Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 77 Self-receiving
In Hutou Town, every household stayed indoors.

In Zhoujia Village, a group of people trembled with fear.

Beiyuan County, the city gates are tightly closed.

Hong Enzhong stood on the city wall, watching closely, fearing that Beijiwu would come after them.

After waiting anxiously for an hour, Yang Xiangyun and Lü Siming came up together to report.

"My lord, only a little over a thousand people have returned. According to the last person to return, Beijiwu took two hundred prisoners, and the rest have probably met with misfortune."

Lu Siming reported separately: "Niu Qianhu was unfortunately killed, and more than fifty of his elite guards were also killed by Beijiwu. Most of those who surrendered this time were Hu people and newly conscripted soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Hong Enzhong sighed and then said helplessly, "Go tell the censor and have him report to the court."

"Yes!" Both of them knew that this matter would definitely need to be reported to the imperial court.

Arctic Martial's strength was astonishing; more than two thousand people went there and were slaughtered like melons by him.

This fierce general has seriously threatened the existence of the border troops. It is necessary to mobilize the imperial army's elite forces as soon as possible to suppress him. Otherwise, if he grows too powerful, he will pose a fatal threat to the entire border region.

The imperial censor personally wrote down the details of the incident and sent it to Luoyang.

Beiyuan County is 1,200 li away from Luoyang, and it takes at least two days to get there.

Beijiwu was leading the villagers in collecting corpses and spoils of war.

Bei Gong Dingbian and Ma Lao Er loaded one body onto the vehicle and then went to carry another body.

Looking at the corpses, Ma Lao Er sighed, "They were all killed with a single blow, just like when my eldest brother died."

Bei Gong Dingbian quickly whispered a warning: "Shh! Are you out of your mind?"

Ma Lao Er hunched his neck and glanced around. Fortunately, the battle line was too long, and Bei Ji Wu had already led his men to collect the corpses ahead and was not nearby.

"Sigh!" Ma Lao Er sighed again, "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm not surprised at all that the clan chief is going to rebel. I just didn't expect the clan chief to be such a good fighter."

Bei Gong Dingbian shared the same idea.

The fact that the Arctic Army was planning a rebellion has never been concealed.

It's possible that Beiji Wu didn't intend to rebel, but the entire Shan Nong tribe saw the word "rebellion" on Beiji Wu's face.

The women in the village were also driven out to work. Bei Jiwu led a group of women to supervise these young women and wives and mothers-in-law as they worked.

"Take off your clothes and put them in the basket; you can wash them later and still use them!"

The Arctic cavalryman, mounted on his horse, ate roasted dog meat while ordering, "Get to work! I've been killing for almost an hour today. You have three hours to collect the spoils!"

More than twenty oxcarts and donkey carts worked together to transport the corpses lying by the roadside to the farmland.

"Don't say I didn't tell you about this good thing. Bury one corpse per acre, and you won't lack fertilizer for the next ten years or so. Don't be greedy, or you'll burn the seedlings."

"Have the rest brought over by the Northern Plains Guard! One stone of grain for each corpse!"

Looking at the nearby corpses, Li Hong and the other women had no desire to do such a thing.

“Sir…” Li Hong pleaded, “Sir, I’m afraid of this.”

Arctic Warrior retorted, "When they came to kill you, why weren't you afraid? You couldn't help at all during the battle, and now you're complaining about disposing of corpses!"

"Are you afraid of the dead or the living? When they were alive, they could slash you with knives, hit you with their hands and mouths, and bite you! Now that I've killed them all, if you still dare to say you're scared and won't even lift a finger, then lie down and don't say a word. I'll stab you to death with one shot!"

"Those who don't want to work, those who can't bring themselves to do it, lie down and rest! I don't mind killing a few more people!"

Under the high-pressure intimidation of Arctic forces, both men and women continued to work in fear and trembling.

At this point, you shouldn't say you're scared; even if you are, you have to endure it.

Not everyone is afraid. Some people often see dead people and have done things like scavenging meat, clothes and money from the dead when they were fleeing famine.

Some of the younger generation have also experienced this. The world was actually at peace for only three or four years, and to this day, most places are still in the midst of war and disaster.

The most hardworking people were the Hu people, who could be divided into several groups: Turks, Mongols, Khitans, Tibetans, and Xianbeis.

These were all forces that had previously ruled this region, some for over twenty years, others for just a few years, before being overthrown.

Just like the surrender between tribes, no one felt much shame about surrendering.

Surrender is indeed wrong, and it is indeed a sign of weakness, but to elevate it to the point of committing suicide out of shame is absurd.

Men of the grasslands don't have such strong moral concepts; surrendering is as normal as robbery.

Especially when faced with a killing god like Beiji Wu, who single-handedly defeated more than two thousand people, surrendering to such a person would not damage one's own reputation.

The Hu people, skilled in robbery, quickly presented a complete set of armor to Beiji Wu.

Ögedei and two Hu men carried the armor over in three parts, then knelt on the ground and held up the clothes.

"Master, this is the heavy armor of a commander!"

Arctic Warrior remembered that commander because he was wearing the best clothes, so he prioritized killing him.

The armor is divided into three parts.

The upper part is a helmet that protects the head and back of the neck.

The central part of the shawl and shoulder guards are combined into one piece.

The lower part of the breastplate and leg guards are connected to each other as a separate piece, which is tied together with two shoulder straps and worn over the shoulder guards.

They would usually wear a cloak as well. However, in the face of a hail of arrows, the armor's defensive capabilities were still limited.

Looking at these Hu people, Beiji Wu smiled and said, "Alright, put them on my carriage. As for the rest of the armor, you can divide it among yourselves. One set for each person, only for those who can fight on the battlefield!"

Ögedei excitedly replied, "Yes, Master!"

Beijiwu smiled and said, "Just call me chieftain. You are not slaves, but warriors of my Shannong tribe."

Wokoji and the others said happily, "Thank you for your kind words, Chief!"

Arctic guerrillas need someone to help them with their tasks; they can't do everything themselves.

Some people lack the courage to fight and the bravery to protect themselves and their homes, so naturally they have no status.

Beijiwu rode his horse slowly toward the nearby women.

"Status is earned through fighting. In our mountain farmer tribe, power and status are obtained through strength, not through sweet words, and certainly not by living a comfortable life in the rear, which would make us the same as those warriors who risk their lives."

"Select a healthy prisoner from among those captives to ride back on horseback, and have the Beiyuan Guards come quickly to collect the body, lest it be eaten by dogs!"

"Each corpse can be redeemed with one shi of grain, and each prisoner can be redeemed with ten shi of grain. I have about three hundred prisoners here. Those who are willing to surrender do not need to go back. Those with families can go back and reunite with their loved ones."

Arctic militias cannot support that many people, and too many people would easily cause chaos.

One person can easily kill hundreds of people, making them much more difficult to manage.

The women in the house were useless, and Li Bing, Li Hong, Jiang Rong, and others were too afraid to speak.

At this moment, Ma Tuchai approached and said, "Sir, the people from the county are estimated to arrive tomorrow. What will we do here tonight?"

Beijiwu said directly, "Leave fifty people here to guard the place, and the rest of you go home to eat and sleep."

Ma Tuchai asked, "What if the government troops come? Fifty men can't hold out."

Beijiwu laughed and said, "I don't believe those people would dare to come here again. I'll rest in Hutou Town nearby today and arrange for some people to patrol. If anything happens, I'll just bang the gong and shout a few times."

Beijiwu said again, "Let's go find the people in Tiger Head Town for help. There's strength in numbers. Otherwise, when will we ever be able to deal with these 800-plus corpses?"

The people of Hutou Town hid at home, afraid to go out, but some things can't be avoided.

When Beijiwu led a group of Hu people to knock on the door of Wen Caizhu's house, Wen Caizhu came out to greet them with his son, who was so frightened that his legs were trembling.

The wealthy man, Wen, knelt on the ground, pleading, "Master Wu, spare my life! Master Wu, spare my life!"

Seeing the old man kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, Beijiwu felt much better for some reason.

"Fine! You must have done something to betray me. Tell me, what despicable thing have you done!"

This is a misunderstanding against Wen Zhaohu; Wen Zhaohu didn't have time to do that kind of thing at all.

The cavalry went to Beitian Village first, but were immediately ambushed by Beijiwu. The main force that followed had no time to rest in Hutou Town, let alone dare to stay there.

"I'm innocent!" Wen Zhaohu kowtowed again. "I'm truly innocent! I've never done anything to wrong Master Wu. Please, Master Wu, forgive me for our past relationship!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "I don't have much of a relationship with you, but I do have some relationship with your daughter-in-law. Go and cook, and feed the horses. I'll rest here tonight. You'll get plenty of benefits in a few days."

Wen Zhaohu hurriedly replied, "Yes! Yes! Master Wu!"

Wen Zhaohu and his son Wen Jinglun got up together, so frightened that they felt weak all over.

Beijiwu said to his men, "Don't hurt the local people or disturb those people. Find a dead horse by the roadside and roast it to eat. I've already sent you water from the canteen. Just wait patiently!"

Upon seeing this, Wokoji and his men did not enter the courtyard. Apart from two people guarding the gate, the rest went to patrol the roadside.

These Hu people did not need the Northern Emperor to instruct them on how to set up camp and rest, nor did they need the Northern Emperor to tell them how to guard the prisoners, or they could simply take something from the village haystacks to sleep and rest.

These people know more about what's happening in the military camp than Arctic Martial Arts, but they are indeed planning to work with Arctic Martial Arts for the time being.

Wokoji and others supervised the Wen Dynasty soldiers at the village entrance as they worked, and also supervised these former comrades as they cleaned up the bodies of their former colleagues.

In the morning, the three groups of people were still the same group, but now the differences are obvious: some are lying on the ground, some are bent over working, and some are standing up straight.

Beijiwu entered the house, and soon after, the young mistress Qiuyue took the initiative to bring tea over.

"Master Wu, please have some tea."

Qiu Yue dared not look at Bei Ji Wu. At this moment, she was restrained and cautious, no longer daring to regard Bei Ji Wu as a simple and honest young man.

Although Qiuyue didn't see what was happening outside, she could tell just by thinking about it what kind of ruthless person Beijiwu was.

Beijiwu smiled and said, "Just put it on the table."

"Yes." Qiuyue carefully placed the teacup on the table.

Beijiwu looked at Qiuyue, who had retreated two meters away, and at this woman who seemed knowledgeable and reasonable and was wearing a tight-fitting, high-necked silk robe.

"Don't worry, Qiuyue. There are no outsiders here. I've already spoken to your father-in-law. I'll be resting here tonight."

Arctic Warrior asked, "Would you like to sleep with me?"

The lives of Wen Zhaohu's entire family were in Beijiwu's hands, so Qiuyue dared not refuse and hurriedly lowered her head, replying, "I'm willing..."

Beijiwu felt the joy of an ancient general, stood up, walked over, and reached out to hug Qiuyue.

Take whatever you want!

(End of this chapter)