The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

The Xiaoling River's estuary area is crisscrossed by waterways, truly deserving of its nickname "the river of a hundred streams."

The sandbars, large and small, are covered with withered reeds, one after another, dividing the waterways into countless channels. Navigating them is like navigating a maze.

If Yan San hadn't already been here once and figured out the way, and had let Yang Zhen lead the team alone, or even if Zhang Chen, who came from the night watchman's background, had led the team, they would have definitely gotten lost.

As Yang Zhen was filled with emotion, the centipede boat, steered by Yan San, turned left and right, and after about half an hour, entered a much narrower waterway.

After traveling upstream for about fifteen minutes, the power of the tidal bore had weakened considerably, and the centipede boats had to rely on the oarsmen's desperate rowing to move forward.

After a short while, under Yan San's helmsmanship, the centipede boat came to a steady stop beside a tall, dense thicket of dry reeds on the north bank of the river.

As Yang Zhenzheng was wondering, he heard Yan San whisper, "Sir! We stopped here last time. About two miles to the west is the Tartar camp! The Xiaoling River is narrow and shallow in front of it, and the sound of oars will be easily detected by the Tartar patrols! We can't go any further by boat!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen lowered his voice and said, "Yan San, since you've been here, we'll leave everything to you!"

After saying this, Yang Zhen looked at the boat under the moonlight. The other eleven people were all staring at him, and he felt that everyone was extremely nervous.

Yang Zhen looked around and could only hear the rustling of the reeds in the wind and the sound of the rising tide from the sea a few miles away. Apart from that, there was no other sound. It was so quiet that he could almost hear his own heartbeat.

Yang Zhen first let out a long sigh, then took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air, exhaled, and after calming down, finally said softly:

"We'll disembark now and then tow the boat into the reeds to hide it. Six rowers will stay behind and wait for our return! The rest of you, follow me to the west to scout. Yan San will lead the way, followed by Zhang Chen! Remember, under no circumstances should you make a sound!"

The purpose of this group's visit was to scout, so they did not bring any muskets. Instead, they borrowed crossbows and sabers from the artillery unit at Yang Zhen's request.

Upon hearing Yang Zhen's order, everyone remained silent, quickly checked their bows, crossbows, and swords, and then jumped off the boat from the side closest to the shore.

Because of the rising tide, the once dry reed marshes were now covered with a shallow layer of water. When the worn-out cotton boots were plunged into the water, they were instantly chilled to the bone.

But no one spoke up, and no one stopped. After jumping off the boat, they quickly followed Yang Zhen's instructions and worked together to drag the centipede boat, which was "not very big, but not small either," from the narrow river channel into the reeds.

Yang Zhen left the six oarsmen to guard the boat, then gestured to the west to set off. Yan San and Zhang Chen immediately took down their bows and arrows and set off first.

In the dense reeds, there was no visible path. Yan San carefully searched for the traces they had taken that morning, crouching low, gently pushing aside the reeds blocking his way, and quickly moving forward.

Yang Zhen followed closely behind Zhang Chen, holding a worn-out goose-feather knife in his hand, hunching over as he quickly caught up.

Yang Zhan'ao, along with Yang Zhen's other two personal guards, each wielded a crossbow loaded with short arrows, protecting Yang Zhen to the left, right, and behind him.

The group made a difficult journey westward through the reeds for about fifteen minutes. The reeds began to thin out and grow shorter, and the sandy ground beneath their feet began to dry out.

Yang Zhen knew that they would soon be leaving the reed-covered area.

Sure enough, after walking west for a while, Yan San and Zhang Chen, who were walking at the front, suddenly squatted down, almost causing Yang Zhen to bump into them.

Just then, Yan San turned around and whispered, "Sir! Once we cross the mudflats ahead, and the woods above them, we'll see the Tartar camp!"

Yang Zhen and his group were now on the edge of a large reed marshland. Further west was an open mudflat, above which was a dark forest.

This large, dark forest completely blocked Yang Zhen's view, making it impossible for him to see what lay behind the trees.

Seeing that Yang Zhen remained silent, Yan San continued, "This morning, we went westward along the reeds by the river, and when we reached the place where the mudflats meet the Xiaoling River, we overheard the conversation of the people fetching water from the northern camp!"

Upon hearing Yan San mention the conversation between the two groups of Tartars again, Yang Zhen suddenly had a thought and asked, "Yan San! Think again, what did those two groups of Tartars say?"

Yan San thought for a while and finally said, "What those Tartars were saying was that one of their sisters was very beautiful and their master had taken a liking to her. The other Tartars were saying that this Tartar would be rich after he went back! Oh, and they also seemed to be talking about whose master had a good temper and whose master had a bad temper, always beating and scolding him! That's all I heard at the time!"

At this moment, Yang Zhen seemed to have grasped something. The doubts he had when he first heard Yan San recount the intelligence he had gathered seemed to have been answered, but he couldn't be sure for the time being.

Most Han Chinese of this era, including those in the imperial court and the Liaodong army, were completely bewildered by the Manchu Eight Banners system, the armored soldiers system, and the bondservants system. They couldn't distinguish between the Eight Banners people, armored soldiers, Han Bannermen, and bondservants, and always thought that as long as they kept the money-tailed hat, they were Manchu bannermen.

Actually, that's not the case at all.

The conversation that Yan San and his companions overheard was very simple; it was just a few Tartars teasing another Tartar for having a pretty younger sister.

However, at this moment, Yang Zhen made a preliminary judgment that the Tartar camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River near Niangniang Palace was not the Tianyou Army camp of Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming.

After Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming surrendered to the Tartars, they were highly valued by the Tartar leader Huang Taiji, who allowed them to form a separate army and personally named it the Tianyou Army.

Later, Kong Youde was even granted the title of "Prince Gongshun" and Geng Zhongming was granted the title of "Prince Huaishun". Their troops were nominally on par with the Manchu Eight Banners, belonging to the Han Bannermen. Furthermore, other Eight Banners nobles were not allowed to arbitrarily seize their people and property.

This means that in the camps of Prince Gongshun Kong Youde and Prince Huaishun Geng Zhongming, there were no Jurchen Tartars serving as junior officers such as squad leaders or battalion commanders. Even if there were, they would not dare to easily seize the families of the Han Bannermen under their command.

In this era, although the entire Eight Banners nobility were the masters of Kong Youde or Geng Zhongming, the so-called "Heavenly Blessed Soldiers" under their command were not the bondservants of the Manchu Eight Banners.

Therefore, it can be concluded that this Tartar camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River was neither the camp of the "Heavenly Blessed Soldiers" under Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, nor the camp of the "Heavenly Assisted Soldiers" under Shang Kexi.

On the contrary, it is most likely that it is a group of elite Eight Banners soldiers led by a powerful Eight Banners nobleman. Only these people would bring a large number of bondservants with them when they are conscripted to fight.

"Aha" means slave, and "baoyi" means "domestic servant." So, "baoyi aha" means a domestic slave.

The armored soldiers under the Eight Banners were often called upon to go out to fight, and the household affairs were basically handled by their bondservants. Therefore, many armored soldiers under the Eight Banners had a large number of bondservants.

Even when they were out fighting, these people would serve them, such as taking care of warhorses, assisting in looting, guarding the looted property, and guarding the captured prisoners.

All the miscellaneous tasks and chores in these Tartar rear camps were handled by the bondservants (baoyi aha) accompanying the army, whose role was somewhat similar to that of the tutors forcibly conscripted by the Ming government army during battles.

At the edge of this reed marsh, in the dead of night, Yang Zhen looked at the dark woods not far ahead and imagined the Tartar camp behind the woods. Suddenly, he made a connection with the Tartar camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River near Niangniang Palace. It was unlikely to be the "Heavenly Blessed Soldiers" or "Heavenly Helpers" of the two Tartars. On the contrary, it was very likely to be the rear camp of the Tartar army on the outskirts of Songshan.

Upon thinking of this, Yang Zhen suddenly became excited, even more so than when he first heard that the Tartar camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River might be the "Two Tartars' Heavenly Blessed Soldiers".