Chapter 128: Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots

Hetu Ala is over three hundred li away from Fushun City and is the location of the Jianzhou Left Guard.

The Jurchen of the Ming Dynasty are divided into three branches: the first is the Jianzhou Jurchen located south of the Hun River; the second is the Haixi Jurchen located north of the Hun River, extending north to the Songhua River; and the Wild Jurchen who live around Changbai Mountain.

The Jianzhou Jurchen are actually not a nomadic civilization, but an agrarian one.

It was not until Nurhaci annexed the Haixi Jurchen that he could truly be said to possess cavalry.

It is currently spring, and the commoners belonging to the Jianzhou Guard are either working hard at farming, weaving nets to fish in the great river, or taking up knives and forks to travel back and forth in the deep mountains in search of prey.

Inside Hetu Ala, it is peaceful and quiet.

To call it a city is really just a fortress piled up from a heap of bricks, two zhang high, about ten zhang long, and seven or eight zhang wide.

A few long streets are the entirety of this city.

The most prominent figures in this city, besides the commander's family, are the blacksmith who works the iron and the butcher who slaughters pigs.

Just past noon on this day, a squad of Ming Army soldiers in disguise slowly arrived outside the city of Hetu Ala.

At the head was a man of about forty, tall and sturdy, with a pair of tiger-like eyes shining brightly in his sallow cheeks.

He is called Li Kui, and he is a leader of the personal guards under Li Rubai.

This mission to provoke trouble and inspect the city's defenses was carried out by him personally.

Looking at the palm-sized city, Li Kui could not help but feel contempt in his heart; he tightened his clothes and ordered, "Let's go, let's go inside first and see what kind of treasure this broken city has that makes the higher-ups go to such great lengths."

More than ten men nodded and followed closely behind.

As soon as they entered, the smell of excrement and urine drifted into their nostrils with the wind.

Looking around, the streets were dilapidated, the bungalows on both sides of the road were also tattered, and the paper covering the windows had been shredded by the wind.

The floor of the street was pitted and uneven, with a puddle of mysterious yellowish liquid accumulated inside.

The Jurchen, wrapped in sheepskin sweaters, walked in a hurry, as if even they could not endure this smell.

In the sky, black smoke stirred up by burning objects dyed half the sky black.

"Pah, what damn bad luck." Li Kui spat heavily, then stepped toward a wine and meat shop on the side of the street.

Seeing a group of people enter, the fierce-looking boss just squinted at them and said coldly, "Mutton is thirty wen a jin, wine is fifty wen a jin; if you want to eat and drink, pay first."

"Damn it, pay first? Who do you think you are?" a young man beside Li Kui cursed.

"If you don't want to eat, get out!" The boss slammed a knife onto the chopping board, his face ferocious, and shouted, "Don't think I don't know what you Great Ming people are here for? You must be here to catch our Jurchen divine eagle, the Gyrfalcon!"

In his impression, Han people dressed like this came quite often every year.

There was no other purpose than to capture their divine eagle, the Gyrfalcon.

This kind of falcon is mighty and spirited, fierce by nature, and known as the King of All Eagles, favored by the high officials and nobles of the Han dynasties.

Every spring, hunters seeking wealth run to Liaodong to capture them.

"We aren't here to catch eagles." Li Kui eyed the boss and said with a grin, "Those eagles aren't easy to catch; we don't have that kind of luck. We are going to Changbai Mountain to dig for wild ginseng."

"Really not?" the boss asked, staring with wide eyes.

"To catch eagles, you'd have to bring gear, right? Tell me, look at us? Didn't we bring nothing?" Li Kui stood up, patted his body twice, and joked, "Look, there's nothing."

"Oh, so you're going to dig for wild ginseng."

The boss finally let out a long sigh of relief and personally cut ten jin of mutton from the steaming boiler.

Then he took out a jar of good wine and brought it to Li Kui and his group, saying, "Eat up, I wouldn't usually be willing to bring this out for ordinary people."

"Thanks." Li Kui nodded in thanks, then began to feast with his men.

"By the way, what's your name?" After a few cups of wine, Li Kui couldn't help but ask.

"Hero," the man replied, looking up.

"A brave man." Li Kui muttered to himself, then looked the lean man up and down, and couldn't help but tease him, "You've got a big mouth; you didn't give yourself that name, did you?"

"What, not allowed to have that name?" Hero glared, his stubborn temper flaring up instantly.

Li Kui shook his head, wiped his mouth, and revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth when he spoke: "Call yourself whatever you want. Since we aren't eating your wine and meat for free, come with us. You aren't making money running this shop; come dig for ginseng with us."

"Not going. It's windy and snowy there, and there are Wild Jurchen; I don't want to lose my life." Hero shook his head, looking terrified.

"Pah, and you call yourself a Hero? I think you should just be called a coward." Li Kui had originally wanted to spare this man's life, but since he didn't appreciate it, he shook his head and gave up the thought.

Mocked like that, Hero wasn't angry; he just chuckled and went back to cutting side dishes on the chopping board.

Li Kui and his men ate and drank their fill, left silver, and walked out of the shop.

Walking to a quiet place, one soldier couldn't hold back his impatience and immediately said anxiously, "Boss, what's there to scout in this broken city? Let's just finish off a lone barbarian, put on their official army clothes, and then when the main garrison force arrives, won't this city be leveled?"

"You don't know a damn thing. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." Li Kui knocked the man on the head hard, glaring at him as he lectured, "We have to see how many exits this city has and where the escape routes lead. Do you understand what 'cutting the weeds and digging up the roots' means?"

"If you're going to do it, do it thoroughly."

"Yes." The man rubbed his head and agreed with a look of grievance.

"Alright, Wang Neng, you take three men to scout the road behind the city; be careful, and don't let them run away. Xiong Kuo, you take five men to figure out the defensive strength in the city." Li Kui scanned his men and gave orders methodically, "The rest follow me; while we look for lone barbarians, we'll probe the reality of the city."

"Yes."

The men shouted in unison and then dispersed.

Just as they were infiltrating, inside the commander's hall in Hetu Ala, a burly young man in his early twenties was sitting opposite someone. Sitting on the left was Aisin Gioro Shurhaci.

The one on the right was about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a broad forehead and wide face, a tiger's body and an ape's waist, wearing a set of thick armor, revealing only a resolute face.

It was none other than the "dead" Aisin Gioro Nurhaci!

In the eleventh year of Wanli, his father and grandfather both died in the internal strife of persuading his uncle to surrender. From then on, he made a vow to unify the Jurchen tribes and avenge the blood feud of his father and grandfather.

At the same time, he also knew deeply that the Great Ming was now a strong lion.

So strong that even a dog it kept could bite him to death at any time. So he dared not openly oppose the Great Ming like his maternal grandfather Wang Gao and his uncle Atai.

He could only smile at his father's killers and act as a dog for them.

Just hoping that this master would be happy and give him a couple of bones to eat.

A month ago, he had just annexed the troops of the Jianzhou Left Guard and had wanted to press his advantage and annex a few more Jianzhou tribes in one go.

Unexpectedly, he was suddenly told by his younger brother that someone wanted to take his life.

His first reaction was astonishment.

Especially after learning the identity of that person, he was so terrified that his liver felt torn and his gallbladder split.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard.

This organization, which everyone in the Great Ming reviled but also feared to even hear mentioned, had actually set its sights on him.

His first reaction was not to resist, but to run away.

Upon further thought, since he had already been targeted, where could he run to that would be the end of it? As long as he lived, these people would bite onto him and never let go, just like a pack of vicious dogs.

Since they wanted his life, he might as well just give it to them.

And so, he and his good brother staged a fine performance.

The silence lasted for a long while; Shuerhachi looked at his expressionless elder brother, leaned forward, and cautiously probed, "Elder brother, have our recent actions been too frequent? Even the people from the Embroidered Uniform Guard have set their sights on you."

"That cannot be; we have been very honest lately, so we shouldn't have invited this disaster," Nurhaci shook his head.

"Then it must be that old dog Li Chengliang, who thinks we haven't sent enough gifts and deliberately fabricated a story about the Embroidered Uniform Guard to scare you!" Shuerhachi's face twisted ferociously, and gritting his teeth, he said indignantly, "Last time that old dog campaigned against the Haixi Jurchen, our men were at the very front and suffered the heaviest casualties. Not only did he not give any rewards, but he even scolded you."

"Even his mother—his concubine's birthday requires us to prepare a generous gift; you tell me, is this any way to live?"

Nurhaci's anger also surged to his heart, his cheeks turning bright red. He clenched his fists, hammered the table heavily, and cursed, "Li Chengliang, that old dog, sooner or later I will chop off his head to pay tribute to the spirits of my father and grandfather in heaven."

After speaking, his imposing manner suddenly leaked away, and he lowered his head, murmuring, "But now is not the time. Right now, as long as we show the slightest disrespect toward him, it will surely invite a devastating blow."

Shuerhachi nodded.

Nurhaci continued, "We must continue to appease Li Chengliang on his side. No matter what he wants, as long as we can provide it, give it to him."

"He needs a dog in the Jianzhou Guard to watch his house and guard his yard, otherwise his own position would not be stable."

The Great Ming had always believed in the strategy of "Liaodong people defending Liaodong" for lands outside the Liaodong Dusi. That is, supporting a loyal indigenous force to suppress the other tribes.

Whoever dared to show their head and be disrespectful to the Great Ming, Li Chengliang would personally lead troops to campaign against them.

Whoever was close to the Great Ming, Li Chengliang would naturally give them some sweetness and benefits. It was in such cracks that Nurhaci annexed both the Jianzhou Guard and the Right Jianzhou Guard.

Seeing that he was still somewhat loyal and needing such a vicious dog, Li Chengliang just turned a blind eye.

"The price he is asking for this time is very high," Shuerhachi shook his head, his tone revealing a trace of helplessness.

"What does he want?" Nurhaci asked.

"Ten Gyrfalcons, saying they are to be offered as tribute to the Emperor of the Great Ming."

"Why doesn't he just go rob someone?!"

The flesh on Nurhaci's face twitched, and his pupils were instantly filled with blood.

That Gyrfalcon was the king of all eagles, and as early as the Tang Dynasty, it had been offered as tribute to the Emperor of the Great Tang.

Because it was wild and difficult to tame, and the places it lived were exceptionally hard to find, even experienced hunters found it difficult to catch.

To catch this thing, many hunters lost their lives on cliffs and precipices every year.

"Ten? Didn't it used to be just two or three?" Nurhaci looked at his younger brother and asked tentatively.

"I don't know," Shuerhachi shook his head, frowning as he asked, "Are we giving them or not?"

"Give!" Nurhaci gritted his teeth, his face full of determination, "Now that it has come to this point, even if he wanted the flat peaches from heaven, we would have to pick them for that old dog."

"Like this, I remember there are still four Gyrfalcons left in the residence from previous years. You take three and send them over first to appease him. I will take one Gyrfalcon out to try my luck and see if I can catch a few more."

"It won't be that easy to have such luck," Shuerhachi shook his head.

"Even if there isn't such luck, I have to try. I can't just wait for him to bring a large army to block us."

As Nurhaci spoke, he stood up and straightened his armor, then added, "I am already a dead man, so you are now the helmsman of Jianzhou. In a while, you go to the Great Ming yourself and inherit my position."

"Understood," Shuerhachi nodded.

"I am leaving; the affairs of the Jianzhou Guard are handed over to you for now."

(End of this chapter)