Traveler Major League

Chapter 273 Departure
The night was dark, and Wang Gouer, carrying a heavy load of firewood, groped his way back from the darkness. The knock on the door echoed in the silent night. In the yard, a slender figure hurriedly put down the firewood in his hand and walked quickly.

The door slowly opened with a creak, revealing Yaomei's worried face. If the conspicuous scar on her face were removed, she would be pretty.

She stretched out her hand to take the firewood in the basket and called softly: "Brother, you are finally back."

Wang Gou'er nimbly turned sideways, avoiding her hands, and turned to the two men in the courtyard who were chopping firewood with sweat and shouted: "Go on!"

Then he turned around and said warmly to Yaomei: "Yaomei, you go and have a rest first. We need to prepare more firewood. The weather is getting cold soon. After the master and I go on the expedition, you and the mistress will no longer have to worry about firewood." ”

Yaomei was silent, just patted the sawdust and dust on Wang Gou'er's body, and nodded silently. Although they are not related by blood, they are Han civilians who were kidnapped together when Liaodong fell. They were married to the Dalha family together, and they have already become brothers and sisters.

The cold wind quietly invaded through the cracks in the wooden door of the main room. Daha involuntarily shrank his neck and got closer to the stove.

The men in the family are about to go off to war. This is a happy event, but the joy is mixed with a little worry - the armor at home is insufficient.

Amma and Turg each have a pair of cloth armor, which can still meet their needs, but Dalha, who is only fifteen years old, has no armor to wear. You know, on the battlefield, a pair of armor is a life-saving talisman.

The reason why the official army was able to defeat the peasant army with a small number and the large number, and why the Manchu Eight Banners Army was able to repeatedly defeat the Ming army, the abundance of armor was undoubtedly one of the key factors.

"If it doesn't work, just sell the two Nikans and Scarface to Niu Lu'erzhen's family and exchange them for a set of armor." Turge casually took a piece of cake from the stove, tore it in two with his big hands, and broke half of it. He handed it to Amma. The scarred face he mentioned was actually Yaomei. She had a scar from a horse whip on her face, which was still very conspicuous after many years.

Nurhachi designated 300 people per Niulu. As the basic household registration and military establishment unit, Niulu was managed by one person, who was in charge of the household registration, land and residence, military registration, litigation, etc., so he was relatively wealthy.

Amma took the pancake and nodded, "There are only a few wrappers at home. I originally thought we would take them on an expedition and do some chores."

"But we are all gone, and it's not okay for Eniang to be alone at home with no one to take care of her." Dalha said, "How about just selling the two thin wrappers, is it enough to replace the armor?"

"There is a food shortage now. Nikans cannot be sold at a good price, and Scarface is too weak, so we can only breed those Nikans." Turge explained, "But Niulu'ezhen's family is short of manpower, and our family is also nervous about food now. Well, let’s just sell them all. When we get to the west, we can grab some Nikan and bring them back.”

"There is no other way. Let's just settle it. We can only go to the west to grab some nikan." Amma made the final decision.

Early the next morning, Amma urged Dalha to change his armor.

Before the wrappers in the yard could recover from their early morning work, Dalha tied Yaomei and the other two wrappers together with hemp ropes.

When Wang Gouer saw this, he felt an ominous premonition in his heart. He stepped forward and asked tentatively: "Master, where are you taking them?"

"Wanggouer, you take them and follow the young master to find Turge." Amma said, "Send them to Niulu'erzhen's house and see what he says. If they don't have enough to replace the armor, I'll sell you too. To his family, I have to give my son a new set of armor."

The group soon arrived at Niu Lu'erzhen's house. Fortunately, Niuluerzhen gave Turge enough face to accept these wrappings and offered him a set of old cloth masks in exchange. Unfortunately, one helmet is still missing.

After a day of preparation, early the next morning, the front of Tunpu Village was bustling with activity. The young and old men who were preparing to go on the expedition began to count their bags, and the women and children saw them off with anticipation.

In almost every battle of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the losses were not too great, but the gains were substantial. This almost became an important source of income for them to survive. Not only could they plunder, but they could also gain military honors, so everyone was looking forward to it. Such an opportunity.

It can be said that every expedition is an opportunity to plunder and make achievements.

Dalha heard the noise outside and checked his luggage for the last time.

He put the dry food and bags behind the saddle, hung the arrow bow on the horse's back, held the lance in his hand and shouted to the house: "Ama, everything is ready."

Wang Gouer had no horse to ride on, so he had to walk with his package on his back.

After Ama checked, he diligently led the horse.

The streets were full of people preparing to go to war. After the group met up with Turg, they went straight to the meeting point at the entrance of the village.

On the way, they met Niu Lu'ezhen, who was about to leave with his clothes on. They hurried over to say hello, "Niu Lu'ezhen, shall we go directly to Shengjing?"

"Well, when we arrive in Shengjing, the team will set off again. The weather is getting colder. You have to bring more clothes. I'm afraid you won't be able to come back until next year." Niu Lu Ezhen said, turned over and tried the saddle, which was a little loose, and jumped again After he got down, he slapped the saddle and wrapped it hard, "Slave dog, you have done a good job!"

Several masters were talking, and while Wang Gouer was smiling with him, his sleeve was suddenly pulled. He turned around and saw that it was Yaomei who had been sold to Niu Lu'erzhen's family.

Yaomei smiled at him, took out a piece of cake from her arms and stuffed it into his sleeve, "Brother, be careful when going to the west."

Wang Gouer turned to look at the chatting masters and whispered to Yaomei: "Yaomei, you should be well at Niulu'ezhen's house. Eat more and don't be hungry. You are too thin and can't work." I won’t be able to survive the winter if I’m not fertile.” Yaomei nodded in understanding, but her eyes were red. Wang Gouer consoled him: "Master Dalha gave me a spear and said that if I perform meritorious service, I can carry the flag. If I carry the flag, I will buy you and feed you pancakes every day. I will never do it again." Let you starve."

Yaomei nodded vigorously. At this time, the masters had finished speaking, and the group began to walk towards the entrance of the village. Wang Gou'er no longer leads the horse but follows behind with Bao Yi from Niulu'e Zhen's family.

He didn't dare to speak and just kept waving to Yaomei until he turned a corner and couldn't see her anymore. Wang Gouer then turned around and said to himself: "It would be great if I could follow my master and make great achievements and raise the flag."

When several people arrived at the entrance of the village, Niu Luerzhen gathered these teams of mixed old and young people and headed towards Shengjing along the official road. At the same time, countless such teams gathered in Shenyang throughout the Manchu and Qing ruling areas.

(End of this chapter)