Chapter 446: Survival

"What's that sound?"

Tan Laizi rubbed his eyes, feeling only the icy cold in his legs and feet. The conditions here on the front lines were far worse than back in Weijiawan.

In the time he'd spent waiting in this mud-brick house, Tan Laizi had dozed off. The light outside was still bright; it couldn't have been long.

Tan Laizi turned his head to look around. Although this was a mud-brick thatched hut, there was quite a bit of junk inside. In the side room to the east lay several broken wooden planks, with a large stone set on top of them. Judging by the thickness of the broken wood, they were boards from some kind of cabinet. Most likely, when the Qing troops passed through, they'd smashed it with a rock to use as firewood.

A household that could own a cabinet was fairly well-off. He couldn't make out any other valuables left in the home; anything made of copper or iron had surely been looted. The bed was covered with wheat stalks. At the head of the bed lay a pellet drum, and at the foot, some remnants of cotton wadding. The family must have had a cotton quilt, but it had been taken. You could tell these people had lived quite comfortably.

Tan Laizi picked up the pellet drum and examined it. Its original owner had likely met a grim fate, but fortunately, that was something Tan Laizi didn't need to know.

"What a sin."

As soon as he said it, Tan Laizi remembered it was Tang Ershuan's pet phrase. He spat on the ground, "Ptui, ptui," brushed the bits of wheat stalk from his clothes, and walked out the door.

It was very quiet outside. The two civilian laborers who had been by the grain sacks earlier were now nowhere to be seen. Tan Laizi looked again — the grain sacks seemed to be gone too. This grain hadn't been formally handed over yet; if it went missing, it would be on his head. He hurried over to the cellar and peered inside. Sure enough, they had been put in there, though rather messily, as if just tossed in.

"Those two worthless curs, how do they get anything done? When Tan Ye gets back, he'll give each of them a sound thrashing."

Tan Laizi's mind was set at ease. He turned his head and glanced eastward. The street was deserted, as if only the wind and snow existed there.

Not far from the mud-brick house was a water well. Tan Laizi was a bit thirsty, but he still didn't go to draw water. Drinking well water in this weather was simply too cold.

The sound of hoofbeats came from outside the village. Tan Laizi had his experience in Hezhou; before, the mere sound of hoofbeats would trigger a stress reaction. Just hearing it once would keep him from sleeping soundly the entire night. Recently, being around cavalry every day, this affliction seemed to have cured itself.

These past few days, Government Troop cavalry had been scarce; most of those passing through were from the Anqing Battalion. Tan Laizi swaggered down the middle of the street, planning to go to the village entrance for a look. Had that Team Leader forgotten about the grain handover? There wasn't much grain anyway. Once it was inspected, he might even be able to return to Weijiawan with some of these passing cavalrymen.

That Team Leader usually stayed in an alley by the village entrance. Tan Laizi was almost at the entrance now, and the hoofbeats were already very close.

Tan Laizi walked and looked, then suddenly stopped in his tracks. On the road ahead of him lay a discarded Soldier Tag, and not far away, a Rattan Shield. The ground was a mess of chaotic hoofprints.

The hoofbeats grew closer. Tan Laizi stared at the Soldier Tag, his expression slowly hardening. He listened carefully to the hoofbeats for a moment longer, then suddenly dashed over, snatched up the Soldier Tag, turned, and ran toward the alley where the Team Leader had been.

Just as he vanished into the alley entrance, a cavalry unit appeared on the main road cutting through the village. Tan Laizi had no time to look. He ran a dozen or so steps into the alley, saw a doorframe with no door on the right, and darted inside to hide.

The dense hammering of hooves on the street's flagstones merged into a roar like a rainstorm. Tan Laizi gasped for breath a few times, then cautiously poked his head out the doorway and peered toward the alley entrance.

An unbroken stream of figures flashed past the alley entrance, their faces impossible to make out. Tan Laizi was about to rub his eyes when suddenly a cavalryman passed the alley entrance at a slow pace. The rider's hat had fallen off, revealing a shiny, bluish scalp, and a tiny queue, no thicker than a Copper coin, swung behind him.

Tan Laizi's entire body stiffened as if paralyzed. He abruptly clamped a hand over his own mouth, turned, crouched in the corner, and let out two choked sobs. "Tartars, Tartars, it's the Tartars. Mother, it's the Tartars. Mother, do you know what Tartars are? My silver, my Women's Camp... wuwu... that heaven-cursed Pang... ah, that heaven-cursed Wu the Cripple..."

Even as he cursed, he shoved the Soldier Tag under a collapsed mud brick, then grabbed another mud brick from nearby and pressed it down on top.

Tears were already streaming down Tan Laizi's face. He scrambled over a half-collapsed mud-brick wall. "That dog-fucking Wu the Cripple, you've screwed me over. How did Tan Ye ever offend you? You shameless Wu the Cripple, all you know is putting on airs. What ability do you have? You think you can get me killed? I'll wait till the Tartars pass, then I'll escape..."

Just as he was about to climb onto the wall, he suddenly heard the dense hoofbeats outside gradually fading away.

"The Tartars have stopped."

Footsteps sounded in the alley — more than one person — along with a strange language he had never heard before.

Hearing the voices, Tan Laizi's hands and feet trembled so violently he could barely control them. Terrified, he scrambled onto the half-collapsed wall, and several bricks immediately crumbled and fell.

A furious shout erupted from the alley. Tan Laizi's whole body convulsed, and he collapsed along with the crumbling wall.

On the evening of the seventeenth, a steady stream of cavalry continued to arrive on the Official Road. Inside and outside Balizhuang, human shadows were everywhere.

Not far from the mud-brick house where he had dozed, Tan Laizi was huddled into a ball, standing with a dozen or so commoners. He stood at the far left, next to a woman holding a baby, captured from who knows where.

Before them stood two Qing soldiers. One wore a fur hat; the other, hatless, walked right up to Tan Laizi. In his left hand he carried a short smooth saber, and in his right he held a horse whip.

"Strip!"

Tan Laizi stole a cautious glance at the Qing soldier. The man's cheeks were very gaunt. He spoke Chinese with a northern accent, not too hard to understand, but his eyes were extremely fierce. That bluish scalp looked utterly terrifying.

Tan Laizi quickly lowered his head and took off his outer robe. Instantly, he felt as if he'd fallen into an ice pit, a bone-piercing cold all over his body. The man stretched out a hand, and Tan Laizi had no choice but to hand over the padded jacket.

When he'd set out from Anqing, Tan Laizi had been wearing a different padded jacket. By the time he reached Xuzhou, he'd realized it couldn't withstand the northern cold, so outside Xuzhou city he'd bought this thick padded jacket from a Community Soldier selling grain.

The bald Qing soldier examined it, seeming quite satisfied with the jacket. He glanced back at the man behind him. That Qing soldier nodded. The bald man's face broke into a fawning smile, and after a round of bowing and scraping, he put the jacket on himself, immediately puffing up like a round ball.

The bald man turned back, brandished his saber, and said with a vicious, menacing look, "Strip."

Tan Laizi was already shivering all over. He clasped his hands to his chest and begged, "Mercy, Master, mercy. If I strip any more, I'll freeze to death."

"My Master says, only those who can work are kept. A scrawny one like you gets killed. Freezing to death saves the Master the trouble."

Tan Laizi remembered that pile of corpses stripped of their clothes. In his terror, he dropped to his knees with a thud. "Let me tell the Master, this humble one is the strongest. This humble one can work, can do anything. I beg the Master for mercy."

The man perhaps couldn't quite understand Tan Laizi's Jiangbei accent. Unmoved, he said, "Strip."

Tan Laizi was about to speak again when the Qing soldier suddenly raised the horse whip in his hand and brought it lashing down at his head. Tan Laizi jerked his head aside, and the whip struck him on the neck.

He let out a miserable cry, the pain in his neck like being torn apart. Seeing the Qing soldier about to strike again, he had no choice but to start removing his inner robe. Even as he stripped, he cried out, "Master, mercy! This humble one truly can do anything. This humble one is from Nanzhili, been everywhere. Whatever city the Master wants to attack, this humble one will trick open the gates, go in and set fires, just like Tu Jishan. I beg the Master for mercy!"

As he took off his inner robe, the silver pouch, tinder, and Banknotes tucked in his chest all tumbled out. Tan Laizi didn't dare pick them up. The man before him saw the silver pouch and immediately snatched it up. He didn't even open it, but directly handed it to the Qing soldier behind him.

Once his inner robe was off, his whole body shook uncontrollably. He could barely speak.

The Tartar who had taken the silver pouch suddenly asked, "What's your name? What places have you been to?"

"This humble one is Tan Erlin, from... from Nanzhili. Nanzhili is all fine places. Inside, there's lots... lots of Rations and Pay, and silver. Nearby, this humble one can get into Jinan Prefecture, Linqing Prefecture, Dongchang Prefecture. Farther away, Nanjing, Xuzhou, Fengyang, Lu'an Prefecture, Chao County, Hezhou... Hezhou. Inside, there's lots of coin, grain, and women. This humble one can get into all of them. Wherever the Master wants to strike, this humble one will surely help set fires and open the gates."

That Qing soldier stepped forward and looked Tan Laizi up and down. Tan Laizi clutched his hands in front of him and forced himself to raise his eyes for a glance at the Qing soldier. This Tartar had only a few short whiskers on his upper lip, not a single hair on his chin. The skin of his face was rough. He looked to be in his thirties.

Tan Laizi's body was nearly rigid. Perhaps only this Tartar could save him. He dropped to his knees with a thud. "This humble one is... is useful. Knows someone in this village hid grain. This humble one will lead the Master to find it. It's in a cellar. If we're late, someone else will find it."

"Who hid it?"

Tan Laizi twisted his body. "A bunch of soldiers, dog soldiers. This humble one saw them and was thinking of stealing it."

The Qing soldier tilted his head and looked down at Tan Laizi. "What's your trade? Why do you hate the Ming State's soldiers?"

"This humble one is a broker. Hates these soldiers the most, despises these grunts. Not one of those General Officers is any good. They can't stand to see me do well. I was risking my life working for you all, so what if I got a bit of silver? Jiang Fan, you heaven-cursed one! Pang Gunzi, you heaven-cursed one! You all made me lose my wife. Wu the Cripple, you shameless wretch, you have the nerve to be an official, and you screw me over... wuwu..."

Tan Laizi wailed loudly, tears and snot streaming down his face. The Qing soldier couldn't understand the Jiangbei accent, but such raw emotion and vivid expression could never be faked.

The Qing soldier said to the bald man, "Keep him."

"Yes, Master." The bald man hesitated, then took off the padded jacket and returned it to Tan Laizi.

Tan Laizi hastily took it and put it on. The jacket still held some warmth, and his body immediately felt much better.

The Qing soldier's Cold Expression voice came from above. "What are you carrying these papers for?"

Caught off guard, Tan Laizi only then noticed the Banknotes scattered all over the ground. His mind raced. He absolutely could not reveal the purpose of the Banknotes. He could only hope that neither of these two men could read. Almost instantly, he answered, "In reply to the Master, for starting fires. This paper is convenient for starting fires."

The Banknote and the tinder had fallen in the same spot, and the Qing soldiers, hearing it, were not suspicious. He looked down at Tan Laizi, who was still sobbing. "From now on, call me Master — Master Menggetu."

"This lowly one will remember."

"Say 'Slave.'"

As he spoke, two screams rang out in quick succession from the Nearby Area. Tan Laizi hurriedly kowtowed. "Slave will remember."

At that moment, an infant's cry suddenly burst out nearby. Tan Laizi dared not raise his head, only hearing the woman frantically trying to muffle the sound.

Menggetu's voice came from above again. "Tan Erlin!"

"This lowly... Slave is here!"

"Your Master says, dash this wailing brat to death." (Note)

Note 1: According to records of the time, the Qing army only carried off able-bodied men and women, killing the infants — likely because infants were of no immediate practical use. A memorial by Xu Risheng, a Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue at the time, recorded at Chang Mountain: "The women were taken away, and the infants were all slaughtered; the sound of wailing mingled with the sound of swords, enough to make ghosts and gods weep."