After walking for more than a li, in the distance, he saw on a gently rising hill a tall beacon mound standing imposingly. The mound itself was over ten meters high, shaped like an inverted bucket. Faintly, he could make out the watch hall, lamp post, and military flag at the top. Around the mound was a horse corral wall over thirty meters long, and outside the wall was a moat. This was Jingbian Beacon, one of the four beacon mounds under Dongjiazhuang of Shunxiang Fort, with seven soldiers stationed inside. Henry Carter was one of the beacon soldiers there.

The Ming Dynasty built beacon towers all along the nine border regions, generally one every three li, a tower every five li, and in some critical places, even one every li. Those near the border were called border beacons, those further inside were called fire road beacons or relay beacons, each guarded by five or seven men. Within the entire Bao'an Garrison, there were more than forty such beacon towers of various kinds.

The Jingbian Beacon where Henry Carter was stationed was just an ordinary smoke beacon, so the whole mound was built of rammed earth, not faced with bricks. If it were faced with bricks, it would be called a tower, with the surrounding horse corral wall reaching over a hundred meters long and the outer moat even deeper. However, building a tower required at least 58,000 blue bricks and nearly a hundred dan of lime. With the Ming Dynasty's finances, they could only afford to build towers in some important places.

Almost home, Henry Carter felt a surge of joy and quickened his pace. Soon, he arrived at the moat outside the Jingbian Beacon's wall. The wall was about four meters high, with a main gate facing south. Above the gate hung a plaque inscribed with the three large characters “Jingbian Beacon.” Above the gate was a watchtower, equipped with defensive weapons like rolling stones and controlling a drawbridge. Normally, the beacon soldiers relied on this drawbridge to enter and exit.

Henry Carter carefully avoided several hidden pit traps by the moat and came to the main gate, shouting up at the watchtower, “I'm back! Lower the drawbridge!”

He called out several times, and after a while, a lazy head poked out from the watchtower. Seeing it was Henry Carter, the man laughed, “Wang the fool is back? You sure fetched water quickly. Did you run into any Tatars on the way?”

Henry Carter knew this man was David Miller, a sycophant who usually followed squad leader Thomas Bell around, bullying others by association, and often made fun of Henry Carter for amusement. Henry Carter had never liked him, so he ignored him and just shouted, “Lower the drawbridge!”

David Miller, feeling snubbed, cursed, “Damn it, what's your hurry? I'm lowering it now, aren't I?”

Cursing as he went, he lowered the drawbridge and then shouted inside the wall, “Wang the fool is back, open the gate!”

Soon, the drawbridge was down, and the main gate beneath the watchtower opened as well. A burst of noisy voices, men and women, came from inside, and several heads appeared in view, all laughing at Henry Carter. One even shouted, “Wang the fool is back? Didn't get caught by the Tatars?”

Carrying his buckets, Henry Carter stepped onto the drawbridge. The heavy wooden buckets made the planks creak underfoot. He kept a sullen face, ignored the others, and went straight inside the wall.

Chapter 002: Squad Leader Thomas Bell

As soon as he entered the wall, an indescribable stench hit him—whether it was cow and horse dung or the sour reek of household garbage, it was hard to say, but the whole place could only be described as filthy and squalid.

Of course, in such a small space, with over a dozen people including the soldiers’ families eating, drinking, sleeping, and relieving themselves inside, and since these beacon soldiers were hardly refined types, hygiene was not a priority. The ground was littered with trash, flies and mosquitoes swarmed everywhere, making anyone frown. To be honest, Henry Carter still hadn’t gotten used to the environment inside the beacon.

Along the inside of the wall, on the left, was a row of beacon soldiers’ quarters, with a well beside them, though the well had long since dried up.

On the right side of the wall were the sheep and horse pens and storage buildings, where some supplies for the beacon were kept. In front of the beacon tower, directly opposite the gate, stood a stone stele, inscribed with the names of the Jingbian Beacon’s garrison and their wives, as well as a detailed list of the beacon’s firearms, equipment, and furnishings:

“...Jingbian Beacon garrison, seven men in total: two night patrolmen: Charles Grant, John Grant. Five beacon soldiers: Thomas Bell, wife Wang; David Miller, wife Liu; Brian Reed, wife Tao; Frank Howard, wife Shi; Henry Carter. Furnishings: seven pots, seven jars, fourteen plates, fourteen bowls. Firearms: one hooked cannon, one matchlock, one musket, one three-barrel gun, full supply of gunpowder and fuses. Equipment: each soldier has one bow, one saber or spear, thirty arrows... one military flag, two flagpoles, two sets of flag ropes, three lanterns, one set of clappers, one rope ladder, five woodpiles, five smoke beacons, twenty piles of rolling stones, full supply of cow, horse, and wolf dung...”

Such steles were set up at every beacon tower in the Ming Dynasty, intended to prevent soldiers from deserting and to facilitate future inspections. The practice of having each soldier’s wife live with him was meant to help the garrison focus on their duties.

When Henry Carter came in with the water, beacon soldiers Brian Reed and Frank Howard, along with night patrolmen Charles Grant and John Grant, were lounging or squatting by the stele, chatting idly. Their wives—Tao, Shi, and David Miller’s wife Liu—were nearby, hanging laundry and talking.