Chapter 966 0961 [Farmers of Ming Dynasty and Shepherds of Xixia]
The wind and sand have not stopped yet, but they are already very weak as they reach the boundaries of Yanzhou, and have basically no impact on the people and animals living here.
If Yanzhou had not been cleared of wilderness by the strong wall, the grassland herdsmen further north would still be clearing sand under the organization of the chief.
That is to say, the sand blown by the wind to the pastures should be carried back to the edge of the desert by livestock as much as possible. Even if it is a drop in the bucket, it will still be done.
The "sand removal" operation was the largest in the Qing Dynasty. After all, it was a centralized unified government, and a large population had already multiplied around the Mu Us Desert. The local officials of the Qing Dynasty organized local farmers and herdsmen and pushed back the sand piles again and again.
But it was blown away by strong winds again and again.
If Zhu Guoxiang sends people to promote the grass grid, local farmers and herdsmen are very willing to implement it. They do not ask to turn the desert into grassland, they just ask that the desert does not continue to devour the grassland!
Once the grass grid is proven to be effective, it is estimated that the herdsmen will worship Dean Zhu as a saint.
Nuwu Ji is a herdsman in the northern part of Yanzhou. His name means "person with great wisdom roots". At first glance, he asked a monk to help him name it. If translated as a Chinese name, it would be written as "Huimao".
There is a special translation method for the names of Xixia people: the surname is the transliteration and the given name is the free translation.
Nuwuji was positioned closer to the front and shouted in a low voice: "Brother, walk slowly, be careful of ambush!"
"Age" is a word borrowed from the Han people. In Dangxiang dialect, it should actually be called "Lang" (brothers or brothers call each other "Lang", brothers collectively call "Minggu", and sisters call brothers "Mi")
).
From Yanzhou to Longzhou and Yinzhou, the Dangxiang people here are greatly influenced by the Han people. Even when they call their family members in daily life, they move closer to the Han people.
The elder brother’s name is Sengjiu, which was also given by the monk with help. When translated into Chinese, the name is Zhihai.
Sengjiu turned around and urged: "Hurry up!"
Nuwu Ji carefully climbed over a piece of rammed earth, ready to escape at any time. He did not want to accompany Brother Richard to die.
Both brothers are shepherds, so why are they working so hard?
The ethnic conflicts here are far less profound than class conflicts.
The ruling class of Xixia is: nobles, herdsmen, landowners, and monks.
The ruled classes are: craftsmen, herders (farmers and herdsmen), and slaves.
With the development of the times and the intensification of mergers, various tribes in Xixia were subdivided into herders and landowners under their chiefs.
Some people are both pastoralists and landowners.
Shepherds and farmers are equivalent to their tenants, and slaves are their private property.
And transactions in pasture and farmland were created.
Affected by successive years of war and under the pressure of heavy military service, everyone looted crazily during the war.
In the middle and early stages of the founding of Xixia, many herdsmen and farmers became herders and landowners by relying on robbery. Therefore, fighting from top to bottom was like crazy, and there were even frequent internal conflicts when fighting for the spoils of war.
Gradually, it doesn't work anymore. Even if the bottom class grabs the goods, they will be taken away by the middle and high-level people. Xixia has already solidified its class.
The people at the bottom are becoming more and more disgusted with fighting, because there are only disadvantages and no benefits.
What's the downside?
Fighting will delay grazing and farming, and all losses will have to be borne by the people at the bottom.
Low-level herdsmen like Nuwuji hated the emperor, officials, nobles, chiefs, and herdsmen. Of course, they also hated the emperors, ministers, and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.
His heart was full of resentment, and he just wanted to graze in peace on the pasture - even if most of the profits from grazing belonged to the owner, at least he could still survive.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
Nuwu Ji had just passed through the gap in the city wall filled with obstacles. After walking a few steps, he suddenly heard the sound of gunfire, and there were flashes of fire on both sides of the darkness.
Nuwuji exclaimed: "Brother, run away!"
His elder brother Sengjiu was brave, or rather thoughtless, and dreamed of being rewarded for meritorious service in battle.
Under attack from two sides with fire cannons, Sengjiu heard a noise ahead and rushed into an alley without fear of death.
It would be foolish to rush in.
The narrow alley ahead was blocked, and there were three four-wheelers with mules unloaded.
There was also a gap between the four-wheeled vehicles. Monk Dove tried to pass through the gap, but was hit by two spears.
Niu Fu, who had never practiced before, panicked and shouted with joy: "I poked a barbarian, I poked a barbarian..."
"It's not dead yet, draw the gun and stab it again!" Yang Danian reminded.
Niu Fu quickly drew back his spear and thrust it out again.
Monk Jiu, who was eager to be rewarded for his meritorious service, was stabbed to death by two militiamen. But he didn't want to think about what reward he would get even if he made great achievements? A bag of grain, or a sheep?
He will still be a herdsman from now on, and there is no way he will become a herdsman. The path of advancement for the people at the bottom has long been blocked.
Even if he makes great achievements, his military achievements will be taken away by his superiors!
Yang Danian and Niu Fu were extremely excited. They not only stabbed Sengjiu to death, but also stabbed to death another Xixia soldier.
The militiamen in their alley were organized into temporary teams. Their merits would also be calculated based on head counts, but the scores would be divided equally among the entire team, unless someone was so fierce that individual merits would be counted.
"Bang bang bang!"
Another round of shooting.
Not only were four-wheelers blocking the alleys, but fortifications were also built on the avenues on both sides, and Ming musketeers stood behind the fortifications and fired.
Every gap in the city wall, after Xixia soldiers entered, was filled with pocket formations!
It was too dark and it was difficult to see.
Nuwuji didn't know where his brother had gone, let alone whether he was alive or dead. He only knew that his brother was a fool. He told him not to rush during the day, but now he rushed to die.
Many Xixia soldiers turned around and fled, and Nuwuji was also among the deserters.
He heard Brother Richard's angry scolding, which seemed to be ordering the soldiers to fight back.
He also heard the chief's voice.
The chief was the cousin of the herdsman of Nuwuji. He was yelling at Brother Richard: "Are you charging? If you charge again, everyone will die. The Ming army has already ambushed!"
"Boom boom boom!"
Countless thunderbolts were thrown down from the unexploded city wall and exploded among the retreating Xixia soldiers.
"ah!"
A scream rang out next to Nuwu Ji. The man had been stabbed in the crotch by shrapnel and was rolling on the ground with his crotch covered.
Nuwu Ji was so frightened that he lost his mind and fled out of the city.
Suddenly, he felt a pain in his shoulder, and was hit by a stray arrow that appeared out of nowhere, but it was the Ming army crossbowmen on both sides of the city walls who were shooting arrows.
The rumble of horse hooves sounded again, the city gates opened one after another, and Yao Pingzhong led his cavalry out.
"withdraw!"
Only then did Brother Richard confirm that he had been ambushed.
In other words, this is a trap set for him. Li Yanxian is acting to deceive him by leaving with the main force!
Nuwuji didn't know where his war horses were. He finally saw one, but it was ridden away by other defeated soldiers.
He was very frustrated.
Herdsmen in Xixia were classified as civilians, and men must be included in the yellow roll when they reached the age of fifteen.
Nuwuji was first sentenced to death more than ten years ago. At that time, he was given a war horse and a camel.
Nuvji was very excited when he received the war horses and camels, but soon he became unhappy. Because he had to raise the war horses himself and bear the daily forage expenses of the war horses. The chief would also send people to check regularly. Once the war horses died, they would be released.
He compensates.
He had already paid compensation once, but it was not enough to spend all his savings, so he had to borrow usury from the herdsman.
"Where's the horse? Where's my horse?"
Nuwu Ji forgot the pain of being hit by an arrow and the fear of being ambushed. Now he just wanted to find his horse.
Or, just find a random one, otherwise he will lose money again.
There's one there!
Nuwu Ji ran wildly with joy, but suddenly a hail of arrows came and fell in front of him.
The war horse was frightened by the arrow, raised its hooves and ran away, disappearing into the night in a blink of an eye. Nuwu Ji stood there and wanted to cry without tears.
"kill!"
The cry of killing came from behind, and a large number of Ming army infantry came out from the gap in the city wall to pursue them.
Nuwuji, who couldn't find his horse, was afraid to go back and bear the responsibility for compensation, so he simply ran in the opposite direction to the base of the city wall, where he knelt down and waited to be captured by the Ming army.
In fact, if the army is defeated and loses its horses, the soldiers are exempt from compensation.
But Nuwuji completely forgot about this. He only had the fear of compensating the war horses in his mind, which was even worse than being massacred by the Ming army.
To what extent has Xixia become corrupted?
When the government issues war horses to men who join the army for the first time, some herdsmen will even take away the good horses and then give bad or sick horses to their own herdsmen. This can not only make money, but also help control the herdsmen.
It won't affect the battle. At worst, we can just lend another good horse to the herdsman before the battle.
If you win a battle, you have even more excuses to snatch the shepherd's spoils and military exploits - you borrowed my usury and rode my good horse to fight, then of course your military exploits and trophies should belong to me.
"Surrender and spare your life!"
The infantry of the Ming Dynasty had rushed over, and Nuwuji knelt at the foot of the wall and shouted.
Moreover, the shout was in Chinese, which he had secretly learned.
"The militiamen will stay to guard the prisoners and captured war horses!" an officer ordered.
Niu Fu was no longer afraid of the battlefield and became extremely excited. He volunteered and rushed over to hold Nuwuji down.
Yang Danian followed up with a slap in the face and scolded: "You don't want your life? What if this person pretends to surrender? If this happens again in the future, at least two or three people will have to go over!"
Niu Fu smiled and said: "I remember, Brother Yang taught me a lesson."
"There is someone here who was hit by three arrows and is still alive."
"Drag him into the city and wait for the doctor to treat him. Whether he lives or dies depends on his fate. There are not many medicinal materials left here, so we have to use them on our own wounded soldiers."
"Haha, I caught a man wearing iron armor. He's so lucky that he can still escape after being hit by a fire blunderbuss."
"..."
Nuwu Ji was taken away obediently. There were garbled sounds in his ears, and he couldn't understand most of the Chinese words.
But the Ming army did not kill him.
The injured prisoners were taken to the city to kneel down together, and doctors came to help treat their injuries.
At this moment, Yao Pingzhong was leading his knights in a mad pursuit.
He did not know the direction of the enemy general. In the darkness, more than 10,000 Xixia cavalry scattered and fled.
But the Ming Dynasty Xiaoqi who were chasing after them only had 2,000 people.
No Xixia general dared to lead his troops to fight back. They also didn't know how many troops were ambushed in the city, and they didn't know how many Ming cavalry were chasing them in the darkness.
There was even a tribal chief who blew his trumpet frantically to gather the tribesmen. After they fled far away, they all stopped and waited for dawn to surrender.
Because they were escaping in the wrong direction. The east side was full of cities occupied by the Ming army, and they couldn't find anything to eat along the way.
Then there is no point in escaping, just surrender and count the balls.
The reason why they didn't surrender immediately was because they were afraid that the Ming army would kill them!
Yao Pingzhong chased and killed him along the way and captured numerous prisoners, but he could never figure out Brother Richard's location.
In desperation, he could only pursue him everywhere. Anyway, the enemy troops were scattered in the vast grassland, and it was impossible to restore their organization in a short time.
This can also be regarded as a disguised war of annihilation.
Yao Pingzhong's luck has always been bad.
However, Wu Lin was extremely lucky. He led 500 knights in pursuit, and just happened to chase Brother Richard's own team without letting go.
