frightfiction Chapter 1214 How can one live like a human being?
Chapter 1214 How can one live like a human being?
In February in Jiangnan, the grass grows tall and the birds fly, and the green fields are lush and green.
In February, the grasslands are covered in howling winds and blanketed in snow.
Liu Dingbei, wearing sunglasses, held Ma Jiang in his left hand and a copy of the Analects in his right, and loudly proclaimed: "Confucius said: 'Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar?'"
"Send someone to tell the barbarians of the tribe ahead that I have come from the Great Ming Dynasty and am heading towards Langjuxu Mountain. Tell them to hand over the sheep and warhorses of their tribe, and I can issue them travel permits so that they can settle in the interior of the pass."
"If you dare disobey..."
Liu Dingbei pushed up his sunglasses and snorted coldly, "I will slaughter all the livestock in their tribe, burn all the grain in their tribe, and then use their heads to build a mound of skulls!"
As soon as Liu Dingbei finished speaking, Zhang Tu, the Right Commander, immediately spurred his horse and galloped towards the small tribe ahead.
When Zhang Tu arrived near the tribe, all the men in the tribe had already mounted their warhorses, while the women were holding their children tightly in their arms.
Zhang Tu looked the chieftain at the front of the tribe up and down, and said loudly, "I am Zhang Tu, the Left Commander of the Marquis of Chongli of the Great Ming Dynasty. I am here on the orders of the Marquis to tell you: The Marquis has come from the Great Ming Dynasty and is heading to Langjuxu Mountain. You shall hand over the sheep and warhorses in your tribe, and the Marquis may issue you a travel permit so that you may enter the pass and live there."
“If you dare disobey…” Zhang Tu sneered and said, “The Marquis will order all the livestock in the tribe to be slaughtered, all the grain in the tribe to be burned, and then your heads will be piled up into a mound of skulls!”
The men of the tribe drew their bows and aimed intently at Zhang Tu, while the chieftain at the front of the tribe raised his hand, spurred his horse forward a few steps, and came to a spot not far from Zhang Tu.
"The Marquis Chongli you mentioned, was his original name Mai Delibala?"
"This is a tribe of the Ongud!"
"The Ongud tribe has always intermarried with the Golden Family. If you really want to count, the Ongud tribe can also be considered the maternal relatives of the Libala tribe that he bought!"
The chieftain stared at Zhang Tu with an unfriendly expression and said in a deep voice, "Now tell me, does Maidelibala not intend to return to the emperor's side to inherit the Khan's throne, but instead wants to kill all the livestock and people in the tribe, and even use human heads to build a Jingguan?"
Zhang Tu laughed twice, then loosened the reins, opened his arms, and shouted, "If you're not worried about the destruction of your tribe, then order an attack and let your warriors shoot arrows into my chest!"
The chieftain's face darkened further as he stared intently at Zhang Tu and asked, "What benefits did the Ming people give you?"
"Judging from your appearance, you must be a Mongolian."
"By the Eternal Heaven above, what have the Ming people done to you that they made Maidelibala give up his Khanate to fight for the Ming people, and made a Mongol like you risk your life for them!"
Zhang Tu laughed twice more and said, "His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did nothing to us—he simply allowed us to live like human beings, so that we no longer needed to prepare our own warhorses and bows and arrows to fight, no longer needed to sell our wives and sons, and the chieftains could no longer decide our life and death."
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty allocated land to us. I received fifteen mu, and my son also received fifteen mu."
“The grain I grow is my own; I don’t need to hand it over to the landlord or the tribal chief.”
“Now I have an iron pot to use, salt to eat, and tea to drink at home.”
"You can live in a warm house in winter."
"In the summer, you can buy cheese with ice for a few cents."
"My child, now that he has books to read, he will surely grow into a mighty man like an eagle, and continue to fight for His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"
"..."
The tribal chief's face grew increasingly dark, while the tribal men on horseback exchanged glances, their hands, which had been holding bowstrings, unconsciously drooped.
To serve the Yuan Dynasty, or rather, to serve the Golden Family?
There was no military pay.
You need to prepare your own warhorse, swords, armor, and bows and arrows.
The tribal chief holds the power of life and death.
Parents, wife, and children could potentially freeze or starve to death.
In short, there are no benefits, but dangers are everywhere.
in case……
If I were to surrender as demanded by Libala and live on Ming territory... wouldn't I be able to get fifteen acres of land? Would I be able to eat and dress warmly? Would I be able to live like a human being?
While the powerful families, officials, and merchants of Jiangnan were figuring out how to gain more security, these herders on the grasslands were only thinking about how to survive.
Or rather, how can one live like a human being, instead of like livestock?
The tribal chief's hand gradually fell to his sides.
It is a fact that the Ongud tribe intermarried with the Golden Family, and their status in Mongolia was higher than that of most tribes.
However, it is also true that this small branch of the Wanggu tribe is having a very difficult time.
Moreover, the grasslands and the Central Plains were not completely cut off from each other.
The rabbit tribes, Zhaomao rabbit tribe, and Tang rabbit tribe, who had previously been taken to the interior of China by the Ming Dynasty, would occasionally send news of themselves to the grasslands.
There is a house to live in.
There is land to cultivate.
There is food to eat.
They have clothes to wear.
There are books to read.
There's no need to worry about any natural disasters or natural disasters, nor is it necessary to prepare warhorses and provisions.
There's no need to worry about being whipped to death for angering the chieftain.
Everything was exactly as the Mongolian man in front of me, who had changed his name to Zhang Tu, had said.
Most importantly, even if he ordered the killing of this traitorous Mongol in front of him... would the dozens of Mongols behind him, who were about to become traitors themselves, obey his orders?
The tribal chief sighed heavily and said, "I can order the tribe to surrender and hand over the warhorses and lambs as requested by Maidelibala."
Zhang Tu hummed in agreement, but the chieftain changed the subject, looking at Zhang Tu and asking, "But please tell me first, can you find someone to teach the people in the tribe how to cultivate the land you bought from Libala?"
"Can you guarantee that the people in the tribe will reach the interior alive?"
"If we don't surrender, will he really kill everyone in the tribe?"
Zhang Tu looked at the tribal chief and said earnestly, "I can guarantee that once you reach the interior of the pass, someone will take care of you."
"Just like when our tribe entered the pass, the county magistrate of the Ming Dynasty will allocate land to you, will have people teach you how to farm, and may also let you work in workshops to earn money so that you can also live a good life."
"I can also guarantee that you will reach the interior alive, because the tribes along the way to the interior have either already moved there or have been completely destroyed. No one will intercept you on the road."
"As for whether the Marquis will slaughter your entire tribe if you don't surrender..."
Zhang Tu scoffed and said, "Even if you don't kill a single person, but you slaughter all the cattle and sheep in the tribe and burn all the grain, do you think the Wanggu tribe will care about your lives?"