Chapter 909 - 754: Old Friends at Meihua Ferry Crossing

Chen Ji and Yuan Xing looked around. These over two hundred infantrymen were either too old, thirty-five or older, or too young, fourteen or younger, with no more than twenty able-bodied men among them.

Only these twenty or so able-bodied infantrymen had swords that weren’t rusty or chipped, wearing unknown cloth armor of various colors and styles.

Chen Ji clasped his hands politely and said, "Lord, we are truly not deserters, just local villagers. Otherwise, you can check my palm; I’m a Scholar, and there’s not a trace of callus on my hands."

The commander leaned forward, pressing for answers with a stern voice, "Where are your household Yellow Registers?"

"Replying to Lord, no one carries around their household Yellow Registers."

"And your travel permits?"

"Lost."

In the exchange between Chen Ji and the commander, the commander burst into anger, "Still claiming you’re not deserters? Men, detain them and bring them to Jingjiang to fight the pirates. After the battle, take them to Marshal Lv."

Anti-pirate campaign?

Chen Ji and Old Ears exchanged glances.

The old soldiers surrounded them, pushing and shoving. Yuan Xi and the others were about to resist when Chen Ji raised his hands, "Don’t fight. We’ll go with you."

The commander was satisfied, "Very good. Those who understand the situation are wise. I am Zheng Jiye, a thousand households commander of the Southern Zhili Anti-Japanese Army. Once you reach Jingjiang and cut down pirate heads, I’ll intercede with Marshal Lv and claim you were separated by accident, not deserters..."

At this point, he looked at Zhou Chang’s back with disdain, "How did you end up so poorly you can’t even wear a decent shirt? Following my Anti-Japanese Army won’t make you rich, but at least you won’t have to go bare-backed."

Zhou Chang saw Zheng Jiye’s gaze, instinctively touched his back, then turned to Yuan Xing with a mouthed, silent question, as Yuan Xing’s eyes drifted to the distance.

Zheng Jiye gestured, "Someone, give him a set of clothes."

An old soldier stepped forward, took a patched spring jacket from his shoulder bag, and tossed it to Zhou Chang, who donned it without fuss.

Zheng Jiye appraised Chen Ji and his companions, "Have you eaten yet?"

Jiang Chai spoke in a muffled voice, "Not yet."

Zheng Jiye gestured, "Give them each two flatbreads, seeing they’re not even better off than deserters."

Over two hundred old soldiers laughed, and after Chen Ji and the others took the bread, an old soldier tossed a sword toward them.

Yuan Xing drew the broadsword with a clang, displeased at the chipped rusty sword, "Couldn’t you at least give us some decent swords?"

Zheng Jiye sneered, "Deserters dreaming of good swords?"

He patted the half-yard long Japanese sword across his saddle, "How about this sword? It’s a Hundred-refined Steel Wild Great Sword, even Rangers aren’t qualified to use it, only a servant can wear it. If you’re a real man, grab one from the pirates yourself. According to our Lv Family Army rules, what you take is yours."

Yuan Xing glanced at the Japanese sword on his opponent’s waist, let out a couple of cold laughs, and said no more.

Zheng Jiye looked at Zhaolei with curiosity, asking Chen Ji, "Kid, you have a fine horse there, where’s it from?"

Chen Ji glanced at Zhaolei, "A friend gave it."

Zhaolei snorted, its chest and lungs rumbling like thunder.

Zheng Jiye praised, "This horse has strength! Kid, how much to sell it?"

Chen Ji shook his head, "Not selling."

Zheng Jiye regrettably replied, "Not selling then!"

Then, he turned his horse around to lead the way, with over two hundred infantrymen surrounding Chen Ji and the others, walking slowly. As they walked, the formation loosened, and the old soldiers gathered in groups chatting, not maintaining any semblance of proper formation.

At this pace, they couldn’t cover forty li in a day.

Chen Ji walked in the troop with Old Ears, quietly asking, "You’ve seen so much, which army is this?"

Old Ears smacked his lips, "It’s been over ten years since I last came to Jiangnan, never heard of such an army before, must be a recently formed one."

Chen Ji, puzzled, asked, "Which army used to fight the pirates?"

Old Ears thought for a moment, "No one volunteered to fight pirates before. Wherever pirates appeared, local militia would block them, fighting if possible, fleeing if not. Jiangnan gentry didn’t care about pirates unless they caused trouble near Suzhou, Yangzhou, Jinling, or invaded county towns, which they rarely bothered with."

Chen Ji continued, "Are the pirates powerful?"

Yuan Xing leaned in and spoke softly, "Foster father, I’m aware of this. Pirates are not what they used to be, previously just scattered forces, only daring to cause trouble in Korea. Last year a gang of pirates landed at Panjin, slaughtered several villages’ men, captured hundreds of women, and only the Left Leading Army Guard drove them into the sea. Our Jing Dynasty wants to deal with them, but these bastards have informants, and whenever the military arrives, they flee."

Chen Ji quietly asked, "How many pirate factions are there?"

Yuan Xing recalled, "I heard that a few so-called ’ship owners’ emerged at sea, one of whom is Matsubara of the Matsubara Clan in Kyushu, Japan. This person controls dozens of large ships and commands thousands of men, mainly living off plunder, seizing grain, seizing porcelain, seizing silk, kidnapping people... Many people don’t know this, but these pirates love kidnapping the most. A woman sold back to Japan can fetch dozens of taels of silver. It was this person who slaughtered the village in Panjin."

Old Ears added, "There’s also someone named Wang Zhi, who was originally a merchant in Huizhou, Ning Dynasty, and later went to the sea for trade. His forces are similar to those of Matsubara. It is said that there’s someone from the Seeking Dao Realm among them. This Wang Zhi is quite interesting; seventy percent of his men are Han Chinese, and his military advisors are a few failed scholars from the Imperial Examination. He seized a territory in Japan and declared himself ’King Hui’ there. Even several Japanese feudal lords have to defer to him and can do nothing about him... By the way, the Japanese call him the Five Peaks Ship Master."

Yuan Xing thought for a moment, "Although this person only does trade, he has also killed a lot of people. He has been constantly petitioning our court to lift the maritime ban for trade, but the Minister of the Secretariat always looked down upon him, so it was ignored. Later, I heard that he colluded with Lu Jin and did business with civil servants and the gentry of the Southern Dynasty. A Yu Yao Xie Family did business with him and did not pay for the goods, so he went ashore and slaughtered the entire Xie’s Manor."

Chen Ji was lost in thought.

Yuan Xing said excitedly, "Godfather, are we going to kill the pirates? I would definitely be unwilling if you asked me to fight the Jing Dynasty, but if you asked me to kill the pirates, there’s absolutely no problem. Just watch, I’ll bring you back a few Japanese swords, using one and throwing another."

...

...

Chen Ji followed this group of remnants and weak soldiers of the anti-pirate army for an entire day. He watched them eat a couple of bites of bread when hungry and drink a few sips of river water when thirsty. They completely did not look like an anti-pirate army but more like refugees.

But he slowly realized that this group of remnants and weak soldiers suddenly deviated from the official road outside Jingjiang County, turning into the hills and getting more and more remote.

As night fell, Yuan Xi and others became vigilant. The five of them gathered their troops to form a Plum Blossom Formation, each gripping their rusty knives tightly: "Be careful, don’t let them trick us into the mountains to kill us."

"There’s something fishy about this anti-pirate army."

When the anti-pirate army reached a mountain hollow, Zheng Jiye rode up to a dense thicket, and an old solider behind him imitated a bird call for a full 15 minutes before hearing a response from the mountain.

Chen Ji looked up at the figures swaying on the hillside, seemingly numbering a hundred or so people.

Though Zheng Jiye responded to the bird call, those in the mountains remained hidden, and a voice asked loudly, "Brother, where are you from?"

Zheng Jiye replied loudly, "From Meihua Ferry Crossing."

Chen Ji suddenly had an odd expression.

At this time, another asked from the mountains, "Going by land or water?"

Zheng Jiye replied, "Both land and water together."

The person in the mountains asked again, "How many shores did you pass on the waterway, how many mountains did you cross on the land route?"

Zheng Jiye answered, "The vast waters reveal no shores, the mists obscure no mountains."

"Where are you headed?"

"Jingjiang County!"

"What do you see most along the way, what is longest, heaviest, and most?"

"Loyalty is the longest, swords and staffs are the heaviest, provisions are the most."

After the Q&A ended, the underbrush swayed again.

Zheng Jiye rode back over ten yards, only to see dozens of men in cloth clothing carrying sacks emerge from the brush.

Looking at the mountain, there were still dozens of men holding crude longbows, aiming coarse arrows made by hand at the anti-pirate army below.

The leader said calmly, "Where is the silver from Guangling County?"

Zheng Jiye chuckled, took a pouch of silver from beside his saddle, tossed it in his hand, but didn’t hurry to give it: "Where’s the goods I want?"

Men from the woods untied the sacks, revealing large rough grains of yellow salt held in their hands: "All good stuff, not bitter or astringent, just like official salt."

Zheng Jiye beckoned, and dozens of anti-pirate soldiers rushed up to check the coarse salt. Confirming nothing was wrong, they gave a thumbs-up from afar.

Zheng Jiye tossed the silver across the space, and the anti-pirate soldiers carried back seventeen sacks of private salt.

He counted the private salt, then suddenly exclaimed, "Wasn’t it supposed to be sixteen sacks, why is there one extra?"

The man selling private salt said in a deep voice, "The landlord says it’s tough for the anti-pirate army, so he gives you an extra sack, consider it our landlord’s treat for you to have drinks and meat."

Zheng Jiye praised, "Go back and tell Boss Huang, I, Zheng Jiye, appreciate it, and some day in Jinling, Marshal Lv will host him with drinks."

The man selling private salt’s face darkened, "What Boss Huang, our landlord’s surname is not Huang, you’ve got it wrong."

Zheng Jiye laughed heartily, "Apologies, apologies, my mistake."

The man whistled, retreated slowly into the woods, and in no time disappeared into the night.