Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 180 Tigers among Sheep
At the end of May, Beijiwu met the Khitan emperor who was only accompanied by a young woman at Sanlitai in Liaodong.

This place is only three miles from Shanhaiguan. Beijiwu's men were standing twenty meters away, along with many witnesses from the Mongol and Jurchen tribes.

Yelü Baocai was also meeting this young King Wu for the first time, and he took a step back and bent his knees as if to kneel down.

"Your subject Yelü Baocai, accompanied by his daughter Yelü Poluo, pays respects to Your Majesty!"

Arctic Martial Arts raised his hand and said, "There is no need to kneel. A king should have the dignity of a king. You can speak standing up."

Yelü Baocai lowered his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty! I hereby offer my surrender and gifts, and I am willing to lead the Liaodong region to serve Your Majesty from now on!"

Yelü Poluo, standing next to him, was unsure whether he should kneel, but he did so anyway.

The civil and military officials nearby saw this but said nothing.

The Arctic Army is already a unified regime, and there is currently no enemy that can be considered a foreign adversary.

In six years, although he spent most of his time farming, he had indeed unified the world.

Beijiwu smiled and said, "You should get up too. Can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yelü Polu stood up, clearly understanding what he was saying.

The nearby eunuchs took the gift list from Yelü Baocai and loudly read out the gifts from eastern Liaodong.

"...A total of 422 million Liao people, 5 million taels of silver, 600,000 taels of gold, 1 million strings of copper coins, 200,000 Liao soldiers, 200,000 artisans, 1,000 members of the royal family, 5 million cattle and sheep, 500,000 warhorses, 10,000 maps and books, and 10 boxes of ceremonial objects."

Beijiwu asked curiously, "Why are there so few cattle and sheep? It's not even as many as Tibet."

Yelü Baocai respectfully said, "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, and has keen insight. Since five years ago, the grasslands in western, northern and southern Mongolia have degraded. A major epidemic killed 30% of the warhorses, and consecutive years of cold winters caused most of the livestock to freeze to death. Pastures in various places have suffered heavy losses."

"Ten years ago, when things were good, we had two million horses, ten million sheep, and one million two hundred thousand cattle. Now we are not as good as before and have lost the glory of our ancestors. Your subject is willing to lead the Liaodong region to submit to Your Majesty, learn the Shan Nong script, speak the Shan Nong language, and abide by Your Majesty's rules."

Natural disasters are not something Arctic Wu alone has to bear; everyone is in the final round.

Beijiwu was in a much better mood. "Farming is comfortable, but it doesn't make you rich or powerful, and it certainly doesn't allow you to drink and eat meat all day long."

“A portion of the Han Chinese from eastern Liaodong were relocated to Youzhou to cultivate the land, with artisans being the first to be relocated.”

"The rest of you can continue to graze and manage the pastures in your original places. If the extra men want to earn money to eat meat, drink alcohol and support their families, then go to the west to conquer land for me."

"All debts owed in eastern Liaoning have been forgiven, whether they were owed to Han Chinese or to mountain farmers."

“The people of eastern Liaoning are my people, and the pastures of eastern Liaoning are my pastures. Whoever’s tribe attacks, I will punish them.”

"The Liaodong region will not need to pay taxes to me for the next three years. If there is a disaster in the north in the future, people can go inside the pass to take refuge."

"The salt, tea, ironware, liquor, and grain sold to eastern Liaoning will be based on the prices of the Shandong Province. I will cover the transportation costs and the merchants' profits. I will give you three million strings of new cash and one million copper notes of one hundred cash each, to be used to purchase daily necessities."

"After registering their household registration, members from eastern Liaoning are allowed to enter and exit the area inside and outside the pass normally during the daytime. They are allowed to go out to visit relatives and friends or work. They are also allowed to bring their relatives and friends into the pass, but they need to pick them up and act as guarantors themselves."

"All people in Liaodong should be given single-character surnames, and should be based on the surnames that are currently available. The royal family should be named Xiao, nobles and officials should be named Yan, soldiers should be named Wu, and the rest should be named Qiao."

"When talking to our own people, we can speak our own language and use our own names. We can also speak with outsiders. However, when registering our household registration, we will use the names that I can understand."

"Yes!" Yelü Baocai replied respectfully, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for bestowing upon me this surname!"

Beijiwu smiled and said, "Since that's the case, then there's nothing to worry about. How many people did you bring?"

Yelü Baocai replied, "I brought more than 10,000 men, all of whom are from my own tribe."

Beijiwu said truthfully, "Then I will kill some sheep to cook you a meal. After you eat, go back to work and tell the rest of you that you have surrendered."

Yelü Baocai had come to surrender, unaware that the Shannong people had such a custom of surrender, and hurriedly declined.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, but I dare not trouble you with such a matter. If Your Majesty wishes to eat mutton, may I cook some for you?"

Yelü Polu, who was standing nearby, volunteered, "Your Majesty, Polu is willing to cook for you."

Arctic Martial waved his hand in refusal, saying, "I am not a person who likes to meddle, but I also know that the grassland people have always respected the strong."

"When I said I would kill everyone, I meant I would kill everyone. In reality, it was just a strong statement. Whether it was Western Xia or Western Xinjiang, I never killed them all. I always kept a lot of prisoners."

“If not a single drop of blood is shed in this battle, your people will be resentful of me, and they will certainly be resentful of your surrender without a fight. But since you have already surrendered, I cannot kill anyone.”

“So let’s use sheep instead. I have had 10,000 sheep driven over. There are tens of thousands of new recruits in Shanhaiguan, and there are also many Jurchens and Mongols in Sanlitai. You have also brought a lot of people over. 10,000 sheep can definitely be eaten without any waste.”

Yelü Baocai and Yelü Poluo were stunned, as were Mu Chuanliang and other Wu Dynasty officials, who were completely unaware of this matter.

The Mongolians, who were responsible for driving ten thousand sheep over, were utterly bewildered upon hearing this.

The Jurchens and the other Xi and Bohai people also stared in astonishment.

Those who didn't understand were quickly explained to them in their native language by those around them.

Beijiwu said to Yelü Baocai, "Have your men come within 500 meters and help drive the sheep toward me, but they must be 500 paces away to avoid getting hurt."

Yelü Baocai didn't understand the customs of the mountain farmers, but since it was about letting sheep die in their place, it was naturally a good thing.

"Yes!"

Yelü Bao then returned to see his subordinates and the generals of the royal family.

When Yelü Dalu saw that Yelü Bao had just returned, he immediately asked, "How did it go?"

Yelü Baocai nodded. "King Wu has agreed to our surrender and is willing to accept our submission from eastern Liaodong. From now on, everything belonging to us Liao people will belong to King Wu. King Wu will exempt us from taxes for three years and allow us to continue to manage the grasslands, pastures, and cities. At the same time, he will sell salt, iron, tea, and grain to us at the prices that mountain farmers themselves would pay."

"It's basically the same as the Ministry of Naturalization. Moreover, the money owed to the Han people and the mountain farmers for wine and tea was waived by King Wu, and we can start over from now on."

Yelü Dalu sighed, "That's good."

The others also breathed a sigh of relief. The mountain farmers' forgiveness of their previous debts won them the favor of many people at the bottom of society.

Yelü Bao then brought up the matter of killing the sheep.

Although the group of Khitans were afraid that Beiji Wu was going to kill them, they still cautiously approached.

Before long, hundreds of knights were seen driving a large flock of sheep into the encirclement of the crowd.

The area occupied by more than 10,000 sheep is not large; 10,000 square meters is only 100 x 100 meters.

The Khitans, Han Chinese, and 50,000 to 60,000 people from various tribes on the grasslands gathered together to create a 500x500 meter viewing area.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, ten thousand sheep bleated and grazed leisurely on the grassland.

Wearing armor, Beiji Wu looked at the cart full of swords and spears beside him and quickly picked up two fine steel longswords.

Under a clear blue sky, with a gentle breeze and bright clouds.

On the other side of the river, a group of people had already set up a pot and started adding firewood to boil water.

Beijiwu stood casually with his knife for a moment, then walked towards the flock of sheep two meters away.

He raised both knives with both arms and swung them down slightly as he passed two sheep grazing.

Click! !

Two sheep turned into four pieces!!!
The surrounding sheep quickly began to bleat loudly and started to scatter and flee in all directions.

As Beijiwu moved forward, he chopped off the head of a sheep.

The raised arm fell again, and yet another good sheep became a dead sheep.

Arctic Martial was still not good at dual-wielding, so he swung the long sword in his right hand at the fleeing sheep.

The downward-sloping throwing knife pierced through the bodies of six or seven sheep. Arctic Martial, gripping his long knife in one hand, watched intently as whichever sheep he spotted was doomed.

His gaze was a death knell, and the weapon in his hand was a gleaming claw.

The sheep's escape attempts were blocked by their own companions, and for some reason, they were so foolish as to keep pushing their heads into the flock.

The only sound at the scene was the pitiful cries of the sheep. People nearby initially tried to calculate how many sheep the Arctic warriors had killed, but quickly gave up.

Bei Jiwu's chilling killing intent, his indifference to life and death, and his leisurely stroll made it seem as if he was not in a relatively safe place, but on a dangerous battlefield where death could come at any moment.

Even though everyone knows he killed sheep that can't fight back, it's probably easier for this man to kill people than to kill sheep.

Arctic Martial's longsword had killed countless sheep, and soon several more sheep were thrown out and strangled to death by Arctic Martial.

The damaged weapon was no longer needed. Arctic Wu kicked a sheep up, grabbed one of its legs, and slammed it into the nearby flock.

Like a child throwing clothes at the sofa, Beijiwu quickly dropped the dead sheep and returned to the weapon rack to pick up a long spear.

After switching to the new weapons, killing sheep became as easy as harvesting wheat.

Tired of hacking and slashing, Arctic Warrior gripped his long spear with both hands and charged forward.

He strode forward quickly, and began to skewer the troublesome sheep one by one with his three-meter-long spear.

The flock of sheep became congested, and Beijiwu's long spear could only pierce through a dozen or so sheep before it could stop, but it still moved forward, pushing through the obstructing flock of sheep.

Yelü Dalu and Borjigin felt that Beiji Wu was wrestling with a group of infantrymen on the battlefield, using his ferocious strength to pierce through those who tried to surround him with human wave tactics, and then tearing open an opening!

"Hahahaha!"

Beijiwu laughed loudly, raised his long spear, and the sheep flew in the sky.

Blood rain and sheep that were not yet fully dead fell on a group of Khitans a hundred meters away, making them shudder as if those were the Khitans who were supposed to be fighting against the Arctic Warriors.

Beijiwu leaped up, his body facing the ground, and with a twist of his body, he cleaved several sheep on the ground into the air.

As Beijiwu was about to land, he swung his long spear down again with both hands.

The blood-stained spear splashed through the white sheep.

The sheep cried out incessantly, and the white, gray, and black flocks spread outwards.

The Arctic general stood with his long spear on the ground, casually grabbing a sheep to wipe his slippery hands.

On the battlefields that stretched across the land, Arctic Warriors leisurely cleaned the bloodstains from their weapons with wool.

There were already six or seven hundred corpses on the ground. Just when the others thought that Beijiwu was finally tired, Beijiwu held his weapon in one hand, passed the long-handled weapon under his arm and over his back, pointed it at the ground, and slowly approached the flock of sheep again.

Everyone present felt that terror!
The Khitans, Mongols, Western Xia, Tibetans, and Han Chinese of the past were powerless in the face of the Northern Warlords.

The Arctic Army has defeated the fully-staffed Northern Plains Army, the elite cavalry of the Wen Dynasty, the warriors who established the Western Xia Dynasty, and the Khitan Imperial Guard.

Two hours later, Beijiwu looked at the last few hundred sheep that had fled to the surrounding soldiers and could not be driven away.

“These sheep are clever; even if we leave hundreds, we won’t go hungry. Let’s deal with the sheep on the ground and get ready to eat.”

Arctic Warriors changed their weapons several times and got too lazy to kill anymore.

Yelü Bao breathed a sigh of relief and immediately knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty is exceptionally brave and benevolent, and does not kill indiscriminately. Our Liaodong region will always be loyal to Your Majesty and will never break our oath!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "Get up and talk. I really don't want to kill people, but killing people is much simpler than killing sheep, and I don't need to keep bending over. If it were ten thousand people and horses, it would have been over by now."

Yelü Baocai hurriedly replied, "Yes, thank you, Your Majesty!"

Arctic Martial was a little tired and didn't want to talk much.

"What's past is past. From now on, just focus on herding horses and sheep. I don't like running around. You can handle things on the grassland yourselves. If you can't handle something, just ask me."

Yelü Baocai acknowledged the power of the Northern Wu and also recognized that the Liao people were vassals of the Shan Nong people.

"Yes! Your Majesty!"

Can't beat it, can't beat it at all.

The country could really be destroyed!

Kill everyone!

***
The hundreds of thousands of southerners in the north were quickly out of trouble.

After having a mutton meal, these southern soldiers retired.

Beijiwu allowed them to go home on their own and gave each of them ten taels of silver to send them away.

Two hundred thousand men returned home with weapons, warhorses, clothes, and provisions, earning two or three months' wages and severance pay of twenty or thirty taels of silver without doing anything.

In the final war of unification, apart from Yelü Baocai being granted the title of Wanhu (a military rank), no other Qianhu (a military rank) or Wanhu (a military rank) emerged, nor did any famous generals rise to prominence.

A look back at the path to unification of the Arctic:

He conquered the Nine Provinces of the Mountains on his own. There might have been some doubts before, but judging from the war of annihilation of the country in the later period of the Northern War, he did not need to rely on anyone's strength from the beginning.

The Mongol tribe is the Arctic martial arts troupe, while the others are merely support.

The Khitan invasion was met with a crushing defeat by the Arctic Army, which led them to strategically abandon Youzhou and other areas. This proved to be the right decision; otherwise, if they had insisted on guarding the Shannong people's doorstep, two million more Khitans would have died.

The Shan Nong Province was a gift from the Wen Dynasty emperor, along with other provinces such as Ji Province, You Province, and Qing Province.

Luoyang was given by Wan Dai. Xue Chonghu contributed a little in the process, but even without Xue Chonghu, it wouldn't have affected Beijiwu's capture of Luoyang.

The Huai River basin was occupied by Wan Husong. At that time, the Southern Dynasty army had already been blocked by the garrison in Luoyang and other places, and they only retreated because they were really unable to win.

The Western Xia and Western Frontier were both destroyed by Beiji Wu himself; how could a bunch of useless subordinates possibly fight for a long time?

The gift of Sichuan to Wan Zhi indirectly led to Wan Hu's subsequent actions.

The entire southern region was thinking of surrendering, but Wan Hu preemptively sold off those territories, thus monopolizing the value of the united front as the monarch.

The Khitans also surrendered in the same year, and the war ended smoothly before it even began.

Thus ended the nearly two-hundred-year period of chaos, and the war between the Han and non-Han peoples ended with the final victory of the Shan Nong people.

The entire process was filled with unbelievable actions; they surrendered without warning, giving their generals no chance to earn merit.

Those who refused to surrender were all dead. The leaders of the Yunzhong and Guihua tribes, who did not immediately back down, were swiftly and decisively killed long ago.

The same applies to eastern Liaoning; if they surrendered a few days later, they would have become two-legged sheep.

From the first year of the Wu Dynasty to the sixth year, the Shan Nong people consistently suppressed the other ethnic groups in their chaotic battles, never losing an inch of territory. Even in the few times when they suffered heavy losses, the responsibility lay primarily with the Han people, and had nothing to do with the Shan Nong people.

Even if the Arctic warriors don't go out to fight, relying on the industrial capabilities of the mountain farmers, they can easily sweep aside all the surrounding forces.

In the sixth year of the Wu Dynasty, the Northern Wu had a population of forty to fifty million.

In reality, the grasslands don't need to be managed, nor does Liaodong. There aren't many people in the south, and the three inland provinces are all living their lives peacefully.

No grain tax, no taxes, cheap grain, easy money, a warm home with wife and kids, and someone to take care of you if something goes wrong.

This is already a peaceful and prosperous era for most people.

The newly arrived southerners, although they had to pay taxes, provide grain, and perform labor service, had it much easier than under Wen Chao's rule, as they were not subject to various exorbitant taxes.

(End of this chapter)