The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

"Emubu Taiji, please stay in the tent for a while. After I finish cleaning up this place, I will find a way to send you back to your tribe," Jia Chen said.

Taiji was a title used to refer to high-ranking nobles from various tribes during the Later Yuan Dynasty.

How to deal with Emubu is not Jia Chen's most important matter at the moment.

He had to clean up the battlefield and take stock of the spoils.

Those two northern barbarians have escaped, and they will surely send the news back. At that time, a large group of northern barbarians may come to retaliate at any time.

Unless the northern barbarians don't leave from this side.

Jia Chen had to prepare for the worst and seize every opportunity.

After settling things here, we must return to Qianshandun as soon as possible and reinforce its defensive fortifications.

Jia Chen already had some ideas in mind. Before, there weren't enough people, so digging trenches was too slow. Now, with the addition of Ding Heihu and the others, the manpower had increased several times.

Furthermore, we seized food from the northern barbarians, so we have no worries about food and drink.

Some things that couldn't be done before can now be put on the agenda.

"We will follow Jia Duntou's arrangements," Emubu said with a smile.

He wasn't stupid; these soldiers from the Great Hong Dynasty had just killed people from the Chahar tribe and were still in a bloodthirsty frenzy.

If you offend them, it would be too unjust to have yourself killed.

With only himself and two subordinates, how could he possibly be a match for them?

When those three people saw us, they mistook us for members of the Chahar tribe, and their eyes turned red as they tried to rush over and attack us.

Fortunately, I could speak Chinese and quickly explained. In addition, Zhao Zheng arrived in time. Otherwise, the three of us would probably have been decapitated like those bastards from the Chahar tribe.

Compared to falling into the hands of the Chahar tribe, the current situation is already very good.

As long as they hand him over to the Da Hong Dynasty government afterwards, he can return to the Tumed tribe.

Jia Chen called Zhou Shitou and Wu Jiangsheng over and told them to keep watch outside the tent. If Emubu needed anything, he could report it through them.

If we and our group survive, we can report it and save Omubu, which would be a great achievement.

"Duntou, those cattle and sheep belong to the Tumed tribe. If they were killed by the Chahar tribe, I don't think anyone would suspect anything," Zhao Zheng said quietly after he and Jia Chen left.

Zhao Zheng had clearly set his sights on the cattle and sheep.

Hundreds of cattle and sheep represent a considerable fortune.

"It's best to say nothing and let them disappear. That way, they won't reveal any flaws," Jia Chen said with a slight smile.

"That's right, that's right. The more you say, the more mistakes you make. It's better to keep quiet until no one knows. Crack!" Zhao Zheng made a slashing motion with his palm.

Jia Chen found it amusing; Zhao Zheng was truly audacious, no wonder he was a night watchman.

If this gets exposed, I'll be dead for sure.

If everything goes safely from here on out, Jia Chen might consider keeping the cattle and sheep for himself.

But right now, they are still in danger.

What's the point of keeping these cattle and sheep if the Chahar tribe comes to retaliate?

We simply can't hold our ground.

Killing someone to cover up a crime for a few cattle and sheep is utterly pointless.

"I was just saying, but saving them would be a great achievement for us," Jia Chen said with a smile.

Zhao Zheng chuckled twice and didn't say anything more.

He had no goodwill towards the various tribes on the grasslands, whether it was the Chahar tribe or the tribe of the Shunyi King; in his eyes, they were all northern barbarians.

Although the Tumed tribe has been relatively well-behaved in recent years, the Northern barbarians who come to plunder are actually from the Tumed tribe, but they either do not acknowledge it or pretend to be from other tribes.

"Let's go check on Old Sun," Jia Chen said to Zhao Zheng.

Jia Chen walked over to Sun Tiechong and Liu Cheng. There were five carriages there, loaded with goods, two of which were filled with wine, as could be seen from the wine jars.

"Who are you people?" Jia Chen asked casually.

"Sir, we're doing legitimate business." A middle-aged man in his forties standing next to Sun Tiechong hurriedly stepped forward when he saw Jia Chen approaching.

He was the caravan manager.

Sun Tiechong only untied the manager; the rest of the caravan remained bound.

Jia Chen looked at Sun Tiechong and Liu Cheng. Sun Tiechong said, "It's some tea, cotton cloth, wine, and so on."

According to the rules of the imperial court, the various tribes of the Later Yuan Dynasty could only conduct trade in the horse markets established in the border towns.

Even if other items are not prohibited, their private sale is forbidden.

Therefore, any business that involves private transactions with various tribes on the grasslands is not legitimate.

"We belong to the Sun family..." shouted one of the caravan members, whose hands and feet were bound.

Upon hearing this, Jia Chen's face darkened.

"Sun Shaozu?" Jia Chen asked in a deep voice.

"Exactly!" the steward replied.

He appeared humble, but inwardly he was displeased that Jia Chen addressed the head of the family by his given name.

It's outrageous that a mere underling dares to address the head of the household by his given name.

However, their lives are currently in the hands of the other party, so they will endure it for now.

Upon hearing this, Jia Chen couldn't help but snort coldly.

The Sun family is no good. Wasn't I exiled here because they found contraband such as ironware in their caravan?

When we were rescuing people, it was the caravan members who shouted loudly that alerted the Northern Barbarians, almost causing our entire army to be wiped out. We deserve to die.

"Brother Baisheng, how does it taste?" Liu Daniu approached Wang Baisheng at some point and asked.

After being sent here by Jia Chen, Wang Baisheng couldn't resist the sight of the two carts full of wine jars. He kept wandering around, pretending to check and count the goods. In the end, he couldn't help but open one of the jars and secretly took a sip.

Unexpectedly, Liu Daniu arrived at some point.

"Go away, go away, don't ask questions, you're just a kid." Wang Baisheng glanced at Jia Chen not far away, feeling a little guilty.

Jia Chen had obviously heard the commotion and looked over.

Wang Baisheng hurriedly shouted, "Boss, I'm just checking, there's nothing wrong with the wine..."

Somewhat embarrassed, he put the wine jar back in the car, letting slip that he had let something slip.

With a loud "crack," Wang Baisheng, perhaps in a bit of a panic, knocked over a wine jar in the car, which shattered on the ground.

"Huh?" Wang Baisheng was startled, but his expression changed when he saw what had spilled from the wine jar. "Dun Tou, come quick!"

Jia Chen ignored the caravan manager and walked towards Wang Baisheng first.

Seeing the black powder spilling from the broken wine jar, Jia Chen's face immediately darkened.

Gunpowder! This caravan is smuggling gunpowder.

……

"Boss, I've checked them all. Besides this broken one, there are seven other wine jars, all filled with gunpowder, about 500 jin in total." Wang Baisheng quickly checked all the wine jars.

Jia Mao dragged the caravan manager over.

When the matter was exposed, the manager showed no fear whatsoever.

"This foreman only has some gunpowder. I wonder if a hundred taels of silver would be enough to buy your permission to pass?" the manager said nonchalantly.

Jia Chen remained silent.

"Two hundred taels? Three hundred?"

The steward thought Jia Chen was not satisfied and felt that the money was not enough, so he continued to add more money.