The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 344 The Imperial Physician Was Arrested

Just as the seedling production was in full swing, the imperial physician Yang Jia developed a strong interest in another matter.

During a previous exchange of medical knowledge, he met a herbalist in the village named Duan Mo, and accidentally learned that Duan Mo had a secret recipe.

After several detailed inquiries, Duan Mo finally revealed that his secret recipe uses Panax notoginseng as the main ingredient, combined with Paris polyphylla, Phellodendron amurense, Dioscorea opposita, etc., which has a remarkable effect on stopping bleeding, reducing swelling and relieving pain from external injuries.

Duan Mo frankly admitted that this method was not unique to the Bai people, but rather something he obtained from a wild tribe in the mountains when he was young and went deep into the Cangshan Mountains to collect medicinal herbs.

Upon hearing this, Yang Jia was greatly moved.

He knew that the army urgently needed wound medicine, and if the prescription was truly effective, he would surely be able to make another contribution.

Therefore, he proposed exchanging his family's secret recipe, which is a special formula for treating rheumatic pain and joint swelling.

Duan Mo did not refuse. The south was hot and humid, and malaria was rampant. Many villagers suffered from rheumatism and swelling, and were deeply affected by it.

After receiving the prescription, Yang Jia couldn't wait to prepare a dose himself and see how effective it was.

However, after searching the entire village, he discovered that two key auxiliary herbs were missing—"Saussurea involucrata" and "Paris polyphylla".

Eager to find the medicine, Yang Jia immediately sought out Duan Mo, hoping to ask him to take him into the mountains to collect herbs.

Unexpectedly, Duan Mo looked troubled upon hearing this and repeatedly waved his hands in refusal:

"Imperial Physician Yang, you mustn't go, you mustn't go!"

"These two herbs are near Ma'er Mountain, which is a very dangerous place."

Yang Jia was somewhat dismissive:

"It's deep winter now, and the snakes, insects, and rodents in the mountains have long since gone into hibernation. What danger could there be?"

Duan Mo shook his head and lowered his voice:

"It's not a problem of insects and snakes, but rather wild savages!"

"There are Yi tribes in Ma'er Mountain. They are very fierce and often come down the mountain to kidnap children!"

"Catch the child?"

Yang Jia was taken aback upon hearing this.

"It's about capturing slaves!"

Duan Mo explained,
“These savages have this custom: once they see a lone Han Chinese or white person, they will capture them and take them back as slaves.”

"Once you're captured and taken to the deep mountains and forests, there's no way you can escape!"

Yang Jia hesitated upon hearing this:

"Should it be okay?"

"Brother Duan, our Han army is currently nearby. No matter how bold those barbarians are, they probably wouldn't dare to provoke us, would they?"

"Let's look nearby, without going into deep mountains or dangerous places, and just go and come back quickly."

He was so eager for the medicine that he insisted on going.

Duan Mo couldn't persuade Yang Jia otherwise, so he finally agreed to take him to search in the outermost, relatively safe area of ​​Ma'er Mountain, and would never venture deep into the heart of the mountain.

To their utter surprise, the two were spotted the moment they stepped into the mountains.

Ma'er Mountain is located in the foothills of the Cangshan Mountains, where a relatively large tribe of the indigenous people resides.

These barbarians were extremely xenophobic, often robbing lone merchants and travelers in the mountains, and sometimes they would gather large groups to attack other indigenous villages.

Recently, the white village outside the village has been unusually lively, with soldiers coming and going and stationed there, which has already aroused the vigilance of the tribal chiefs in the mountains.

In order to scout out enemy positions, the Yi chieftain specially dispatched a small team of seven or eight people to keep watch at the mountain pass in case of any unforeseen events.

This ambush and sentry team, instead of encountering an attack from the Han army, unexpectedly discovered Yang Jia and Duan Mo gathering herbs in the mountains.

After confirming there was no ambush, the squad leader suddenly gave a whistle, and seven or eight dark figures sprang out of the forest and rushed straight at the two!

At this moment, Yang Jia was carrying a basket on his back and holding a sickle in one hand, intently searching for herbs.

When he heard the whistle and realized something was wrong, he was already surrounded by several Yi people carrying wooden spears and machetes at their waists.

Duan Mo, who was used to walking in the mountains, was highly vigilant. When he sensed something was wrong, he immediately darted into the forest and ran away as fast as he could.

Half of the sentry team went after them, but Duan Mo was familiar with the terrain and had been traveling in the mountains for many years, so he quickly shook off the pursuers.

Having lost their prey, the Yi people could only direct their anger at Yang Jia, who remained.

Yang Jia looked around in alarm and saw the attire of the person who had just arrived.

These barbarians were covered in dirty animal skins, and had huge silver rings hanging from their ears, stretching their earlobes long.

On the exposed skin between his arms and neck, there were strange indigo patterns, as dark as ink.

Yang Jia's hands were roughly tied behind his back. The sentry leader stepped forward and forcefully pulled up his ears to examine them closely.

This is to determine his ethnicity. Generally speaking, Yi people have the custom of piercing their ears. If you find a hole in his ear, you can basically determine that he is of the same ethnicity.

Because Han Chinese are taught that "our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents," they do not have pierced ears.

Using this method, the barbarians could capture Han slaves with ease.

Upon discovering that Yang Jia's earlobes were smooth and without pores, a knowing and contemptuous glint flashed in the eyes of the leader before him.

After muttering a few words, four or five of his men rushed forward and dragged him back to the mountain stronghold.

Meanwhile, Duan Mo, who had run incredibly fast, scrambled back to the village and immediately found the clan chief:

"Clan leader, something happened!"

"A royal physician surnamed Yang has been kidnapped!"

Upon hearing this, Duan Rui was so frightened he almost jumped up. He didn't dare delay and quickly found Yu Chengye, who was stationed outside the village.

Upon hearing this, Yu Chengye flew into a rage and slammed his fist on the table.

"what?!"

"You damned barbarians, how dare you kidnap the imperial physician! You're asking for death!"

Without saying a word, he immediately ordered his adjutant to gather the troops and provisions, preparing to go into the mountains to rescue people.

Seeing this, Duan Rui quickly tried to stop him:
"Guerrilla commander, do not act rashly!"

"The savages in Ma'er Mountain are not just a small group, but a large clan consisting of three connected villages, with no fewer than five or six hundred able-bodied men in the clan."

"In addition, it was deep winter, and the mountains were high and the terrain was dangerous, with the higher areas already covered with snow."

"The general has only about a hundred men under his command. If we attack rashly, there may be some mishaps."

"It would be better to send someone back to Dali first and ask General Liu to send troops to help us. That would be the safest course of action!"

Yu Chengye was eager to save lives, and that man surnamed Yang was sent by the King from Chengdu. If something really happened on his own turf, he would probably be held responsible.

"It would take at least three or four days to transfer troops from Dali and back, which is probably too late!"

"No problem, a hundred or so elite soldiers are enough to wipe out five or six hundred savage bandits!"

"Chief Duan, I would like to trouble you to select some young men from the village to guide me when the time comes."

Seeing that he was determined, Duan Rui had no choice but to grit his teeth and gather more than a hundred hunters and able-bodied men from the village to join the army.

He had made up his mind that if he were really surrounded by barbarians, he would do his best to rescue some people to avoid being blamed by the authorities later.

Braving the biting mountain wind, the group of over two hundred people, led by the herbalist Duan Mo, headed straight for Ma'er Mountain.

The mountain path was rugged and difficult to traverse, and the snow, which was nearly a foot deep, made the march quite arduous.

After walking for about two or three hours and crossing several mountain ridges, the Han army finally discovered the indigenous tribe in a mountain valley.

From a distance, it looks like a camp built of stones and logs, divided into three areas: east, west, and south, with a simple wooden fence surrounding it.

Before the group even got close, the Yi scouts spotted the uninvited guests.

Accompanied by a sharp whistle warning, the Yi people in the village rushed out of their houses and gathered behind the village wall.

Lacking iron tools, these savages mostly carried simple bone arrows and bamboo spears, with only a small group carrying iron knives and wearing leather armor.

Seeing this, Yu Chengye did not hesitate for long and immediately ordered his men to launch an attack from the front.

With such a significant equipment disparity, the battle was one-sided from the very beginning.

The bone arrows shot by the savage barbarians could not even penetrate the cloth armor worn by the Han soldiers, let alone their iron-clad shields.

On the contrary, the archers and musketeers on the Han army's side could bring a chorus of screams with each volley of fire.

During the more than two hundred years that the Ming Dynasty controlled Yunnan, ironware and salt were always powerful tools used to control the Tusi tribes.

Without salt, the tribe's population could not grow; without iron, the tribe's fighting strength could not be improved.

Especially for some uncivilized tribes who refused to submit to the Ming dynasty's rule, the government had almost completely cut off their salt and iron supplies, forcing them to resort to looting or purchasing them at high prices from smugglers. The fact that these tribes had managed to gather in such a large group was also due to the government's inaction and the decline of the Ming army.

They thought they could use this lull to grow stronger, but they never expected that as soon as they captured a slave, the slave would come knocking on their door.

According to the established customs in Yunnan, if a local aboriginal person captures a Han Chinese slave who should not be captured, the government will generally not send troops to punish them, but will instead send a familiar chieftain to redeem the slave first.

After all, it's not worth mobilizing a large army to attack one or two people.

The aborigine tribes also have their own rules. If they find someone dressed in fine clothes or being escorted by a large group of people, they generally will not arrest them, nor do they dare to.

Their targets were lone individuals, such as woodcutters and herb gatherers who had come into the mountains to collect firewood.

Just as the Han army was about to rush to the gate of the stockade, a flag made of white animal skin suddenly rose from the stockade wall, and a leader-like figure stood on the high place, shouting loudly to those below.

Yu Chengye was somewhat surprised to see this, and immediately summoned Duan Rui:

"Chief Duan, what are these savages saying all that?"

"Why can't I understand a single word?"

"And that flag, it's such a mismatched thing, what does it mean?"

Duan Rui listened intently for several times, his face showing reluctance:

"To be honest, there are too many tribes in Yunnan. Sometimes, just a few mountains away, there are completely different ethnic groups."

"I don't really understand what they were saying."

At this moment, the herbalist Duan Mo, who had been leading the way, suddenly approached:

"General, this sounds like the Yi language."

“I heard about it when I was young, and I even exchanged a prescription with a Yi tribe.”

Yu Chengye waved his hand and urged:

"Then hurry up and translate what kind of nonsense is going on inside."

Duan Mo listened intently for a while, then scratched his head:
"I'm only a dabbler myself; I can only understand a little bit."

"The claim that the Han troops outside are a misunderstanding is false; they have laid down their weapons."

Upon hearing this, Yu Chengye flew into a rage and ripped off his helmet:
"What a bullshit misunderstanding!"

"You dare ask me to lay down my weapons? You're courting death!"

He turned and beckoned to the messenger, giving the order:

"Hmph, these savages refuse to submit to the king's rule. They not only abduct Han people as slaves, but also dare to openly defy the might of our Han army."

"Let the brothers charge in, slaughter the village, and leave no one alive!"

At his command, the Han soldiers launched a general attack on the gate.

The battering ram relentlessly pounded against the simple village gate, producing a dull and terrifying roar.

Seeing this, the tribal chieftain, who was still holding up a white flag made of animal skin on the stockade wall and trying to communicate, was completely dumbfounded.

He had clearly announced his surrender, stating that everything was a misunderstanding, and even offered to lay down his weapons and surrender.

Why did these Han people not only refuse to accept it, but instead fight even more fiercely?

Even if you can't understand the foreign language, do you think you can't even recognize the white flag that signifies surrender?
Although these newly arrived Han soldiers were dressed no differently from the Ming soldiers, their temperament was much stronger.

Even if they arrested the wrong person, shouldn't they at least send someone over to communicate and negotiate first?

How can you just beat someone to death without saying a word?

Unfortunately, it's too late to regret it now.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the Han soldiers easily broke through the gate and surged in like a tide.

Although the uncivilized villagers fought desperately, their fighting strength was vastly different from that of the regular army, and they were no match for them.

These soldiers didn't even need to form a battle formation; their armor and steel swords alone were enough to overwhelm the barbarians.

The battle quickly devolved into a one-sided massacre.

Yu Chengye, however, had no time to care about this. He personally led a team to search for Yang Jia throughout the village.

After searching for a while, the group finally found Yang Jia, who was tied up like a rice dumpling, in a dirty, smelly corner of a sheep pen.

The young imperial physician was almost naked, barely wrapped in two tattered animal skins, his body covered with crisscrossing whip marks, and his cheeks were swollen and bruised.

He huddled up in the biting mountain wind, shivering, looking utterly miserable.

It turned out that after Yang Jia was captured and brought back to the village, he refused to kneel and refused to reveal any information from the outside world, which completely angered the headman.

After being severely beaten, the Yi people threw him into the sheepfold like livestock, intending to starve him for a few days.

Once they've been starved into submission, their temper will naturally wear away, and then they can be dragged out and used as labor slaves.

The crowd hurriedly carried Yang Jia out of the sheepfold, and the army doctor quickly stepped forward to give him basic first aid and treatment.

Meanwhile, Han soldiers were also rescuing dozens of other slaves from various ethnic groups who had been captured in other corners of the village.

These slaves were all disheveled, filthy and smelly, covered in old and new wounds, some of which were even festering and ulcerated.

Their eyes were empty and numb, long since devoid of light, like walking corpses.

After drinking a few mouthfuls of hot water, Yang Jia groggily opened his eyes.

When he saw that the person who came was a fellow Han soldier in full armor, tears welled up in his eyes on the spot. He hugged the doctor who was treating him tightly and refused to let go for a long time.

"I...I just went into the mountains to gather some herbs, these savages are really going too far!"

"Guerrilla Commander Yu, you have to stand up for me!"

Seeing this, Yu Chengye's anger flared even more, and his eyes revealed murderous intent:
"What a bunch of reckless savages!"

"come!"

"Pass on my order: no one in the village, regardless of age or gender, shall be spared!"

"The entire village must be razed to the ground, and all houses and shacks must be burned to the ground!"

"The scenery between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake is so beautiful, yet there is such a place that harbors filth and evil. I will definitely eradicate it completely today!"

Soon, the cries and screams in the village gradually subsided as the Han army slaughtered many, leaving heads rolling and blood flowing like rivers.

Then a raging fire erupted, quickly engulfing three villages in the valley, with thick smoke billowing into the sky.

Duan Rui and the Bai ethnic youths who were helping out were terrified by the scene of carnage before them, their faces turning pale and trembling.

They were utterly horrified. How could these Han soldiers, who usually seemed so amiable, be so ruthless when it came to killing?

In less than an hour, nearly all of the nearly one thousand people in the three interconnected villages in this mountain valley were slaughtered.

A few who managed to escape into the deep mountains during the chaos lost their homes and winter supplies, and in the cold mountains, they will likely not escape the fate of freezing and starving to death.

They're a bunch of living devils!

Yu Chengye stood with his hands behind his back, staring expressionlessly at the raging flames before him. The firelight reflected off his face, flickering on and off.

The officer behind him leaned forward and lowered his voice:

"Isn't Yu Guerrilla's method a bit too cruel?"

"There are nearly a thousand lives in this case. Even if they deserve to die, at least half of them should be spared and sent to hard labor camps to repair bridges and roads to atone for their sins. Wouldn't that be better?"

"This way we can also supplement our workforce."

Yu Chengye stared at the sea of ​​fire before him and shook his head:

"You do not understand."

"For these barbarians who are unruly and vicious by nature, only swift and decisive measures can reveal the compassion of a bodhisattva."

"Think about it, they dare to kidnap people into slavery so brazenly, they must have done this kind of thing more than once or twice, and it must be commonplace for them."

"It's fortunate that we were there with our troops today, and we managed to rescue him in time. Otherwise, he would have frozen to death in the livestock shed long ago."

"What would happen if ordinary merchants or travelers were arrested by them?"

"Is there no other way but to despair and toil like an ox or a horse in the mountains, doing hard labor for the rest of my life?"

"In the end, they'll be worked to death, beaten to death, and then buried in some random ravine, disappearing from the world without a trace."

He paused, his tone becoming even more sinister:
"Hmph, I'll send an article to Kunming when I get back."

"Please, General Li, dispatch troops to thoroughly wipe out the uncivilized tribes in Dali and even throughout Yunnan!"

"If these malignant tumors are not eradicated, how can the King's benevolence extend to the people of Yunnan?"

(End of this chapter)