

Riding on his horse, Borjigin shouted, "Borjigin, Batuda! Aren't you Han people looking for our tribe, wanting to plunder it? Now I've arrived, dare you dismount and fight?!"

Lu Siming shouted, "The goods outside the city are yours to take. Just take them and don't cause trouble, or you'll anger my master and suffer a great calamity!"

Borjigin sneered, "A bunch of cowards! I thought the Mountain Farmers were some kind of heroes, but they're nothing but a bunch of cowardly rats!! They didn't dare to come out when they saw my 100,000-strong army! Hahaha!"

Lu Siming cursed, "Don't lie to your grandfather. Your grandfather has seen 30,000 troops, which is more than your 100,000 troops. Our Shan Nong tribe's 100,000 troops are not afraid of you."

A Han Chinese man standing nearby said in Mongolian, “Khan, there are only a little over two thousand people in the city now, and our warriors are mixed in with them. We must take the city as soon as possible, lest we have too many people and things become difficult.”

Borjigin said, "You should persuade him to surrender."

Sha Rengui agreed and shouted into the distance, "General on the city wall, as long as you open the city gates and surrender, the Khan will give you wealth and honor, and will not harm the people in the city!"

"Bah!" Lü Siming retorted, "How could I, Lü Siming, be such a disloyal and unjust person? You barbarian dogs, just wait! Today you've invaded our Shannong tribe's territory, and in the future, I will slaughter your entire clan, young and old! Not a single one will be spared!!!"

"I, Lü Siming, will live and die with the people of this city!"

Upon hearing this, the nearby guards also shouted, "To live or die together! To live or die together!!"

"Live and die together!!"

"Live and die together!!"

"Live and die together!!"

More than two thousand soldiers shouted in unison, their blood boiling.

Borjigin also speaks Chinese, and upon hearing Lü Siming's words, he frowned and remained silent.

Yelü Baocai, who was inside the barbican, also looked puzzled.

"Aren't the mountain farmers supposed to be mostly surrendered generals? How can there be such a loyal subject in this place?"

Upon hearing this, the Wenchao merchants nearby couldn't help but laugh, and then whispered as if they were outsiders, "They're afraid that if they surrender, their master, Beijiwu, will kill them. If Beijiwu wants to kill someone, no one can protect them."

Yelü Baocai remained skeptical, while Borjigin, without the warning of an inside traitor, could not comprehend the loyalty of these surrendered men.

"Attack the city!! I refuse to believe that 30,000 warriors can't take down a city held by 2,000 men!"

Without siege equipment, the steppe Khan quickly lost more than two thousand cavalrymen and failed to breach the city gate.

More and more support is coming from the city.

The archers' firepower also increased significantly. The archers on the city wall were divided into three rows, with stools of different heights used to separate the three levels.

On the 400-meter-long city wall, there are no longer fewer than 300 archers.

At this moment, multiple firing points appeared simultaneously, and the density of arrows covered almost half of the battlefield.

Even if they stay inside with the door closed, these cavalrymen won't be able to climb up.

A large number of cavalrymen came from various villages to support this place. However, since the first target of the steppe cavalry was the horse market, they did not attack the nearby small villages to avoid alerting the enemy and wasting time.

At this time, people from various villages quickly rode their horses into the newly built bunkers, using the ten-meter-high thousand-household bunkers to protect themselves.

These people are the property of the thousand households and also their fighting force, so there is no reason to push them away.

One glory and one glory.

Borjigin had already realized that he couldn't take this city, and ordered his men, "Go and attack somewhere else!"

The rest of the troops had long since given up fighting. After the bugle call to retreat sounded, the cavalry at the front quickly returned, leaving behind two or three thousand corpses and wounded horses.

The cavalrymen returned to a safe distance and looked ahead at their compatriots who had not yet returned.

Some people who had been hit by arrows tried to get up and go over after hearing the bugle call to retreat.

Upon seeing this, Lü Siming on the city wall immediately ordered, "Shoot them all!"

The mountain farmers do not need prisoners; they have enough people now.

If Arctic Wu were alive, he might offer a chance to surrender, but the rest of the people have no goodwill towards these people.

Borjigin was furious and anxious as he watched the arrows rain down from the city wall, killing his men.

"Aren't these despicable Han Chinese afraid of our Mongol warriors?"

Lu Siming and the Han people on the city wall were too tough, so tough that it seemed like they really wanted to kill them all.

Borjigin immediately ordered his men to shout a message.

"Listen up, people inside the city! Our Khan has given you one last chance to surrender, or we'll slaughter you all once we enter the city!!"

Such words failed to frighten the soldiers inside the city. In just over an hour, Lü Siming had already received more than four thousand reinforcements.

Including the farmers, at least 10,000 people entered the city to reinforce it, and there was a steady stream of elite cavalry coming from further away.

Because of the management style of the Northern Army, Shannong County has always been a place where everyone manages their own affairs.

Tongzhou Army returned to Tongzhou, Beiyuan Army guarded Nongjiakou, and the original civil army, because Beijiwu couldn't bear to leave the villages and communities he had established without anyone to use them, led the peasant army to Shuozhou, while the army remained here.

The elite troops of the Wen Dynasty were stationed in this very place.

These people were surrendered from the Wen Dynasty, and according to the agreement, they would not deal with the Han people, but dealing with the Mongols was just right for them.

Commander Wang Xiang of the Iron Cavalry climbed onto the city wall and whispered to Lü Siming, "You curse them a bit, and I'll have the brothers prepare. A thousand Iron Cavalry and four thousand Light Cavalry are enough to wipe out this army of over twenty thousand."

The claim of a 100,000-strong army was a figurative number; no one believed in the Mongols' mathematical abilities.

Lu Siming didn't want to take any risks. "Can we win? For now, we should just guard the gate. Opening it would only increase the risk. Let's wait for the clan leader to arrive."

If Beijiwu were to arrive, Lü Siming and the others would definitely dare to go down and fight the enemy together, but right now, with only Wang Xiang and his men, Lü Siming is unwilling to take the risk.

Wang Xiang immediately said, "After I go out, you can close the door when you see things are going badly. Even if I die, I will use my body to block those people from coming."

Lu Siming quickly made up his mind, "No, we should prioritize safety now. I know you are eager to make a name for yourself and are not afraid of death, but don't gamble with the lives of others."

Before Wang Xiang could say anything more, Lü Siming shouted directly outside, "My master isn't here, which is why you bastards are making such a racket. When my master comes, he will definitely kill you cowards! If you don't want to die, get out of here! Stay far away, or your whole family will be slaughtered!"

Borjigin cursed, "If you stay hidden in the city and don't come out, I'll kill everyone outside!"

Lu Siming cursed, "If you have the guts, then kill them all! We'll burn all this trash on the ground to ashes, and we'll catch up with you and slaughter your entire family!"

The resistance of the mountain farmers was unexpectedly fierce!
(End of this chapter)