Distant Mountain Battle Song

I'm very familiar with the context of Chapter 33.

Because he was so bored, Yun Ce gave E Ji a rope and told her to lie on the raft and fish for snakes.

Without a hook, once the snake touches the rope, it will climb up on its own, especially snakes with several sets of abdominal legs, which climb the rope very quickly.

Once the snake has climbed to the end of the rope, slowly lower the rope. If the snake climbs quickly, lower the rope faster; if the snake climbs slowly, lower the rope slower. In short, make sure the snake's tail is submerged in water...

Eji loved this game and had a lot of fun. Several times, she was tricked by the snake. Even though it was crawling very slowly, it would suddenly arch its body and jump up. At this time, Eji would hit the snake with her stick and send it flying.

It wasn't until the naked general bit Eji's rope that she cried out in fright for Yun Ce.

Yun Ce fished the useless general out of the water by pulling on the rope, and placed him on the raft to drain the water, while also checking his injuries.

After seeing it, Yun Ce felt there was no point in trying to salvage it, so he said with pity in his newly learned, impoverished language, "You should die."

"I know I will die, but I have no face to meet my ancestors in the afterlife."

"That's really embarrassing."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Yun Ce's sarcastic words, the man's eyes welled up with tears of blood, and he choked out, "One hundred iron cavalry, one hundred leaping soldiers, one hundred spearmen, two hundred spearmen, eighty archers... Ah—98%!"

Upon hearing this, Yun Ce smiled and wrote on the wooden tablet: "I have heard that the Han Dynasty's armored soldiers are unparalleled in the world. Huo Wang's eight hundred iron cavalry can roam the northern grasslands and kill countless enemies. You, a military commander, cannot even defeat a thousand refugees with a single Manchu armored soldier. It would be better if you died."

After reading the wooden slip, the general angrily exclaimed, "Why was such a disgrace of our family written on this wooden slip? 99%!"

Yun Ce continued writing: "I fear that if I were to speak out, the spirits and monsters of the mountains and fields would hear it, thus underestimating the military strategists of my great Han Dynasty and desecrating the ancient kings of my great Han Dynasty."

The general closed his eyes helplessly, seemingly ashamed, and said softly, "There are only 1,200 refugees. Our army needs to win a fair and square battle, and we also need to ensure that everyone who participates in the battle will receive a noble title after the battle. How do you decide?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Ce kicked the man he had just pulled up off the raft. Since the man was beyond saving and there was no point in trying, it was better for him to die sooner rather than later.

The general fell off the raft and plunged into the water with a splash. When he floated back up, he was swimming headfirst in a frog-like position, seemingly having given up all hope of survival.

Yun Ce and E Ji watched the general commit suicide while lying on the raft. As bubbles rose from his mouth and nose, his body slowly sank to the bottom.

The general indeed committed suicide in a fierce manner. You see, when a dead person is thrown into water, because there is still some air in their lungs, they will float to the surface soon. But if a living person is thrown into water, the water will fill their lungs, and the body will sink. Unless it decomposes to the point of being gigantic, there is no possibility of it floating to the surface again.

After hearing the last sentence from the military commander, Yun Ce already understood the whole story, simply because he was very familiar with this method of doing things.

To put it simply, the imperial court discovered that there were 1,200 rebels who needed to be wiped out by troops. When the imperial edict arrived in the area, the army was overjoyed because everyone knew that these rebels were weak and that many of them were elderly, weak, women and children. They could be easily captured by troops, and military merit would be readily available.

The problem lies in the military merits. How could such a substantial amount of military merits be allowed to be obtained by a group of soldiers for nothing?
As a result, landlords, powerful families, and local officials all wanted to take the opportunity to send their sons into the army to participate in this sure-win battle and ultimately reap the rewards.

If only a portion of the people had been added, the matter could have been resolved. However, those people were too greedy. For every one person you added, I would add two. In the end, they kept adding people until they had replaced all the soldiers under that military commander. Judging from the military commander's combat performance, those people didn't even leave him a spot for his personal guards.

Although the refugees were a motley crew and could not possibly defeat the regular soldiers of the Han army, they could still easily deal with a group of pampered young men who were afraid of death.

As a result, the entire army was routed. According to the military law of the Han Dynasty that Yun Ce knew, even if this military commander did not die on the battlefield, he would be beheaded when he returned. After the routed soldiers returned, all that awaited them was the strict military law. Not only would they die, but their parents, wives, children, and brothers would also die.

However, judging from their frantic efforts to cramm people in, they must have a backup plan.

Throughout the entire history of the Han Dynasty, only military discipline was strictly observed by most people. This led to the miracle that, despite the warlordism and widespread suffering during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han army maintained its high fighting strength and was invincible against foreign tribes.

Judging from today's war, military discipline is still in effect; otherwise, that military commander wouldn't have fought to the death at the last moment. He knew he wouldn't survive if he went back, and in order not to implicate his family, he chose to die in battle.

Judging from the fact that all the original soldiers of a 500-strong unit were replaced, the Han Dynasty's officialdom was in a terrible state at this time.

After Yun Ce finished giving his report on witnessing the battle of the Han army, he left it to Gouzi to store.

The flood on the wasteland came swiftly and receded just as quickly; within two or three days, the place would be restored to its original state. Since the flood had trapped him here, he might as well stay for a few days; there was nothing urgent to do anyway. Yun Ce used to be very impatient, always in a rush, eager to achieve results, eager to get promoted—in short, always in a hurry. Now, he wasn't in a hurry anymore. He felt that fate had little to do with one's own efforts and struggles; his constant rushing had only resulted in him being thrown out to serve as a satellite relay station.

Just like those pampered sons of noble families who are eager to make meritorious contributions and be ennobled, they lose their lives in their haste.

Instead of rushing things, we should develop more ways to consume yam starch.

For example, knead this starch into a dough, roll it into a thin sheet, and casually toss it onto a charcoal fire. The sheet will expand rapidly when heated. Then, just flip the sheet a couple of times with your hands, and a thin pancake will appear, crispy and delicious.

Spending time preparing delicious food to reward yourself is never a bad thing; taking good care of your body is a difficult thing in itself.

Eji continued to lie on the wooden plank fishing for snakes. The snakes had been soaking in the water for almost a day, and their strength was almost exhausted from swimming. Even snakes breathe with lungs, and once their strength was depleted, drowning would be inevitable.

Therefore, the snakes that were able to climb the rope were in a hurry. They desperately needed a dry and warm place to raise their body temperature. In their haste, a snake with a brightly colored body that looked fierce grabbed the rope with its belly feet and thrashed upwards. Just as it was about to climb up, Yun Ce cut the rope with a single stroke and threw it out.

When the snake was thrown out, it squealed in mid-air. Dog said the snake was cursing him.

If it were merely snakes and insects that liked to try their luck at the tree where he lived, then some enormous herbivores, unable to find grass during floods, would also travel from afar, intending to nibble on a few green leaves.

They waded through the water, completely ignoring Yun Ce and E Ji. With their forelegs on the tree trunk, they stretched their necks and vigorously plucked the leaves. A single herbivorous beast devoured the once lush tree until it was completely bare.

Yun Ce threw the raft into the water, tied it to the tail of the herbivore with a rope, and then threw Eji and the sheep onto the raft, preparing to take them away after the herbivore finished eating the leaves.

Eji was already terrified. This was another novel experience for Yun Ce after riding the dragon. The last time, he was held like a pet. This time, facing the huge herbivorous beast, his raft was nothing more than a blade of grass.

At first, Yun Ce was still very wary, afraid that the thing would kick him. After walking for a while, he realized that the herbivore was only interested in the grass in the distance, so he and E Ji lay on the raft and followed the herbivore wherever it wanted to go.

When they finally saw land, Yun Ce had to untie the rope and say goodbye to the herbivore. The main reason was that the herbivore defecated the moment it stepped onto land. That pile of excrement weighed over a hundred pounds and was still watery. Yun Ce had no choice but to flee at the first sign of trouble.

It didn't take long to turn the raft into a horse-drawn carriage, and in the meantime, the sheep and horses that had been tied up were also untied.

The reason why there are so few people in the wilderness is entirely because the villages here are too scattered. A rainstorm can bring the sparse population together.

Refugee camps are temporary human settlements formed spontaneously by small groups based on surnames, clans, villages, or kinship. The government may exist, but to prevent popular uprisings, it will proactively delegate power to these groups.

Because once you get to this place, you can't have higher requirements for personal safety.

If one finds the hardships of the refugee camp unbearable, one can follow the example of the 1,200 people who left the refugee camp to make a living in the wilderness and eventually become a military merit for the officers and soldiers.

Yun Ce could foresee that those 1,200 men would eventually die and become someone else's military merit. No matter how you analyze it, their strength was simply too weak.

Eji believed that Yun Ce would definitely become a public servant, and they should not get too close to the refugees and rebels. No matter how bad the refugee camp was, they still needed to go to the refugee camp and deal with the government to obtain a pass and continue their journey.

Yun Ce thought E Ji was right.

Yun Ce was driving the sheep cart for less than three miles when he encountered twenty-eight robbery cases. The most serious one involved a plan to kill Yun Ce, steal the sheep cart, and then bring E Ji to them as their collective wife.

The least serious robbery came from two little brats, not even eight years old, who held stones and warned Yun Ce that he must give him a clump of straw, or they would smash his head.

Those who wanted Eji to be their collective wife would no longer have the anxiety of getting married, because there was no need. Any man who had his legs held upside down and his groin beaten dozens of times by his accomplices did not need a wife.

Yun Ce is a very reasonable person. If you rob me of something, I will make sure to completely eliminate your intention to rob me.

Over three miles, in twenty-eight battles, Yun Ce won twenty-seven and lost one.

When Yun Ce drove the sheep cart into the driest and highest part of the refugee camp, the local inhabitants had already quietly left and cleaned up the area.

(End of this chapter)