Gao Wu Da Ming: Starting as a military household and ascending to the rank of Martial Saint

Yu Shaowu quickly went over to check, but the frightened squirrel was already lifeless. It was unclear whether it had died of fright or from the fall.

I roughly estimated that the two squirrels weighed about ten pounds together, which is already a pretty good catch.

He put the two squirrels in his bag and continued wandering around the mountain.

Squirrels seemed to be very common in Tumen Mountain. With the help of his archery skills, Yu Shaowu hunted five or six more squirrels in less than an hour.

During this time, he also found two pheasants in the grass, easily shot them down, and pocketed them, which made him very happy. Pheasants are much more expensive than squirrels.

Of course, because his archery was so noisy, it would always startle some animals in the vicinity, causing them to flee. In such cases, Yu Shaowu would not chase after them, firstly because he did not want to go deep into the mountains, and secondly because he was afraid that the wounded animals would escape and he would not be able to retrieve the arrows he had shot.

Anyway, there are plenty of wild animals on this mountain, so there's no worry about not being able to hunt.

However, despite his caution, he was still drawn deeper into the Tumen Mountains by the abundance of prey.

Although they hadn't yet reached the heart of Tumen Mountain, Yu Shaowu had already discovered numerous gray wolf footprints and some gray wolf droppings. Moreover, he found these traces in several locations.

Yu Shaowu even found bones resembling human bones in these feces, which looked shocking.

The notice at the foot of the mountain was indeed true. If the wolf pack had really gathered at Tumen Mountain, the consequences would have been catastrophic, threatening not only Yaomaodun where they were, but also several surrounding villages.

Threatened by the possibility of wolves appearing at any moment, Yu Shaowu dared not linger. After preparing his prey, he immediately descended the mountain.

After descending the mountain, he did not go home immediately, but went straight to the sacred mountain market.

Shenshan Market was a relatively large wharf market nearby, located at the confluence of the Balougou River and the Yellow River. Many merchants from Hequ and Baode Prefecture would stop here, using the wharf to travel to Linxing and Puzhou in the south. Over time, this developed into a bustling market.

The market was located at Shenshandun, under the jurisdiction of the Baode Prefecture Thousand-Household Office. All the transaction taxes and stall fees collected there naturally ended up in the hands of the Thousand-Household Office and the government.

Shanxi's trade routes were extremely prosperous, especially since this was a ferry crossing on the Yellow River. The income generated by this wharf and market was undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

With this income, the thousand-household garrison could easily cover the annual summer and autumn taxes of the imperial court. However, Li Zhencai, the thousand-household garrison commander of Baode Garrison, still insisted on imposing various taxes on the impoverished military households every year, completely disregarding the fact that many military households had fled and military farmland had been abandoned due to land annexation and consecutive years of natural disasters.

These military households not only had to pay taxes to the imperial court and sell their grain in the market, but they were also exploited again, making their lives extremely miserable.

Looking at the bustling market and thinking of the military households in the fortress who were struggling just like him, Yu Shaowu's good mood from the hunt turned sour, and he cursed Li Zhencai in his heart.

However, despite his inner scorn, life had to go on. Even if he disliked Li Zhencai terribly, he still had to bring his prey to Lan Yue Lou, the largest restaurant in the market, to exchange for money and food. Then he would hand over all of this to the Thousand Household Office in exchange for his life.

Yu Shaowu was familiar with the Lan Yue Lou (Moon-Viewing Pavilion). For a long time, he would come there in fine silk clothes to seek pleasure and drown his sorrows. Later, when he ran out of money and sold all his silk clothes, he could only drink and listen to music in nearby teahouses to relieve his worries.

But at this moment, he was wearing a linen jacket woven by his wife, baggy trousers, coarse cloth shoes, and a sheepskin towel tied around his head, looking exactly like a small farmer from Northwest China.

Seeing the former playboy dressed in such a shabby state, the shopkeeper Liu San'er was quite surprised.

Lifting the cloth bag, Liu San'er was even more surprised to find it full of still-warm wild game. He had no idea where this guy had gotten it from.

After confirming that the wild animals were genuine, Liu San'er readily paid Yu Shaowu nine strings of copper coins, which was the market price after deducting taxes.

However, these copper coins are all Tianqi Tongbao, which were ten-cash coins supervised by Wei Zhongxian. Their copper content is much lower than that of Taichang Tongbao. If converted into silver, they would be worth no more than six qian of silver.

Yu Shaowu's father-in-law, Wan Jing, was also involved in the production of this copper coin. He was brutally murdered because he clashed with Wei Zhongxian over the issue of copper casting.

No matter how bloody or of poor quality, money is still money. Yu Shaowu accepted the heavy nine strings of cash, which gave him a slight sense of security.

Putting aside the issue of summer tax, at least we have enough to eat and wear for the next few days.

After the money and goods were exchanged, Liu San'er walked up to Yu Shaowu, looked at him with a lewd grin, and said softly, "Brother Yu, a few new girls have come to our shop these past few days. Two of them are from Jiangnan. They're very delicate. If they call you 'sir,' they can melt your bones. Do you want to go upstairs and have some fun, and let them wash away the dust of your journey?"

"Forget it," Yu Shaowu said with a wry smile. "I haven't even settled my summer tax yet. It's easy to get away with this, but getting into jail later is no joke."

With that, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Liu San'er, then turned and left.

Liu San'er silently watched Yu Shaowu's departing figure, then waved to summon a servant and whispered, "Go tell the master that the man surnamed Yu has stopped drinking and carousing and has gone hunting instead. He even managed to catch a few game animals for him."

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After leaving Lanyue Tower, Yu Shaowu went to Lao He's blacksmith shop.

When Old He saw Yu Shaowu, he was initially delighted, but then he somewhat reservedly cupped his hands in greeting and turned his head to the side.

In the previous encounters, whenever Lao He greeted Yu Shaowu, he was ignored. Therefore, he would always greet him politely and then quickly turn away to avoid embarrassment.

This time, however, Yu Shaowu did not ignore him. Instead, he smiled and cupped his hands to Old He, saying, "Uncle He, hello there."

Old He seemed somewhat surprised, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face. He bowed to Yu Shaowu again and said, "May Young Master Yu enjoy boundless blessings."

Yu Shaowu waved his hand and said, "Uncle He, you've forgotten, I'm just a military household now, not some young master Yu."

Old He shook his head and said, "Young Master Yu, your grandfather's kindness to the He family is as great as the heavens. No matter how our status changes, I, Old He, would never dare to be disrespectful to you."

Then, he changed the subject, saying, "Last time your wife came to my blacksmith shop and bought a few bows and arrows. How are they doing?"

Yu Shaowu smiled slightly and said, "It's really quite good. I just hunted a few squirrels and chicks today."

Old He knew that although Yu Shaowu's name was "Shaowu," because his father died early, the Yu family had always raised him as a scholar and he had never learned any martial arts.

Therefore, when he heard Yu Shaowu say this, Old He simply assumed the young man was boasting to save face. However, to avoid offending the other man, Old He still pretended to admire him, cupping his hands in congratulations and saying, "Truly a tiger cub from a military family, Old He is in awe!"

Seeing his expression, Yu Shaowu knew he was taking it as a joke, so he didn't explain further and simply said, "This time I came to buy some slotted bows and arrows with barbs."

Ever since learning of the wolves in Tumen Mountain, Yu Shaowu had to take precautions. Arrows with blood grooves and barbs were more lethal, specifically designed to kill large wild beasts.

As he spoke, he took out a string of Tianqi Tongbao coins from his bag and placed it in front of Old He.

Knowing that Yu Shaowu's family was not well-off, Lao He smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Young Master Yu, it's not that I don't want to sell it to you, but if you're practicing at home, a straight arrowhead is enough. This kind with a curved tip could easily hurt you."

Yu Shaowu said, "Wolves roam around Tumen Mountain. We should carry these barbed arrows to be on guard."

When Old He heard that he was going to Tumen Mountain, he immediately said seriously, "Young Master Yu, there has been a wolf problem on Tumen Mountain recently, and several hunters have already lost their lives. You are a beginner, so please don't take the risk."

"It's alright," Yu Shaowu said. "I'll just wander around the foothills; I won't venture into dangerous areas."

Seeing Yu Shaowu's confident tone, Old He didn't dare to persuade him any further. He took out a quiver with dark patterns and handed it to Yu Shaowu, saying, "Young Master Yu, these ten barbed arrows are a gift from me. Don't think I'm being nosy, but although barbed arrows are very lethal, they are not as cunning as gray wolves."

"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle He." Yu Shaowu insisted on placing the copper coins in his hand on the chopping board, saying, "I know you have your own difficulties, how can I let you help me every time? Please don't refuse this string of copper coins, Uncle He."

Without waiting for Uncle He to refuse again, he gave a slight bow and turned to leave.

Uncle He picked up a string of copper coins and stared blankly at Yu Shaowu's departing figure.

His son, He Huan, came out of the house, his tone somewhat disdainful. "With the wolf plague raging so much lately, a mere novice who's only been practicing for two days dares to boast about going up the mountain. I don't know if he's just bold or stupid. The gray wolves of Lüliang Mountain are incredibly vicious; a wolf cub could easily snatch him away."

"Don't make sarcastic remarks here." He glanced at his son and then ordered in a deep voice, "You've been going to Tumen Mountain to set up defenses lately. If you see this young master Yu, you must persuade him not to go up the mountain easily. If we can save his life, it will be a way for us to do our part for our brothers and sisters along the coast of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong."

"Father, rest assured, I understand," He Huan nodded in agreement.