Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 40 The Destination of Life is Hometown
In the past, when Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, fled, he liked to carelessly abandon his daughters, sons, and wives, leaving them scattered everywhere.

This branch of the Han people seems to have inherited Liu Bang's habit.

There were actually quite a few people who escaped last night; there were at least dozens of sheep-drawn carts. If we calculate that each cart carried five people, then several hundred people escaped.

If they ran slowly, those plump and strong sheep could at least take them to the next stop, Sheyang City, where they could certainly survive.

The problem was that they were running for their lives, and the result of running like that was that the sheep pulling the cart were exhausted to death.

The sheep died of exhaustion, so there were no animals left to pull the cart, and they had to walk. Yun Ce had just looked at the map he got from the pavilion. The distance between Pingyuan City and the next stop, Sheyang City, was nine hundred li.

Not everyone can walk 900 li (450 kilometers), especially for wealthy families. To walk 600 li (300 kilometers) through a wasteland full of poisonous insects and wild beasts without food or water is simply an impossible task.

There are always trade-offs to be made, and in this respect, humans are very similar to wolves.

Everyone has different priorities. Those who value the debt of gratitude for being raised will abandon their children; those who value blood ties will abandon their elderly relatives; those who value spousal bonds will abandon other relatives; and those who value strength and want to survive this nightmarish journey will abandon those who are a burden.

This was Yun Ce's first reaction upon seeing the Bighorn sheep that had died of exhaustion on the road.

An abandoned bighorn sheep lay on the road, panting heavily. Judging from its belly, which swelled up and then collapsed rapidly, and the blood flowing continuously from its mouth and nose, you could tell that the sheep's lungs had burst.

Yun Ce slit the sheep's throat, ending its agonizing struggle. Once the blood had drained sufficiently, he hung the sheep on a tree branch and skinned it.

His skinning skills were poor, and it took him quite a while to peel off a skin riddled with holes. He started with the knife at the base of the bighorn sheep's tail, and with a gentle slit, the sharp blade cut open the plump sheep's belly, and a bunch of sheep's internal organs slid out from the split belly.

Sheep offal is a delicacy. If there were water here, Yun Ce wouldn't want to miss out on such a delicacy. Unfortunately, the area is overgrown with weeds and there are no rivers or canals, so this good thing can only be discarded.

Without the sheepskin, all that was left of the Bighorn sheep—its head and internal organs—was the shell. Yun Ce didn't continue working on it; instead, he put the shell out in the dry wind to dry.

Lamb that has lost some moisture can be stored for three to five days longer without refrigeration.

Eji was very worried. If she wanted to put the large sheep shell on the carriage, she would have to throw away a lot of the things she had brought from the inn. The things on the carriage were all things she would need after she and Yun Ce got married.

She couldn't bear to throw this away, and she couldn't bear to throw that away either. In the end, Eji made up her mind, closed her eyes, and let Yun Ce throw it away.

When Eji opened her eyes, the things in the carriage had already been thrown far away. Seeing the tattered, patterned screen hanging on the tree, she felt like crying.
Yun Ce hugged the frail E Ji and whispered, "I'll buy you something better in the future. These things are all old and don't do justice to you."

Eji's eyes filled with tears, and she nodded heavily. After a moment of silence, she grabbed Yun Ce's hand and pressed it to her chest, saying, "It hurts here."

Only delicious food could bring Eji back to happiness.

Yun Ce looked around for a moment, then took out a shovel and began digging holes in the half-slope. He dug one at the top and one at the bottom, leaving a smoke duct in the middle, and piled some stones in the top hole.

Then, they lit firewood in the cave below, and the flames burned brightly. Before long, the black smoke disappeared, leaving only red embers. Yun Ce rubbed the unloaded lamb chops with green salt, hung some lamb fat on them, found some hardwood to hang in the pit above, and sealed the cave entrance with stone slabs.

Lamb chops roasted over an open flame don't taste good; lamb chops cooked in a closed oven with a golden-brown color are the best. This is a habit Yun Ce developed when he lived and worked in Gansu.

He doesn't like lamb that's grilled over an open flame in a fancy way. He always feels that this removes more than half of the lamb's flavor. Plus, with a thick layer of seasoning, he doesn't know if they're eating the seasoning or the lamb.

The moment the stone was opened, the sizzling, golden-brown roasted lamb chops were ready. Before the lamb could cool, Yun Ce grabbed the lamb ribs with one hand and wrapped the lamb with the thick, garlic-scented broadleaf grass in the other. With a gentle stroke, the lamb immediately fell off the bone and landed on the wooden plate that E Ji had prepared beforehand.

To eat this kind of mutton, besides salt, simply wrap the meat in garlic-flavored broadleaf grass and put it in your mouth. The garlic aroma blends with the meat aroma, and a variety of flavors explode in your mouth. Only in this way can you truly live up to the name of mutton.

The Bighorn sheep tasted exceptionally good, which gave Yun Ce a new understanding of this triangular-faced animal with grayish-white eyes. He decided that once he achieved fame and success, he would find a place to raise these sheep.

After comforting Eji, Yun Ce continued driving the sheep cart on the road. More and more bighorn sheep lay dead along the way, but this time Yun Ce did not touch these dead bighorn sheep.

Sheep that die without being slaughtered cannot be eaten. This is not due to any religious reason, but rather a Northwestern man's unwavering love for the quality of mutton.

A sheep that dies without being bled is just a pile of rotten meat, utterly worthless. Seeing the dead bighorn sheep, Yun Ce was somewhat puzzled. He didn't eat the meat of dead sheep; did those who hastily fled Pingyuan City also have this habit?

You should know that it is 900 li from here to Sheyang City. The days are long here. Even if the sheep cart can travel 200 li a day at its maximum, it will still take five days to arrive.

Yun Ce looked back at the mutton carcasses on the sheep cart and thought that the remaining mutton could provide the two of them with enough supplies for their march.

Eji drove the sheep-drawn cart slowly along the ancient road, while Yun Ce eagerly looked at the various silk books he had brought back from the Pingyuan City government office.

Things that can be written on silk scrolls are generally important news, mostly government decrees of the Han Dynasty. From these silk scrolls, Yun Ce discovered that the current Han Dynasty still follows the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system. Multiple silk scrolls were sent to the corresponding departments in Pingyuan City. Subordinates were responsible to their direct superiors, and feedback from subordinates could reach the Nine Ministers, who would then forward it to the Prime Minister.

Along with the Chancellor, the Grand Censor was also listed among the Three Dukes, responsible for supervision and correction. The Grand Commandant appeared to be the highest leader in the army, but in reality, he did not hold military power. He was the emperor's highest military advisor. The emperor himself truly controlled the army, and the Commandant of the Guards and the Grand Master of the Palace were among the Nine Ministers who managed military affairs for the emperor.

After figuring out the general structure of the government, Yun Ce finally understood one thing: more than 50% of the Han Dynasty's army was either in the capital Chang'an or the secondary capital Luoyang, and the remaining soldiers were called county soldiers, who were under the control of local officials.

This is a typical characteristic of feudal dynasties—a policy of strengthening the central government and weakening local power. In fact, even the Han Dynasty on Earth used this approach for thousands of years.

The sheep-drawn cart swayed and wobbled across the wasteland. At this moment, Yun Ce's heart was as desolate as the wasteland itself. Judging from the time commemoration on the silk scroll, this Han dynasty had been using this outdated system of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers for two thousand years. As for the more distant past, there was not a single word on the silk scroll.

After rolling up and putting away the silk scroll he had finished reading, he looked up and saw that Eji's face looked very strange. She was obviously up to no good and seemed to be hiding something from him.

Yun Ce was deep in thought and didn't pay attention to what was happening around him. However, the dog on his wrist didn't give any warning, which means it wasn't a big deal.

"Speak quickly, don't make me repeat myself," Yun Ce said sternly.

Eji moved her buttocks backward with her hands behind her back, and Yun Ce grabbed her arm and lifted her up. Behind her, he saw a little girl with tears streaming down her face.

The girl looked to be less than five years old. The moment she appeared from behind Eji, she burst into tears. Hearing the crying, Eji, who had already lowered her head to prepare for a scolding, immediately became strong. She hugged the little girl and comforted her while shouting at Yun Ce, "Her mother died, and she was guarding her mother when she was almost carried away by a dog."

Yun Ce was taken aback for a moment and said, "The dog is biting people, why didn't you call me?"

“You were looking at the silk book so intently that I called out to you, but you didn’t respond. So I grabbed a fork and chased the dog away, saving this little girl.”

Yun Ce looked at the terrified little girl and sighed, "Have you gone far? If not, let's go back and bury her mother."

Eji stared wide-eyed and said, "Why bury him? I pushed the body into the ditch so the dog skin will go there to eat and won't come after us."

Yun Ce looked back at the large pack of dogs following behind him. Although these creatures were not as powerful as wild boars or bears, their numbers were enormous.

Often, they would rather eat carrion than hunt themselves. Of course, if they encounter a dying, weak, or lone prey, they will swarm it.

Yun Ce was naturally not afraid of this thing, and didn't even take it seriously. It was not a good thing because it was a carrion eater, so its flesh was inedible. As for its fur, it was not only ugly and yellowish, but the fur on it was also bald and sparse due to parasites.

Yun Ce recalled that E Ji's values ​​were quite different from his. She was indifferent to birth, aging, sickness and death, believing that people are alive just to live and can do what living people do. When people die, they do what dead people do, such as being eaten by maggots and being dragged away by wild beasts to fill their bellies.

Such values ​​were forged by the harsh life in the wilderness, and it will probably take a long time for her to change them.

Actually, what she said makes a lot of sense. If you're alive, live life to the fullest. If you die, so be it. That might not be such a bad thing.

"Since you've decided to take it in, then raise it properly; otherwise, don't have taken it in the first place."

"Yes!" Eji nodded heavily, but Yun Ce didn't see the cunning look in her eyes.

Picking up things is addictive. Over the next two days, Eji picked up eleven people, men and women, young and old.

However, they all had one thing in common: they were all insignificant people and victims of war.

(End of this chapter)