Chapter 157: A Thousand Catty

A roadside inn at the foot of Sangbi Mountain.

Hong Bi, Chief of Ning Mountain Guard from Zezhou, crouched on the ground, holding his saber high above his head, his face wearing an expression like he'd just swallowed a fly.

The forty banner troops behind him looked much the same — all crouched on the ground, each one more wretched-looking than the last.

Two Red Barbarian cannons sat on carts, the barrels and carriages transported on separate vehicles; with only the cannons and a single cannonball, no gunpowder, they filled four carts in total, pulled by eight horses.

This should have been a very easy transport assignment.

From Zezhou to Xizhou, the roads weren't hard to travel, they'd brought plenty of grain, and it was all within the province.

There was also the silver the Hundred-Household Commander had granted for this transport — every man got four fen of silver.

Along the way, Chief Hong had figured: if the Hundred-Household Commander was willing to part with twenty taels for them, the Commandant must have allocated at least fifty taels.

But that wasn't bad either — their Hundred-Household Commander was a good man. Isn't that just how people are? The big boss eats the meat, and the little guys behind him just need a sip of the broth.

Besides, this wasn't a military shipment — just transporting some things for an idle official in Xi County — so there was no need to keep a tight schedule.

The biggest danger came from the border troops fleeing back from the capital relief campaign; they'd kept their spirits up a bit on the road, but after waiting the whole way, the deserters never came.

So Chief Hong traveled quite comfortably — just marching every day, sleeping when it was time to sleep, eating when it was time to eat, and whenever there was countryside wrestling or a temple fair, he'd take his brothers to have a look.

Where there was a roadside teahouse, he'd let his brothers rest and drink a bowl of frothy tea to quench their thirst.

After all, these cannon carts — you couldn't just rely on the mules and horses; men had to push the wheels alongside too, and it was exhausting.

Just moments ago, he'd decided to rest at Sangbi Mountain; they weren't far from their destination. He let his brothers have some tea and sent two riders ahead to notify that old master, so the official troops passing through wouldn't frighten the common folk.

He knew all too well — when common folk saw government soldiers, they were even more scared than when they saw bandits.

After drinking tea and resting their feet, once Master Huo sent someone to meet them, with a local guiding the way, they wouldn't end up troubling the people.

He'd just cut one qian of silver for the tea-stall owner and was feeling like he'd been cheated, wanting the tea master to give him back ten wen in Tongbao coins, when he saw his trusted banner soldier rushing over, whispering, "Brother! Border troops are coming."

He turned his head to look — oh, damn.

The scout riders stood by the roadside, small flags stuck in their backs.

The official road was quite wide, but in the distance came a column riding three abreast with no end in sight — every man on a tall, powerful horse, every man in crimson cotton armor, iron arm-guards strapped to their forearms, the helmet plumes atop their bowl helmets practically stabbing into the sky.

Damn — seeing that equipment made Chief Hong's eyes burn with envy.

He even went to ask one of the scout riders whose command these brothers served under, but who'd have thought that young scout rider would just glance at him through his nostrils, then turn his head and stare straight ahead.

Chief Hong thought to himself: Elite troops.

He hurriedly called his brothers to get up, clear a space beside the official road, and kneel in salute.

He'd gotten used to this along the way — you never knew when you'd run into some official's carriage on the road; just salute at the roadside and be done with it. Anyway, no one had any interest in bothering with him; at most they'd send someone to check his documents.

If someone actually did bother with him, it was never good news. For this job, the Hundred-Household Commander had given him twenty taels total; after distributing to the banner troops, he'd kept four taels for himself.

Along the way, arranging extra meals and tea for his brothers had cost less than one tael; the return trip would probably cost another tael. In the end he'd have two taels left, and he'd already planned out exactly how to spend them.

One tael in Linfen to buy rouge and brocade cloth for his wife — he'd promised her that before leaving home.

The last remaining tael — he could go to Panyunsheng in Zezhou and buy those deerskin boots he'd been yearning for. He'd been eyeing them for two years and could never scrape together the money.

But then on the road he'd run into a eunuch and been extorted out of one tael by the man's attendants.

Just like that — the joy of buying the boots, gone in a snap.

And there was nothing he could do about the extortion. Although the Emperor had abolished the local garrison eunuchs, ever since the Jisi Incident last year, there'd been a trend of putting eunuchs back into important posts.

Hong Bi didn't understand any of these damn things — it was all stuff he'd overheard when the Chiliarch and Hundred-Household Commanders were drinking. Truth was, no matter how the Emperor treated eunuchs, he himself had absolutely no way to deal with them.

He could only be grateful that the eunuch lord, in the midst of his busy schedule, had still taken the time to come out and harm him.

That had been the only one who'd spoken to him.

And he didn't want this general to speak to him either — what if he decided to take the cannons? He wouldn't be able to hold onto them.

So he knelt properly at the roadside, lowered his head, and watched the endless string of horse hooves pass before his eyes.

As long as I keep my head down, they won't see me.

Hong Bi hadn't even considered running into bandits — he'd just passed through Xizhou city, and outside the walls it was completely peaceful.

Right now they weren't far from Yonghe County town, and they were on the official road — how could they run into bandits?

And besides, bandits couldn't possibly look like this — they ought to be bare-assed and carrying a firewood cleaver.

One cavalry unit passed, another cavalry unit passed, another cavalry unit... the cavalry unit stopped?

A pair of straight-seamed oxhide boots drew closer and closer before his eyes. Chief Hong cautiously raised his head and saw a young man dressed like a military officer.

The young officer smiled at him and asked, "Did you pay for your tea?"

"Paid, yes, paid, paid one qian of silver — the tea master owes this humble officer ten wen in Tongbao." Hong Bi didn't dare rise, only asking, "This humble officer is Hong Bi, Chief of Ning Mountain Guard. May I ask which general I'm addressing?"

"My surname is Liu. So you're the one transporting two cannons from Zezhou to Huo Family Fort. Let me see your documents."

Liu Chengzong was practically bursting with laughter inside. He stretched out a hand, and Chief Hong hurriedly produced the documents.

He glanced at them — the documents didn't say much of anything — so he simply folded them and tucked them into his chest. "Alright, cannons received. You can go back now."

"No — General, that won't do. This humble officer is under orders to deliver the cannons to Huo Family Village, and I must deliver them to Huo Family Village."

And then Chief Hong's soldiers were disarmed.

The whole bunch crouched beside the teahouse on the official road, holding their weapons high above their heads, as the Lion Camp soldiers collected them one by one.

Then quite a few people came down from the mountain — they looked very much like guard-battalion troops, all wearing helmets with the "Bravery" character, some in earth-colored padded jackets, others with studded armor thrown over the outside.

Some drove the carts, some escorted the prisoners, heading straight for Huo Family Fort.

From start to finish, the tea master stood to the side, not daring to make a sound.

Those government soldiers had no intention of bothering with him either.

The Lion Camp's division of labor was very clear — the combat sentries were responsible for not disturbing a single hair on the people's heads, which in simple terms meant ignoring the common folk entirely.

Dealing with common folk was the supply sentries' job; it had nothing to do with the rest. The officers kept them all in line — as long as they didn't cause trouble for the people, that was enough.

So until those "government troops" took the men away and hauled off the cannons, the tea master had no idea what had actually happened at his own teahouse.

Belatedly, the teahouse assistant asked the boss, "Shopkeeper, what just happened back there?"

The innkeeper said, "Probably that Chief Banner made some mistake? It's none of our business — just keep quiet and it'll be fine."

In human relationships, timing is everything.

When Liu Chengzong had just dealt with those Fenzhou Guard banner troops and then met Chief Banner Hong, a banner officer who actually paid for his tea, he suddenly felt his hope for the world return.

He really had intended to let Chief Banner Hong go, but Chief Banner Hong refused to leave and insisted on personally delivering the cannons to Huo Family Fort. Liu Chengzong had no other choice — he had to take both the cannons and the men along.

"Chief Banner Hong, did you know that bandits from Shaanxi have entered Shanxi?"

Chief Banner Hong watched his subordinates be disarmed while he himself was meekly taken away under escort. He was deeply resentful inside but dared not show it, so he simply nodded and said, "Is the General part of the troops sent from Shaanxi to suppress the bandits? My fort's Centenarian gave orders that I must personally deliver these cannons to Huo Family Fort. I hope the General will grant me this convenience."

He had caught on — Liu Chengzong's accent didn't quite sound like Shanxi. Although the two regions' accents were fairly similar, he could still make out a slight difference.

Who would have guessed that Liu Chengzong ignored him entirely, and only when the column turned off the official road onto a mountain path did he say to him, "I'm not troops from Shaanxi come to suppress bandits. I'm the bandit from Shaanxi."

Did this general enjoy joking around that much?

And it wasn't even funny.

But Chief Banner Hong still obligingly laughed a few times. "The General is truly skilled at jesting."

"I'm serious. Those transporting the cannons are famine refugees from Shaanxi. The earth-colored padded jackets they're wearing, they made themselves."

Liu Chengzong actually found it quite strange — why did this Chief Banner not suspect him of being a bandit in the slightest? It was rather endearing.

Even now, Chief Banner Hong still didn't believe it, and went on to analyze the matter on his own from aspects like strict discipline, not harming civilians, and armor and equipment, finally concluding, "These are clearly frontier troops, and those others are Guard Battalion soldiers."

"We were all formerly soldiers of the Three Frontiers of Shaanxi — some deserters, some who surrendered. See those helmets? Spoils from defeating the Fenzhou Guard banner troops a few days ago. Those bastards were truly vile — on their way here they slaughtered two villages."

Chief Banner Hong's state of mind underwent a change.

His neck felt a bit stiff. He turned his head to search for his own banner troops among the formation and found that his banner troops were all being treated the same as him.

That is, each man had at least two armored frontier soldiers with hand on saber beside him, keeping them company in conversation.

"Gen-General, are you telling the truth?"

"The truth. My name is Liu Chengzong." Liu Chengzong looked at him and asked, "Have you heard this name before?"

Hong Bi shook his head.

"No matter. You'll know it later. Your luck is poor — I gave you the chance to leave and you wouldn't take it. Now you can't leave anymore."

Hong Bi swallowed. Watching the mountain path grow narrower and narrower and the scenery on both sides of the road become more and more desolate, he couldn't help but say, "G-Gen-General, don't kill us. I'm just a minor Chief Banner, and my brothers have no money or grain on them either. Look at my boots — the toes are nearly showing!"

Chief Banner Hong's cloth-faced black boots were indeed nearly showing his toes.

It wasn't that he was truly this poor — he actually had an old pair of leather boots at home. It was just that this journey was a long one, and he couldn't bear to wear out his good shoes.

Who would have thought it would come in handy right now.

Liu Chengzong didn't care about his shoes, nor did he intend to kill them. He waved his hand and said, "Behave yourselves, and I won't harm you. I'll let you go in a few days. For transporting these two cannons, how much reward money did your superior give you?"

"Reward money — the reward money was given, twenty taels."

Chief Banner Hong's heart pounded violently. He considered whether it would be appropriate to say a smaller amount but didn't quite dare. Hastily feeling inside his clothes as he spoke, he said, "Sixteen taels were divided among the banner troops. On the road, a eunuch lord's attendant demanded one tael. One tael was spent. I have here..."

He held out two taels of silver along with a handful of copper coins in his palm. "This is all I have left. I hope the General will kindly accept it."

Pfft.

Liu Chengzong couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud. "What sort of person do you take me for? Haha, put away that bit of money of yours. Just all of you behave yourselves. When you head back, I'll give each of you two taels. And don't go babbling when you return — just say the cannons were delivered, understand?"

Whether they babbled or not didn't really matter. Liu Chengzong was keeping these men only to leave a buffer of time for transporting supplies to Shaanxi.

They were about to advance on Fenzhou Prefecture. Before that, he couldn't allow these men to go to Pingyang Prefecture and report them.

Once they crossed the Lüliang Mountains, these banner troops could go report them wherever they pleased — by then it wouldn't matter.

Telling them not to babble when they returned to Zezhou was actually just Liu Chengzong looking out for them.

As for the two taels of silver — on one hand, he felt a bit sorry for these banner troops; on the other, it was to steady their minds. Spending a few days together in peace was good for everyone.

Hong Bi's eyes darted around rapidly. Hearing the implication in Liu Chengzong's words, it seemed he really didn't intend to kill them, so he asked, "Then, then what about Old Master Huo?"

"Old Master Huo?" Liu Chengzong turned his head and glanced at him. "He won't be able to report you."

When Chief Banner Hong's group actually delivered the cannons to Huo Family Fort, they were settled on a small hilltop not far away. Aside from having no weapons, they weren't mistreated in any other respect.

And they were indeed quite well-behaved.

If one had to put Chief Banner Hong's inner feelings into words — mm... the donkey-meat flatbreads were really delicious.

Cao Yao had long been waiting at Huo Family Fort, nearly wearing his eyes out from gazing into the distance.

The moment the two red-barbarian cannons were transported onto the mountain path, the man came running over, looking as if he wanted to throw himself onto the cannons.

Liu Chengzong laughed. "Why don't you just hug it to sleep tonight."

"Fine by me!"

Cao Yao, as if this were only natural, directly gestured to his subordinates. "Tonight, bring it into my tent — this bronze one."

It was also at this moment that Liu Chengzong finally took a serious look at the two cannons.

The two cannons were nearly identical in caliber, but the iron one was thicker and heavier. Both had inscriptions on their barrels beginning with "Shanxi Yiguo Ironworks."

In truth, the inscriptions were quite long. First came the donation and casting date and the person's name, then the supervising official's title and name, and the caster's name.

Following that, it detailed the cannon's weight, the weight of gunpowder for firing, the types of projectiles to fire, the firing range, and maintenance methods.

If left unused for over a year, it needed to be slow-heated once with rice husks.

Over four hundred characters were cast across the cannon barrel in a sprawling inscription — practically a short essay.

This was Liu Chengzong's first time seeing a red-barbarian cannon. The form was indeed more elegant than the earlier general cannons, and the narrow-muzzle, wide-breech proportions must have been the modular standard Shi Chengwo had learned from Wang Zheng.

The ammunition was quite interesting. Total weight was four jin eight taels, of which the main ball was two jin, and the remaining two jin eight taels was a cloth bag of broken iron pellets.

When firing, one first poured in the gunpowder, then used rice straw tamped down firmly as a projectile seat, then inserted the cloth bag of broken iron, and then loaded the main ball.

Cao Yao said this wasn't the only loading method. "This is suitable for field battles. For defending or attacking cities, it's better to fire a large iron ball. And this iron cannon — too heavy, not very usable."

Actually, the iron cannon wasn't bad either. It was just that for them, it greatly affected mobility. Normally they could travel seventy or eighty li a day; with this heavy cannon, they might only cover sixty li.

A distance of twenty li might be enough to cost them their lives.

"Have Chengzu send it back to Yan'an Guard. Actually, I think the best cannon is still the five-hundred-jin bronze cannon — easy to move around, and can also be deployed in the battle formation for field combat."

Liu Chengzong pointed at that iron cannon and finished speaking, then looked at the bronze cannon. "I think the cannon carriage won't do — it needs to be changed to a two-wheeled one, so it can move easily on mountain paths."

Deer-Seizing Marquis reminds you: after reading, please bookmark (),