Di Ming

Chapter 4 Crisis
Looking in the direction of the thatched hut, Zhu Yin decided to go in the opposite direction and search in the woods.

But before leaving, he still checked the bodies of the Jurchen warriors.

He died from an arrow wound in the back.

They were not wearing armor. Iron armor was a precious asset to the Jurchens, and ordinary people could not possess it.

But he had a bow and arrows, and a scimitar.

Zhu Yin picked up the bow and arrow and the scimitar, feeling their weight; they had the texture of ancient cold weapons, carrying a tactile impact.

He rummaged through the body again and found a letter in the corpse's arms. It was sealed with birch bark in an envelope and had been sealed with wax.

The sealing wax was not broken. There was a line of Mongolian script on the envelope.

This is not surprising. Before Nurhaci created the Manchu script, all the Jurchen tribes outside the Great Wall used the Mongolian script.

Even the Manchu script created by Nurhaci heavily borrowed from Mongolian vocabulary and used Mongolian characters, making it very similar to the Mongolian language.

The text on the envelope is in Mongolian, indicating that Manchu had not yet appeared and Nurhaci had not yet unified the various Jurchen tribes.

Zhu Yin was very knowledgeable about the scripts of ethnic minorities and immediately translated the meaning of this line of Mongolian text as:

"A letter from the Lord of Balda to Li Chengliang."

It turns out that this was a letter from the Lord of Balda to Li Chengliang, the General of Liaodong!

Li Chengliang!
So this is the Wanli period!

Real hammer!
But why was the messenger shot dead, yet the secret letter wasn't taken?
It's easy to deduce.

The messenger must not have died at that time, but continued to gallop wildly, escaping the enemy's pursuit, and died in the wilderness.

The heavy snow covered their tracks, and the enemy couldn't find them.

Zhu Yin stuffed the birch bark envelope into his clothes, then searched the knight's body and found a satchel.

This is what the Jurchens and Mongols used to store dry rations.

Zhu Yin clenched his fist, a surge of joy welling up inside him.

There's more!

Upon opening it, I found it contained donkey rolls, Sachima, and dried venison, all common dried foods of the Jurchen tribes during the Ming Dynasty.

High-calorie foods that are small in size and provide a strong feeling of fullness.

But there was very little left, enough for at most one adult's daily food intake.

Zhu Yin found nothing new and left with difficulty, carrying his belongings with him.

Before I even got back to the hut, I saw a small figure waiting behind the wooden gate.

Less than half an hour after they left, Ning Caiwei started looking around anxiously at the door.

Seeing Zhu Yin's struggling figure trudging through the snow, Ning Caiwei felt relieved, but also felt a lump in her throat.

"Come in quickly!" Ning Caiwei patted the snow off the little man and took the large bow that was almost as tall as her.

"It's so heavy."

After the little girl finished speaking, her bright, beautiful eyes darted around the little man.

Hoping to find traces of food.

Zhu Yin threw the curved knife on the ground, warmed himself by the fire, rubbed his numb face, and then took out his satchel.

"The Jurchen knights' rations are unfortunately very little, only enough for us to eat for one day."

Ning Caiwei felt relieved. She concealed her smile, took the package, and her gaze immediately sharpened.

"Isn't this 'donkey roll' or 'sachima'?"

Zhu Yin laughed and said, "This is originally Jurchen food, there's nothing strange about it."

By this time, the snow water in the earthenware pot had boiled, bubbling and steaming, with water droplets splashing out and sizzling as they landed on the flames.

The entire thatched hut was filled with the warmth of everyday life.

Ning Caiwei was happy for the first time, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

Having food temporarily put her at ease.

She took down the earthenware pot, preparing to crush the Sachima, dissolve it in boiling water to make a paste, and use it to feed the baby.

Even without breast milk, this paste will do, I suppose.

Zhu Yin then took out the few pieces of venison jerky he had and roasted them over the fire.

While grilling the meat, he said:
"The dead horse was frozen like a stone horse, and even a scalpel couldn't cut it. It's a waste that you can see it but can't eat it."

"Luckily, we still have some dry rations. You could say that this knight saved our lives."

Ning Caiwei smiled as she ground the paste:
"Yes. There's always a way out. We'll definitely get through this and survive together."

With food and fire, the two spoke with warmth and tenderness.

Ning Qingchen stared at the paste her sister was grinding with her black gem-like eyes, bubbles coming out of her little mouth and her little nose twitching.

"Don't worry, it'll be ready soon." Ning Caiwei noticed her sister's eagerness.

"Don't forget, this food was found by Brother Zhu Yin, you know?"

Ning Qingchen nodded her little head in her arms, thinking to herself, "Hurry up and feed me, I'm starving."

After being fed the porridge, Ning Qingchen felt much better. Although she felt nauseous in her stomach, she quickly fell asleep.

Babies, they sleep after they've eaten their fill.

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei ate a few pieces of roasted meat and some donkey rolls, and drank their fill of hot water, finally quenching their unbearable hunger.

They all drank from the same earthenware jar, and no one seemed to mind the other's water.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhu Yin took out the birch tree envelope.

"I also found a letter, written in Mongolian. It's a letter from the Lord of Balda to Li Chengliang."

"Judging from this letter, it is around the 20th year of the Wanli reign, in the late Ming Dynasty."

"Li Chengliang?" Ning Caiwei asked, "Isn't he the great general of Liaodong during the late Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Yin nodded, "It's him. He's stationed in Liaoyang City with 100,000 troops under his command, mainly to defend against the Mongols, and secondly to intimidate the Jurchen tribes."

"Barda City is a castle of the Jianzhou Jurchens. It is quite powerful and belongs to the Zhecheng tribe."

Ning Caiwei asked, "What does the letter say?" Zhu Yin opened the letter and his expression became quite interesting.

This moment reveals Zhu Yin's remarkable talent in studying minority languages ​​and his love of history.

The Mongolian script during the Ming Dynasty was already quite stable. Although the grammar was simpler, the vocabulary was very archaic.

The letter contains a large number of Mongolian words from the late ancient period.

Terms like Beile, Taiji, and Hulun are one thing, but there are also words like Yaoerzhi, Duma, Maowula, Suqian, and Bixieqi.

These words have almost disappeared in modern Mongolian, and many later Mongolians do not know their meaning.

However, Zhu Yin could barely understand it.

"The lord of Balda is named Antaeus; that's what he said in his letter," he translated for the Ning sisters.

"Your Excellency Li Chengliang, Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong of the Great Ming Dynasty, I, your humble servant, respectfully extend my greetings and pay my respects to the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty."

"This servant earnestly hopes that you may come to inspect the various tribes of Jianzhou and have a sip of the milk tea that this servant personally offers."

"This servant is willing to serve under your esteemed command, to serve the master of Liaodong, and to serve the Grand Tutor, who is as invincible as a tiger and as noble as a soaring eagle."

Upon hearing this, Ning Caiwei couldn't help but say, "Such humble diplomatic language. Are the Jurchens so subservient to Li Chengliang?"

Zhu Yin nodded and smiled, "At least before the Jurchens unified the country, they were still very respectful to Li Chengliang."

"The Jurchens and other Hu peoples almost all share a common characteristic: they worship the strong and fear power but do not appreciate virtue. Their attitude towards the strong is very humble."

Ning Caiwei said with a hint of shame:

"If you don't understand, just ask. Although I'm bad at history, I know that the position of Grand Tutor is very difficult to obtain. How could Li Chengliang, a military general, be a Grand Tutor?"

Zhu Yin couldn't help but laugh.

Ning Caiwei is very good at spotting problems, even in areas she is unfamiliar with.

He explained, "The Jurchens were deeply influenced by the Mongols, especially in their language and titles."

"Grand Tutor, in the Ming Dynasty, was a respectful title used by the Mongols to address high-ranking Han Chinese officials. They did not care whether you were actually granted the title of Grand Tutor."

"The Jurchens followed the Mongols in their way of addressing Li Chengliang, and thus became accustomed to respectfully calling him Grand Tutor."

"Well, up to this point in the letter, it's all diplomatic rhetoric; now comes the real action."

Zhu Yin continued translating:
"However, we must report an ominous event to our subordinates as if they were a servant reporting danger to their master."

"Not long ago, Nurhaci called himself Shule Beile. Their elders in the Jue Luo family were Ningguta Beile, and Nurhaci, as a junior, could no longer be called Beile, let alone have the right to use the honorific title 'Shule'."

“Now, half of our entire Jianzhou has been swallowed up by Nurhaci. None of the city lords in Jianzhou are convinced.”

"Nurhaci's uncle Kangjia secretly reported that Nurhaci hates the Ming Dynasty and has sworn revenge. He is only pretending to be subservient to the Ming Dynasty and has been hiding his strength. In fact, he already has 3,000 soldiers and is preparing to attack Balda City and annex the entire Zhecheng tribe..."

"...Please, Your Excellency, send troops to rescue this humble servant..."

Ning Caiwei understood; this was a letter exposing Nurhaci's ambitions and requesting assistance from Li Chengliang.

It was Nurhaci's cousin Kangjia who revealed Nurhaci's hidden strength and true attitude towards the Ming Dynasty.

The lord of Balda hoped that Li Chengliang would send troops to attack Nurhaci and eliminate him while he was still weak.

Zhu Yin shook his head and sighed in a clear, childlike voice:

"It's no use. At this time, the Ming Dynasty doesn't care about Nurhaci at all. What they care about are the powerful Hulun Four Tribes."

"Compared to the Haixi Jurchens, namely the Yehe, Hada, Ula and Huifa of the Hulun Four Tribes, the Jianzhou Jurchens were much weaker."

"Li Chengliang has been using the Jianzhou Jurchens to weaken and attack the powerful Haixi Jurchens."

"Even if Nurhaci had unified the Jianzhou Jurchens, Li Chengliang and the Ming Dynasty wouldn't have taken it too seriously."

"Even if this letter reaches Li Chengliang, Li Chengliang would never dare to launch an attack on the seemingly submissive Nurhaci in order to rescue Balda City."

"Now, the Yehe tribe and other units are the ones he is focusing on preventing."

Ning Caiwei was somewhat disappointed. "So, we can only watch Nurhaci grow stronger?"

Zhu Yin smiled wryly and said, "Yes. At least for now, we have no ability to change history."

Just as the two were talking, a horse neighed outside, followed by a faint sound of rough Jurchen language.

"The Jurchens are coming!" Zhu Yin was startled and sprang to his feet.

He peered through the doorway and saw three Jurchen knights emerging from the woods, dressed in animal skins, wearing fur hats, and carrying bows and swords.

Even before they got close, the rough and fierce aura of the barbarians swept over them, filling Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei with fear.

The three knights were clearly not ordinary hunters; they must have been cavalrymen from some tribe.

The three of them, speaking in the cold and harsh Jurchen language, headed towards the thatched hut.

Seeing living people in this place should have been a cause for celebration.

But now, Zhu Yin and the other two are very scared.

"Just say we are the children of Han Chinese officials in Liaoyang City, and that we know Li Chengliang..."

Zhu Yin quickly fabricated a simple origin story.

Ning Caiwei reacted quickly; she immediately grabbed a handful of ash and smeared it on her face, instantly turning it grayish-brown.

Then, with a quick stroke of charcoal, he drew thicker eyebrows.

A pair of beautiful, curved eyebrows turned into two caterpillars.

The originally delicate and pretty face of Prajna suddenly became much uglier.

No sooner had they finished doing all this than the wooden door opened, and three Jurchen warriors burst into the hut.

Like a few wild boars, they rudely barged into their owner's sheepfold.

"Huh? There are three children!"

One of them said with some surprise.

"This attire...it's neither Jurchen nor Han Chinese. It looks more like a Han Chinese brat."

Another Jurchen woman mumbled something in her tongue.

The third Jurchen, however, had eyes like a wolf's, fixed on the nine-year-old Ning Caiwei!

Ning Caiwei felt a chill run down her spine when she sensed those gazes.

　My new book is out! Thank you all for your support, especially to my longtime readers! Feel free to leave a comment! Thank you!
　　Chapter Two will likely be released around 9 PM!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)