The late Ming Dynasty in the living room

Chapter 160 Seems to be a Happy Event
Uncle Ding is not a real uncle. He is sixteen years old and is an ordinary military household in the Zijing Pass Guarding Thousand Households.

Zhu Yuanzhang was born into a poor family. He knew that the country's use of troops to fight wars was a heavy burden on the people, so he came up with a system of military garrisons - that is, officers and soldiers cultivated their own land and used their own money and food to support themselves. In the early Ming Dynasty, the military cultivated more than 700,000 hectares of land, which was close to one-tenth of the total cultivated land in the country. For this, Zhu Yuanzhang was very proud and declared that "I can support a million soldiers without spending a single grain of rice from the people."

Unfortunately, he greatly underestimated the shamelessness of civil servants and the greed of military officers. Less than a hundred years after his death, the Wei Suo system had rapidly decayed. During the Chenghua period, Governor Yansui inspected the Wei Suo near the capital and found that most of the soldiers who were farming in the area were penniless. Many wives and daughters did not dare to go out during the day because they had no clothes to wear.

Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War during the Hongzhi period, was a fool. He submitted a memorial to the emperor titled "Clearing Military Farms and Restoring the Old System", in which he directly pointed out that the land of each garrison had been almost completely occupied by the military officers, local gentry, and powerful people of the garrison. He requested the emperor to issue an edict to clear the military farms across the country and return the land to the soldiers.

Of course this is not possible.

On the day Ma Wensheng submitted this petition, someone waited in front of his door with a bow and arrow all night, vowing to kill him. Someone also posted a big-character poster outside Chang'an Gate, accusing him of corruption. After a long deliberation, Emperor Hongzhi finally rejected his petition and punished him with "false petition, suspension of salary for three months". Anyone with a discerning eye knew that this punishment was actually the emperor's way of protecting Ma Wensheng.

As for the matter of clearing up military settlements, it naturally came to nothing... Even the emperor was scared, which shows how huge the interest chain behind it is and how many officials are involved.

In short, by the 15th year of Chongzhen, the various drawbacks of the Wei Suo system had become so deep-rooted that they were difficult to reverse. Unless a new dynasty came and it was destroyed and a new start was made, or a god descended to earth, no one could change the status quo.

Military households such as Uncle Ding were nominally soldiers of the state's garrisons, but in reality they had become slaves of their superiors. Their land, houses, and even themselves were all the property of their superiors.

He had just returned from outside that day and before he had time to drink a sip of water, he was tied up by several soldiers who were also dressed in rags.

Uncle Ding panicked and struggled and shouted loudly: "Fuck, what are you doing! You want to kill me in broad daylight, but you failed, let me go!"

"Hehe, Uncle Ding, you are just a boaster. You only have one rotten life left. Where is the property to be gained?"

The person who spoke was Captain Shangguan Peng, who came out from behind the earth wall with a sarcastic look on his face.

"Your family has owed me money and grain for some time. I asked your second sister to work in my house to pay off the debt, but you refused. I asked you to go to the fields to help take care of the crops, but you refused. You just run out every day to find odd jobs... Don't complain. Legally, military households cultivate the land for the country. You broke the rules by going out without reporting to your superiors. I should arrest you. Emotionally, our Ding and Peng families have been friends for generations. I watched you grow up. Now that your father is gone, I have to discipline him to prevent you from committing crimes outside and being found by others. Alas, I am doing this for your own good..."

Captain Peng started chattering non-stop as soon as he opened his mouth, and he sighed as he spoke. If people didn't know how harsh he was to his soldiers in the garrison, they would have thought he was a kind-hearted elder.

Uncle Ding couldn't break free, so he angrily said to Captain Peng, "Who has any friendship with you, Peng Defu? Those who have friendship with you are just idiots! Don't you just want me to work for you for free? I won't go! It's useless even if you tie me up, I just won't go!"

(Ticks - a blood-sucking insect in the north, scientifically known as ticks, which can easily cause Lyme disease, spotted fever, etc.)

Uncle Ding roared very arrogantly, like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water. Several soldiers who were pulling him nearby pretended to slap him in the face in order to curry favor with Captain Peng, but Captain Peng waved his hand to stop them.

"It's no use forcing a cow to drink water. If you don't want to work for me, then you don't have to go." Captain Peng said, "The farm work is almost done now. It's a good thing that you don't want to go. It's like saving my family some food."

Uncle Ding was obviously a little surprised. He was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed and he shouted loudly, "I won't pay you back even if I owe you money!"

Uncle Ding had a good reason to refuse to pay his debts. His father had owed the Peng family two taels and five cents of silver and less than one dan of grain before he died. It was agreed that the money and grain would be paid off after he worked for the Peng family for two years. However, two years later, Captain Peng used the excuse that Uncle Ding was young and did not do his job well, and was only willing to reduce the outstanding debt by one tael of silver and three dou of grain. Uncle Ding refused to accept this, and in a rage he kicked down the door of the Peng family's woodshed and left.

He just thought that Captain Peng tied him up to force him to pay back the money.

Unexpectedly, Captain Peng waved his hand again and said generously: "You don't have to pay back the money and grain you owe!"

Uncle Ding was stunned for a while, and then he stammered, "Then...then why did you tie me up?"

Captain Peng was all smiles, as if he was celebrating something. He said, "Of course I kidnapped you to send you to the war. You know, all the garrisons are recruiting soldiers and generals now. We will go to Henan soon to wipe out the Li bandit. This is a great opportunity to make a contribution! Although there are orders from above that our people in Zijing Pass will not move this time, I still used some connections to arrange you to work for Kang Dusi. Kang Dusi leads the vanguard battalion and is the most visible in battle! Well, maybe you can become a captain when you come back. Don't forget me, Peng Defu, when the time comes..."

Uncle Ding's head was buzzing. He could never have imagined that Peng Defu was so vicious that he sold him out directly!
The Governor of Baoding, Yang Wenyue, had given an order that the primary responsibility of the Zijing Pass Guarding Thousand Households was to eliminate the old bandits entrenched in the Qifeng Pass. For this reason, they did not move a single soldier this time and all stayed in Baoding. This bandit suppression mission was different from the previous ones. The commander-in-chief Mei Zhenying and the (Governor's) special commissioner Ma Dai had issued a military order, so they would definitely urge the more than 10,000 soldiers of the Zijing Pass Guarding Thousand Households to climb mountains and cross ridges. The task was heavy and the process was difficult, but... no matter how tired and difficult it was, it was much better than going out to fight!
Originally, Uncle Ding felt very fortunate, and in his heart he thanked those bandits countless times. However, he forgot that the Ming army had its own "military intelligence."

When soldiers who have connections and spare money are conscripted but do not want to go to the battlefield, he can find someone to replace them. The replacement can be a beggar or a civilian. Of course, the best ones are soldiers with certain military skills. In this way, if they encounter an unsympathetic superior (such as Lu Xiangsheng), they can be safe.

Now, no one knew which bastard had bought Uncle Ding, and the price on the surface was so cheap - only one tael and five cents of silver and four dou of grain. As for the real price, there was no way of knowing it, because the money must have already been put into the pocket of the human trafficker Peng Baihu.

Captain Peng said the most shameless words with a smile on his face, while Uncle Ding was pale and had completely lost all strength.

"I still want to pay you back, so I'll go to work in your fields tomorrow." Uncle Ding said softly.

"Forget it. There's no point forcing a cow to drink water if it doesn't want to. Besides, it's hard to go back on your word once you've made your decision."

Captain Peng refused mercilessly.

On the second day, Uncle Ding was still tied up and said goodbye to his younger brothers and sisters in front of the soldiers in the village.

I am still young and don't know much about human affairs.

The second sister had been crying all night, and her eyes were red and swollen like peaches. In recent years, the Ming army had lost nine out of ten battles. Soldiers from the Zijingguan Guard had been withdrawn many times, and countless people had died outside. Even their bodies could not be returned to their hometowns, including her father Ding Dazhou, who died in Qiangziling (east of Miyun, Beijing) in the Battle of the King four years ago. Now that the mourning period had just passed, she had to send her brother to the Central Plains again.

I heard that the Central Plains bandits have a million soldiers. How could she not be worried and sad? Uncle Ding also had tears in his eyes. This was his first time going to war, and he was really scared. He had heard his father talk about war before, but he didn't take it seriously at the time. When it was really his turn to go to the battlefield, he realized how much courage it took.

However, as an older brother, I cannot show my cowardice, because that will make my younger sister even more worried.

Uncle Ding tried to stand more steadily and said to his second sister, "It's okay. I'll be back in a few months at most. Maybe I can get a first-class position this time and become a centurion when I come back. Then I'll take you to enjoy the good life, and we'll have rice porridge and scallion pancakes every day!"

"it is good!"

"Uncle Ding is ambitious!"

Before the second sister could say anything, a burst of cheering came from the side. They were all familiar soldiers in the village. As to whether they were truly encouraging or mocking, it was unknown.

Captain Peng also clapped and cheered in the crowd. He said, "Uncle Ding, if you can really get the first place, I will be willing to give you my position as captain. I will also help you lead the horse when you come back."

Only the centurion's wife with high cheekbones put on a stinky expression.

She held a handful of corn for the chickens and threw it into the yard while cursing, "Why are you grabbing? What's yours is yours. It's useless to grab what's not yours. You are all short-lived beasts. I'll stew you all tomorrow. I don't believe you can live to see the New Year."

……

(The first to climb the city wall during a siege is to be the first to climb it. The first group of people will be rewarded handsomely. For example, the brightest star in the Ming Dynasty, Mr. Zhang Juzheng, his ancestor became rich because of his merit of being the first to climb the city wall.)

……

The official road outside the south gate of Laishui County has not been repaired for more than 40 years.

Withered yellow weeds can be seen everywhere on the official road, and from time to time you can encounter a big pit that can not only trap horses' feet, but even overturn vehicles carrying supplies.

Starting from yesterday morning, the county magistrate Min Wengong put aside the dock project on the riverside and led several county officials, the runners from the yamen, and thousands of mobilized militiamen to begin renovating the two official roads that face Qingyuan in the south and connect to Dingxing County in the east. After two days of intense work, although the roads still look dilapidated, at least the big potholes on the roads have been filled with new mud.

When the sun was about to set in the west, an imperial army of tens of thousands of people came along the newly renovated official road.

As the saying goes, a force of over ten thousand people is a mighty force. No matter what the equipment and morale of this army is, at least it looks very powerful from the outside. The vanguard of mules and horses alone stretched for four miles, and behind them there were countless infantry teams, auxiliary troops, and baggage trains... There was no end in sight.

The newly-paved road surface suddenly became dusty, and the shapes of the soldiers began to blur. Only the sounds of marching footsteps, wheels, and horses' hooves formed a loud rumbling sound.

The loud noise came from far away and was like muffled thunder in summer.

Outside the team, there were messengers wearing flying saucer hats and holding small blue triangular flags shuttling back and forth hurriedly. Occasionally, you could see a large brocade flag fluttering in the wind. The yellow embroidered word "Yang" on the flag indicated the identity of this army - they were under the command of Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, and this time they were going to Henan to rescue Kaifeng.

Uncle Ding was also in this team. He was wearing straw sandals, carrying a bow with missing tendons on his back, and wearing an old and very light cotton armor. Uncle Ding had already pinched the cotton armor with his hands, and except for a few copper studs on it, the iron sheets embedded inside had long disappeared.

He was tied up and sent to the army three days ago. In order to prevent him from escaping, the flag officer specially arranged an old soldier to accompany him. The old soldier's name is Fan Sihai, a majestic name, but look at his loose steps, sloppy face, and two huge eye boogers in the corners of his eyes that have been there for who knows how long... This is clearly an old soldier who has no ambition and only wants to muddle through.

At this time, they could see the city of Laishui County from afar in the team. Compared with the Yizhou City they passed by yesterday, the scale of this city seemed insignificant. However, the strange thing was that beyond the farthest point of the city, there were two thin lines rising from the ground and reaching the sky.

One is black and looks particularly eye-catching, and the other is light-colored and translucent. It blends in with the sky and can be easily overlooked if you don't try to distinguish it.

Uncle Ding squinted his eyes and looked at it for a long time, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He turned around and asked Fan Sihai next to him. Fan Sihai was listless and just glanced at it casually, then gave a very careless answer: "This is a column of smoke from a farmer burning wasteland."

Uncle Ding almost got angry. Do you think I have never seen burning the land? Besides, the crops are not ripe yet, so it is not the season for farmers to burn the land.

However, he is now in charge of guarding and can report him to the flag officer in the team at any time, so Uncle Ding can only swallow his anger.

Although Fan Sihai was not a good person to chat with, after holding it in for a while, Uncle Ding couldn't help but say, "Brother Fan, I always feel that this place is a little strange, like... something big is waiting for us."

Fan Sihai said lazily: "Is it a bad thing or a good thing?"

Uncle Ding shook his head: "It's hard to say."

"That must be a bad thing!"

"What?"

Fan Sihai sighed: "Because God is a son of a bitch, he is very partial and will never give us good things."

(End of this chapter)