Chapter 540: Dust

"Bang!"

The wicker gate of the small courtyard slammed violently against the earthen wall, shaking dead branches all over the ground.

Zhang Zhongqi's figure hurriedly appeared at the main house doorway just as the Niru Janggin led several White Armor Soldiers in through the main gate.

"Master, peace be with you!"

Zhang Zhongqi knelt to salute. Kneeling salutes had not been customary among the true Jurchen before; they used to greet each other with an embrace, but Zhang Zhongqi did not consider himself qualified, so when meeting his masters he always knelt like a Bondservant.

The Niru Janggin was still that Laidaku from the Bordered Yellow Banner. Without even glancing at Zhang Zhongqi, he waved a hand behind him. Cheerge, who oversaw these several dozen households, led two White Armor Soldiers straight into the house. One of them was Taketan, who paused briefly when passing Zhang Zhongqi. The group flipped open the grain chest in the house; seeing it was empty, they barged further into the inner room.

Zhang Zhongqi's family grain was hidden under the bed. Normally he feared thieves. This year the grain shortage in Liaodong was even worse than last year; no one knew how many Bondservants in the village had starved to death. Theft and murder happened from time to time, so when sleeping Zhang Zhongqi kept the grain on the bed, holding it, with a knife in his hand. He had managed to get through half a year without being robbed, but never expected to face open plunder.

Zhang Zhongqi shuffled on his knees to Laidaku's side and kowtowed. "Master, Master, what is this? Your slave has only this little bit of food. If Master takes it, your slave has no way to live."

Laidaku stood coldly, as if disdaining to speak a single word to Zhang Zhongqi.

From inside the house came the mute's "ah ah" cries, followed by Cheerge's angry shout. Zhang Zhongqi hurriedly rose and ran into the room, only to see Cheerge already hauling out the grain sack. The mute was dragging desperately at the sack; the other White Armor Soldier was already preparing to draw his blade.

"Mute, let go! Let go!" Zhang Zhongqi used his body to block the direction of that White Armor Soldier while pulling at the mute's hands. The mute's hands gripped extremely tightly. She raised her head to look at Zhang Zhongqi, a few teardrops hanging on her cheeks.

"Let... let go." Zhang Zhongqi said softly. The mute shook her head firmly, her eyes mingled with despair and pleading. After last year's autumn grain came in, they had barely anything left after paying the banner grain. This year grain prices soared; by the seventh month a picul already exceeded twenty taels, and what they bought was short on weight. The silver Zhang Zhongqi had secretly stashed during past plundering raids was basically used up. Now, burdened by the Dengzhou garrison, they also had no chance to go out and raid the Great Ming, so they had to scrimp and save every day, hoping to hold out until the ninth month to harvest the spring wheat.

"Let go, or they'll kill us. What will happen to the child then?"

The mute turned her head to look back. A gaunt, barefoot child stood at the doorway of the side room, clutching the doorframe and showing half his face as he watched the scene in the main room, his large eyes full of panic. The mute's hands loosened slightly.

Behind them came the "clang" of a blade — the sound of a Shun saber leaving its scabbard. In desperation, Zhang Zhongqi leaned close to the mute's ear and whispered, "I still have hidden silver. We can still buy more."

The mute turned her eyes to Zhang Zhongqi. Seizing this moment of distraction, Zhang Zhongqi forcefully pried open the mute's hands. The grain sack was immediately dragged away by Cheerge. The mute let out a hoarse, desperate howl. Zhang Zhongqi held her back with all his strength, watching as the men carried the grain into the courtyard and placed it before Laidaku.

Laidaku stretched out a foot and lightly kicked the grain sack. "Too little. Fifty jin per person. If he can't make up the amount, take his head."

Cheerge turned his head and said to Zhang Zhongqi, "Your household has three people. Hand over one hundred and fifty jin. One jin short, kill one person."

Zhang Zhongqi released the mute and kowtowed repeatedly inside the house, his forehead thudding loudly against the ground. "Your slave has only this much grain. Master, show mercy. When the autumn grain is harvested, your slave will repay double."

"Autumn grain is autumn grain. This time it's an extra levy by the Great Khan. Everyone must pay. Those who don't pay in full get beheaded."

"Only your slave alone is an able-bodied male..."

"Anyone who eats grain is an able-bodied mouth. This grain can only be given to Banner soldiers, to use against that Dengzhou garrison." Cheerge finished speaking and drew his waist saber, slowly walking toward the main house. Taketan seemed to want to speak but hesitated. He stole a glance at Laidaku, then turned and urgently signaled Zhang Zhongqi with his eyes, indicating he should not defy Laidaku.

"Zhang Zhongqi, your household is thirty jin short. Which one do you choose to keep?"

"Your slave... your slave..." Zhang Zhongqi's eyes bulged wide as he watched Cheerge's footsteps slowly approach. His breathing grew heavier and heavier. Behind him, the mute crawled over and grasped his hand, wailing on the ground.

Zhang Zhongqi suddenly shouted, "Your slave still has silver! Your slave will pay silver. I beg Master to spare our lives!"

Cheerge stopped walking and grinned savagely. "Should've known you were holding out. Hand it over."

A small pouch was dug out from under the firewood pile. Cheerge shook off the dirt and dumped the contents onto the ground: three pieces of jewelry and roughly a dozen taels of silver. All of it had been stolen by Zhang Zhongqi during various campaigns. The three pieces of jewelry were stolen from true Jurchen armored soldiers of his own Niru, and their designs were relatively unusual and easy to identify. After returning to Liaodong, he had not dared to sell them, afraid those armored soldiers would recognize them.

This Niru had not been very fortunate, suffering heavy blows in many battles and sustaining severe damage during Haoge's seizure of control over the Plain Blue Banner. Many old armored soldiers were already gone, but Zhang Zhongqi still dared not bring them out. He had kept them hidden under the most secret firewood pile, unknown even to the mute, meant to save their lives in the hardest of times.

Zhang Zhongqi knelt on the ground, watching in despair as his last bit of wealth fell into his master's hands. Robbed of his grain and this wealth, it would be very hard for his family of three to survive until the autumn harvest in the ninth month. Moreover, the period around the harvest required a great deal of strenuous labor; without food, how could they possibly manage it?

Beside him, Taketan gave Zhang Zhongqi a reassuring nod. A thread of hope rekindled in Zhang Zhongqi's heart. Perhaps Taketan would help him. This old master was now an old warrior, one of the few former White Armor Soldiers left in the village. Laidaku now also held Taketan in considerable esteem. Perhaps he could rely on this old master to scrape through these next two months.

"I'll leave you your dog's life for now." The cold voice came from Laidaku's mouth. He looked expressionlessly at Zhang Zhongqi on the ground. "You're a raised-banner Nikan. Don't think you can become a master. Next time you dare hide property, I'll take your head directly."

"Your slave understands." Zhang Zhongqi hurriedly lowered his head. He had heard the armored soldiers in the village talk about the grain killings during the Tianming era. This Laidaku might have taken over a hundred lives with his own hands. Every time Zhang Zhongqi saw this man, his hands and feet went weak, terrified of somehow angering this master.

Laidaku waved a hand, and the group left the Zhang family courtyard. Zhang Zhongqi raised his head slightly and saw through the courtyard gate several ox carts stopped on the road outside, piled high with grain sacks large and small. His own sack of grain had also been tossed onto an ox cart. Laidaku led the White Armor Soldiers to a true Jurchen household diagonally across the way. That family was indeed true Jurchen, but the head of the household, an armored soldier, had been crippled in the Battle of Lushun. Their days were now hard; Zhang Zhongqi felt they were worse off than himself. He watched as Laidaku still kicked the door open and walked in. Soon, the sound of wailing rose from within as well.

Zhang Zhongqi's heart was still pounding violently. Only now did he hurriedly rise and return to the house. Inside, the mute was holding their young son and sobbing loudly. Zhang Zhongqi wanted to speak but stopped, slumping dejectedly to the ground.

He did not know how much time passed before Taketan's voice sounded in the courtyard. Zhang Zhongqi's whole body shuddered, and he scrambled up frantically. Taketan's figure had already reached the main house doorway.

"Mas... Master..." Zhang Zhongqi's voice trembled. He had only two or three taels of broken silver left. His whole family's hope of survival rested on Taketan.

Taketan craned his neck to glance inside, then said to Zhang Zhongqi, "Don't argue with Master Laidaku. That Nikan family named Yang at the east end of the village said a few extra words, and Master Laidaku beheaded the whole family. The grain was still taken away. Come to my house later. I'll give you some grain, enough to last you a while."

Zhang Zhongqi let out a breath of relief. Involuntarily, he clutched Taketan's sleeve. "Your slave's entire family thanks the Young Master for this life-saving grace."

"But it won't be too much. The times are bad. My family's grain isn't much either, and I'm still supporting two Bondservants. You... it'll be enough for you alone."

Zhang Zhongqi stared blankly. "How much grain can Master give your slave?"

"I can't spare much more. Anyway, a dozen or so jin I can manage."

Zhang Zhongqi calculated in his mind. He still had a few taels of broken silver. If he bought some coarse grain, perhaps a dozen jin could see them through.

Taketan looked at Zhang Zhongqi strangely. "Don't you know we're about to go on campaign?"

"Ah? Where to? Is it to Xuanfu or Jizhen? That would be good, we could loot quite a few things..."

"You still have to go to the Ujen Cooha side. We're all going to Haizhou and Fuzhou, preparing to fight that Dengzhou garrison. The master says if we win this battle, we can still go raid the west afterward, and raid Korea too. So this grain, I'm giving it to you to keep for the road. If you go on campaign without bringing your own marching rations, Laidaku might just kill you outright."

Zhang Zhongqi stared blankly at Taketan. He did not want to fight that Dengzhou garrison. Every time before they went to fight the Dengzhou soldiers, the masters in the Niru said things would get better after the fight, but the result was that it only got harder and harder.

He murmured, "But what will my wife and child eat..."

Taketan cut him off dismissively. "Just a female Bondservant. If we win, there'll be plenty more to seize later. But if you starve to death, you'll have nothing. Let's go."

Taketan turned and headed out. Zhang Zhongqi turned his head and saw the mute still sitting on the ground in a daze. He instructed her, "Just stay in the house. I'm going to the Young Master's house to get grain. When I go on campaign, I'll leave it all for you."

The mute's eyes shifted, staring blankly at Zhang Zhongqi. An indescribable emotion filled her gaze. Zhang Zhongqi had no time to decipher it and hurried after Taketan.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Zhongqi returned to the courtyard carrying a sack of grain. He quickly closed the tattered wicker gate and carefully carried that life-saving sack of grain to the main house door, calling out, "Mute, we have grain again..."

He pushed open the ajar door. His young son was crawling on the floor, but the mute was nowhere to be seen. He raised his gaze slightly, and a pair of suspended feet appeared before his eyes. Zhang Zhongqi lifted his head numbly. The smile on his face froze. From the quiet little courtyard rose a hoarse, heart-wrenching wail. The grain sack thudded to the ground before the doorway, kicking up a thin cloud of dust.

〖∷Update Fast∷∷Plain Text∷〗