[{"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-358":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},1205647,1561,"Chapter 358: Flying Locusts, Preparations for the Expedition","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-358",358,"\u003Cp>In the eleventh month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The winter solstice arrived, and the entire Eastern Circuit was filled with joy — not only because life had been better this year than in years past, but also because the Pacifying-State General had married Ji Junjiao, the foster daughter of Fu Mingqi, the Confucian Instructor of Baoan Department, adding even more festive cheer to the holiday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Junjiao was the daughter of Ji Shiwei, the Provincial Governor of Xuanfu Garrison — this was something everyone tacitly understood, though of course no one was foolish enough to openly tear through that thin paper window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Pacifying-State General's affairs were everyone's affairs, and the common people of the Eastern Circuit all wished to use this occasion to express their regard. On the wedding day itself, guests filled the house and the bustle was extraordinary. Officials and military officers from every quarter were present, and even many Grand Secretaries at court sent congratulatory gifts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, Wang Dou was in Baoan Department. As the Eastern Circuit Mobile Corps Commander, he could in fact arrange his garrison duties flexibly — in autumn and winter he shifted his station to Yongning, and at other times he could return to Baoan Department. For several days after the wedding, he thoroughly enjoyed days of warm fragrance and soft jade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among those attending the wedding were naturally Ji Shiwei and his wife, Lady Chu, as well as his eldest son Ji Boqing and others, though they came under other pretexts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching his daughter, her face brimming with happiness, bow to heaven and earth and complete the marriage rites with Wang Dou, Ji Shiwei felt both comfort and a pang of bitterness. The daughter of a dignified Provincial Governor could only marry Wang Dou in this manner; before outsiders, his daughter could only call another man father. They had stooped to compromise solely to draw Wang Dou onto their own chariot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, with his daughter finally married, Ji Shiwei could set one heavy matter from his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, back when Ji Junjiao fled her arranged marriage and came to Baoan Department, she was an unmarried virgin, yet she immediately entered into relations with Wang Dou and openly cohabited with him before marriage, which naturally drew no small amount of gossip. Now that she was married, her status was proper and justified, and it could be said that the wagging tongues of the world were finally silenced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Shiwei's visit was also convenient, for father-in-law and son-in-law could discuss certain matters together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few days after the wedding, Wang Dou unexpectedly received word that Li Zhenping, the Department Magistrate of Baoan, was to be transferred elsewhere due to his outstanding administrative achievements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was promoted, transferred to Guide Prefecture to serve as Prefect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Baoan Department, it was also converted from a civil department to a military department. After a large-scale reclassification of the local civilian households, barely any civilian households remained, so maintaining a civil rotating official was meaningless. After reporting to the imperial court and receiving approval, Baoan Department was renamed Baoan Left Guard, with only a Garrison Commander appointed to hold it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, Wang Dou also learned another piece of news from the court gazette: in the tenth month of this very year, the Qing army had once again attacked Ningyuan. At the time, Ningyuan had ten thousand troops, but the officers and men were timid and none dared to fight. Jin Guofeng, the Militia Regional Commander of Ningyuan, was enraged. He led his two sons and several dozen retainers out to hold the Beishan Ridge and fought bitterly against the Qing soldiers, all of them dying in battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon receiving this news, Wang Dou remained silent for a long time. In the end, he had been unable to change Jin Guofeng's fate. Recalling the time they had associated several months earlier, his heart sank into gloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As early as when he was in Yongning, Wang Dou had warned Jin Guofeng and had also prompted Hong Chengchou to give it thought, but time was pressing. Not long after Jin Guofeng returned to Ningyuan, the Qing troops invaded. His fate, ultimately, could not be altered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gazette also contained a memorial from Hong Chengchou requesting: that since the various camps and units around Ningyuan were disordered and authority was fragmented, military affairs should be placed under the sole command of the Regional Commander. Any Army Supervisor, Provincial Governor, Garrison Commander, or other official stationed in the same city was to follow this same rule. The Chongzhen Emperor, mindful of Jin Guofeng's case, approved Hong Chengchou's request.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps this approved request would prove a good thing for Wang Dou in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the twelfth month, Li Zhenping left his post. The crowd seeing him off was large, and Wang Dou was among them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Li household's carriage and horses passed through the city gate. Li Zhenping descended from the carriage and, with clasped hands, bade farewell to Wang Dou and the crowd: \"I have troubled you to see me off and am deeply moved by your great kindness. General, please halt your steps here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou took a cup of wine from a guard beside him: \"Though one may see a friend a thousand li, there must come a parting. Magistrate Li, please drain this cup; may your journey be smooth.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zhenping accepted the wine cup and drained it in one gulp. He turned his head and gazed at the department city for a long time with infinite emotion, then sighed: \"Confucius said, 'Achieve benevolence'; Mencius said, 'Choose righteousness.' What is the purpose of studying the sages' books? After several years in Baoan Department, this humble official has finally understood.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He clasped his hands toward Wang Dou and said, \"General, take care of yourself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou returned the salute: \"Magistrate, take care of yourself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zhenping laughed heartily and mounted the carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Ji Junjiao and the Young Madam were also reluctantly parting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elder sister, I cannot bear to part from you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Junjiao held the Young Madam's hand and wept. At this moment, she wore a sleeveless jacket under a sable coat, as beautiful as a flower or jade, and that alluring, radiant glow after her new marriage made her even more soul-stirring. The Young Madam still wore a deep purple outer robe, and her mature, graceful charm as a young married woman was in no way inferior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Ji Junjiao like this, the Young Madam sighed softly: \"Little sister, I cannot bear to part from you either. When I have leisure in the future, I will come to Baoan Department to see you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, the two still had to separate. The Young Madam looked toward Wang Dou, performed a curtsy with her sleeves folded, and said, \"This humble woman takes her leave now. General, take good care.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou returned the salute: \"Madam, take good care.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Li household's carriage and horses traveled into the distance. Wang Dou also felt some reluctance to part. In earlier days, Wang Dou's impression of Li Zhenping had not been good; though he had ambition, he was fond of empty talk. But after several years of association, Wang Dou's impression of him had changed somewhat. At the very least, he possessed a heart devoted to country and people, and had done many practical things for the common folk — he was worthy of respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pondered in silence for a long while, musing inwardly: \"Guide Prefecture…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye it was the first day of the ninth month of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the crisp, clear autumn air of the ninth month, Yongning city grew ever more bustling. From the West Street to the road leading to the Mobile Corps Commander's residence came a procession of carriage, horses, and ceremonial guards. Seeing this procession from afar, the commoners on the street all consciously made way. Many even bowed with clasped hands toward the carriage and horses, their eyes filled with expressions of deep respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Lady is going again to relieve the disaster victims. With the Pacifying-State General and his Lady here, they are truly living Buddhas to ten Battalion Commander.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the carriage and horses passed, such heartfelt voices rose continuously from the commoners on the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after, the carriage and ceremonial guard halted before the general's residence, and Xie Xiuniang descended from the carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As an imperially titled Lady of Mandate and Wang Dou's principal wife, Xie Xiuniang enjoyed the same ceremonial pomp as Wang Dou. At this moment, she wore the formal attire of a titled lady, a golden crown upon her head, and bore a serene, tranquil smile. Surrounded by her maidservants, that air of graceful dignity could not be concealed in the slightest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few months earlier, Xie Xiuniang had given birth to another daughter for Wang Dou, and her figure had grown even fuller and more dignified. In her glances, there seemed to be a gentle tenderness like water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She descended from the carriage, her gait unhurried and her bearing quite elegant. This was the result of her consulting Ji Junjiao on a series of deportment and etiquette matters and practicing them assiduously herself. Of course, her grace and bearing still could not compare to Ji Junjiao's. But her status and the deep, enduring bond she shared with Wang Dou through thick and thin were things Ji Junjiao could not rival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After entering the residence, the various staff members of the headquarters walking about all bowed respectfully when they saw Xie Xiuniang, and Xie Xiuniang always meticulously returned their salutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Xie Xiuniang pass by, many people in the residence revealed expressions of deep respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The titled Lady of Mandate relieved disaster victims and comforted women and children throughout the Eastern Circuit, and among the common people she was directly called a loving mother. In the spirit tablets set up in many commoners' homes, Xie Xiuniang was placed alongside Wang Dou. To the various headquarters staff, the titled Lady of Mandate was generous and kind-hearted; none of the staff in the residence had been left untouched by Xie Xiuniang's grace and favors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toward Wang Dou and Xie Xiuniang, everyone in the Eastern Circuit held a respect that came from their very bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Entering the rear courtyard of the residence, Wang Dou's mother, the titled Grand Lady Zhong, was just then talking with Ji Junjiao, Liu Qing, Liu Ji, Hudie, and Qingting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking practical circumstances into account, the Shunxiang Army's newly issued military regulations stipulated that Shunxiang Army officers stationed in Yongning city, from Squad Commander and above, could bring their families over and be allotted residences. After Wang Dou married Ji Junjiao the previous year, when he returned to Yongning city, the elder members of the Wang household had come along with him and now lived within the general's residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, in the arms of Ji Junjiao and the other five women each lay a child, some boys and some girls. The previous month, Ji Junjiao had given birth to a daughter for Wang Dou, which greatly disappointed her — Ji Junjiao had always wanted a son. Wang Dou, however, was still very happy and named the daughter Wang Xiu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Qing and Liu Ji, after following Wang Dou for several years, had likewise each borne children. Liu Ji had even given birth to two sons, while Liu Qing had one son and one daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Junjiao's two original personal maids, Hudie and Qingting, had come with Ji Junjiao as bedchamber attendants. Because they had borne children for Wang Dou, they were both elevated to the status of concubines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the daughter Xie Xiuniang had given birth to a few months earlier, she was named Wang Wan and was at this moment held in Lady Zhong's arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Wang Dou now had nine children in total. However, the infant mortality rate in this era was high, so they had to be raised with great care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Lady Zhong, Xie Xiuniang curtsied to her with folded sleeves. Lady Zhong, somewhat helplessly, said, \"I tell you, daughter-in-law, here within the household and the inner residence, there is no need to be so rigidly formal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Xiuniang said earnestly, \"Mother-in-law, that will not do. If propriety is lost and word spreads, people will laugh at my husband.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Zhong sighed. This daughter-in-law of hers, for the sake of her son, could truly be said to have taken great pains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Xie Xiuniang was seated, Lady Zhong inquired about one matter: \"My grandson has been at the Military Lecture Hall for several months now, and I do not know whether he is suffering hardship there. Ah, not a word of news has come either.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The previous year, the Military Lecture Hall had already been established, specifically to train military officers. The sons and younger brothers of all officers were likewise required to enter and study there. The military academy had strict regulations and implemented a semi-closed education; they could not casually come out, and outsiders could not casually enter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Wang Zheng was Wang Dou's son, he was granted no exception and likewise had to undergo strict instruction and training. Once, Lady Zhong missed her grandson and secretly brought Wang Zheng home for a few days. Wang Zheng was immediately given a severe reprimand by Wang Dou and received a harsh punishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this incident, Lady Zhong never dared bring up the matter of her grandson again. Since even the Pacifying-State General was like this, other military officers, no matter how much they missed their families, likewise had no choice but to obey the military academy's discipline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Xiuniang also missed her son terribly, but she was a woman who centered everything on Wang Dou — whatever Wang Dou said, she followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing her mother-in-law speak, she said, “My husband has said, jade uncarved never becomes a vessel. If children are not strictly taught and trained, when they grow up they will become idle dandies and disgrace our Shunxiang Army. What my husband says is always reasonable; Mother need not worry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Junjiao, holding her daughter, let out a giggle: “Sister, you spoil our General Dingguo too much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Xiuniang’s eyes widened: “Sister, I don’t read much, but what I hear my husband say is still very reasonable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Zhong glanced at the sky and said, “It’s nearly noon — why hasn’t that stinky brat gotten off work yet? We’re waiting for him to eat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stinky brat” was a term only Lady Zhong had the right to use, and the word “off work” was also something Wang Dou had “invented” — within Wang Dou’s system, it had become a trend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Xiuniang said, “My husband may be worried about the famine. I went to see those disaster victims — they are truly pitiful.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Junjiao said, “Sister, are you going again this afternoon? I’ll go with you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Xiuniang advised, “Sister, you’ve just finished your month of confinement; you still need to rest well. It’s not convenient for you to move around.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Junjiao said it didn’t matter — she had already been in confinement for nearly a month and was growing so idle she was getting restless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Zhong sighed, “The Great Ming suffers one disaster after another — when will it ever end?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The matter of sending out troops is imminent. Five days after the Double Ninth Festival, our Shunxiang Army will march!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the General’s Residence council hall, when Wang Dou spoke these words, every commander present grew excited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, with one official dispatch after another from the Ministry of War, the matter of sending out troops could no longer be delayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye it was the ninth month of the thirteenth year of the Chongzhen reign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That year, many things happened. First, the former Viceroy of Xuan-Da, Chen Xinjia, finally entered the Grand Secretariat at the beginning of the year and assumed the post of Minister of War. Wang Dou had originally thought that after Chen Xinjia left, his own father-in-law Ji Shiwei would become Viceroy of Xuan-Da, but unexpectedly the Grand Secretariat’s deliberations resulted in transferring Yan-Sui Provincial Governor Zhang Fuzhen to serve as Viceroy of Xuan-Da instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This left Ji Shiwei despondent for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Wang Dou, there was another very important matter: according to his understanding of history, starting in the fifth month, Qing troops had already gradually begun to besiege Jinzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the early stages, the Qing encirclement had limited results. While Dorgon was carrying out the siege plan, soldiers and civilians inside the city could still go out to hunt, transport military grain, and come and go freely. This greatly displeased Huang Taiji, who demoted Dorgon to Commandery Prince, fined him ten thousand taels of silver, stripped him of two niru households, and sent Jirgalang to replace him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Jirgalang arrived, he set up eight camps on each side of Jinzhou, dug long trenches five or six li outside the city, established crenellations along the trenches, and dispatched soldiers to scout and patrol, making the encirclement ever tighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with the Qing troops’ posture, Ji-Liao Viceroy Hong Chengchou surmised that the Qing were repeating their old Dalinghe tactic and responded actively. In Jinzhou, Xingshan, Ningyuan, and other places, he vigorously stockpiled grain, with each location storing at least enough provisions to supply the defending troops for half a year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the ninth month, the Qing troops besieging Jinzhou had reached fifty to sixty thousand men, establishing two square camps and two long camps, and bringing in no fewer than forty Hongyi cannons. The several long trenches dug around Jinzhou in particular were deep, dense, and structurally complex — as if the trench warfare of the First World War were being reenacted in Liaodong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, in all the Great Ming, perhaps only Wang Dou alone knew that soon, in the Jinzhou area, a brutal battle that would determine the national fate of both Ming and Qing would erupt — mountains of corpses, seas of blood, blood flowing enough to float pestles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the eighth month, Xue Guoguan was indeed stripped of office and sent home, then impeached again for corruption and arrested and brought to the capital. The Xue faction underwent a great purge, but beyond everyone’s expectations, Ma Guoxi, the Huailong Military Defense Circuit Intendant of Xuanfu Garrison, remained safe and sound. Because of his notable achievements in civil administration on the Eastern Route, his performance evaluation was excellent, and he received special commendation by imperial decree from the Chongzhen Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also in the eighth month, Yang Sichang personally entered Sichuan to oversee operations and continued to suppress Zhang Xianzhong and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the third month of this year, after government troops defeated Zhang Xianzhong at Manao Mountain, Yang Sichang had been very pleased. However, in the months that followed, government troops suffered repeated setbacks, and Yang Sichang had no choice but to personally enter Sichuan to direct the campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also submitted a memorial to the imperial court asking to take the blame, though he attributed the failed encirclement campaigns to the uselessness of the Sichuan troops and the Qin troops’ withholding of pay and mutinous withdrawal. In the end, Sichuan Provincial Governor Shao Jiechun was dismissed and arrested, sentenced to death and public execution, and Shaanxi Viceroy Zheng Chongjian was also dismissed, replaced by Ding Qirui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more it came to this point, the more Yang Sichang felt the bitterness of having no trusted senior commander at his side, and the more he longed for Wang Dou’s arrival. His two senior commanders, Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong, were both utterly arrogant and treated his deployments as nothing. He personally wrote letters to Zuo Liangyu, yet Zuo did not even deign to glance at them, leading to one failed encirclement after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From last year through the first half of this year, because the war situation had looked favorable, Yang Sichang had felt that perhaps he could do without Wang Dou after all. But now, looking around, only Wang Dou had the ability to turn the tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sent several memorials to the imperial court demanding that the Ministry of War immediately dispatch Wang Dou to march. Faced with dispatch after dispatch urging action, Wang Dou knew that sending out the troops could no longer be delayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, his using various reasons to delay the march until now also served his own calculations. The land of Sichuan was remote, with high skies and long roads — from Baoanzhou to there was probably four or five thousand li, and the roads of Shu were harder than climbing to the blue sky. Setting aside logistics, there was the problem of acclimatization: his Shunxiang Army troops were all northern soldiers, and upon first arriving in the south, they would likely suffer enormous non-combat attrition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Entering Sichuan also did not align with Wang Dou’s strategic layout. Now was just the right time to march — by the time they reached Henan, Li Zicheng would again be stirring up massive trouble there, and before long Zhang Xianzhong would also arrive. That would spare Wang Dou the trouble of traveling thousands of li all the way to Sichuan. The thousand-li plains of the Central Region were also suited to the Shunxiang Army’s style of warfare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When it came to campaigning, the Shunxiang Army had always been eager — everyone wanted to go to war. Which commanders to select for the expedition was something Wang Dou was still considering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition, there was much civil administration to handle. Wang Dou summoned the various staff members of his headquarters for discussion, and the main topic was precisely what Lady Zhong had just mentioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed — famine. A massive famine was once again sweeping the lands of the Great Ming. Since the latter half of last year, no rain had fallen across the imperial capital region, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. A dou of rice cost several thousand cash; the common people scraped bark, wood shavings, and chaff mixed with husks to eat, or dug white clay from the mountains for food. Looking across the villages, the bark was stripped bare, and corpses of the starved lay everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the great drought came locusts that blotted out the sky; wherever they gathered, not a stalk of grain or reed was left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Misfortunes never come singly — while the north suffered drought, the south suffered great floods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the fifth month of this year, in Suzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou, and other prefectures, torrential rain poured day and night; floodwaters surged, countless houses collapsed, and the price of a dou of rice leaped to three or four qian of silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with the great disaster came pestilence. Of the common people who had been fortunate enough not to die, another great half perished. It was not uncommon for entire villages, entire towns, entire cities to be wiped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drought and locust plagues likewise ravaged the Eastern Route. Wang Dou’s various military farms relied on deep-water irrigation wells, so the drought’s impact was not great, but the locusts that blotted out the sky still caused heavy losses to the various farms under his governance, especially those of the old military households and old civilian households.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, over the past two years, quite a few chicken farms and duck farms had been established throughout the Eastern Route. The spectacle of military households driving thousands upon thousands of chickens and ducks to devour the locusts was a wonder that many literati delighted in recounting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, Wang Dou also made a move that shocked everyone: he mobilized soldiers and civilians to eat the locusts. Taking the lead himself, with each officer leading the troops under him following suit, they fried, stir-fried, and roasted them — countless locusts were turned into dish after dish and entered everyone’s mouths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although some among the populace worried that this would offend the “Locust God,” since Wang Dou himself had taken the lead, and Military Defense Circuit Intendant Ma Guoxi did the same, what could the common people say? They all followed suit, and before long, the locusts within the Eastern Route had been eaten clean by Wang Dou and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It must be said, locusts have a very high protein content. After eating locusts for a while, people looked even more ruddy and robust. Cooked locusts gradually became one of the signature dishes of the Eastern Route’s cities, and there were even merchants who went around capturing locusts to transport and sell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for pestilence, after the great cleanup campaigns in the Eastern Route’s cities, many sources of outbreaks had already been eliminated. Moreover, the Intelligence Division had procured the Complete Book of Jingyue from Jiangnan, which contained extensive information on the treatment and prevention of various epidemics. The medical divisions in each department and city were also targets of Wang Dou’s vigorous support, and the number of physicians had increased rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, up to the present, no pestilence had yet broken out within the Eastern Route.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of this, the peaceful and happy Eastern Route had become a paradise that disaster victims from all over yearned for, and refugees poured in daily without cease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These refugees brought heavy pressure upon Wang Dou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>。\u003C\u002Fp>",4241,"2026-06-03T14:05:36.780Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","ed1fd20db05e02c857c4ec3c83d9420d38de35643b3d970da331c55535cfe737","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-359","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-357",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]