Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 158 Black as White
When he saw their faces clearly, Zhu Shenzui realized that his previous judgment was slightly wrong. This was not one old and one young, but one strong and one young.

Although the older man had a full beard, he didn't look very old, at most he was about 40 years old. And although the middle-aged man had a weathered face and had suffered a lot, if you looked closely you could still see something extraordinary in his appearance.

This extraordinaryness is not about appearance, but an inner temperament, a temperament that is different from ordinary people. Such temperament is absolutely not found in ordinary people. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu also felt a sense of officialdom from him. If it were not for Zhu Shenzhu, others would not easily notice it, but Zhu Shenzhu was very sensitive to this feeling.

After his gaze lingered on the middle-aged man's face for a moment, Zhu Shenzhui looked at the young man again. At first glance, for some reason, the young man's indignant face gave him a familiar feeling, as if he had seen this young man somewhere before.

Zhu Shenzhui showed a puzzled expression, frowning slightly, wondering when he had seen this young man before, and who this young man was? But after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't remember, but this familiar feeling was definitely right.

"Are you father and son?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

The middle-aged man hesitated and replied, "In response to your question, we are father and son." It was impossible to deny it. He didn't know that Zhu Shenzhui understood Chinese just now, because his son resisted and scolded him twice. Although it was only a few words, the conversation between the two sides had given the answer. In this case, there was nothing wrong with admitting it.

"What's your name? What's your son's name?" Zhu Shenzhui continued to ask.

The middle-aged man bowed his head slightly and said, "In reply to your question, my name is Bai Wu, and this is my son Bai Zhong."

"Bai Wu? Bai Zhong?" Zhu Shenzhui had a smile on his face. Although the middle-aged man's answer was flawless, Zhu Shenzhui was sure that the so-called Bai Wu and Bai Zhong were definitely not their real names. The reason was very simple. Both the middle-aged man and the young man spoke fluent Mandarin. If they were ordinary people or ordinary soldiers, it would be impossible for them to speak such Mandarin. In addition, the middle-aged man was not young. There were soldiers of this age in the Ming army, but they were basically the military households in the garrisons.

According to the information we got from Hadanbaatar, the father and son were undoubtedly soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, and the only Ming soldiers who could enter the grassland were the border troops of the nine frontiers.

Combining these information together, Zhu Shenzui could conclude that the father and son must be from the frontier army, and they could speak fluent Mandarin, were quite organized in their speech, and had clear thinking. Combining these, he could make a rough judgment. He was sure that this middle-aged man was definitely not an ordinary Ming army soldier, but an officer of the Ming army, and his status was probably not low at least.

In addition, the names he mentioned, such as Bai Wu and Bai Zhong, sounded fine. But don't forget that this was the first time Zhu Shenzhui met this middle-aged man, but he always felt that he had seen the young man before, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen him for a while.

If these were their real names, and Zhu Shenzhui already had some impression of this young man in his mind, it would be impossible for him to not remember them after hearing the names.

"Are you the border troops of the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Shenzhui continued to ask.

"In reply to your Excellency's words, I am a member of the Xuanfu Frontier Army."

"Since they were border troops, why didn't they stay in Xuanfu and run to the grassland? I heard that they were stranded on the grassland for quite a while and fought with other tribes?"

"I am ashamed to say that my superior led the army to support Liaodong, but Shenyang fell before we even reached the battlefield. My unit was ordered to retreat to Guangning, but we were attacked by Jiannu cavalry on the way and our unit was completely dispersed."

"I managed to escape with my son and several of my brothers in the army. However, since our retreat was cut off, we could not return from Shanhaiguan and had to take a detour through Mongolia. The Jiannu pursued us closely along the way. When we arrived in Mongolia, there were only five of us left, including me, my son and three of my brothers."

"I didn't know the way in Mongolia, so I could only follow the directions. I didn't bring any food, so I ran out of food after just a few days. To survive, we hunted and fished on the grasslands, and we didn't know how much time we had spent, how far we had walked, or where we were."

At this point, the middle-aged man sighed and said, "The road is getting harder and harder to walk on, and there is no food. If we continue, we will probably all die on the grassland. That day, we happened to encounter a group of Mongolians camping, and we decided to sneak into the camp at night to find some food and, if possible, ask for directions..."

"Haha, looking for someone to ask for directions? Are you planning to catch someone to ask for directions?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile.

The middle-aged man was slightly stunned, then smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency's guess is correct. This is exactly what I planned. But who would have thought that I had no strength left in my hands after being hungry for so long, and when I tried to catch someone, he broke free. Later, the Mongols in the camp caught up with me and chased after us. We panicked... Well, in the end, only my son and I were left."

It sounds like what the middle-aged man said is not wrong. Judging from the time, the Liaodong War to now is consistent with their exile to the grassland and then being captured. Moreover, the situation described by the middle-aged man is similar to what he knows. After the Liaodong War started this time, the Ming Dynasty did mobilize some troops from the nine borders to support Liaodong, including the border troops of Xuanfu.

But it was too easy for Zhu Shenzhu to believe him. Let's not talk about how much truth there was in the middle-aged man's words. The real identities of these two people were unknown. Until now, the other party had not told the truth.

In response, Zhu Shenzui directly asked the middle-aged man about his identity in the army. The middle-aged man seemed to have noticed this and immediately replied that he was a general officer in Xuanfu, his son was an ordinary soldier under him, and the other three people who were beheaded with him were also his subordinates.

Zhu Shenzhui continued to ask, as the captain of the Xuanfu troop, who was the superior of the troop? How did he follow the large group to march? What was the route of the troop's march?

The middle-aged man answered in detail, and his words were still watertight. But it was precisely because of this that Zhu Shenzhui was sure that he was not telling the truth, because how could a small general know so much? The more detailed and conclusive his words were, the more problematic his identity was. In such a war, how could ordinary low-ranking officers know many military orders and troop marching routes, including the command and retreat after the war started? At least only middle and senior officers could know.

The battalion commander was only a low-ranking officer, and in later times he would be just a company commander. How could a mere company commander be able to explain the ins and outs of the Liaodong Campaign so clearly? How is this possible?
When Zhu Shenzhui asked this question directly, the middle-aged man's calm face finally showed a trace of panic. He didn't expect that he would make a mistake in this detail, and he didn't expect that Zhu Shenzhui would catch him through this detail. "This... This is actually what I heard..." The middle-aged man explained nervously.

"Heard? Who told you that?"

"Of course it's Shangguan."

"Shangguan? That Shangguan? The Shangguan who knows such information is not an ordinary Shangguan, and he actually told you, a mere captain?"

Sweat beads oozed from the middle-aged man's forehead. He still defended himself, "My lord, I am a captain directly under the command of Shangguan, so I know more than others."

"Haha, this sounds reasonable, but your superior thinks highly of you, too, right?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a forced smile.

"My Lord, I am telling the truth. Perhaps it is because I once served as a soldier under the command of the Xuanfu Vanguard Commander."

"Xuanfu Vanguard Commander?"

"Yes, my lord."

"I remember that the commander of the Xuanfu vanguard was General Hei Yunlong, right? Is he the garrison commander of Zhangjiakou now?" Zhu Shenzhui asked slowly, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

The middle-aged man lowered his head subconsciously and replied: "Your Excellency is really amazing. You even know such a small matter..."

"Hahaha, I know a lot." Zhu Shenzhui suddenly burst into laughter, and his laughter echoed in the yurt. For a moment, no one understood why he laughed so happily. It was a pity that no one around him was tactful enough to ask, "My lord, why are you laughing?"

The three Mongolians stared at each other. They couldn't even understand Chinese, and they didn't understand a single word of the conversation between Zhu Shenzhui and the middle-aged man. As for Tana, she just stared at her man with curious eyes, but didn't ask what was going on.

As Zhu Shenzhui laughed, the middle-aged man lowered his head even more. Even the young man said nothing. He knelt beside his father, his body trembling slightly, and his fists clenched tightly on his thighs, as if he felt that if something went wrong, he had to fight even if he died.

Zhu Shenzhui laughed for a long time, until tears came out of his eyes. When the laughter gradually died down, the yurt was completely silent.

"You go out first!" Zhu Shenzhui ordered the three Mongols.

The three Mongolians were stunned for a moment and looked at Tana. Tana nodded and they left the yurt.

After the Mongols left, Zhu Shenzhui picked up the musket from the side, held it in his hand, fiddled with it, and asked the middle-aged and young people: "What is this? You should know it, right?"

"Firegun!" When the middle-aged and young people saw the firegun in Zhu Shenzhui's hand, their pupils shrank. How could they not recognize this thing? They knew the power of the firegun very well, and the firegun in Zhu Shenzhui's hand was well-made, definitely not a crudely made thing in the Ming army.

"This is a good thing. Here are three muskets. I don't need three. Only two are enough." Zhu Shenzhui held the musket and gestured with a smile, "Here is the trigger. The match is already lit. Just pull the trigger. Two clicks will kill you and your son. It will be easy to kill both of you. Even if you have the ability of the King of Western Chu, you will be helpless against the musket."

"You...!" The middle-aged man's face suddenly changed. He instantly changed from being trembling with fear to being faced with a great enemy, just like a frightened tiger, with his hair standing up and his bright eyes staring at the musket in Zhu Shenzui's hand.

"Sir, are you joking?" After a moment, the middle-aged man's momentum eased again, because he knew that what Zhu Shenzhui said was absolutely right. No matter how powerful he was, he could not withstand the shooting of the musket. As long as Zhu Shenzhui pulled the trigger, he and his son would be completely dead.

"Haha, yes, I was joking." Zhu Shenzhui laughed loudly, and then stopped laughing after a few times. He said to the middle-aged man meaningfully, "If we kill two slaves with just two shots, it won't be a big deal. Slaves are dead, so they die."

"But, if the people killed were not slaves or a mere captain or border troops, but General Hei Yunlong, the garrison commander of Zhangjiakou, and his fifth son, wouldn't that be a pity?"

When Zhu Shenzhui said this slowly, the middle-aged man and the young man were shocked at the same time, and their faces instantly showed expressions of astonishment and disbelief. They never thought that a young Mongolian nobleman on the grassland would recognize their true identity and reveal it in one word.

Zhu Shenzhui was right. This middle-aged man was the former assistant commander of the Xuanfu vanguard and current garrison commander of Zhangjiakou, Hei Yunlong. The young man next to him was Hei Yunlong’s fifth son, Hei Mingzhong.

(End of this chapter)