Chapter 2160: Chapter 1564: Eat or Be Eaten? (Part 2)
Maha Agudah sat on horseback, eyes narrowed, looking at the Jurchen slave Ah Bo kneeling on the grass who had just finished the sacrificial rite. Under his tiger-like gaze, Ah Bo trembled, with his head pressed against the soil, not daring to hum a single sound.
"Ha! You are also a Jurchen man from the Black Water Forest Sea! How did you become a slave of the River-side Tribe?..."
"Reporting to the Lord... I... I was born in the tribe. My Amma is a Jurchen pastoral slave, I don’t know who my father is. Longevity Heaven protects! The clan’s chieftain master took me in, making me a household slave for Nake’er, not like a Beile lower-tier pastoral slave..."
Undoubtedly, in this era of Mongolian Tribes, they were still in a clan society of slavery. To face the tribe’s food shortages, to cope with the population fluctuations brought by the substantial swings in the herd, such as a class of slaves who ate the least, worked the most, and could be abandoned at any time, became the tribe’s inevitable adaptation to the grassland environment.
Beile lower-tier pastoral slaves are the "firewood for burning" for the tribes. They do the most burdensome pastoral work, eat less than a quarter of a soldier’s worth of food, like domesticated bipedal livestock, equivalent to the production resources of the herd. They’ve long been in a state of malnutrition, barely surviving a few years before burning out and dying. And when a white disaster strikes or famine occurs, they are the first to be abandoned and starve to death. In the historical records of Han Land, they often have another name, "qu", "qu mouths"—which often originate from frequent tribal battles, mostly captured prisoners, and women and children left behind after defeating hostile tribes. On the grasslands, there are even specialized slave tribes, and when the Great Tribe lacks pastoral slaves, they send cavalry to capture them to replenish the lowest level of consumption.
As for Nake’er household slaves, they have much higher status. They are generally close attendants of the nobles, cultivated as trusted martial forces, very like the family samurai of the Alliance.
In fact, over three hundred years ago, when Genghis Khan unified the grasslands and founded the Mongolian Tribes, he once massively released Beile pastoral slaves and forgave "slave tribes" like the Wuliangha, allowing many from the grassland’s lower class to gain promotion channels, becoming military households instead of slaves. And once Genghis Khan became Genghis Khan, launching a terrifying wave of conquests, the nomadic tribes also developed from a loose alliance of slave tribes into a feudal Empire system. From then on, almost all nomadic peoples on the grasslands became Mongolian, forming a unified consciousness of Mongolian Tribes.
However, Mongolia’s Golden Age was actually extremely short. Starting in the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of Mongolian military households quickly went bankrupt and became "qu mouths" slaves. There were so many Mongolian slaves being sold overseas that even the Yuan Court couldn’t bear to watch it. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang rose in rebellion against the south, many liberated Mongolian slaves joined the Southern Army, collectively opposing the Yuan Court desperately maintained by the Northern Han people’s generations, Semu Generals, Sinicized Mongolian noble chiefs—a most remarkable spectacle.
When the Ming Dynasty reclaimed the capital, Northern Yuan fled back to the grasslands, losing the productive input from Han Land, the Mongolian Tribes once again devolved into the slave era. Because the current state of productive forces on the grasslands simply couldn’t sustain a feudal Empire, a large part of the tribespeople had to be turned into slaves ready to burn out at any time!
"Nake’er household slaves are slaves too. What’s good about being a slave? Ah Bo, you’re a Jurchen man, why be a slave for Mongolians?... Stand up! From now on, you stay with me!"
"Ah? Lord Yan? This... the Chieftain?"
Hearing such a demand, the Jurchen slave Ah Bo looked confused, not knowing how to respond. He had been raised within the Mongolian Tribes as a household slave, long having lost his wild nature, having to rely on a master. And Maha Agudah, looking at this translator, his lips slightly curled up, harshly said.
"Ah Bo, Chancellor Ao Hala dare not say anything. In front of me, he lacks the guts! You speak Mongolian and Jurchen, stay by my side, be a translator first!..."
"...Yes, yes...Lord Yan..."
"Call me Master!..."
"...Yes, Master..."
"A bit louder!"
"Yes! Master!"
"Haha! This Iron Blade, I reward you!..."
"!!..."
In a few words, Agudah forced loyalty from a Jurchen translator familiar with the inner workings of the River-side Tribe, indeed as fierce as a tiger and as shrewd. And only at this moment did he narrow his eyes to ask.
"Ah Bo, Ao Hala gathered the entire tribe, conducting this Autumn Sacrifice, inviting us to join... What’s he thinking?"
"The Chieftain... he wants to discuss with you about conscription, conscription of horses, and grain, as you previously mentioned with Mr. Bule... Just borrowing the occasion of the Autumn Sacrifice, to talk easier! Regardless of what turns out, Longevity Heaven and the Tree Spirit witness, it’s unlikely to resort to armed conflict..."
"Ha! This sly fellow... It seems indeed he has some thoughts!..."
Maha Agudah laughed loudly, pointing at the dozens of riders in front of the not-so-distant oobao, turning to Zuwaro and Ali beside him, smilingly asked.
"Zuwaro! Brother Ali! Shall we go and meet him?..."
Zuwaro and Ali exchanged a glance, lightly nodding as the three rode together, leading thirty Jurchen cavalry, towards the waving flags of the oobao.
"In the jug is mare milk wine,
Merciful father heaven, master of all things,
Please drink heartily, enjoy this fine wine!"
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