Chapter 137: Suspicious Characters Among the Sufferers

Most of these servants were common people who had been plundered from within the pass a few years ago. After arriving in Liaodong, they were assigned to work on manors, separated from their wives and children, doing heavy labor, eating food fit for pigs and dogs, and living in dugout shelters. On top of that, they were oppressed layer by layer by the manor heads and stewards, and subjected to all kinds of bullying and abuse. It was no exaggeration to call it a living hell.

Being transferred to this “Master from Da Ao,” they were originally already numb. They had long since become people who had left their homes and been separated from their families. What difference did it make whether they were slaves in Liaodong or in some “Da Ao”? Some were even a little happy: being a bondservant was better than doing hard labor on a farm.

Now, seeing that their master was so concerned about them, personally arranging their accommodation, and even having clothes brought out for them to wear, and asking after their well-being, their long-numbed hearts began to revive. Not only were the maids and female servants already in tears, but even a few of the men couldn’t help but wipe the corners of their eyes. They only held back from letting the tears fall because they were afraid their master would find it unlucky.

After the clothes were distributed, a few more soldiers came over with bundles of blankets.

“Chief… Sir…” the leading corporal said, “These are the blankets we’ve all pitched in. We don’t have many spare blankets. We figured that since our rooms have heated kangs, two people can share one, so we’ve gathered ten for the new brothers to use. This big room is cold, and there’s no heated kang.”

Before he could finish his words, someone could no longer hold back and burst into tears. This cry was no small matter. It immediately touched upon all the bitterness and pain in their hearts, finally converging into a sound of wailing.

Huang Hua was greatly surprised, not knowing what had possessed these new servants. Lan Bian quickly stepped forward and said loudly, “What are you crying for! Don’t bring bad luck to the master’s house! Stop crying!”

With his shout, the crying subsided. Lan Bian quickly turned around and bowed deeply to Huang Hua again, “My lord, this is everyone showing their gratitude and appreciation. Your lordship is kind-hearted… May your lordship’s descendants be prosperous and your family be ennobled for ten thousand generations…” As he spoke, he himself choked up.

Only then did Huang Hua understand that it was because of his distribution of clothes. In his eyes, this was the most normal thing to do, but he had not expected them to be so grateful. It was imaginable how much they had suffered over the years.

He then spoke a few words of comfort to everyone and ordered them to change their clothes first. He also had someone cook a meal for everyone, to “have a good meal.”

Although he said so, fine grains like rice and white flour were scarce here in the Later Jin. Only “distinguished guests” like Huang Hua could be supplied with rice daily. The accompanying soldiers could only eat white sorghum rice. As for the servants who were sent over, although it was said that they were “supplied by the Ministry of Rites,” the actual rations sent were only one jin of sorghum rice per person per day. Vegetables and salt were not supplied. This amount was not even enough for a strong man to eat his fill, let alone eat well.

Huang Hua found the bithesi from the Ministry of Rites who was stationed in the temple to look after the merchant group, took out some silver, and asked him to buy some wine, meat, and grain on his behalf. This was not an easy task in Shengjing, where all things were scarce and prices were high. The bithesi ran around for a while and finally managed to get two sheep, as well as firewood, grain, and seasonings.

Two sheep were obviously not enough for more than forty people. Huang Hua decided to make lamb dumplings. Everyone worked together to remove all the lamb from the bone and mince it. The lamb was naturally too little, but fortunately, there was enough cabbage and radish. But there was no white flour to be found, so they had to use sorghum flour to make steamed buns—sorghum flour was not sticky enough, so they could only make large buns and steam them in a steamer.

Huang Hua also instructed the soldiers to take out the compressed instant soup mix they had brought with them and cook a large pot of soup for the new servants—with extra salt. Salt was scarce in the Later Jin, and even the upper class was stingy with salt in their cooking. The amount of salt that the lower-class servants could eat was even less. These people all had symptoms of long-term lack of salt intake.

This meal was nothing special for the soldiers. They were even a little unaccustomed to the food made of sorghum rice. In Lingao, at least they could eat their fill of rice. But for the new servants, this was the first decent meal they had had in years. Most of them, not to mention the years they had been captured and enslaved, had lived a life of semi-starvation even when they were within the pass. Eating fine grain was a luxury, let alone eating meat. Many of them ate while shedding tears.

Huang Hua sat in the main seat, drank a few cups of the sorghum wine supplied by the Ministry of Rites, and ate a little. He could barely finish one of the sorghum flour buns with lamb and cabbage filling; he really had no appetite. But seeing the grateful expressions of the servants, he felt a little incomprehensible.

In Huang Hua’s view, distributing some warm clothes to the poor workers and having a meal together were all the most normal things to do. He had not expected his actions to have such a great effect. It seemed that this time and space was an era of comparing who was worse. Anyone who did a little better could “win the hearts of the world.”

After dinner, Lan Bian came to pay his respects again, asking if he wanted to “summon the young ladies to the room to serve…” and very solicitously said that he had already called the four girls outside and was just waiting for the master’s word. It took Huang Hua thirty seconds to realize that he was talking about the four maids.

He hadn’t paid much attention to the four maids today, and only remembered them when Lan Bian mentioned them. The Later Jin had sent him four maids, undoubtedly with the intention of winning him over, but he also had to be wary of the other party’s intention to plant a spy by his pillow. Hong Chengchou had been wholeheartedly loyal to the Manchu Qing, but Dorgon still forced a Manchu woman on him as a concubine, specifically to act as a supervisor in bed.

“Where are these four girls from?”

“Your servant doesn’t know. They are not from the manor,” Lan Bian said with his head bowed. “I heard that they were originally from Prince Amin’s residence. The prince was recently convicted, and these women were all confiscated by the government…”

“My lord is not interested today.”

“Reporting to my lord: one of them is from Korea, only fifteen, and from a yangban family…” Lan Bian squinted and smiled. “I hear that Korean women are different. Do you want to call her in to serve?”

Huang Hua chuckled, “You’re really good at figuring out what your superiors want. You must have been quite a character on the manor.”

Lan Bian’s expression changed slightly, then he smiled again, “I wouldn’t dare. I was a small leader on the manor…”

“That’s not right,” Huang Hua said nonchalantly, taking the face towel handed to him by his orderly. “Your skill in serving people was not learned by being a foreman on a manor. Since you are now under my command, you might as well tell the truth. Which prince’s residence did you serve in before?”

Lan Bian was a little flustered at first, but then he calmed down, “My lord has seen through me! I originally served in Prince Manggūltai’s residence. This time, I was specially sent to serve you, my lord.”

“So you are very familiar with Shengjing?”

“I’ve been here for many years. I know the roads well.”

“I want to open a commercial guild here. Where do you think would be a good place?”

“This…” Lan Bian hesitated. “My lord, this is not something for a servant to say. Besides, the court’s land grant is not certain…”

Huang Hua did not press further and changed the subject, “Are you willing to go to Da Ao with me?”

“Since I am your servant, my lord, I will go wherever you go. No second thoughts.”

“Hehe, don’t you miss your wife and children?”

Lan Bian smiled, “I am a single man. Where would I get a wife and children? Otherwise, how could I have been assigned to serve you, my lord?” Although he said so, Huang Hua, based on his training in observing expressions and body language in the intelligence bureau, keenly sensed that he was lying.

Obviously, there was something wrong with this Lan Bian. Otherwise, there was no need for him to hide the fact that he had a wife and children. The normal reaction should have been to beg his new master to help him reunite with his family.

I’ll have them thoroughly investigated when we get to Jeju Island, Huang Hua made up his mind. He yawned and said, “There’s no need for them to serve me. Let everyone rest early. We have to travel tomorrow.”

No matter how good the maids were, he couldn’t get involved. First, they hadn’t been purified. Second, this was considered “damaging state property” and could easily be used against him.

The next morning, Huang Hua submitted a memorial through the Ministry of Rites to bid farewell. Soon, an edict came down, and many more gifts were given. Ten Eastern pearls were given to Huang Hua alone. They were all top-quality pearls, each as large as a Gorgon fruit, and they were all rolling pearls, very precious. However, for Huang Hua, who was used to seeing cultured pearls, it was not a big shock. After the merchant group had settled all matters, they left Shengjing and returned to Zhenjiang Fortress. The departure was still as grand as the arrival. Not only were they escorted by cavalry, but there were also ten carts of gifts, all local products such as ginseng, fur, and mountain delicacies. With the servants and horses accompanying them, the procession was even more magnificent.

The journey back to Zhenjiang Fortress was smooth. The Manchu and Mongol defenders of Zhenjiang Fortress were waiting for them with such anticipation that they were almost in tears. They had received an order to supply the Haitian with all their might. Xue Weini and the others on the ship were of course not polite and issued a list of all the items they wanted. Except for sorghum and other miscellaneous grains, which they were not interested in, they wanted everything from firewood, vegetables, and meat to be supplied by Zhenjiang Fortress.

The Haitian had already consumed half of the winter vegetables stored in Zhenjiang Fortress, and the frozen mutton and live pigs had been completely wiped out. The defenders had to hunt to supply meat. Even in such a predicament, the defenders did not dare to refuse to supply. On the one hand, there was a decree from the court. On the other hand, the cannons on the Haitian had already given them a sufficient lesson. If a conflict broke out, it would be a simple matter for these people to destroy the fortress directly, and they would surely lose their heads when the Great Khan investigated.

Not only that, but the Haitian had also brazenly built a camp on Duozhi Island, built a stove to boil water, and built a bathroom. They washed in the sauna on the island every day. They also carried out a major cleaning of the entire ship, washing and drying clothes and bedding, and the hygiene work was carried out with great vigor. The defenders of Zhenjiang Fortress watched in amazement every day as the Da Ao people, naked, rushed out of the stone house emitting white steam and jumped directly into the river to swim, and the underpants and bedsheets hanging everywhere on the island.