Chapter 866: I Want to Join the Great Ming
Bo'erzhijin Elinchen erupted in anger. "Wushen, what audacity!"
His guards and the tribal chiefs who supported him immediately rose, stepping forward, looking ready for a confrontation.
To his surprise, standing behind the Wushen tribe leader were the chieftains of Otok, Bersut, Dalat, Hangjin, and a large contingent of smaller tribes. All of them instantly rose, taking a step forward to shield the Wushen tribe leader.
The dynamics in the council hall shifted dramatically in an instant.
Bo'erzhijin Elinchen's expression hardened. "You!"
The various chieftains said nothing, simply resting their hands on their sword hilts.
The Wushen tribe leader burst into hearty laughter. "My Wushen tribe opposes surrendering to the Later Jin. What are the Later Jin? A band of Manchu barbarians! What are we? The noble descendants of Genghis Khan! How can we possibly surrender to barbarians? We should continue our old strategy: trade with the Han, ally with the Han, and together, attack those Manchu barbarians!"
The chieftains behind him collectively declared, "The Wushen tribe leader is right! The Han are wealthy; only by trading with them can we survive. There's no future in siding with barbarians."
Bo'erzhijin Elinchen's fury mounted. "The Han are weak! They can't defeat the Later Jin; they're bound to be destroyed by them sooner or later. If we side with the Han now, we'll be annihilated by the Later Jin right alongside them!"
The chieftains behind him all wore awkward expressions. Not long ago, they had been thoroughly 'educated' by Zao Ying's cavalry—a harsh lesson indeed. Now, if anyone claimed the Han were weak, wouldn't that imply that their tribes, who couldn't even defeat the Han, were even weaker?
The Otok chieftain declared, "Whoever dares to say the Han are weak, I will be the first to disagree! The Han are absolutely stronger than the Manchu."
The Bersut chieftain added, "There's no one in this world stronger than the Han. We can still hold our own against the Later Jin, but fighting the Han leaves us no power to even retaliate."
Bo'erzhijin Elinchen snapped, "Are you all out of your damn minds?"
The chieftains regarded him with odd glances.
The Wushen tribe leader scoffed, "In any case, we will not agree to surrender to the Later Jin. Bo'erzhijin Elinchen, if you insist on surrendering to them, then don't expect any courtesy from us."
Bo'erzhijin Elinchen sneered, "Fine, fine, fine! So, you're rebelling, are you? If I'm going to be damn afraid of you, then I'm no true descendant of Genghis Khan!"
The Wushen tribe leader replied, "Good! Then let's settle this on horseback."
He turned around and shouted loudly, "Let's go!"
A large group of chieftains immediately followed behind him, turning to exit the council hall.
Bo'erzhijin Elinchen roared from behind them, "Come back! All of you, come back!"
The group ignored him completely. Their alpha wolf was now the Wushen tribe leader, not Bo'erzhijin Elinchen.
In an instant, the Ordos tribe fractured into two major factions.
A large number of tribes rallied under Bo'erzhijin Elinchen's banner.
Another large contingent of tribes gathered under the Wushen tribe leader's banner.
Both sides knew well that a major war was now inevitable—
At the Cavalry Battalion's training grounds.
A group of "reserve cavalrymen" watched the veteran cavalrymen galloping back and forth on the training field, their eyes filled with envy.
These "reserve cavalrymen" were not actually new recruits.
They had been part of the Cavalry Battalion for a very long time; however, Gao Family Village's horse supply had always been insufficient, leaving these "reserve cavalrymen" without their own warhorses.
They could only borrow the veteran soldiers' warhorses during training to practice horsemanship and train in reloading flintlock rifles and firing them from horseback.
"It's truly agonizing without a horse," a reserve cavalryman sighed. "Perhaps we'll only get a chance to fight when the veterans retire?"
Another reserve cavalryman whispered, "If someone is wounded or killed in battle, we might also..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he slapped himself with a sharp "smack." "I was wrong," he declared. "Such foolish thoughts shouldn't even cross my mind."
The nearby reserve cavalrymen glanced at him, sighed, and then simultaneously slapped themselves with a "smack."
That dark thought, they had actually harbored as well, so they all deserved the slap.
"Not bad," the Cotton-Thread Heavenly Lord on the chest of the reserve cavalryman who had first slapped himself suddenly spoke, "you even knew to hit yourselves."
The reserve cavalrymen jumped in surprise. "Ah, greetings, Heavenly Lord!"
The Cotton-Thread Heavenly Lord chuckled. "It's quite normal for humans to occasionally have dark, self-serving thoughts. As long as you don't act on them, as long as you don't put them into practice, you can still be considered good people and can be forgiven."
The reserve cavalrymen blushed, feeling awkward.
The Cotton-Thread Heavenly Lord continued, "Don't worry, you all. A batch of new warhorses will arrive very soon."
Everyone exclaimed, "Oh? Really?"
The Cotton-Thread Heavenly Lord said, "They'll be here any moment now!"
No sooner had the Heavenly Lord's words fallen than a cavalry troop appeared on the distant southern official road. Leading them was none other than Tie Niaofei.
Before even reaching the Cavalry Battalion's entrance, he waved from afar at the camp wall, laughing heartily. "Instructor Zao, Zheng Daniu, long time no see!"
Zao Ying and Zheng Daniu, who were awkwardly chatting and fostering their camaraderie on the camp wall, were also overjoyed. "Steward Tie! It truly has been a long time."
Tie Niaofei, Zao Ying, and Zheng Daniu were old friends. They had spent a long time together in Shanxi, transporting supplies to the border armies of Xuanfu and Datong, while also pursuing the Eight Great Jin Merchants.
But ever since the Heavenly Lord turned his attention to the Mongolian grasslands and relocated the Cavalry Battalion from Shanxi back to Wangjia Fork Fortress in northern Shaanxi, the three had been separated.
Meeting again after a long separation was a source of immeasurable joy.
Zao Ying laughed loudly, "Steward Tie, what wind brings you to northern Shaanxi?"
Tie Niaofei burst into hearty laughter. "Delivering goods, of course! What else could I do for the Heavenly Lord besides delivering goods? What I've brought you this time are warhorses seized from the Manchu dogs during the defense of Xuanfu and Datong."
At these words, Zao Ying was instantly overjoyed.
Gao Family Village was in great need of warhorses! Receiving a large supply of them was truly cause for great celebration.
"Hahaha," she boomed, "now those reserve cavalrymen in my Cavalry Battalion finally have warhorses of their own!"
Tie Niaofei smiled. "Once I hand over the warhorses to you, I'll be heading back to Shanxi. I still need to continue delivering supplies to the border armies of Xuanfu and Datong. Those border armies are truly miserable; the imperial court completely disregards their plight. If no one delivers supplies, they won't even survive the winter and will have no choice but to rebel."
Zao Ying sighed deeply. "I finally understand Lao Nanfeng."
Tie Niaofei laughed. "That guy hardly needs anyone's understanding, does he? He only cares about what songs and dances are being performed tonight at the Puzhou Grand Theater, how many beautiful women are dancing on stage, and whether any of them will reveal a slender waist, swaying enticingly."
Zao Ying was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter. "You're right, that's just how he is, hahahaha."
Comments