Chapter 72: The True Identity of "Pirate"

  （0072）

  Li Jiaxi pushed the horse down and Peng Bo came to report on the casualties in Maojiatun with tears in his eyes. This time, the loss of Maojiatun was indeed very heavy. More than 20 bodies have been found so far, including old people, women, and children. More than 50 houses were burned down. When mentioning the losses of Maojiatun, Peng Bo and others couldn't help but burst into loud wails.

  The other guards also looked on with a heavy heart, unable to hold back tears. Every gaze fell upon the three pirates who had been captured alive. The Tartars had been taken away, but these three unidentified figures remained here. They were neither Tartars nor seemed to be Han people, only ghosts knew what they were.

  Yang Qianqiang came to report on the battle situation.

  The guard team itself lost six people and thirteen were injured. Among the six who died, there were three new soldiers and three old soldiers. Four died from the enemy's arrowheads, and two died from the enemy's sneak attack. The total number of enemy corpses counted on the scene was eight. The total number of other "pirate" corpses counted on the scene was thirty-three. In addition to the four captured prisoners, a total of thirty-seven enemies were eliminated.

  "First, take the wounded back to Yangjia Village for treatment."

  "The bodies of the martyred warriors will be temporarily left in Maojiatun."

  Zhang nodded, his face solemn as he spoke to Yang Qianqiang.

  Yang Qianqiang agreed and went along with it.

  Zhang Zhun said to Peng Bo, "Take these three pirates down and interrogate them. Find a few villagers to see if anyone can communicate with them and get some information out of them. If nothing comes out, let the villagers handle it."

  Peng Bo agreed and made arrangements to go.

  Leave it to the villagers to handle, how they will handle it, even with their heels they can figure it out.

  This time, Majiatun killed more than 20 people and burned down dozens of houses. If these pirates were not minced to feed the dogs, it would be absolutely impossible. They should have anticipated such consequences when they landed.

  Zhang Jun ordered his troops to reassemble and tidy up their weapons and equipment.

  He wants to return to Yangjiatun as soon as possible.

  Zhang Zhun always felt that Wang Shixin's goal should still be Yangjia Village. The Tatars who appeared in Maojia Village were just a trick to lure the tiger away from its lair. He decided to leave Li Jiaxi and Peng Ke behind to continue handling the aftermath in Maojia Village, while he took Yang Qiang and Yin Fengyi back quickly. Sure enough, when they met Zhou Mingjia on their way back, who had come to report news.

  "Captain, Wang Fuhai has indeed made his move."

  "Where is it now?" Zhang Jun said calmly.

  Zou Ming sighed and said: "It's shrinking back again."

  Originally, when Zhang Zhun led the guard team to Maojiatun, the west gate of Fushan City suddenly opened, and dozens of fully armed servants rushed out, all carrying fire guns. The leader was none other than Wang Shengxin's eldest son, Wang Fujie. It seems that Wang Shengxin indeed wanted to take advantage of the guard team going to Maojiatun to launch a sneak attack on Yangjiatun, and make a big profit from it.

  Unfortunately, Yang Zhiyuan and others did not hide in time and were discovered by Wang Fuhai's scouts. The terrain around Fushan City was too flat, and the main force could not be ambushed at all. Wang Fuhai sensed that something was wrong and had just left the city when he retreated back. Yang Zhiyuan and others wanted to pursue him, but Wang Fuhai ran back into the city and closed the city gate again. The guard team did not have siege weapons and could only give up for the time being.

  "Never mind, I'll settle the score with him later."

  This time they didn't ambush Wang Fu Hai, and Zhang Zhun felt a little regretful.

  But fighting is originally a matter of thousands of changes, and it's impossible for everything to go smoothly. The other side is not a fool, and it's impossible for every step to follow one's own plan. This time we can't catch Wang Fu Hai, next time there will be another chance, no need to rush.

  Since Yangjiatun was safe and sound, Zhang Zhun led the troops back to Maojiatun. This time, Maojiatun suffered such a great loss, he wanted to take it personally, on everyone's angry emotions, pour some more oil, let this angry fire burn even more fiercely.

  Li Jiaxi arrived and reported: "Captain, the Tartar has spoken."

  It turned out that this Tartar called himself Wenbuduo, and indeed he was a Jianzhou Jurchen. Wenbuduo was originally under the command of Amin, one of the four great Beile of the Later Jin Dynasty. However, he was not the leader of these Tartars; it was the Tartar archer who was killed by Zhang Zhun that was the leader. The name of this Tartar archer was Nongfu, and he had previously been a personal soldier of Amin's, with extremely high archery skills. This time, when they raided Ma Family Village, it was Nongfu who led the troops.

  Amin was the nephew of Nurhaci, his father being Shurhazi, who was killed by Nurhaci in a struggle for power. As a result, Amin had long been at odds with Hong Taiji, who also held him in suspicion. During the conquest of Korea, Amin attempted to establish himself as an independent ruler there, but was opposed by his own subordinates and failed.

  After returning to Shenyang, Ah Min was soon stripped of his military power by Huang Taiji and placed under house arrest. His subordinates were also assigned to others. However, some Tatars who continued to be loyal to Ah Min escaped and scattered in all directions. Niu Fu was one of them. The one who led him to escape to Shandong was Shu Bulu, a former general under Ah Min.

  "Shuburu? Where is he?" Zhang Zhun immediately grasped the key point of the problem.

  "Wen Buduo refused to reveal anything. I'm worried that if we continue to use torture, he'll die, so I had no choice but to temporarily stop the interrogation." Li Jiaxi said regretfully.

  Zhang nodded slowly.

  He didn't expect to run into the Tartars so soon.

  But anyway, it's inevitable to fight against the Tartars sooner or later. As a great man once said, "It's better to strike early than late." He didn't believe that the Tartars would have such strong power in Shandong! By taking advantage of these scattered Tartars, they could also hone the combat skills of the guards.

  "What about those others?" Zhang Quan fell silent for a moment before continuing his inquiry.

  "It's a Korean! A Korean who would die for the Tartars!" Li Jiaxi replied.

  Other so-called pirates are actually Koreans, who defected to the Manchu. In the late years of Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty, during the reign of Hong Taiji of the Later Jin Dynasty, the emperor launched a large-scale war against Korea, forcing Korea to recognize the Later Jin as the suzerain state and pledge allegiance to it. Some Koreans defected to the Manchu and became their accomplices. Possibly due to some inexplicable psychological reasons, these Koreans were particularly cruel to the Han people after defecting to the Later Jin. A considerable number of Han people in Liaodong died at the hands of these pseudo-Manchus.

  When the Tartars conquered Korea, the general who led the army was Aminga. Therefore, the Koreans who surrendered to Aminga were the most numerous. These semi-Tartars were also the most cruel when dealing with the Han people. After Aminga was put under house arrest, these semi-Tartars lost their backer and scattered in all directions. Some continued to risk their lives for Aminga, while others defected to other Later Jin noble families and continued to serve as the Later Jin Tartars' sharp claws to kill Han people.

  In the past, Korea was always a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, under the protection of the Ming Dynasty. During the Wanli period, Japan invaded Korea, and the Ming army entered Korea to resist Japan and aid Korea, heavily defeating the Japanese army. The friendship between the two countries cannot be said to be shallow. However, after surrendering to the Tartars, some Koreans immediately turned against them, relying on the military power of the Tartars, trying to surpass the Ming Dynasty. They followed the Tartars in doing evil, with their hands stained with the blood of the Han people. The Han people of Liaodong gnash their teeth and hate these pseudo-Tartars to the bone.

  Of course, not all Koreans were willing to surrender to the Later Jin. In fact, within Korea's borders, the resistance movement against the Later Jin never stopped, and even among the royal nobility of Korea, there were those who refused to submit to the rule of the Later Jin. They would rather accept the Heavenly Dynasty as their suzerain state than accept the Later Jin's barbarian rule. However, they lacked sufficient strength to resist the Later Jin's tyranny. In short, it was all due to the Ming dynasty's own incompetence, unable to even protect its own vassal states.

  After some thought, Zhang Zhun asked again: "Are there still any Tartars on Fuzhou?"

  Li Jiaxi replied: "Yes. It is said that there are five more Tartars, and fifty or sixty Koreans, all of whom are willing to die for the Tartars. They attempted to garrison Fuzhou."

  After hesitating for a moment, Li Jiaxi continued: "It is said that there are also Han people... who are also selling their lives to the Tartars... probably around 30 or 40 people. The Tartars, Koreans, and Han people add up to over a hundred people."

  "These traitors! Japanese devils! More detestable than Tartars!"

  He raised his voice and shouted: "Yang Zhiyuan!"

  Yang Zhiyuan responded loudly: "Yes!"

  Zhang Zhun said: "Select two hundred elite warriors, gather at Maojiatun, there is a combat mission tonight! The personnel left behind will be led by Zou Mingjia to continue monitoring the movements of Fushan City!"

  Yang Zhiyuan replied: "Yes!"

  Zhang Zhun thought for a moment, then said: "Let Yang Zixuan's musketeer team also get ready! When the time comes, we'll set off together! The Tartars' archers are quite formidable, and we might need to use their muskets!"

  After a pause, Zhang Zhun said: "Order Yang Guohua to bring the warship over to Fuzhou! Let Yang Zixuan's musketeer team follow the warship. Doesn't he want to join the guard? Now is his chance to show himself!"

  Yang Zhiyuan excitedly agreed and went.

  "Peng Bo!"

  Zhang Zhun suddenly shouted again.

  "Arrived!"

  Peng Bo hastily responded.

  Zhang Zhun said: "Can Maojiatun prepare some ships? To eradicate the weeds, we must go to Fukuoka!"

  "No problem! I'll go find Third Master right away!"

  The "Third Old Master" in his mouth is Mao San, the most respected and prestigious old man in Ma Family Village, similar to Yang Kai De. He also went to the Liaodong front line and hated the Tartars to the bone. This time, Ma Family Village suffered heavy losses, and it was said that the leader was actually a Tartar, Old Master Mao San was so angry that his whole body trembled, shouting that even if he risked his old life, he would fight with the Tartars!

  It is said that the guards are going to kill their way to Fuku Island, and the parents of Maojiatun will naturally assist with all their might. Soon, three sampans were assembled, plus two when the Tartars landed, plus three captured by Zhang Zhun from Rubingke and others, a total of eight sampans, enough for the guards to deploy over a hundred people.

  "Yu Lin! I'm going with you to Fuzhou!"

  "Don't look at me as if I'm old! In my younger days, I also beheaded Tartars! One Tartar head was worth 50 taels of silver, which was set by the Emperor himself! I beheaded two Tartars and got 60 taels of silver! The remaining 40 taels were all deducted by the officials!"

  The Third Master personally came to find Zhang Zhun, expressing his determination.

  Zhang Zhun could only give Peng Bo a glance.

  "Third Master, we all know you're formidable... but if you take action and wipe out the Tartars, what will be left for us young people to do? Third Master, won't you give us younger generation a chance..."

  Peng Bo persuaded San Lao Ye to leave with a lot of nagging and coaxing.

  "Hand over those three Koreans to the villagers for disposal, no need to interrogate them!"

  Zhang Zhun said coldly again.

  Li Jiaxi agreed and went along with it.

  Soon, the three Koreans who had sold their lives for the Tartars were dragged to the open space in the middle of Ma Family Village and handed over to the angry villagers. As for how the villagers dealt with them, Zhang Zhun did not ask. Whether to kill or skin, swallow alive or peel alive, it was someone else's business, he had never done such cruel things.

  His eyes are now fixed tightly on Fukushima.