About three or four miles away from the Mongolian and Han missions, by the woods on the west bank of the Luan River, is where the Jurchens camped.
The little Belle of Zhenglan Banner, Dege Lei, looked at the Han people in front of him, quickly built a miniature stove with a few stones, threw a lot of dried horse dung cakes into it, and lit it.
The Han man's name is Dong Wang. Because he has been doing business in Zhangjiakou, he can speak both Mongolian and Jurchen fluently.
Following his brother Mang Gurtai to rob the Dege in the west, he met Dong Wang on the snowfield outside Zhangjiakou a few days ago.
Dong Wang took three or four servants with him, driving a fully loaded mule cart and two pack horses.
Such small animals and livestock have undoubtedly become the targets of the Houjin bandits.
Dong Wang hurriedly identified himself as a merchant and begged Niu Lu'erzhen to take him to see the army commander.
The sharp-tongued businessman swore to heaven that if the Jurchens let him go so that he could redeem his wife from the Mongols, he would definitely give more of his property to the banner owner as a thank you and be willing to use it to do border trade in Zhangjiakou.
With his identity, he conveyed important military information of the Ming Dynasty to Hou Jintong.
Niu Lu'e Zhen reported to his superior "Jia La'e Zhen". Jia La'e Zhen, who understood his master's temperament, pushed Dong Wang to the horse of Dege Lei, the leader of the small flag.
Degelei is the youngest son of Nurhachi. He and Mang Gurtai, one of the four great belles of the Later Jin Dynasty, are brothers from the same mother.
Their mother, Fucha Gundai, was originally Nurhachi's great blessing. Fucha was old and frail, unable to compete with the youthful and charming Meng Guzhezhe, and was left out by Nurhachi.
At the beginning of this year, someone reported to Nurhaci that the Fucha family had an affair with Dabeile Daishan. Nurhachi had just decided to imprison his wife, who had accompanied him through more than thirty years of hardships, and the Fucha family suddenly died in Manggultai.
's home.
Under the suggestion of Sibeile Huang Taiji, Degerei went to his brother Mang Gurtai to question the cause of his mother's death, but Mang Gurtai was too lazy to talk to him and rushed to report to his father Nurhaci.
As a result, Degelei became more and more suspicious that Huang Taiji's guess was right. It was Mang Gurtai, who was cruel and eager to please his father, who killed his mother.
There was a rift between the brothers.
This time they went on an expedition to plunder, but the two people, who seemed to be in harmony with each other, separated after passing Horqin's tribe, each going his own way.
Derge is not as stupid and simple-minded as Mang Gurtai, but he is closer to the shrewd Huang Taiji on weekdays. He especially admires Huang Taiji's ability to conceal spies in the Ming Dynasty.
Dege Lei heard Huang Taiji say that among the Shanxi merchants in Zhangjiakou, there were already people like the Tong family in Liaodong who worked for Hou Jin.
The ambitious Dege also wanted to have his own informant from the Ming Dynasty, so he asked Dong Wang in a friendly manner.
Dong Wang made a petition, saying that he returned to Zhangjiakou from Shahu Pass to sell goods, and then he found out that his beautiful daughter-in-law had been spotted by Mongolian Taiji, who was sent by Lin Dan Khan to collect the annual reward just because she showed her face in the horse market.
, robbed.
Dege was making fun of the Ming Dynasty for its cowardice. When even thousands of silver rewards could not protect the peace of the people, Dong Wang's next words surprised him.
It turns out that the annual silver reward received by the Mongolians this year was not a few thousand taels, but increased to 30,000 taels!
There were also carts of cloth and tea.
When Derge's heart suddenly trembled, he heard Dong Wang say in a tone that seemed to have come to his senses: "Why don't your nobles take the warriors and simply snatch Lin Danhan's annual rewards and take them back to the east?"
Little Belle was moved.
His elder brother, Mang Gurtai, turned his back and took away most of the Baya Lajia soldiers. His own military strength could not compete with the soldiers of the Mongolian Taiji or the Xuan army of the Ming Dynasty. Why not turn around and go pick up a big money bag?
Woolen cloth?
Anyway, his father Nurhachi had already fallen out with Lin Dan Khan. As the tiger son of the Jurchen hero, he gave Lin Dan Khan a hard slap, teaching this Mongolian Khan who dared to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, and brought back rich spoils to Hou Jin.
, his father might regard himself as a prince as great as Sibeile, and make himself the leader of the banner more quickly.
At this moment, the heat from the burning horse dung soon made the Dege species discover that in the bone-chilling cold grassland at dusk, Dong Wang's frozen face could start to express expressions again.
There was ferocious pride in the joy.
"Nikan," Derge said using the Jurchen habit of addressing Han people, looking at Dong Wang, "What are you thinking about?"
Dong Wang knelt down in front of the horse dung stove and said, "Master, I came here in fear. I was afraid that I would not be able to find Lin Danhan's envoy, and that I would not be able to get the woman back. It's a small matter. By mistake, the master will get Dingkou cattle and sheep elsewhere. I have ten slaves."
Even if you die, you won’t be able to give it to the master. Finally, we found them today!”
Degerei curled his lips: "No, you don't look like you are relieved, you look more like you are ready to vent your anger."
Dong Wang's prostrate figure moved. He raised his head slightly and gritted his teeth and said: "It's true that this slave feels so good for the first time. After all, this slave pays commercial taxes and taxes to the Ming Dynasty every month.
To attract money, the result is that there is still a large wharf with guards and soldiers at the door of his house. The mother-in-law was kidnapped by the Mongols. Those who paid the salary watched helplessly, and maybe even made a fuss about it. How can I hate this slave! Fortunately, I am old
God has given the slave a great blessing and taught him to be picked up by his master."
Degerai threw a piece of roe deer meat into his mouth and said coldly: "You are indeed familiar with the border wall of the Ming Dynasty. After you finish robbing everything this time and you find your mother-in-law, I will take you to the Great Khan.
Ask for a reward. Do a good job for us Jurchens. On the day we occupy the northern land, you might be able to join my Zhenglan Banner and be a little master, with your own coat and land."
"Thank you, Master!"
After Dong Wang kowtowed, he diligently picked up the horse dung and added it to the stone pit.
The last ray of sunset on the horizon had disappeared, and in Dong Wang's eyes, the small, dark stone pit was suddenly magnified dozens of times, turning into a corpse pit like the mouth of a giant beast.
The location has also changed from the current Monan Grassland to Liaodong.
Dong Wang saw himself like a tiny ant, lying on the hard, dry land and crying bitterly.
My wife's uncle, Xu San, was like another ant, struggling to move and pull in the pit.
Finally, Xu San picked up a small body and walked to Dong Wang to put it down.
"My nephew."
Xu San went back to the pit, carried out a large body, took off his cotton clothes, wrapped the naked body tightly, and staggered back.
"My sister."
After Xu San uttered these two words, he fell to the ground and started crying just like Dong Wang.
The eldest sister is like a mother, Xu San was raised by her sister, and he joined the army when he was strong.
The elder sister was afraid that the court would default on military pay and freeze her younger brother, so she asked her brother-in-law Dong Wang, who was doing business in the west, to get good cotton and cloth and sew two sets of thick winter clothes. Dong Wang sent the clothes to Liaoyang, and Xu San told his brother-in-law that he
There was no war anymore, and he was in charge of business for General Mao. He happened to be free, and together with his brother-in-law, he brought his sister and nephew to Liaoyang. From now on, his brother-in-law would be his assistant.
The two men happily drove back to their hometown, thinking about the good days in the future, until a hellish scene appeared in front of them.
Dong Wang held his wife and child who were separated from him, and his voice, hoarse from crying, could only make a "hissing" sound.
He heard his brother-in-law repeating "Tatars, beasts" over and over again.
It was the winter of the forty-sixth year of Wanli.
Just half a year ago in mid-spring, the Ming army had just won a great victory in Fushun.
Before the winter passed, Dong Wang, who had buried his wife and children, took a small iron box containing the hair of mother and son, followed Xu San, and left his hometown that had been plundered by the Tatars.