Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

Jiang Han slowly spoke out the words he had been thinking about for a long time.

"From the capital...?"

The soldiers were a little hesitant. When they saw Jiang Han, they saw that he had a plump face and fair skin, and was obviously of extraordinary bearing. The people in the capital were all dignitaries, and this guy could not be offended. The soldiers guarding the city made a secret decision in their hearts.

Although his responsibilities were locked, he still asked one more question: "What business are you doing here?"

"horse"

Jiang Han gestured to his side: "Ten war horses."

Today's first update is here, and the number of updates will be accelerated in the future. Thank you everyone! QQ group 1⑥8二伊7七伊⑥

Volume 8: Chapter Chapter : Finally found a place to stay

Ten war horses, this is not a small number. The guards' eyes lit up immediately. They did not mind the strange clothes of Jiang Han and the others. They bowed slightly and said, "This is a serious matter. Please wait for a moment. This matter must be decided by my superiors."

Before he finished speaking, he told his companions to continue on duty, then turned around and ran towards the city.

Jiang Han was left staring at the crowd of people and soldiers guarding the city.

The defense of Anping City was mainly the responsibility of the garrison, and the main persons in charge were a general flag and two thousand households. But now, the eunuch party had been suppressed and had no power at all, so the responsibility of city defense fell on the head of the county magistrate, and was mainly the responsibility of civil servants.

And our county magistrate, whose name is Zhao Pu, what is he doing at this moment?

He was busy with disaster relief. Regardless of their abilities, the grassroots literati of the Ming Dynasty had quite upright moral principles and attitudes. It would be better to say that they had a mysterious sense of mission, feeling that they were participating in the rise and fall of the entire country and that they had a share in everything in this kingdom.

Whether this is a responsibility or a resource right is a matter of opinion, but at least this county magistrate has done his job conscientiously.

In the porridge sheds in the city, a large group of refugees were queuing up for porridge. None of them even had a complete bowl in their hands. Some were missing a piece of porridge or were broken into pieces.

The county magistrate looked at the wailing refugees and pulled his beard with worry: "Ah...what should I do?"

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard shouting over there. It turned out to be a soldier guarding the gate, running over while calling out "Your Excellency the County Magistrate".

Zhao Pu could not help but frowned: "Why are you here when you are not checking the traffic at the city gate? Could it be that the Jiannu are attacking the city?"

"Your Excellency, this is a good thing!"

"What good things can happen in this day and age? Tell me about it."

"A man and a woman came from outside the city. They were dressed strangely but had extraordinary demeanor. Most importantly, they came to the city to do business, the warhorse business!"

"War horse?"

Zhao Pu raised his eyebrows. This was really a rare thing. "Where is this warhorse from?"

"I just saw it. It has broad shoulders and chest, and a well-proportioned body. It is definitely a war horse from the Jiannu side. Only they have horses like this."

The soldiers' voices were filled with clear excitement. After all, it was a war horse! They had been soldiers for many years and had rarely seen war horses, let alone this time they really had the chance to ride one.

"Hey, look at our Anping. Does it look like a place that can afford to raise war horses?"

Faced with the soldier's expectations, Zhao Pu poured cold water on him. He stretched out his arms and showed the soldier his official uniform with several patches on it.

"The price of grain remains high, and there are more and more refugees in the city. Most of the grain in the city is used for disaster relief and to maintain the city's defense. There is really no spare money to buy war horses. Now we can't even afford to feed people, so how can we afford to feed horses?"

Zhao Pu, the superior, was a man with a pretty good temper. According to the temper of a normal county magistrate, he would have simply ordered the soldiers to drive the people away. Why would he bother explaining the reasons?

"This....Hey, I understand."

The soldier bowed, nodded dejectedly, turned around and prepared to go back to persuade Jiang Han and the other two to leave.

"Hey... wait a minute."

At this moment, someone suddenly spoke up and stopped the soldier who was about to leave.

Zhao Pu turned his head in confusion. This was his county magistrate, Wang Ji.

"What do you think, Brother Bo Rang?"

Wang Ji waved his hand and said, "Brother Zixing, I think these horses can stay here for now."

"How can we stay? You have seen the situation in Anping City. It is already difficult to maintain the status quo. How can we afford the cost of maintaining the war horses?"

"Who said we should take care of it?"

There was a hint of ill intent in Wang Ji's smile.

"Brother Wang, please stop keeping us in suspense. If you have any good ideas, please tell us now."

Seeing that his old friend was beginning to suffer from his old problem again, he could not help but urge him. Those were ten war horses. If Zhao Pu said he was not tempted, that would be a lie. Who wouldn't want a war horse? If he didn't have to raise them himself, then it would be a waste if he didn't take them!

"You..."

Wang Ji shook his head and said slowly, "Does the county lord still remember the relative who came to visit from the general flag a few days ago?"

“You mean…?”

"Yes, that man is a branch of the Cao family, one of the eight great merchants in Shanxi. He must have a large amount of food and grass. If we can sell the war horses to him, which are in short supply these days, it would not be too much to ask him for fifty or sixty taels for one horse. In this way, we can get enough food and grass to help the victims."

"Yes! Brother Bo Rang is right. War horses are good, but the biggest problem facing the people in my city right now is that they don't have enough food. If we turn war horses into food, we can save countless lives."

Thinking of this, Zhao Pu quickly informed the soldiers: "Quick, quick, invite the two people outside the city in, I will discuss the purchase of war horses with them."

"Yes..."

The soldier left with regret. After many twists and turns, he still couldn't keep his warhorse. Woohoo, warhorse, my warhorse...

What Jiang Han saw was that the soldier walked out with a Sima face and said, "Congratulations, our superiors have agreed. Please go further into the city. Our superiors want to discuss some specific details with you."

Looking at the soldier's grief-stricken expression, Jiang Han wondered as he walked, "How come this soldier doesn't even look happy when I say nice things to him?"

"Oh, right," the soldier said, waking up from a dream, "I haven't checked you two yet. Please show me your belongings. If you have any weapons, please hand them over to us for the time being."

Still need to check? M4A1 frowned, obviously unwilling to hand over the gun, but Jiang Han turned his eyes and looked at M4A1: "The master said to hand over the weapon, but you are not willing to do so?"

As he said this, he pulled out the dagger from the calf of M4A1 and handed it to the gatekeeper.

"Sir, this is the only weapon we have. This knife is used by the two of us to cut meat for daily meals. Does it count as a weapon?"

The soldier looked at the military dagger, with its matte blade, extremely sharp edge and serrations on the back. It looked like a precious weapon, but unfortunately, it was a kitchen knife.

A short weapon of this length is not included in the regulated weapons. When going out, everyone has a small knife for small things like cutting meat or ropes, so they don't even care about this.

Seeing this precious sword being used as a kitchen knife, the soldier was once again certain that these two people must be from important backgrounds.

However, the soldier turned his attention to the long box behind the M4A1. "What is this?"

"Oh, this, this is a treasure that we found in Portugal. Although I can't see what it is used for, it looks like a mechanism. I was so excited when I saw it that I bought it."

While Jiang Han was talking nonsense, he generously showed the portable Jupiter cannon inside to the soldiers.

The gap of hundreds of years has caused a huge difference in the cognition of both sides. With such a large lethal weapon in front of him, the soldier simply didn't recognize it, but he was not so easy to fool.

"This thing looks a bit like a musket?"

The soldier stroked his chin, his tone containing a hint of uncertainty.

Jiang Han was sweating profusely. "Ah... this, you are joking, sir. A musket needs gunpowder to ignite it, and a fuse to fire a projectile. Look at this thing of mine, it has such a big hole, where does the projectile come from? There is no place to insert the fuse on the top or bottom. If you are worried, you can also check my luggage. There is definitely no gunpowder in it."

The soldier turned his head and looked at his companion, who was checking the things on several horses at the moment. Seeing the soldier's eyes, he shook his head and said, "There is no gunpowder, just some household utensils."

"Then let him go."

Horses were not allowed to ride in the city, so Jiang Han and M4A1 could only lead their horses into the city to see what this Ming Dynasty city was like. To be honest, they were more disappointed than expected.

The city walls of Anping City are very thick. Since the Ming Dynasty, the development of city walls has begun to develop towards being low and thick. Thick walls can withstand more bombardment from catapults and artillery, and can also ensure that there is enough turning space on the top of the wall to place various city defense weapons.

The ground in the city is not a stone road, but a dirt road. After walking a few steps, there is a circle of yellow soil next to your shoes. If it rains, the ground will be a mud soup. There are a few houses scattered among them, and some vendors are hawking their wares, but more of them are ragged refugees lying in groups of three or two on the roadside, leaning against the walls of houses, or in simple shacks.

Since the Little Ice Age, natural disasters have continued to hit the Central Plains, with the Northwest and Hebei being the hardest hit areas. Droughts, blizzards, and floods have occurred one after another. If you can't grow food, you can't fill your stomach. If you want to buy food, you can only sell land. Farmers lost their land and became tenants. They can only farm for the landlords from generation to generation. If you can't grow anything on the landlord's land, you can only run away and become a refugee.

Most of the refugees were born as tenant farmers, who had been doing this for generations. Naturally, no one would register them, and no one would hire them even if they wanted to work. They could only wait for handouts from the government or lie on the side of the road and wait to die.

Dirty, messy, smelly, this is the actual situation in Anping City. You can't expect the refugees to care about their personal hygiene. They have done their best to survive. They are unkempt, with fleas and lice running around in their hair, and they stink terribly. Jiang Han couldn't help but frown.

It is a rare sight in Anping City to see people going out leading more than ten horses, not to mention that they are dressed so strangely. Along the way, Jiang Han and his group got a lot of attention, which made him feel uncomfortable.

Fortunately, we arrived at the destination soon.

Of course they couldn't just chat on the street when they met formally, so Zhao Pu and the other person found a teahouse. These days, it's hard to open a big teahouse in a small city like this, but these small teahouses can still do some business and barely get by.

There's no need to be too particular when meeting a businessman.

At the door, the soldier bowed slightly.

"Your horses and luggage can be left to me for the time being. I will return them to you when you return."

Jiang Han naturally followed suit. He was also thinking about where to put the horse, so he went into the teahouse with M4A1. It was afternoon now, and there were obviously more customers in the teahouse, drinking tea and chatting.

As soon as they entered the door, Jiang Han and his companion attracted everyone's attention.

It's nothing, his clothes are too unconventional, Jiang Han is an old straight man, a black Gengar sweater with brown overalls, plus a pair of sneakers,

The M4A1 over there was dressed even more wonderfully, with a gray-black windbreaker, mechanical-textured elbow and knee pads, and a long receiver on the back. Such a combination made Zhao Pu think: No wonder the soldier said these two were dressed strangely, what kind of outfit is this? Even the Portuguese are not as weird as you.

"Um...you two are dressed in a very unconventional way."

Zhao Pu still couldn't help but want to complain. What on earth was going on with that weird pattern?

During the Ming Dynasty, the technology for dyeing fabrics was relatively mature, but this is the first time he has seen such bright colors. Won't he be embarrassed?

Jiang Han looked down at his clothes. These clothes were indeed somewhat unique, but Jiang Han had no other replacement clothes at the moment. He wanted to adapt to the local customs, but there was no chance. There were no ready-made clothing stores in ancient times. If one wanted new clothes, one could either cut the cloth and sew them by oneself, or go to a tailor shop to have them made. Did he look like someone who could make clothes?

It was just a simple complaint, and Zhao Pu had no intention of digging deeper. It was other people's freedom to dress however they wanted, and he had no right to interfere. The priority now was to talk about business.

"May I ask what your names are?"

"I am Jiang Han, this is my wife, Si Aiyi."

Jiang Han took advantage of it quietly, M4A1 was a little confused, "See inside, what is that called?"

"Si Aiyi...? That's a good name. I heard that you have a group of war horses that you want to sell in Anping?"

"Yes, a total of ten war horses."

"Could you please tell me where this warhorse came from?"

When doing business, asking about the source of goods is a very common question.

"Of course, this warhorse was stolen by me."

"Oh? This is government-owned land. Are you planning to sell stolen goods to me?"

"Don't be anxious, sir. Although it's robbery, it depends on the person. The common people of the Ming Dynasty cannot rob, but the Jiannu are not protected by the laws of the Ming Dynasty. It's reasonable for the common people to rob them, isn't it?"

Zhao Pu smiled and said, "Yes, it is indeed reasonable. I am interested in purchasing this warhorse. May I ask what price you are prepared to offer?"

These questions seemed calm, but they were actually Zhao Pu's quiet probing to see if Jiang Han had extensive channels or had other support. Now it seemed that since he was able to snatch war horses from the Jiannu, he was a tough guy. Seeing that Jiang Han was well-spoken, he also thought highly of him.

"I'm afraid he's a descendant of a big family who came out to gain experience."

Zhao Pu thought so in his mind. According to his logic, Jiang Han's family took people out and accidentally encircled and suppressed a group of Jiannu cavalry, so that the young master of the family could come out to see the world and do some work. As for the fact that Jiang Han and his wife annihilated a team of cavalry, he had never thought about it at all. That was pure nonsense.

When it came to the most crucial stage of asking for the price, whether to eat meat and soup or bran and vegetables depended on this, but Jiang Han had no idea how much this war horse cost in ancient times. He only knew the conversion unit roughly, estimated it in his mind, and tentatively gave a number "Three... thirty taels?"

"make a deal!"

Zhao Pu made the decision immediately, and Jiang Han knew that it was a bad deal. He would get less! But the price had already been set, and there was no chance to regret it. He could only sigh that he was really not cut out for business.

Zhao Pu was very happy. If these war horses were sold, he could get sixty or seventy taels for each one. He made a large profit from this transaction. It was a good deal, and he looked at Jiang Han and the others with a lot more favorability.

"Do you have any plans for your business last night?"

"To be honest with you, my humble wife and I have come here with the hope of finding a place to stay. I see that Anping City is peaceful and harmonious, so I want to rent a yard here first, rest for a while, and then go to work."

Now they are here to interrogate you about what you are going to do in the city. Jiang Han behaved very honestly, and also showed a hint of asking Zhao Pu for help.

"Well, that's fine. Let's put it this way. Go east from here and you will reach Hechun Lane, where a friend of mine used to live. He left a few years ago and went to Jiangnan, so the yard is now empty. You two can live there temporarily. You just need to pay part of the rent and clean up the yard. This is my way of thanking you two for your contribution to Anping County."

Ten war horses, net profit of three or four hundred taels of silver, how much food can be bought, how much work can be done? At this time, the purchasing power of silver is quite strong. Zhao Pu does not want to take advantage of others for nothing, and he wants to repay the favor and not owe them anything. If Jiang Han and the others come to him again in the future, they will have to handle the matter impartially. As he said this, he picked up the tea that had been untouched on the side and blew off the foam on it, which meant he was going to serve tea to see the guests off.

However, Jiang Han did not think too much about it. This time, the horse was sold, and he had the money and the yard. It was a complete success. Naturally, he was overjoyed and happily clasped his hands and said, "Thank you, sir. I will take my leave now."

"Well, go ahead"

There is a difference between officials and civilians. Officials all put on airs. Jiang Han only muttered in his heart, "What a big arrogance!" But he didn't dare say it out loud. He respectfully left the teahouse and waved his fist excitedly.

"M4A1. We finally have our own place!"

"Before that, I want to know what does 贱内 mean?"

"what?"

Jiang Han turned his head stiffly and saw M4A1's gentle smile.