The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Yang Zhen followed Yan San, crawling forward until they reached the edge of the woods. Just as he hid under a patch of low bushes, he heard Zhang Chen, who had already arrived, whispering in his ear.

"Let's not talk about that now! Let's keep going and take a closer look!"

Although Yang Zhen remained calm and composed, Zhang Chen and Yan San beside him could hear the excitement and agitation in his words.

Yang Zhen was naturally excited.

While crawling, he was so nervous that he thought he had been discovered and that all his efforts were in vain, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.

Now that they've arrived here, they've discovered that there are no Tartar sentries in the Black Forest. The suppressed fear in their hearts instantly dissipates, and anyone would be excited.

However, Yang Zhen's excitement was short-lived. Although he had crossed the barren grassland and the black forest in front of him was relatively safe, he had not yet achieved his goal.

After Yang Zhen finished speaking, Zhang Chen and Yan San immediately regained their composure. They remained silent, looked around, took down their bows and arrows, crouched down, and slowly moved towards places where the moonlight couldn't penetrate.

Walking with a stoop is not easy, but it is much easier than crawling on the mudflats.

Before long, the three of them arrived at the western edge of the Black Forest. Zhang Chen was about to step forward when he suddenly dodged back, almost causing Yan San, who was following closely behind, to stumble.

Seeing this, Yang Zhen quickly crouched behind a clump of bushes, and then saw Zhang Chen and Yan San, and also quickly retreated.

Yang Zhenzheng didn't know what was going on when he suddenly heard a coughing sound in the distance.

That cough nearly scared Yang Zhen out of his wits, and his heart almost jumped out of his throat!

Fortunately, Yang Zhen managed to calm himself down and didn't ask Zhang Chen any questions.

Just as Zhang Chen and Yan San had concealed themselves behind the bushes, Yang Zhen heard someone whispering in the distance, "Keep your voice down! Have you forgotten what happened to that Ahha at Lord Alsaran's house a few days ago? That man was just startled during his night patrol, and after shouting a couple of questions, he was captured and beheaded! If you want to die, don't drag everyone down with you!"

It turned out to be a small patrol team led by a Tatar named Aha.

Just as Yang Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, he heard the man who had been reprimanded retort in a low voice, "That was in the first half of the night, when the masters weren't sound asleep yet! Accusing him of causing a disturbance in the camp is enough for him to die! I just ate too much salt at dinner and my throat is sore! Besides, it's the second half of the night, when the masters are sound asleep. If you don't say anything, who would know?!"

No sooner had this man finished speaking than the man who had just reprimanded him whispered, "If the warden is serious, he doesn't care if it's the first or second half of the night, or if you ate something too salty and your throat is sore! You, a mere idiot, dare to argue with your masters?!"

"My master isn't even in the camp! Stop with the 'ah-ha-ha' nonsense, aren't you the one who's 'ah-ha'?! Aren't you afraid the camp master will have you beheaded too if you talk like that?!"

Clearly, this second-class Tartar, Aha, who was reprimanded for coughing, also despised Aha's identity and did not want others to mention it again.

"Shut up! Just because your master isn't in the camp doesn't mean you don't know your place. If the camp master finds a pretext to kill you, do you expect him to speak up for your respective masters?!"

At this moment, a third voice came, and it seemed to be right above his head, making Yang Zhen so nervous that his heart jumped into his throat.

Just then, a fourth voice rang out: "Hey—hey Little Six, have you been stealing your master's cured meat again?! Be careful your master finds out when he gets back, he'll tear you apart and skin you alive!!"

These words immediately elicited a chorus of soft chuckles.

Yang Zhen listened carefully again, but found that the voices of the patrolling group of Aha were fading into the distance and he could no longer hear them clearly.

Just as Yang Zhen was about to peek out, he heard Zhang Chen whisper, "It's around 1:45 AM now, and a six-man patrol team is passing by! Four are Han Chinese, and the other two are unidentified, but they're probably also Han Chinese! And judging from their conversation, they patrol twice a night, once in the first half and once in the second half!"

During this era, the Eight Banners nobles or armored men, and their bondservants were mainly composed of Han Chinese and Koreans. In the early days, they were mainly Koreans, but later, Han Chinese became the vast majority.

The patrol team consisted of six people. Four of them could speak Mandarin and were undoubtedly Han Chinese. The other two did not speak and were probably North Koreans who did not speak Mandarin.

After the patrol team passed by, everything was quiet except for the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops.

Yang Zhen and the other two lay on the ground and slowly crawled to the edge of the black forest. Looking up, they saw tree stumps left after the trees were cut down.

Beyond the tree stump, further ahead, a single tree trunk stands on the ground, and several logs are connected together by long planks to form a fence that encloses the large campsite.

The fence is about ten feet high, and the wood on it has been sharpened. Although there are gaps between the logs, it is impossible for a normal person to squeeze through.

It seems that the Tartars set up camp here by using local materials, simply cutting down trees and building this fence.

The patrol team that had just passed by was actually walking outside this fence.

The path the patrol took that day was not clearly a road, indicating that the Tartar nobles in the camp had not arranged for patrols to patrol this area regularly.

Yang Zhen looked at the fence, thinking about how to destroy it in the future, and also what to do next. This fence blocked the way, so how could he find out what was going on in the camp?

Just then, Zhang Chen's voice suddenly rang in their ears: "Sir! You all lie in ambush here. I'll go find a big tree over there, climb up, and check the situation in the camp!"

After saying this, Zhang Chen didn't wait for Yang Zhen's reply before crawling back down.

Yang Zhen turned to look, only to see Zhang Chen get up as soon as he returned to the woods, like a black ghost, crouching and darting about among the trees.

After a while, Zhang Chen seemed to have found a suitable target—a tall enough pine tree—and then slowly but without stopping climbed up it.

Yang Zhen twisted his neck, which hurt, so he stopped looking for Zhang Chen and focused on the movements around him and in the distance.

"Sir! This fence looks sturdy, but it's not. If we just remove those planks nailed to it, tie ropes to the logs, and have a few people pull together, it will fall down in no time! It just takes some effort—"

Just then, Yan San suddenly became excited and continued, "Sir, do you remember the rope ladders we used to use to get on and off the big ship?! Bring those rope ladders over, and we can climb up!"

Yang Zhen was thinking about how to get over the fence. Just now, he had even considered the issue of a ladder. However, he wasn't thinking about the rope ladders used to get on and off large ships at sea, but rather about using local materials to cut down trees that were ten feet tall and make a ladder on the spot.

Alternatively, a ladder tall enough could be built elsewhere and then transported over.

But he nipped the idea in the bud as soon as it came to mind.

Are you kidding me? In that split second of a crisis, you're here making a ladder on the spot?!

However, Yan San, who was beside Yang Zhen, had thought of something that Yang Zhen himself hadn't.

Yan San, who frequently changed small boats at sea, was very familiar with rope ladders. When he thought of ladders, the first thing that came to mind was rope ladders.

As soon as Yan San suggested it, Yang Zhen's eyes lit up. He became excited instantly, patted Yan San on the shoulder, and whispered to him, "Excellent! Excellent! Using rope ladders is a great idea! When we get back, we'll ask the naval camp to prepare plenty of rope ladders!"

When Yan San saw that his idea had been approved by Yang Zhen, he was overjoyed and felt that he had finally found the right person to serve.