Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"Tell these words to the soldiers, then tear off your sleeves, wet them, and cover the mouths and noses of the soldiers and their horses. After resting for a while, we'll head straight for Yanzhou!"

Richard's words made perfect sense; the sandstorm was indeed in their favor, and the morale of the 20,000 Western Xia cavalrymen soared.

When they were more than ten miles from Yanzhou City, Richard stopped and waited until it was completely dark before charging into the city.

Inside the city, large areas of houses were burned to ruins, a result of Wang Cunli's actions before he left.

The remaining timber from the ruins had been carried by laborers to the breach in the city wall and piled up haphazardly in various places.

The rammed earth blocks that had been torn down from the city wall were also carried away and piled up with the timber to form a very simple fortification to prevent large groups of Western Xia cavalry from charging straight in.

Wang De's troops under Yao Pingzhong's command were definitely taken away by Li Yanxian, and some other troops were also taken away.

At this moment, there are two thousand elite cavalry, six thousand infantry, and over a thousand laborers in Yanzhou City.

Both soldiers and civilians took turns sleeping.

Moreover, they did not wear armor during the day because they could spot the enemy from afar and had ample time to don armor and defend themselves.

They must wear armor and rest at night, ready for battle at any time.

Inside a room, twenty or thirty laborers were lying down to rest.

They are only allowed to rest, not to sleep, as they have already slept during the day.

"Hey brother, where's your hometown?" Yang Danian asked.

Niu Fu replied, "Weinan."

Yang Danian said, "Weinan is too far away, how can we be conscripted to Yansui as laborers?"

Niu Fu said, "How would I know? Most of the laborers in my village have gone to Hehuang and Huaide."

"Life must be very good where you are," Yang Danian said enviously.

Chapter 3804 Severe Drought

Niu Fu smiled and said, "It's not bad. If the Zhu family were to rule this country, they would have a better future than the Zhao family. Can you grow wheat here?"

Yang Danian said, "Why plant wheat? There will be no harvest if the heavens dredge the land."

"Where we grow millet, it's very drought-resistant, we can still harvest a few grains even when it doesn't rain. Where you grow wheat?"

Niu Fu said, "Dry fields are mostly used for growing wheat, while paddy fields can also be used for growing rice."

Yang Danian said, “Don’t laugh at me. I only ate rice for the first time a few years ago when there was a great drought. I heard it was rice from Hanzhong that the government brought in to help with the disaster.”

"It tastes absolutely delicious, even better than plain steamed buns."

A laborer nearby laughed, "Yang Er, don't brag. Someone like you, how could you possibly have eaten a white flour bun?"

"Why can't your grandfather eat white flour steamed buns?" Yang Danian said angrily. "I've eaten them several times, and I'm already tired of them."

"Brother Niu, don't listen to his nonsense. I've eaten plenty of good food."

"I've eaten the cornmeal from your area too."

Niu Fu said, "Corn on the cob tastes best when it's tender. It can be roasted or boiled, and the kids love it."

"It doesn't taste good when you're old. Corn porridge is good for scraping away the oil, and it won't keep you full if you're thin and weak."

Yang Danian asked, "What do you think tender corn on the cob tastes like?"

Niu Fu laughed and said, "It's sweet, just like eating honey."

Yang Danian couldn't help but swallow hard: "If I have some free time, I'll go get a couple of tender corn cobs to eat."

“Thanks to the Emperor Emeritus, even sweet potato leaves are delicious,” Niu Fu said. “If we plant a few acres of sweet potatoes, we won’t have to worry about not having vegetables to eat for more than half a year.”

"The tender leaves are for humans to eat, and the old leaves are for animals. It's much more convenient than bean leaves."

Soybean leaves have long been considered a vegetable in China.

Especially for ordinary people at the bottom of society, they would pick bean leaves to cook porridge, but unfortunately the rough texture didn't taste good.

Now that sweet potatoes are available, and their leaves are plentiful and inexpensive, they have become the favorite vegetable for poor families.

Old sweet potato vines and leaves can also be used to feed livestock.

Yang Danian began to fantasize about the taste of sweet potatoes and sweet potato leaves, thinking that they must be delicious. He couldn't help but swallow his saliva as he thought about it.

"Woooooooo~"

"Dangdangdangdang~"

A horn sounded outside the city, and a gong was immediately struck on the city wall.

The sound of gongs echoed through the city, and a garrison officer rushed outside, shouting to the laborers, "Enemy attack! Grab your weapons and come out quickly!"

Yang Danian and his fellow villagers quickly stood up and nimbly grabbed their guns and went out of the house.

They belonged to the people of the outer town. All men under the age of 50 had to train during the off-season to guard against the Western Xia's cross-border raids.

If Yang Danian were ten years younger, he would definitely be serving in the army now.

Even though he was just a local militia member, Yang Danian had his own armor, which consisted of standard leather armor, standard long spears, and standard waist knives issued by the Commander's Office.

Niu Fu seemed a little flustered. His hometown was in Weinan, which was far from the border of Mingxia, and he had never practiced military exercises before.

Meanwhile, Richard, outside the city, was spotted by Ming scouts and immediately led his troops in a full-speed charge.

Twenty thousand Western Xia cavalry charged to the breaches in the city walls.

Because there were too many obstacles at the gap, the Western Xia cavalry dismounted and became infantrymen to cross the obstacles and enter the city.

……

The sandstorms haven't stopped, but they've weakened considerably by the time they reach Yanzhou, having little impact on the people and livestock living there.

Chapter 3805 The Chaotic Desert

If Yanzhou hadn't been subjected to a scorched-earth policy, the herders on the northern grasslands would still have been digging sand under the organization of their chiefs.

That is, to carry the sand that has been blown by the wind to the grasslands back to the edge of the desert by livestock as much as possible, even if it is a drop in the ocean, we will still do it.

The "sand-raking" campaign was the largest in scale during the Qing Dynasty, after all, it was a centralized and unified government, and a large population had already grown around the Mu Us Desert at that time.

Local officials in the Qing Dynasty organized the local farmers and herdsmen to push the sand piles back again and again, but they were blown back by the strong winds time and time again.

If Wen Huanzhang sends people to promote the use of checkerboard patterns, local farmers and herders would be very willing to implement it.

They don't ask to turn the desert into grassland, they only ask that the desert stop swallowing up the grassland!

Once the grass checkerboard pattern proves effective, the herders will likely worship Dean Zhu as a saint.

Nuwuji was a herdsman from northern Yanzhou. His name means "a person with great wisdom," and it's clear that it was given to him by a monk. If translated into Chinese, it would be written as "Huimao."

The Western Xia people had a specific system for translating names: the surname was transliterated, and the given name was translated semantically.

Nuwuji, who was positioned closer to the front, whispered, "Brother, slow down, watch out for ambushes!"

"Age" is a word borrowed from the Han Chinese. In the Tangut language, it should actually be called "Lang" (brothers or sisters call each other "Lang", brothers together call each other "Minggu", and sisters call their brothers "Mei".

From Yanzhou to Longzhou and Yinzhou, the Dangxiang people here were greatly influenced by the Han Chinese, and even their daily way of addressing family members was closer to the Han Chinese.

My elder brother's name is Sengjiu, which was also given to him by a monk. When translated into Chinese, it would be Zhihai.

Monk Jiu turned around and urged, "Hurry up!"

Nuwuji carefully turned over a clod of earth, ready to escape at any moment; he was unwilling to die with Richard.

Both brothers are shepherds, why are they working so hard?

The ethnic conflicts here are far less profound than the class conflicts.

The ruling class of Western Xia consisted of nobles, herdsmen, landowners, and monks.

The ruled classes, in order, were: artisans, farmers and herdsmen, and slaves.

As times progressed and mergers intensified, the various tribes of Western Xia were further subdivided into herdsmen and landowners under their chiefs.

Some people are both shepherds and landowners.

Shepherds and farmers were their tenants, while slaves were their private property.

This led to the trading of ranches and farmland.

Affected by years of war and under the pressure of heavy military service, everyone engaged in rampant looting while fighting.

In the early and middle periods after the founding of the Western Xia Dynasty, many herdsmen and farmers could become herdsmen and landowners by robbing others.

Therefore, the fighting from top to bottom was like a frenzy, and they often turned on each other while vying for spoils of war.

Gradually, this system failed. Even if the lower classes managed to seize valuables, they would be taken away by the middle and upper classes. The Western Xia had long since become a rigid class system.

The common people are increasingly disgusted with war because it only brings harm and no benefit.

What are the downsides?

Conscripting men for war would disrupt grazing and farming, and all the losses would be borne by the common people.

People like Nuwuji, who were low-level herders, hated the emperor, officials, nobles, chieftains, and herders, and of course, they also hated the Ming emperors, ministers, and soldiers.

His heart was filled with resentment. He just wanted to live a peaceful life herding livestock on the pastures—even though most of the profits from herding went to the herder, at least he could survive.

Chapter 3806 Defeated Soldiers

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Nuwuji had just passed through the gap in the city wall, which was full of obstacles, when he suddenly heard gunshots and saw flashes of light on both sides in the darkness.

Nuwuji cried out, "Brother, run!"

His brother, Sengjiu, was brave, or rather, foolish, and dreamed of winning battles and receiving rewards.

Under the double attack of muskets, Sengjiu heard a noise ahead and fearlessly charged into a street.

Rushing in would have been foolish.

The narrow alley ahead was blocked, with three four-wheeled carts unloaded from mules parked there.

There were gaps between the four-wheeled vehicles. When the monk tried to squeeze through the gaps, two long spears came thrusting at him.

Niu Fu, who had never practiced martial arts before, cried out in a mixture of panic and joy, "I've poked a barbarian! I've poked a barbarian..."

"He's not dead yet, pull out your gun and stab him again!" Yang Danian reminded him.

Niu Fu quickly pulled back his spear and thrust it out again.

Monk Jiu, eager to earn merit and reward, was thus stabbed to death by two militiamen.

He didn't consider that even if he made a great contribution, what reward would he receive?

A bag of grain, or a sheep?

He will remain a shepherd, never a shepherd lord; the upward mobility channels for ordinary people have long been blocked.

Even if he makes a great contribution, his merits will be taken away by his superiors!

Yang Danian and Niu Fu were extremely excited. They not only killed Seng Jiu, but also another Western Xia soldier.

The militia members in their alley were organized into a temporary fighting force.

They also calculate contributions based on the number of players, but the contributions are divided equally among the entire team, unless someone is so outstanding that their individual contribution must be counted.

"Bang bang bang!"

Another round of shooting.

Not only were four-wheeled vehicles blocking the alleys, but fortifications were also built on both sides of the main road, with Ming Dynasty musketeers firing from behind the fortifications.

Every breach in the city wall became an easy trap for the Western Xia soldiers once they entered!

It was too dark to see anything.

Nuwuji didn't know where his brother had gone, nor did he know whether his brother was alive or dead.

He only knew that his brother was an idiot; he had told his brother not to rush into things during the day, but now he was rushing to his death.

Many Western Xia soldiers turned and fled, and Nuwuji was among the deserters.

He heard Richard's angry shouts, as if he were ordering the soldiers to charge back in.