[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-293":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1205582,1561,"Chapter 293: Kill Them All!","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-293",293,"\u003Cp>The spoils from killing the enemy are still being tallied, but inside Gaocun Fort there were account books of the Plain Red Banner, which record in detail the numbers of people and valuables the Qing army gathered in Zhuozhou. Many of the Shunxiang Army's night scouts understand Manchu and can read Manchu script. Han Chao was formerly a night scout himself, and the army's first batch of scouts were trained by him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After carefully examining the account books, he reported to Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, and the others: \"General, my two lords, according to the slave-criminal account books, the numbers of people and valuables the slave cavalry looted in Zhuozhou are as follows: People, one hundred fourteen thousand six hundred and some. Grain, rice, beans, and fodder, two hundred forty-five thousand eight hundred and some shi...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Cattle, eighteen thousand four hundred and some head. Mules and horses, thirty-four thousand five hundred and some. Pigs and sheep, one hundred seventy-seven thousand six hundred and some. Gold, three thousand two hundred and some taels. Silver, one million one hundred six thousand and some taels. Treasures, satins, and silks, over twenty thousand bolts.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said: \"According to the account books, the slave camp at Tongzhou also holds nearly one hundred thousand captured commoners, over seven hundred thousand taels of silver, eighty thousand shi of grain and rice, and over one hundred thousand head of cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu's trusted personal general Guo Yingxian had long since grinned so wide his mouth went crooked, and the faces of Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei twitched ceaselessly as well. The spoils from this battle were so immense, plus the merit of beheading Yoto in battle and capturing his son. Not only would their personal purses be bulging, but how would the imperial court reward them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were both Regional Commanders of an entire garrison, holding the concurrent rank of Assistant Commissioner-in-Chief. Would the court in future promote them to Vice Commissioner-in-Chief, or perhaps Right Commissioner-in-Chief, or even Left Commissioner-in-Chief? The two could no longer restrain themselves and both burst into roaring laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since Viceroy Lu died in battle at Julu, the two had been anxious and unable to rest easy. Today their hearts finally felt free and unrestrained, with no more gloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou laughed just the same, then suddenly recalled a matter: \"My two lords, regarding the matter of reporting the victory, your subordinate believes we should still delay it a few days.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei came back to their senses. Indeed, they needed time to properly sort out the gains, and at the very least they had to hide away that silver first before anything else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three commanding generals discussed the division of valuables, and divided them according to the numbers in the account books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Qing army's account books recorded it that way, even if there were discrepancies, they should not be large. As for the Qing army heads, military supplies, and such, those would be dealt with tomorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had already been made clear beforehand: the people, grain and fodder, pigs, cattle, and sheep all went to Wang Dou. Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei guessed Wang Dou's intentions, and at this moment could not be bothered with much else. The horses and mules were split evenly among the three, each getting eleven thousand. Yang Guozhu proposed giving the remaining one thousand five hundred horses and mules to Xu Yue'e.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou did not object. Hu Dawei glanced at Yang Guozhu and Xu Yue'e, nodded slowly, and said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding gold and silver, Wang Dou originally said he did not want any, but Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei insisted on giving Wang Dou thirty percent, so Wang Dou accepted without false modesty. He received eight thousand taels of gold, three hundred thousand taels of silver, and seven thousand bolts of satin. The remaining gold, silver, and satin were split evenly between Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei. Xu Yue'e also received fifty thousand taels of silver and one thousand bolts of brocade satin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three discussed for a while, and each also took out fifty thousand taels of silver to serve as a common fund for greasing the wheels at court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dividing the valuables, all three were extremely satisfied and looked at each other and laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu sat upright in his seat, seeming to have a matter he found difficult to broach. Finally, he said to Wang Dou: \"General Wang, today our army beheaded the slave chieftain Yoto in battle and captured his son. When the victory report reaches the court in the coming days...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou understood Yang Guozhu's meaning and smiled slightly: \"Today our army fought a bloody battle and destroyed the slave camp. This was the collective achievement of the entire Xuan-Da army, and the victory report should be written accordingly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that Wang Dou said this. In truth, the two also feared Wang Dou would monopolize the merit of beheading Yoto. To be honest, in today's great battle, the credit was indeed all Wang Dou's, and even the march on Zhuozhou was only dared because Wang Dou gave them the courage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially with Wang Dou's eight thousand crack troops in hand, his authority in practice already exceeded theirs. If Wang Dou stubbornly refused to share the merit, the two would have no recourse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Wang Dou say this, Yang Guozhu nodded with emotion and sighed: \"That the Great Ming has you, General, that our Xuan-Da garrisons have you, General, is a great blessing for the nation. It is only a pity about Viceroy Lu...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Yang Guozhu bring up Lu Xiangsheng, everyone in the room fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu rallied his spirits, exchanged a glance with Hu Dawei, and brought up a matter: \"General Wang, today our army won a great victory and the harvest is bountiful. In this military lord's view, there is no need to further attack the enemy at Tongzhou, to avoid stirring up further trouble.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou looked at the two for a moment and said flatly: \"Very well, let it be as my lords suggest.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sighed inwardly: \"A perfect opportunity to annihilate the remnants of the Manchu Plain Red Banner, lost just like that. After reaping such rich spoils, Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei no longer have the heart for battle. Without the coordination of allied cavalry, I cannot speak of raiding Tongzhou either. This is the inconvenience of lacking cavalry units.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then his spirits lifted. He himself had been allotted eleven thousand horses and mules, among which at least several thousand were warhorses. After further dividing the captured Qing army warhorses later, he could in the future form a cavalry force of at least five thousand troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was now mid-weishi hour (2 p.m.). Some of the cavalry from each camp that had gone in pursuit had returned, some had not, and the specific battle results were still being tallied. No one had eaten since breakfast, and all were ravenously hungry. Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, and the others gave orders to light fires and cook, to let the entire army fill their bellies first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a great victory, the three armies naturally had to be feasted. There were plenty of captured pigs and sheep, and the army slaughtered several hundred more for eating and drinking. Wang Dou ordered that those commoners also be fed their fill, and each holding area likewise received some meat broth and meat. Soldiers and civilians alike boiled with excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those six thousand civilian laborers could also be considered to have \"been on the battlefield.\" Wang Dou had made up his mind to later organize and train them into the army, so their meals were second only to the treatment of the Shunxiang Army. After the soldiers and civilians ate and drank, those commoners were still strictly ordered not to move about. However, the six thousand civilian laborers, under the direction of the Shunxiang Army's logistics troops, marched in grand formation to the Plain Red Banner camp to dismantle tents and distribute them to the commoners in each holding area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When entering the Tartar camp, Wu Daben was overjoyed to discover that among the commoner women the troops had rescued from the camp, the figure of Ningzhi appeared. No matter what had happened to her, Wu Daben had already decided to marry her as his wife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the direction of the Shunxiang Army's logistics troops, the shacks and tents in each holding area were arranged like a military camp, with ditches dug for drainage and latrine pits dug. They also cleared away the garbage, corpses, and such in each holding area and buried them deep. Many commoners had already frozen or starved to death earlier, and Wang Dou was pained to discover that he had lost at least several thousand in population.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides this, Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, and the others all dispatched large numbers of personnel to go everywhere and tally the people and valuables in detail once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around mid-shenshi hour, the pursuing cavalry finally all returned. They came back fully laden, each laughing and joking. Those among them who had chased far had even crossed the Lugou River. That evening at the Xuan-Da camp, all the gains from this battle were tallied and gathered into the hands of Yang Guozhu, Wang Dou, and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In this battle, our army beheaded a total of three thousand seven hundred fifty-five slave-criminal heads. We captured alive two thousand seven hundred fifty slaves, among them over one hundred eighty armored slave men, over four hundred fifty unarmored slave men, and the remainder were army-following servants. We seized over three thousand sets of armor, over two thousand warhorses, over three thousand mules, and countless weapons, vehicles, and supplies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another enormous gain. This meant that, counting the army-following servants, of the eight thousand Plain Red Banner Qing troops at Zhuozhou, only a little over one thousand five hundred escaped. The remaining over six thousand several hundred were either dead or captured. Even if there were still two thousand Plain Red Banner bannermen and five thousand servants at Tongzhou, the Manchu Plain Red Banner was thoroughly finished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qing soldiers generally had the habit of privately hiding silver. Especially when they fled, they might have taken the chance to roll up some valuables and escape. Yet in the tally of gains at this time, the separate register contained no tally of silver or such items, which had probably been divided up by the pursuing troops themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The numbers of horses and mules were also likely off, but so be it. Toward the allied troops' conduct, he would just turn a blind eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three divided all the armor, horses and mules, weapons, vehicles, and supplies evenly. Wang Dou also generously divided the heads evenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for how to deal with these captives, Wang Dou's meaning was: \"Keep Yoto's son and one hundred slave soldiers to present as captives. As for the remaining people... all slave men are to be executed. Among the army-following servants, the Mongols from captive lands, Koreans, and miscellaneous barbarians are all to be killed. Han Chinese servants, let the captured commoners identify them; those who committed evil are all to be killed. The remaining people will be handed over to the court for disposal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei were greatly alarmed, and Guo Yingxian's mouth split wide open. Hu Dawei said in a trembling voice: \"General Wang, these several thousand people are all to be killed?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu urged: \"General Wang, killing captives is inauspicious!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou said flatly: \"There is nothing inauspicious about it. Punishing evil is promoting good, it is accumulating merit and virtue.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said: \"The day they invaded, they should have thought this day would come. This is the fate they chose for themselves.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes were deep: \"A fate they chose for themselves.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Wang Dou decide the fate of several thousand people so casually, Yang Guozhu could not help but shiver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Xu Yue'e grew agitated. Her eyes were exceedingly bright, as if she were trembling with excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The twelfth day of the first month, the twelfth year of Chongzhen. High noon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not far from the Xuan-Da camp, countless large pits had been dug in the ground. Over two thousand three hundred bound Qing captives were escorted to the edge of the large pits, where the Shunxiang Army's arquebusiers would carry out their execution by firing squad. Victory had come too quickly, and many new troops had yet to experience major battle, so this opportunity was used to let them once more taste blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the captured Qing soldiers, aside from one hundred Plain Red Banner bannermen kept to present as captives, there were many servants among them. Many of the servants were Han Chinese. Regrettably, after the commoners pointed them out, only a little under three hundred who had been somewhat law-abiding were kept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remaining people were executed together with those Plain Red Banner bannermen, Mongol servants, Korean servants, and servants from various tribes of the northeast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not far from them gathered a vast, dark mass of captured commoners from various regions, countless tens of thousands among them. They hurled furious curses and countless clods of earth and stones. These Qing soldiers trembled and shivered, each so terrified their faces turned ashen pale, utterly devoid of their usual arrogance, savagery, and viciousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The hour has come. Carry out the execution!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Carry out the execution!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fire!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deafening roar of volley fire rang out. Several hundred Qing soldiers were shot dead before the pits, and then several hundred more arquebusiers were rotated in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of volley fire came wave after wave, interspersed with the screams of those Qing soldiers or their terrified wails and shrieks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first those commoners still shouted that the killing was good, but as the sound of arquebus fire kept ringing out and the thick smell of gunpowder smoke and blood wafted over, gradually they could no longer cry out. Each face turned pale, and the looks they cast toward Wang Dou were full of awe and fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cold wind blew bleakly. Wang Dou stood still and motionless the entire time, watching row after row of Qing soldiers be executed. Whether they died on the spot or not, they were all thrown into the large pits by those logistics troops and buried en masse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei beside him, along with the others, all wore rather grim expressions. Wang Dou's face remained impassive; he watched until every Qing soldier had been killed and the logistics troops began burying their corpses, then he looked up at the sky — the sunlight was brilliant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou habitually narrowed his eyes. The bitter winter was nearly over — could spring be far behind?\u003C\u002Fp>",2481,"2026-06-03T14:05:36.780Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","e13cd7c58eea96c65981e7fc30fb052c076f5d62d07f0160535ececf3bffcd8e","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-294","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-292",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]