I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

April 16th, near dusk.

Shen Nian and his group arrived at Shanhaiguan, known as the First Pass Under Heaven and the throat of the border region.

They will rest for three days at Qian'an Post Station inside Shanhaiguan before setting off again.

Beyond Shanhaiguan lies the Liaodong region, where the landscape becomes even more desolate, and post stations become even fewer.

Fortunately, the temperature has risen a bit and will continue to get warmer. If you go out in winter and sleep outdoors, you could freeze to death.

……

During this time, besides being busy writing letters and using her connections to help the Ji-Liao trade prosper, Shen Nian also learned about some affairs of the imperial court.

What surprised Shen Nian the most was that Zhao Jin, the Left Censor-in-Chief, retired after serving for less than two months!

The reason was that the young Wanli Emperor demanded 200,000 taels of silver from the Imperial Treasury for the wedding of the Prince of Lu. After Zhao Jin submitted three memorials opposing this to no avail, he angrily chose to retire.

Then, Shen Yiguan, a compiler of the Hanlin Academy, was exceptionally promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

Shen Yiguan was a man of some political talent, but he was extremely fond of forming cliques. When he served as the Left Censor-in-Chief, the officials in charge of remonstrance were likely to be cultivated into tools for factional struggles.

Shen Nian disliked him intensely, but knowing that he was currently the one being favored, she knew that nothing she said would make a difference.

……

Three days later, Shen Nian and his party arrived outside Shanhaiguan.

Along the official post road connecting the capital and Liaodong, the grass and trees are lush and green, the air is fresh, and in front of them are continuous mountains that disappear into the clouds.

Whenever literary figures come here and see such stunning scenery, they can't help but compose a poem.

In order to understand the local conditions, Shen Nian no longer chose to take a carriage. Instead, he rode at the forefront with Qi Hu and more than 30 guards. Whenever they encountered a market or garrison, they would stop to inspect it.

……

Four days later, Shen Nian and his party arrived in the territory of Ningyuanwei, an important town in western Liaoning.

It was afternoon that day.

The weather was clear and cloudless.

Shen Nian and more than 30 others, dressed in plain clothes, sped along the official road, in high spirits.

Just then, a plainclothes guard in charge of the outpost came to Shen Nian and reported, "Minister, there is a convoy of prisoners being transported ahead, parked on the side of the road, which is affecting traffic. Should we move them?"

Shen Nian smiled and said, "No need. Notify the convoy behind to rest for half an hour. This kind of weather is not suitable for traveling, but for enjoying the scenery and basking in the sun."

"Let's go, let's see what kind of prisoners are up ahead?"

After saying that, Shen Nian squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and galloped forward, with the guards quickly following behind.

About a quarter of an hour later.

Shen Nian spotted the convoy transporting prisoners at a corner.

The convoy consisted of about fifty or sixty soldiers, all wearing gray turbans and blue military uniforms. There were eight prison vans, each carrying five to seven prisoners.

Most of these prisoners were young and middle-aged men.

They were dressed in thin clothes and crammed into a small cage, with no room to even squat down. From a great distance, Shen Nian could smell a strong, foul odor.

Shen Nian frowned slightly.

Let alone humans, even a herd of livestock would easily die if kept like this.

Shen Nian arrived in front of the convoy and took out a waist tag from his waist. The tag was engraved with the three characters "Jinyiwei" (Imperial Guard).

When the Embroidered Uniform Guard was in the capital, they were the emperor's bodyguards; when they left the capital, they became imperial envoys.

The waist tokens of the Embroidered Uniform Guards were very useful.

"So it's Your Excellency, the Imperial Envoy! My apologies for my rudeness!" A burly, middle-aged man of about forty years old, who was at the head of the group, bowed to Shen Nian. The others also quickly bowed in return.

Shen Nian asked, "What crimes have these prisoners committed? Where are you taking them?"

"Your Excellency, they are all deserters. We must capture them and bring them to Ningyuan City for interrogation and sentencing!" the middle-aged man said.

"deserter?"

Shen Nian moved closer to the prison vans and saw that there were six people crammed into one of them.

Two of them were thin, bony boys who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. They were sandwiched between the other four, their faces pale, clearly barely breathing.

"Deserters who haven't crossed the border to defect to the enemy are not guilty of a capital offense. If you keep them locked up like this, how can they possibly make it to Ningyuanwei?"

At this time.

One soldier said with great pride, "We've already disposed of five corpses. These kinds of people don't deserve to die!"

Shen Nian frowned slightly.

"Open the cages, let them out, feed them some food and water!"

"Imperial Envoy, we will arrive at Ningyuan City in four days. We have not prepared any provisions for them. If you are kind-hearted, please feed them your provisions. However, opening the cages is absolutely out of the question. Otherwise, our Commander Wei will probably kill me!"

That was said in a rather sarcastic tone.

Swish!
Qi Hu, standing to the side, drew his long sword from his waist and glared at her, saying, "Open the cage now if I tell you to, or I'll take your life!"

In the presence of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, not to mention ordinary soldiers, even some guerrillas and lieutenants dared not disobey orders.

"Open it! Open it now!" The middle-aged man froze, too afraid to move.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

One by one, the cages were opened, and the deserters crawled out and collapsed to the ground.

Shen Nian thought for a moment and said, "Hand over these deserters to me. You can return to Ningyuan City on your own. After I arrive in Ningyuan City, I will give your commander an explanation. Take the prison carts away as well. We can't keep them locked up inside any longer!"

Shen Nian felt that if these people were to take the deserters back to Ningyuan City, half of them would likely still die.

Therefore, he planned to personally lead these people to Ningyuan City, and on the way, he could also inquire about the situation of deserters in Liaodong.

Compared to other border towns, the desertion situation among soldiers in Liaodong Garrison was the most serious.

Because Li Chengliang favored recruited soldiers, he treated them like servants, giving them high military pay, while he frequently embezzled the pay of the garrison soldiers for his own use.

His reputation for "not caring for his soldiers" spread far and wide. If it weren't for his outstanding military achievements, he would have been impeached and dismissed from office long ago.

He also had his difficulties. The soldiers in the border towns and garrisons, though seemingly soldiers, were actually civilians, and feeding them was a huge expense.

"This...this...this isn't appropriate, is it? We'll be punished if we don't finish our task!"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard intercepted you. Who dares to punish you? We'll be going to Ningyuan City later too!" Qi Hu gripped his long sword, his face filled with murderous intent.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave it to you, I'll leave it to you!" the middle-aged man said, his voice trembling.

A moment later, the soldiers sped away with the empty prison cart, leaving the forty-eight deserters behind.

The deserters were all listless and exhausted.

Even if they were allowed to escape now, they probably wouldn't be able to get more than a mile.

"Have the cooks in the convoy behind prepare enough food for one hundred people, set up cooking pots, and let these people eat their fill first!" Shen Nian said.

Shen Nian's group was a large group of a thousand people.

The grain they carried was enough for at least three days, and they would encounter a post station every two days, making it easy to feed them.

The deserters became excited when they heard they would soon have food. (End of Chapter)