Chapter 8: The Birth of the Sophora japonica Tree
The soldiers in the camp acted quickly, and the two heads were quickly chopped off and dealt with. The armor of several flag soldiers was also stripped off, and the armor plates and cotton clothes inside could be recycled. The waist knives, Qing bows, throat guards, armpit guards, and heart guards could be directly given to the Ming army.

The helmets were not suitable, because most of the Ming soldiers had their hair in a bun, so there was space on the top of the helmets. Generally, the Ming army helmets were larger than the Jiannu iron helmets. If the Ming soldiers wore Jiannu helmets, the bun on the top of their heads would expose part of their necks, which was a disadvantage on the battlefield.

"Two more horses. The horses I raise are much better than the donkeys and horses of the Liaoxi Army."

At this special time point in the late Ming Dynasty, even Mongolian horses were only slightly stronger than donkeys, and only the Jiannu horses looked like horses.

There were exactly six horses. Li Hao decided to change horses for himself and his servants, so that they would have a chance to catch up with the Tartars in the next battle.

Due to insufficient horsepower, the battle from this afternoon to evening was very passive.

"Master Li, are you thinking of selling your horses? My captain is actively buying horses." A soldier in the camp asked while stripping off the flag bearer's tights.

"I don't want to sell my horse, and I don't have enough servants. Are the twelve of you a team? What is the organization above that? Is there a general flag or a centurion?"

There was no fixed rule for the basic organization of the Ming army. The army commander could do whatever he wanted. The civilian officials in charge of mobilizing troops only needed to know how many combat troops an officer had under his command.

It was a bit rare for twelve battalions of soldiers to act together. According to Li Hao's memory, it seemed that only when Qi Jiguang organized the Qi Family Army and the Jizhen Cheying to fight against the Japanese pirates had a twelve-person organization appeared.

"We are a team. Zuqi General is in charge of our three teams. Above us are Baizong, Bazong and Qianzong. This is the organization method invented by Grandpa Qi, and Marshal Sun continued to use it." A soldier answered.

It was actually Qi Jiguang's chariot camp organization method, with twelve people in a team, three teams in a flag, three flags in a division, three divisions in a bureau, and three bureaus in a battalion.

"General Zu?" Li Hao keenly grasped the key information, "Is it the general of the Zu family? The chief officer of your camp is Zu Dashou?"

Ningyuanwei City is the old nest of the Zu family generals. Ever since Zu Chengxun was promoted to deputy general with seven heads, the Zu family began to rise. In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Zu Dashou was the commander of the middle army with a battalion of his own. In the second year of the Tianqi reign, after Guangning Wei was conquered by the Later Jin, the 43-year-old Zu Dashou fled to Juehua Island where his family's property was located, which is a large island to the east of Ningyuanwei City.

When Sun Chengzong was in charge of western Liaoning, Zu Dashou was responsible for the construction of Ningyuan City Wall. He then basically participated in all major battles between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty until he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty for the second time in the 15th year of Chongzhen.

According to the official history of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, if Zu Dashou had not surrendered to the Qing twice and provided Huang Taiji with a large number of military and political talents, the Later Jin's entry into the Pass would not have been so smooth.

Although he advocated resistance against the Qing Dynasty, his actions actually facilitated the entry of the Later Jin into the Pass, which is quite abstract.

Of course, there were many abstract people in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Zu Dashou’s most famous nephew, Wu Sangui, was even more abstract than Zu Dashou.

Closer to home.

Ningyuan City originally had two camps. Zu Jiajiang controlled one camp, and the other camp was commanded by Zhu Mei. Some of the three vanguard camps of Youtun and Jinzhou withdrew to Shanhaiguan, while others withdrew to Ningyuan, Qiantun and other places. It is hard to say how many standard camps there are in Ningyuan City now.

"Master Li, our general is our grandfather." Seeing that Captain Li actually knew his top superior, the soldiers answered in a slightly boastful tone.

"When I have time, I'd like to get closer to the Zu family generals." Li Hao said casually.

Wu Sangui had been close to his uncle Zu Dashou since he was a child. At this time, the uncle and nephew must be in Ningyuan City. Li Hao wanted to find an opportunity to get closer to the two of them, and then kill them when he had time, so that the Zu family would not bully others.

Of course, Li Hao has many people to kill. His biggest enemy at the moment is not the old slaves of the Later Jin Dynasty and their sons Huang Taiji, Daishan, Duoduo, Dorgon and others, because no one else can chop off the heads of these people.

Li Hao's biggest enemy now is [Born under the Sophora Tree] Zhu Youjian. This idiot in the city has killed many people Li Hao wanted to kill. He is Li Baihu's biggest competitor.

If you act too late, the future Emperor Chongzhen will snatch away your heads and kd (kd is the ratio of kills to deaths).

Li Hao was determined to kill Yuan Dudu, and he had not yet decided when and how to kill him, but he must kill Yuan Dudu before the second year of Chongzhen to save Dudu from the suffering of Beijing roast duck. He also wanted to kill other famous people such as Qian Qianyi, Liu Zeqing, Ma Shiying, Hong Chengchou, etc.

You will have to suffer a little, and I, Li Hao, will take the blame.

"Except for the head, bow and armor, you two can take whatever you like. Keep the iron helmet, and I will order it to be destroyed."

The centurion said this after a soldier in the camp presented his stripped pantyhose and other sundries to Li Hao with both hands as if he were offering treasures.

The rat-tail braids of these Tartars are very clear, so they do not need to use Qing helmets to enhance their persuasiveness. However, when the Ming army in western Liaoning takes the heads of Han people who have shaved their heads and rebelled in southern Liaoning to claim credit, they will use the Qing helmets seized previously.

Therefore, it would be best if these Qing helmets were destroyed under the supervision of Li Hao.

The soldiers from both camps were overjoyed and kowtowed to Li Hao happily, then changed their clothes into leather boots, earmuffs and other items from the Later Jin soldiers.

After waiting for a long time, the eight people who were chasing Bayala returned on horseback. After seeing that Li Hao had dealt with the two Tartars, everyone started to praise him again.

It was completely dark, with a cold wind howling. After sorting out the spoils, the team leader Hou Shixian led the way and led the group to the convoy retreating southward. Their destination for the night was a military village.

The four headless bodies of the Tartars were stripped clean and left where they were. If there was enough time, these bodies could still be used for something, but after a night they would be frozen stiff and most likely covered by the wind and snow, so Li Hao just left them there.

Perhaps a lucky wild dog would follow the scent and come here. For the Tartars, being eaten by a wild dog would be a decent ending.

If a Tartar fell alive into the hands of the fleeing Han people in southern Liaoning or the tens of thousands of refugees near Shanhaiguan, they would be treated much more warmly than the people in Beijing treated Yuan Chonghuan, who was tortured to death by slicing. When Yuan Dudu was tortured by slicing, people in Beijing bought Dudu's meat for a few coins and fried it to eat, but the people in Shanhaiguan would eat the living Tartars directly without even using a knife to slice them.

It tastes best when cooked rare.

……

"Brother, what should we do tomorrow?"

After everyone settled down in a evacuated military village, Li Tianyang asked his cousin before going to sleep.

The other four servants were also crowded in this room. Li Hao looked around and found that their morale was very high. They might all be thinking of chopping off a Tartar's head in exchange for money and promotion.

"Let's go back to Ningyuan. Since I have brought a large army here, there will be no shortage of Tartars to kill. Let's go to Ningyuan to rest."

When the five servants heard about the retreat, they were a little unhappy. They looked at each other, and then Yang Shigong took the lead in expressing their ideas.

"Master Baizai, the first two wars were prepared by 130,000 troops. The city was strong and the moat was deep, so it took only a few days to break the city. Now I have been gathering my strength for three years, and it is hard to say whether Ningyuan City can hold out for two days. Brothers, do you still want to save your lives and fight the Tartars? Or should we retreat to Shanhaiguan?"

It turns out that they had this in mind.

"Don't worry. I'm not coming for Ningyuan City this time. The grain output under my rule in the past three years is too little. It can't feed the Tartars and the surrendered Han people, so I'm killing them. There are some food and money on Juehua Island, and that's my goal. The Eight Banners can't even maintain Jinzhou, Youtun, and Dalinghe. What do they want Ningyuan City for? Are they going to stick their heads out to let Liaozhen fight?"

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(End of this chapter)