[{"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-775":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},1206064,1561,"Chapter 775: Cut in Half at the Waist","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-775",775,"\u003Cp>In the first month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Count of Jingnan Cao Bianjiao and Count of Ningnan Wang Tingchen set out for Liaodong to take up their posts. At this time, the two men had only their main-battalion cavalry, totaling 3,500 horsemen, plus 500 men of the New Army — the combined strength of both garrisons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning to their garrisons at Yutian and Zunhua, the people of the two garrisons did not blame them. On the contrary, they said that if new troops were recruited again, they would still eagerly send their sons and younger brothers to enlist, to repay the two commanders' kindness. This made Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen both grateful and ashamed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now the two men no longer had the strength to recruit new troops again; they could only properly arrange pensions for the fallen and wounded and settle all remaining affairs. They distributed all the pension silver granted by the imperial court to the troops, and the 500,000 silver coins sent by Marquis of Yongning Wang Dou also helped them enormously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the New Army under the two men's command had been nearly annihilated, with casualties and missing soldiers reaching over five thousand. What use was the paltry twenty thousand taels of pension silver granted by the court? Fortunately, after they returned to their garrisons, Wang Dou dispatched Chief Consolation Officer Li Jinpei to deliver five hundred thousand taels in silver coins, so that at least every family could live without worry for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, Wang Dou also entrusted Li Jinpei to bring a personal letter. In it he wrote: the New Army shed blood for the country and slew the foe; it should not be that the soldiers at the front shed blood while those behind them suffer cold and hunger, their families lacking food and clothing. Therefore he sent five hundred thousand silver coins as a token of his modest regard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reading the letter, Cao and Wang were deeply grateful. They owed Wang Dou a great deal and had little means to repay him, and this silver coin was truly timely help in their hour of need.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Jinpei was a very amiable middle-aged man. He had previously served in Han Chao's army together with Huang Shibian, and had now risen step by step to the position of Chief Consolation Officer. Huang Shibian's official fortune was not bad either; after Chi Dacheng was transferred to the Inspectorate, he was promoted to Chief Garrison Pacification Officer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After meeting Cao and Wang, he privately urged the two to go to Monan, saying that if the two Counts were willing to go to Monan, the Grand General would certainly submit a memorial to the court, and the court would certainly approve his memorial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two men also seriously considered Li Jinpei's counsel. Going to Monan would indeed allow them to live in peace and ease, passing their days in leisure thereafter. But their own ideal was to go to the very front line of fighting the slaves. They therefore politely declined Li Jinpei's kind offer, and thinking further, felt even more guilty toward the Marquis of Yongning — yet they did not regret their choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In early spring, the northern lands were still bitterly cold. As the armies of the two garrisons departed, the local people lined the roads to see them off. Wearing straw rain capes and braving the wind and snow, many could not bear to part and wept aloud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They also felt at a loss, not knowing what changes would come to Yutian Garrison and Zunhua Garrison after the two Grand Commanders left. After all, not long before, the two garrisons had nearly erupted in mutiny over the encroachment on farmland. In that affair, the newly appointed Viceroy of Ji-Liao, Fan Zhiwan, had sided with the local gentry. Once the Grand Commanders were gone, they might have no one to rely on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding this matter, it was also the one concern that weighed on Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen's hearts as they departed. The New Army's farmland was something they had promised to their soldiers; they could not bear the thought that after they left, it would be seized by others. If that happened, how could they face the families of the fallen and wounded?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, they had once obtained the court's permission and promised the families several years of tax exemption. They did not want the local government offices, the moment they left, to raise all sorts of banners and do things that would make them break their word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brother Cao, Brother Wang, you need only set your minds at ease. So long as this Yang remains in Ji Garrison for a single day, no one will dare lay a finger on a single inch of the New Army's farmland.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speaker was the Marquis of Jibei, Regional Commander of Ji Garrison Yang Guozhu. When Cao and Wang set out for Liaodong, he personally brought his central-army personal general Guo Yingxian and a number of personal guards to see them off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The daily toil of training had deepened the weathered look on this old general's face, and the hair at his temples had grown even whiter. Yet his frame remained tall and brawny, standing firm and solid as a mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu's mood at this moment was heavy. The forces under Cao and Wang had been an important strength within his Ji Garrison. The two men had returned in defeat and were now moving their entire garrison to Liaodong, leaving gaps in the frontier wall defenses that would need to be rearranged. Still, he respected their choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since assuming the post of Ji Garrison Regional Commander, he had been busy all day drilling the troops and repairing the frontier walls. He even had the intention of emulating his own past practice in Xuanfu Garrison and training another batch of New Army troops. But that opportunity had passed. With the grain and pay the court now provided, he could barely maintain his fifteen-thousand-strong army as it was; any more troops were beyond his means.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also wished to emulate Wang Dou's practice of establishing Loyalty-and-Righteousness Battalions. But first, the officers of the various battalions resisted and were unwilling; second, how were the soldiers cut from the ranks to be resettled? Opening up farmland, farming, and arranging livelihoods required large amounts of grain, pay, and posts — conditions that Ji Garrison entirely lacked. So the matter was dragged on and on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu knew that the reason the New Army under his command could garrison Ji Garrison in peace was largely because their New Army farmland was properly looked after by Wang Dou. Putting himself in their place, he understood the anxiety in Cao and Wang's hearts, and he solemnly gave them his assurance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the earlier upheaval in the two garrisons, Yang Guozhu had stood on the side of Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen. He had even squeezed thirty thousand taels of silver from his own army's grain and pay funds to provide relief and aid to the families of the fallen and wounded New Army soldiers in the Yutian and Zunhua garrisons. This had incurred the displeasure of Fan Zhiwan and others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with Wang Dou's support and his personally penned commentary on the matter in the newspaper, the affair grew even larger. To placate Cao and Wang, the Chongzhen Emperor dismissed quite a number of officials in Ji Garrison. It was also because of this turmoil that the Emperor finally granted the two Counts' request and transferred them to Liaodong — thus the matter was considered settled for the time being.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also stirred greater discontent among many. Afterward, the talk that \"the New Army is in truth a scourge to the Great Ming\" spread through Ji Garrison, though no one knew who was secretly fanning the flames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Many thanks, Commander Yang!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Yang Guozhu's assurance, Cao Bianjiao set his mind at ease. The near-total annihilation of the New Army was an everlasting pain in his heart, and it also made him and Wang Tingchen feel they had let down the village elders and fellow countrymen of Yutian and the two garrisons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Yang Guozhu's assurance, at least the families of these soldiers who had bled for the country could live in peace on their native soil, and he would have no regrets after leaving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The armies of the two garrisons marched toward Fengrun. All along the way, crowds of common folk braved the wind and snow to see them off. Many wept silently. In particular, the families of the several hundred New Army soldiers accompanying the two commanders to Liaodong clutched their sons' and brothers' hands, reluctant to part.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this parting, when would they see their families again?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Jinpei also rode alongside Yang Guozhu. They traveled in silence the whole way. When they reached a sparse wood covered in snow, the two commanders clasped hands and bade farewell to Yang Guozhu and Li Jinpei. Li Jinpei returned the clasp in silence; in his eyes were both regret and admiration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Yingxian murmured, \"The number of men I can drink with has grown fewer again…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu, like an elder brother, gave his instructions: \"Going to Yizhou in Liaodong this time, you two must be extremely careful…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Bianjiao smiled faintly. \"To slay the slaves — that is my wish.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Tingchen also laughed heartily. \"What the young General Cao has said is also what I would say.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Take care all the way!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone bade solemn farewell. At this moment, among the common folk seeing them off, more people burst into tears. Every one of them was frozen until their faces were blue-tinged and their lips purple, yet they cried out: \"My son, follow the Grand Commander well, and go to Liaodong to fight the Tartars.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My son, do not worry about your mother here. Obey the Grand Commander's words well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cold wind struck their faces, and snowflakes swirled down. The soldiers in the column were covered in falling snow. They kept turning back, waving to their kin, and then one by one they vanished into the wind and snow. Resolutely they marched eastward — their figures lonely, yet steadfast!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifteenth day of the first month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen. It was precisely the Lantern Festival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every year in the capital, from the eighth to the eighteenth of the first month, the lanterns burned without cease. The nine gates were not closed. Gongs and drums shook the heavens. Every day, those entering the city through each gate from outside numbered in the hundreds and thousands, all under the name of celebrating the Lantern Festival, and they stayed until dawn without leaving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not far from Zhaoyangmen on the eastern side was a small town. Because the environs of the capital had seen no warfare since the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the towns along key routes near the capital had grown bustling again. In this small town, too, the residents had been celebrating the Lantern Festival all along. The streets were thronged with people, exceedingly lively, and many children were hopping and frolicking about, holding up festive lanterns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near noon, a horse-drawn carriage suddenly sped in from the western road of the town. The carriage was plain, the sort that seemed to be seen everywhere. In particular, the front curtain and the side curtains of the carriage were hung with extremely thick cloth flaps. Several capable attendants guarded the carriage's sides, their gazes sweeping the surroundings with apparent vigilance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The streets were crowded with people, and all manner of calls to clear the way for sedan chairs, the clatter of hooves, and shouts of greeting mingled in a noisy din. Thus, after the carriage entered the town, it moved extremely slowly. Bao Chengxian lifted a corner of the curtain, glanced outside the carriage, sighed, and let the curtain fall again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pondered his own concerns. He had come to the Southern Court by the Emperor's order, bearing, besides peace negotiations, a series of important tasks. Yet nearly a year had passed, and no progress had been made on any matter. Apart from engaging in some schemes and intrigues and fanning the flames, his party seemed to have served no purpose whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor had therefore lost patience with him and issued an order summoning him back to their country.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He calculated his gains and losses, not knowing whether what awaited him on this return home would be misfortune or fortune. Ah, he had no path of retreat left. From the moment he surrendered to the Later Jin during the Tianqi reign, he knew he had no choice but to follow this dark road to its end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, lately he had a vague feeling that something was amiss. Especially after he had spread the rumor that \"the New Army is a scourge to the Great Ming\" in connection with the Ji Garrison affair, he constantly sensed that someone nearby was secretly spying on him. Years of doing the work of a spy and agent had made Bao Chengxian's premonitions of danger extremely acute. He knew he had been marked by the Intelligence Division of Xuanfu Garrison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were an existence even more ruthless than the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They would dare to strike regardless of whether you were an envoy of a state. Within the capital, they might still have to consider the Great Ming's face, but once outside the city, they would not care whether you were a Heavenly King or Laozi himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, to return home safely, Bao Chengxian had made several preparations. One decoy carriage and entourage set out from Dongzhimen with great fanfare to draw the attention of those with intent, while he himself quietly took the route through Zhaoyangmen, intending to reach Tianjin and then cross the sea back to Liaodong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet for some reason, the feeling of unease in his heart only grew stronger. He then mocked himself for growing old; his arrangements were without flaw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All along the way he pondered his concerns. Inside the carriage was a fine brazier, making the interior extremely warm. But the moment he lifted the carriage curtain, a bone-piercing cold wind immediately rushed in, making him hurriedly drop the curtain again. He lamented his own decline all the more; in the old days, even after long days in the saddle, he had never feared the cold like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The small town was lined with shops and establishments, everywhere festooned with lanterns and colored banners. The streets were full of pedestrians, and the carriage moved along the street at a turtle's pace. Fortunately, it soon ascended a stone bridge. The bridge had rather few pedestrians, so the carriage's speed would quicken somewhat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a middle-aged couple was walking over from the other side of the bridge, chatting and laughing. The man was slightly plump, dressed like a squire, and the woman also had the image of a wealthy matron. She held a festive lantern in her hand and was excitedly speaking with her husband. Around them seemed to be some attendants and household servants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They came all the way over, drawing closer and closer to the carriage. But judging by their appearance, the guards beside the carriage paid them no mind — they were just ordinary southern barbarian rich merchants and their retinue. Yet at that very moment, as if by some uncanny impulse, Bao Chengxian could not resist lifting the curtain again. Then, seeing this group, his eyes contracted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Decades of spy work made Bao Chengxian instinctively sense something wrong. That woman in particular — already middle-aged, how could she still be carrying a festive lantern like a young girl or a child? And he also keenly noticed that the woman seemed to make a certain movement, and then behind the lantern there appeared to be a fuse, sizzling and emitting sparks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's a Man-Slayer…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bao Chengxian was terrified out of his wits. He opened his mouth to cry out, wanting to warn the guards beside the carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just at that moment, a sudden change erupted. Those attendants drew near, and with a flip of their outer garments, what they drew from their waists were all hand cannons. Then they aimed at the guards around the carriage and pulled the triggers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!\" Thick bursts of flame and white smoke belched forth. Amid the incessant reports of the firearms, screams rang out one after another. Those guards, all caught off guard, sprouted clusters of bloody blossoms from their bodies. They cried out and toppled backward. Some were even struck simultaneously, their mouths and noses streaming blood from the blast of the firearms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This happened as abruptly as a startled hare or a swooping falcon — so swift was the shock that these men had no time to react at all. Even if some managed to draw concealed short blades, their speed could not match the firearms. In the blink of an eye, one guard after another was shot down into pools of blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that woman also swiftly charged forward. She lifted the front curtain of Bao Chengxian's carriage and hurled the firework-shaped Ten-Thousand-Man Bomb inside. Then all of them threw themselves flat at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Bao Chengxian had just grabbed a hand cannon beside him. Seeing something thrown in, he let out a loud cry of \"Ah!\" — and a thunderous boom erupted. Pedestrians on both sides of the stone bridge were all startled, asking one another in terror what had happened. Some even fled in panic, calling out for their children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, on this side, a burly man who looked like a retainer quickly scrambled up. He rushed forward, tore open the wrecked carriage, and dragged out the bloodied, dazed Bao Chengxian. Blood was trickling from his mouth and nose, yet he did not seem to have stopped breathing. The man said to the one dressed as a squire, \"Master He, this Tartar is not dead yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man dressed as a squire was none other than He Jian of the former rescue team, while the burly man and the others were Cui Qi and his men from the \"Traitor Elimination\" squad. He Jian said in a low growl, \"Not dead is just right. Take him away…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At once, the group tidied up cleanly and efficiently. Some were tasked with carrying Bao Chengxian onto a carriage below the bridge. Others were tasked with stabbing each of those Tartar guards once more through the heart, to make sure they were thoroughly dead. In what seemed like mere breaths, they had all vanished without a trace. When someone from the small town finally plucked up the courage to walk onto the stone bridge, what they saw…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dazed and in waves of searing pain, Bao Chengxian finally awoke. He found himself tightly bound, inside some unknown house. From its derelict appearance, it seemed to be some abandoned village. Bao Chengxian's heart sank straight down — the thing he had most feared had finally happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His entire body burned with pain. That Ten-Thousand-Man Bomb had injured him badly. He shook his groggy head, struggling to make out his surroundings. A large executioner's guillotine blade stood before him, a shocking and terrifying sight. And then there were those people he had seen on the bridge, every gaze dark and chilling, making Bao Chengxian's hair stand on end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An incomparable chill surged through his heart, as if he could already see the fate awaiting him. He hated that he had not died then and there. Yet the instinct to survive made him desperately want to do something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He whimpered for a while, until at last his voice grew somewhat clearer: \"I am a Grand Secretary of the Inner Secretariat of the Great Qing… Right Councillor of the Ministry of Personnel of the Great Qing, dispatched by the Emperor of the Northern Court as an envoy to the Southern Court… When two states are at war, envoys are not to be executed… You people, you people…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grand Secretary of the Inner Secretariat of the Great Qing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone chuckled coldly. It was Cui Qi who stepped forward and delivered a slap, heavily striking Bao Chengxian's right cheek. The crack was extraordinarily loud, sending Bao Chengxian's body spinning around before he tumbled to the ground. Blood from his mouth and nose stained the dust, leaving him battered and disheveled, with even several teeth loosened and falling out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grand Secretary my ass. What Inner Secretariat Grand Secretary, what Right Councillor of the Ministry of Personnel — aren't you just the Tartars' dog?… A mere dog, and you dare put on airs before your elders?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bao Chengxian whimpered, crawling and struggling on the ground. He Jian watched him coldly, without the slightest trace of pity in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slowly drew a scroll case from his bosom, took out a document from within, and read aloud: \"Now there is the traitor to the nation, Bao Chengxian. Upon investigation, he is originally from Yingzhou, Shanxi. He once served as Vice Regional Commander of the Xinyong Battalion on the Kaiyuan Route. In the second year of the Tianqi reign, he disregarded the grace of the state and surrendered to the slave rebels. Thereafter, he aided the tyrant in his atrocities, with crimes of every description…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He read on unhurriedly. Despair welled up in Bao Chengxian's heart. He knew what awaited him. He wanted to bite off his own tongue, but Cui Qi saw through his intent, stepped forward, and dislocated his jaw, leaving Bao Chengxian able only to listen helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…The traitor Bao's crimes are monstrous and utterly unpardonable. By order of the Marquis of Yongning, Wang Dou, General Who Subdues the Caitiffs, of the Imperial Ming, Bao Chengxian is hereby executed according to law, to be punished by waist-slicing, so as to uphold the discipline and dignity of our state!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bao Chengxian's face contorted in utter terror. He struggled madly, but all his struggling was useless. He could only watch helplessly as he was dragged beneath the guillotine blade and laid upon the icy chopping block. And with his jaw dislocated, he could only emit formless shrieks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, at a wave of He Jian's hand, the gleaming guillotine blade sliced down, cutting him in two at the waist. In that instant, Bao Chengxian's very soul seemed to scream, wailing in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment after he was cut in two, Cui Qi set his jaw back in place. Then everyone heard the howls that burst from Bao Chengxian, earth-shattering, a sound of such piercing misery that it seemed the torment he was enduring was the most unbearable pain in all the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this agony, Bao Chengxian went on enjoying for a full two-hour period. As for what thoughts he had during this process, whether he felt regret — none of that mattered anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Bai Niu: Was a bit irritable yesterday. Continuing to update today. Whatever will be will be — I'll just write my own story seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>〖∷Fast Updates∷∷Plain Text∷〗\u003C\u002Fp>",3854,"2026-06-03T14:06:10.567Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","4a68f75d4eb08ebca65634ceded6add2d7bd4356a6dff22ca72bd914235aa485","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-776","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-774",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]