Chapter 10: Dividing the Silver

Wang Dou lay sprawled on the ground without a care, utterly indifferent to the icy earth. After this battle, he felt an indescribable exhilaration in his heart; the stifling gloom that had long coiled in his chest was completely gone. And through this fight, he had also gained tremendous confidence in his own martial prowess.

Han Chao and the others were in no better shape than Wang Dou. They were all utterly drained, either lying or sitting on the ground, panting heavily and grimacing in pain. Unlike Wang Dou, the other four were all wounded. They had not felt it before, but now that the battle was over, each man became aware of the pain wracking his body.

The five men looked at one another, staring wide-eyed for a long moment, then without any prior agreement burst into roaring laughter. In the end they laughed until tears came. A desperate, all-or-nothing strike — seemingly impossible — had in the end succeeded.

After a good while, Wang Dou scrambled to his feet, and Han Chao and the others also got up. Once everyone had bandaged their wounds, their spirits were all roused. The Tartar soldiers were all dead; it was time to tally the spoils.

First they counted heads. Nine of their own had gone into battle; four had fallen in action. They were Ma Ming from Jingbian Post, Tan Jinrong from Julu Post, and Zhang Ruchun and Qi Bing from Dakang Post. Of the five remaining, every man bore wounds.

Grief was unavoidable. Life was so fragile and impermanent — yesterday they were familiar faces, today they were cold corpses. How could one not sigh with sorrow?

Yet what each man felt more was the relief of having survived a calamity, and the joy of having successfully seized military merit. At the same time, the looks they directed at Wang Dou were filled with admiration. Such ferocious valor — he alone had killed five Later Jin soldiers. Had it not been for him, who knew how today's battle would have ended? With such martial skill, they could not help but be in awe.

Just then, the women who had been taken captive came out, every one of them trembling. Seeing that the Tartar soldiers were all dead, the women wept aloud. They had finally escaped calamity. They all knelt before Wang Dou and the others, kowtowing and saying over and over, "We thank the military lords for saving our lives."

By now the five men already regarded Wang Dou as their leader, and everyone looked to him to decide what to do.

Wang Dou said gently, "All of you, get up. The Tartars are all dead now. You are safe."

There were about twenty-some women before them. Upon asking, most were locals from Baoanzhou, while a few had been abducted by the Later Jin army from other places. Wang Dou thought for a moment, then instructed Qi Tianliang to look after them for the time being, while he and Han Chao and the others went around to inspect the captured spoils.

A quick glance revealed tents left behind by the Later Jin troops, all kinds of armor and weapons, and many horses and other supplies — every item making the men beam with delight. Suddenly Han Zhong shouted, "Ah! Silver! It's silver! Hahaha, so much silver!"

Wang Dou dashed over to look and indeed saw several large chests inside one of the tents. The chests were filled to the brim with gold, silver, and copper coins — no less than a thousand taels of silver, he estimated. In addition, there were several other chests packed with cloth, silk, and other valuables.

Gazing at this wealth, Wang Dou burst into loud laughter. He had staked his life to change his family's fate, and he had finally succeeded! Never mind the future rewards for military merit and severed heads — just the silver before his eyes meant that from now on, he and his family could live a good life!

Like Wang Dou, Han Chao also laughed heartily. Han Zhong was even more beside himself, dancing and waving his arms, shouting, "We've struck it rich, struck it rich! Haha, we really have struck it rich!"

The fleshy folds on Gao Shiyin's face twitched incessantly. His hand trembled as he reached out to stroke the silver in the chests, tears already welling in his eyes. Qi Tianliang, hearing the commotion, abandoned all thought of comforting the women and rushed over. The moment he saw so much silver, he too stood dumbstruck, a foolish grin spreading across his face.

It was Wang Dou who came to his senses first. He glanced at the sky, which was already faintly brightening, and said with a slight smile, "Good. We'll discuss the silver later. First, let's gather and sort the spoils properly!"

The final tally of supplies: over ten sets of armor, including iron armor, padded cotton armor, and leather armor; more than thirty weapons of various sizes, including long-handled slicing blades, fine iron sickles, tiger spears, and straight swords. All these arms and armor were made of high-grade fine iron. In addition, there were twenty-three fine warhorses, seven tents, several pole-mounted banners of various colors, and some grain, chickens, and sheep that the Tartars had looted.

The men could hardly bear to put down these horses and suits of armor. Accustomed to the tattered, broken weapons and armor of the Ming army, where had any of them ever seen such superb equipment?

After a brief discussion, Wang Dou first picked out a date-red warhorse and a suit of top-quality iron armor — the very mount and silver-white iron armor of the Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier. One could see the armor was exquisitely crafted. Although Wang Dou had shot a hole through the shoulder area, that was nothing; he could simply replace that armor plate later.

Han Chao and Han Zhong each picked out a suit of leather armor and a warhorse. Gao Shiyin and Qi Tianliang likewise selected horses and armor. The remaining items, such as the copper-studded cotton armor, were first carefully set aside. As for weapons, that matter could wait. Having grown accustomed to the weapons in their hands, rashly switching to a different one might not be a good idea.

Finally, the five men discussed the distribution of the severed heads and the gold and silver.

For the heads, Wang Dou was counted for five, and Han Chao, Han Zhong, and Gao Shiyin were each counted for one. No one had any objection, since that was exactly how the actual battle had gone. What was unexpected was that Wang Dou proposed Qi Tianliang also be allotted one head. This made Qi Tianliang extremely happy, and the look he gave Wang Dou was full of gratitude.

The one remaining head was assigned to the four who had fallen in battle. The heads were thus distributed.

Wang Dou said with a smile, "As for the heads, I'll give up two of mine. Give one extra each to Brother Han Chao and Brother Han Zhong."

This deeply moved the Han brothers. Only Gao Shiyin listened in secret envy.

Finally came the distribution of the silver. The total counted was one thousand three hundred forty-six taels and some odd bits of silver.

Wang Dou proposed sending one hundred taels of silver to each of the families of the fallen — Ma Ming and the other three. Although their families would receive some compensation for death and injury once the military merits were reported, it would certainly not be much. With this silver, their families would have an easier time in the days to come.

Everyone agreed, especially Han Chao. He had invited Zhang Ruchun and Qi Bing from Dakang Post to join this desperate fight, never imagining the two would die. Sending silver to their families would ease his conscience somewhat. Gao Shiyin had been close to Tan Jinrong, so of course he would not object to sending silver to his family either.

That left nine hundred forty-six taels of silver. How should it be divided? Every man's eyes glittered.

Han Zhong slapped his thigh and said, "This time, Big Brother Wang contributed the most. If not for him, who knows whether any of us would be alive. He should take the largest share. Here's how: Big Brother Wang gets four hundred taels. My brother and I, and Gao Manzi, each get one hundred fifty taels. The remaining hundred or so taels go to Qi Tianliang. What does everyone think?"

Han Chao nodded. Qi Tianliang also agreed. Today he had been allotted a head and could also receive nearly a hundred taels of silver — he was already fully content.

Gao Shiyin was somewhat displeased. He glared and said, "Why does Wang Da Shazi get four hundred taels while I only get one hundred fifty? I put my life on the line too!"

Han Zhong cried, "Gao Manzi, a man must not be too greedy. If not for Big Brother Wang today, how could this desperate fight have gone so smoothly? We can all get over a hundred taels of silver — you should be satisfied!"

Wang Dou said nothing, merely watching coldly from the sidelines. Gao Shiyin, seeing that all three men from Jingbian Post firmly supported Wang Dou, could only snort and agree.

Thereupon each man divided the silver in turn. All this silver had been looted by the Later Jin army from various places across the Great Ming. Aside from loose silver bits and copper coins, much of it consisted of large ingots of civilian silver and official silver, all bearing inscribed stamps and marks. When the time came to spend it, they would need to take certain measures first.

With the silver divided, everyone was elated. Gao Shiyin even tore off a piece of cloth and carefully, meticulously wrapped the heavy hundred-plus taels of silver, binding it around his waist and covering it with his outer garment. In his mind, he was already calculating how to use this silver to eat well and drink his fill.

Han Zhong stepped forward, picked up a Later Jin short axe, and hacked off all the heads from the ten Later Jin corpses. Each man hung them on his own horse. They also stripped the clothes clean off the Later Jin soldiers' bodies — the cloth was still useful and should not be wasted. As for the headless, naked corpses of the Later Jin soldiers, they were simply left lying on the ground. The wild dogs would soon gnaw their flesh and bones clean, no doubt. To die without a burial place — that was their retribution.

By the time they had finished dealing with these matters, the sky was already bright.

Wang Dou and the others dug a large pit on a hillock beside the woods, gathered the bodies of the several women who had died by the river, covered them properly with clothing, and laid them in the pit. They heaped a tall grave mound over them. Then the five Ming soldiers and the twenty-some rescued women together paid their respects before the grave.

Listening to the low sobbing of the women behind him, Wang Dou remained silent for a long while. He asked the women what they planned to do. Those who were locals of Baoanzhou all wanted to go home. It was now daylight, and with the Tartar soldiers dead, the road would presumably be safe. Anxious to return, they wished to leave.

Wang Dou thought for a moment, then opened his own bundle. He gave each of these women three or five taels of loose silver or some copper coins, and also gave each of them a bolt of cloth and a small sack of grain before sending them on their way.

These women had all been taken captive by the Later Jin army. Having seen the example of Xu Yue'e from Xinzhuang, Wang Dou could well imagine what fate awaited them even after they were rescued and returned home. With this silver and grain, perhaps their future days would be a little easier.

The women all left with profuse thanks. As they departed, Wang Dou added one more line: "If in the future your lives become too hard, come and seek refuge with us. We are all garrison soldiers of Jingbian Post."

At Wang Dou's actions, the Han brothers and Qi Tianliang said nothing. Only the fleshy folds on Gao Shiyin's face twitched as he thought to himself that this fellow Wang was certainly generous.

The women left in small groups of three or five. In the end, about seven or eight women remained — all abducted from other regions. For them, they could only think of a solution later.

Finally, Wang Dou stretched lazily and shouted at the top of his voice, "Let's go! We're going home!"

Han Zhong and the others all cheered and howled. Even the faces of those few remaining women broke into smiles.

Loading the spoils of war onto the horses and facing the morning sun, the group rode off, singing loudly.