Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 966 [Farmers of the Ming Dynasty and Herdsmen of Xixia]

The sandstorm has not stopped yet, but it is very weak when it reaches Yanzhou, and has basically no impact on the people and animals living here.

If Yanzhou had not been fortified and cleared of its countryside, the grassland herdsmen further north would still be digging sand under the organization of their chiefs.

That is, the sand that is blown to the grassland by the wind will 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 scale of the “sand-pulling” operation was the largest during the Qing Dynasty, which was a centralized unified government, and the population around the Maowusu Desert had grown a lot. Local officials of the Qing Dynasty organized local farmers and herdsmen to push the sand back again and again, but they were blown back 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 don't ask to turn the desert into grassland, but only ask that the desert stop swallowing up the grassland!
Once the grass grid is proven to be effective, the herders will probably worship President Zhu as a saint.

Nuwuji was a herdsman in the northern part of Yanzhou. His name means "a person with great wisdom", and it is obvious that he asked a monk to help him choose it. If translated into Chinese, it would be written as "Huimao".

The Xixia people have a special way of translating their names: the surnames are transliterated and the given names are translated literally.

Nuwuji was in a relatively forward position, and he whispered, "Brother, walk slowly, beware of an ambush!"

"A'ge" is a word borrowed from the Han nationality. In the Dangxiang language, it should actually be called "Lang" (brothers call each other "Lang", brothers call each other "Minggu", and sisters call brothers "Mei").

From Yanzhou to Longzhou and Yinzhou, the Dangxiang people here are greatly influenced by the Han nationality, and even the way they address their family members in daily life is similar to that of the Han nationality.

My elder brother’s name was Sengjiu, which was also chosen by a monk. Translated into Chinese, it is Zhihai.

Sengjiu turned back and urged: "Hurry up!"

Nu Wuji carefully turned over a piece of rammed earth, ready to escape at any time, as he did not want to die with Brother Richard.

Both brothers are shepherds, so why are they working so hard?

The ethnic conflicts here are far less profound than the class conflicts.

The ruling class of Western Xia was: nobles, herdsmen, landowners, and monks.

The ruled classes were: craftsmen, tillers and herdsmen (farmers and herdsmen), and slaves.

With the development of the times and the intensification of mergers, the various tribes of Western Xia were further divided into herdsmen and landowners under the chiefs.

Some people are both herders and landowners.

The shepherds and farmers were equivalent to their tenants, and slaves were their private property.

And ranch and farmland transactions occurred.

Affected by years of war and under the pressure of heavy military service, everyone engaged in crazy looting during battles.

In the early and middle periods of the Western Xia Dynasty, many herders and farmers became herders and landowners by robbing. Therefore, the wars from top to bottom were like crazy, and there were even frequent infighting when fighting for the spoils.

Gradually, it became untenable. Even if the lower class managed to grab wealth, it would be taken away by the middle and upper classes. The class structure in Western Xia had already become solidified.

The lower-class people are increasingly disgusted with war because it only brings disadvantages and no benefits.

What's the downside?
Conscripting men to fight in wars would delay grazing and farming, and all losses would be borne by the lower-class people.

Lower-class herdsmen like Nu Wuji hated the emperor, officials, nobles, chiefs, herdsmen, and of course, the Ming dynasty’s monarchs, ministers, and soldiers.

His heart was filled with resentment, and he just wanted to graze peacefully on the pasture - even if most of the income from grazing belonged to the herder, at least he could still survive.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Nu Wuji had just passed through the gap in the city wall that was full of obstacles and had not taken a few steps when he suddenly heard gunshots and flashes of fire on both sides in the darkness.

Nuwuji exclaimed: "Brother, run away!"

His elder brother Sengjiu was very brave, or rather stupid, and dreamed of winning rewards by fighting in battles.

Under the attack from both sides of the muskets, Sengjiu heard a noise ahead and rushed into a street without fear of death.

Rushing in would be stupid.

The narrow street ahead was blocked, with three four-wheeled carts with mules unloaded.

There was also a gap between the four-wheeled carts. Sengjiu tried to pass through the gap, but was stabbed by two long spears.

Niu Fu, who had never practiced martial arts before, shouted in panic and joy: "I poked a barbarian, I poked a barbarian..."

"He's not dead yet, draw your gun and stab him again!" Yang Danian reminded.

Niu Fu quickly drew back his spear and stabbed it out again.

Sengjiu, who was eager to be rewarded for his meritorious service, was stabbed to death by two militiamen. He did not think about what reward he would get even if he made great contributions? A bag of grain or a sheep?

He will still be a shepherd in the future and it is impossible for him to become a herdsman owner. The upward channel for the lower-class people has long been blocked.

Even if he made great achievements, his military achievements would be snatched away by his superiors!

Yang Danian and Niu Fu were extremely excited. They not only stabbed Sengjiu to death, but also stabbed another Xixia soldier to death.

The militiamen in their alley were organized into a temporary team. They would also count the number of heads and merits, but the merits would be divided equally among the entire team, unless someone was so powerful that his individual merits had to be counted.

"Bang bang bang!"

Another round of shooting.

Not only were there four-wheeled carts blocking the alleys, but the avenues on both sides were also fortified, and the Ming musketeers stood behind the fortifications and fired.

Every gap in the city wall was formed into a pocket formation after the Xixia soldiers entered!
It's too dark 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 had told him not to rush during the day, but now he was rushing to die.

Many Xixia soldiers turned around and fled, and Nu Wuji was among the deserters.

He heard Brother Richard's angry rebuke, which seemed to be ordering the soldiers to charge back in.

He also heard the chief's voice.

The chieftain was the cousin of Nuwuji's herdsman. He was roaring at Richard: "What are you still charging for? If you charge again, you will die inside. The Ming army has already ambushed you!"

"Boom boom boom!"

I don't know how many thunder bombs were thrown down from the walls that had not been torn down, and exploded among the retreating Xixia soldiers.

A scream sounded beside Nu Wuji. The man was pierced in the crotch by shrapnel and was rolling on the ground, holding his crotch.

Nu Wuji was so frightened that he fled out of the city with his back hunched.

Suddenly he felt a pain in his shoulder as he was hit by a stray arrow that came from nowhere. It turned out to be the Ming army archers on both sides of the city walls who were shooting arrows.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves rang out again, and the city gates opened one after another. Yao Pingzhong personally led the cavalry to charge out.

"withdraw!"

Only then did Brother Richard confirm that he had been ambushed.

In other words, this was a trap set for him, and Li Yanxian was acting and deceiving him by taking the main force away!

Nu Wuji didn't know where his warhorse was. When he finally saw one, it was ridden away by other fleeing soldiers.

He was very depressed.

The herdsmen in Western Xia were registered civilians, and all men over the age of fifteen had to be included in the Yellow Book.

Nuwuji was conscripted for the first time more than ten years ago, and was given a war horse and a camel.

Nuwuji was very excited to receive the war horses and camels, but he soon became unhappy because he had to feed the war horses himself and bear the daily expenses of fodder for the horses. The chief would also send people to check regularly, and he would have to pay compensation if the horses died.

He had already paid compensation once, and his savings were not enough, so he had to borrow money from the herdsman at high interest rates.

"Where's the horse? Where's my horse?"

Nu Wuji forgot the pain of being shot by an arrow and the fear of being ambushed. He now only wanted to get his warhorse back.

Or, just find any one at random, otherwise he would have to lose money again.

There's one there!
Nu Wuji ran wildly with joy, and suddenly a rain of arrows came and landed in front of him.

The warhorse was frightened by the arrow and flew away, disappearing into the night in a blink of an eye. Nu Wuji stood there, wanting to cry but without tears.

"kill!"

There were shouts and screams behind him, and a large number of Ming army infantrymen chased out from the gap in the city wall.

Nu Wuji, who couldn't find his warhorse, was afraid of having to go back and bear the responsibility for compensation, so he simply ran to the foot of the city wall, knelt there and waited to be captured by the Ming army.

In fact, if the army was defeated and lost its horses, the soldiers were exempt from compensation.

But Nu Wuji completely forgot about this matter. The only thing in his mind was the fear of paying compensation for the war horses, which was even worse than being massacred by the Ming army.

To what extent has Western Xia become corrupt?
When the government gave war horses to men who were enlisting for the first time, some herdsmen would even take away the good horses and give inferior or sick horses to their own herdsmen. This not only made money, but also helped control the herdsmen. And it did not affect the fighting. At worst, they could just lend good horses to the herdsmen before the battle.

If we win the battle, we will have an excuse to rob the shepherd of his spoils and military achievements - you borrowed my high-interest loans and rode my good horses to fight, so of course your military achievements and spoils should belong to me.

"Surrender, spare your life!"

The Ming infantry had already rushed over, and Nu Wuji knelt down at the foot of the wall and shouted.

And what they shouted was Chinese, which he had secretly learned.

"The militia stay and guard the prisoners and captured horses!" an officer ordered.

Niu Fu was no longer afraid of the battlefield, and became extremely excited. He volunteered to rush over and hold Nu Wuji down.

Yang Danian slapped him and scolded him, "Are you going to die? What if this guy is pretending to surrender? If this happens again, at least two or three people will be there!"

Niu Fu said with a smile: "I'll remember it. Brother Yang's lesson is right."

"There's a guy here who was shot by three arrows but is still alive."

"Drag him into the city and wait for the doctor to treat him. Whether he lives or dies depends entirely on his luck. There are not many medicinal herbs left here. We have to use them on our own wounded soldiers."

"Haha, I caught a guy wearing armor. He's really lucky. He was hit by a musket and still managed to escape."

"..."

Nu Wuji was taken away obediently. He heard a lot of chaotic noises in his ears and could not understand most of the Chinese words.

But the Ming army did not kill him.

These wounded prisoners were taken into the city and made to kneel down together, and doctors came to treat their wounds.

At this moment, Yao Pingzhong was leading the cavalry in a frantic pursuit.

He didn't know the direction of the enemy's main general, and in the darkness, more than 10,000 Xixia cavalry fled in all directions.

The Ming cavalry chasing behind them had only two thousand men.

No Xixia general dared to lead his troops to fight back. They had no idea how many troops were ambushed in the city, and they didn't know how many Ming cavalrymen were chasing them in the dark.

There was even a tribal chief who frantically blew a horn to gather his people. After they had fled far away, they all stopped and waited until daybreak to surrender.

Because they were fleeing in the wrong direction, the cities to the east were all occupied by the Ming army, and they could not find food even if they cleared the land along the way.

Why even bother running away? Just surrender.

The reason they did not surrender immediately was that they were afraid that the Ming army would become so angry that they would chop them to death!
Yao Pingzhong chased, killed and captured countless people along the way, but he still couldn't figure out Richard's location.

In desperation, he could only chase everywhere. Anyway, the enemy troops were fleeing in the vast grassland and it was impossible for them to restore their organization in a short period of time.

This can also be considered a disguised form of annihilation war.

Yao Pingzhong has always had bad luck.

Wu Lin was extremely lucky, as he led 500 brave cavalrymen in pursuit, and just happened to catch up with Richard's main force.

(End of this chapter)