Bai Yiqing is not a serious person.
In the past, when he was governor of Gansu, he found many problems, ranging from generals falsely declaring rations for deserters and dead horses to fodder, to wealthy officials and landlords annexing fields, but he chose to turn a blind eye and turn a blind eye.
Because it can't be done.
But this time he wanted to be serious with Liu Chengzong, so he had to go out to see what the soldiers of the Marshal's Army were eating and what the military discipline of the Marshal's Army was like.
Liu Chengzong was very happy with his serious performance. When he heard what he said, he simply asked: "Are you full?"
Bai Yiqing didn't understand what this meant, so he responded blankly, and then saw Liu Shishi picking up seven or eight pieces of cold mutton with chopsticks, sweeping the plate away, not dipping it in salt, and just stuffing it into his mouth to chew, then took it. When you get the gluten broth, pour it into your mouth.
After three times, five and two, he ate all the food on the table like a whirlwind. Then he took a breath, raised his hands and applauded: "Let's go! I will take you to see my soldiers."
Bai Yiqing was not intimidated by Liu Chengzong's eating habits. He had also led troops and fought in battles. When he was preparing for the army in Shaanxi, he fought against the peasant army and achieved seven great victories. He also knew many generals. From soldiers to generals, he generally ate well. faster.
Because the battlefield is an extreme environment, no one knows how many hours a battle will last. Between the day before the war begins and the day after the war begins, a person's weight can change by four to five kilograms or even eight or nine kilograms.
There is no food to eat when the war begins. Before going to the battlefield, those who can afford it eat haphazardly. After the battlefield, they also eat quickly and eat too much, because no one knows when the next battle will come.
They eat a lot and their stomachs are enlarged. As long as the soldiers have the conditions, they can eat and pretend.
The general's belly in ancient portraits is very realistic. This solid belly is the capital of a person's survival on the battlefield. After all, war is not a competition. It does not distinguish between weight classes. There is no need to lose weight. Strong people generally have a little belly.
People with very low body fat don’t even need to fight when they go to the battlefield. When they march to the place, they stand in the sun for a long time and then lie down. Of course, if they have a belly, it won’t be too big. The belly in the portrait is big because they are wearing armor. The belly will be lined, which will also make the belly look rounder.
In fact, when these big-bellied men came down from the battlefield, they all had slimmer bodies... For no other reason than the extreme environment, and when there was no food, the body would eat fat.
But Bai Yiqing has never seen anyone eat as fast as Liu Chengzong.
Faced with his surprise, Liu Chengzong was not surprised. He knew that Bai Yiqing had fought in the war and was also a good soldier, so he smiled and said: "I have been on the battlefield for five years. I will eat slowly with you for half an hour. Hold it back quickly." Kill me."
The two led their guards out of the office to cross the street. The street was still under military control and was extremely depressed and eerie.
Every house is closed, and there are guards standing in the streets and alleys. The streets are not very clean after passing by them. Some of the streets are stained with blood, and some have corpses in military uniforms or civilian clothes. There is also a street where there is a dead body. Two severed hands.
Every few steps, you can see a group of three soldiers knocking on doors, searching houses, and registering household registrations in the city.
There are also horse teams in helmets and armors beating gongs and patrolling in the streets, reading out the notices of peace and security over and over again, advising the people to close their doors and register their household registration at home. If someone causes chaos during the change of political power in the city, they can tell the soldiers to steal, chop off hands, kill and behead. Never tolerate it.
Although the soldiers of the marshal's army carried out executions at the street corners, and every street was bloody, Bai Yiqing secretly nodded, and even praised Liu Chengzong: "Since the marshal entered the city, Gan Town has become much more stable."
Liu Chengzong also nodded and said: "Previously, the two battalions near the city surrendered too many troops and their military discipline was loose. Once the household registration is completed, we can continue to work happily in the city."
He knew that Bai Yiqing's words were not meant to be obedient. Order was better than no order. Before he entered the city, Ganzhou City had actually experienced a period of disorder. Waves of chaotic troops entered and left the city, and the surrender was defeated. The troops broke up and headed into the city. It was much more chaotic then than it is now.
In fact, Liu Chengzong was observing Bai Yiqing, and Bai Yiqing was also observing Liu Chengzong.
At this moment, he didn't want to die. It was easy for him to want to die. He was so passionate that he had a life-or-death intention, and his emotions were in place for a moment, and his life was gone. But when the moment passed, he had to make up his mind again.
As long as you want to die, there are always more ways than difficulties.
Even if his hands and feet were tied, it wouldn't be a problem. On the day he was sent to Zhang Tianlin's camp by the coachman, he opened his mouth and spat in the soldier's face, and was stabbed with a wild goose feather knife. The world was fine; the moment Liu Chengzong entered the Yamen to untie him, he slapped him Slap him in the face and all bets are off.
I didn’t die at that time, but it would be very difficult to think about dying later.
But there were three questions before Bai Yiqing. The first was whether he should be martyred if he was captured, whether he should surrender if he was not martyred, and whether he should contribute if he surrendered.
These three questions progress layer by layer. The first one is determined by whether he is a hero; the second is determined by Liu Chengzong's personal charm; and the third choice determines whether he is a shameless person.
At present, it seems that he can no longer be a hero. From a scholar to a feudal official, he suddenly finds that he has fallen from the altar. His actions are not worthy of the honor and pride he once had... Most people will be affected by this in their hearts. Kan'er will be tortured for a lifetime.
Liu Chengzong led the guards all the way through the heavily guarded streets and climbed the southern city wall.
Before they reached the city wall, Bai Yiqing heard the noise and shouting in the urn city. When they reached the city gate tower, their eyes suddenly opened up. The urn city was filled with large and small square tables, two tables put together, six benches and ten Two people and nearly a thousand sergeants in the Marshal's Mansion were full, feasting in Wengcheng.
Liu Chengzong supported the battlements on the city gate tower, pointed towards the city and said to Bai Yiqing: "Look, what are they eating?"
At this time, Bai Yiqing understood what Liu Chengzong meant when they first started eating, "This is enough for ten people." Every table in Wengcheng was put together with the four kinds of meat they ate. It was a dish, but the portion was larger than what they both ate.
Some of the soldiers were still wearing armor, but most of them were not wearing armor, and their standard cotton-padded jackets were open. Some even squatted on a bench with their arms bare when they were happy, exposing their tendons, and they were only wearing a pair of torn cotton trousers. Along with the knife on the waist and the gun on the table.
"This...the whole army eats this?"
While Bai Yiqing was stunned, Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed around, saying: "Yen'en Gate, Guangde Gate, Yongkang Gate, Xianxi Gate, each of the four gates has 110 tables. My soldiers are not doing anything today." , just eating and playing.”
"The four gates inside and outside Ganzhou are under martial law, and we are not afraid of the sergeants disturbing the people. All the brigades eat outside the city. When they are full, the commander-in-chief takes them to visit the eight scenic spots in Ganzhou and have fun. The whole army returns to the camp to study."
Bai Yiqing thought that this was different from the soldiers he had seen? It's like a group of students and scholars go to a restaurant to fry four meat dishes, eat and drink enough, go out to play, and go home to study after having enough fun. Where can soldiers get such treatment?
And to be honest, when he saw those soldiers in the market who were heavily guarded and shining brightly, he had a very high opinion of the appearance and discipline of the Marshal's Army; but when he saw these soldiers in the Wengcheng who were disheveled and eating and drinking openly, his inner evaluation dropped again. The child hit rock bottom.
He looked at the shirtless soldiers eating and drinking in Wengcheng, and then turned to look at Liu Chengzong, who was wearing a helmet and armor and folding his arms on the city wall with a proud look on his face. He asked thoughtfully: "Shuai Liu's method of tying up soldiers seems to be something I understand a little bit." Is it different? If you release the soldiers, can they come back?"
Liu Chengzong, as if he had heard a terrible joke, turned to Bai Yiqing in surprise and asked: "If you are let out and can't come back, what kind of bondage is it?"
Bai Yiqing shook his head and looked at the soldiers in Wengcheng worriedly: "They look... like the bandits I saw in Shaanxi."
The proud smile on Liu Chengzong's face suddenly turned cold: "Why do you call desperate bankrupt farmers and border soldiers angered by unpaid wages rogue bandits?"
Although his tone was still calm, it frightened Bai Yiqing more than the roaring roar. But Bai Yiqing did not flinch, and still said: "They are rogue bandits, and the county town is in ruins. I believe it when I see it. The general marshal is also from Shaanxi Province." If you come out, do you still want to confuse right and wrong on this matter?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "They killed people and robbed. Each leader was cruel and brutal. Most of the people who died under the sword were innocent people. That's right."
"But how did they get on this road? Farmers have no place to stand on. There have been severe droughts for years and no crops have been harvested. Instead of providing disaster relief, the government has broken bones and sucked out the marrow to collect taxes. Dozens and hundreds of border soldiers have sold their sons and daughters without pay for three years. If we want to raise our heads and fight the Beibei in bloody battle, isn’t this a massacre?”
"They couldn't survive at home and in the army, so they went outside to build a stronghold, and were beaten like rabbits by the loyal ministers and generals of the Ming Dynasty with their armored artifacts. You..."
Liu Chengzong raised his finger and pointed at Bai Yiqing and said: "The world has reached this point, can you high-ranking officials still promote the New Deal reform? If the reform cannot be carried out, it will be time to change the dynasty."
"Since Kong Jia succeeded to the throne, the people of the Xia Dynasty were in dire straits, and Shang Tang could make a revolution; when Emperor Xin of Shang Tang's dynasty indulged in wine and sex, King Wu of Zhou could make a revolution; Ying Zhengshu and Wen Che unified the country, and Han Gaozu overthrew the Qin Dynasty, and his dynasty was numbered A hundred years later, the people are still shouting that the sky is dead."
"Which dynasty didn't plead for the people at the beginning of its establishment, and which dynasty didn't live in dire straits at the end of its life? Isn't it just a bunch of worms who have been lying on the merit books of their ancestors for several lifetimes, and you people are sharpening your heads to grab what's left, and then you still have to pay for it. Learn from those morons."
"I studied hard for ten years in cold weather, practicing in the summer and in the winter. I learned a lot of arts and martial arts. If I was not allowed to take the imperial examination, I would not take the exam. I would become a soldier selling martial arts. If I was not paid as a soldier, I would go home. I really can’t go home and work as a martial artist and a knife sharpener, as long as I have enough food and clothing, what should I do if this doesn’t work for me?”
"You call those people who are unwilling to be robbed, fill in trenches, and survive being beaten all over the ground called rogues. Who wants to be exiled? Isn't it that the flesh and blood of ordinary people can't stop the lead of cannons? They can stop the early lead. The fucking Tianjie has trampled all the bones of the minister, and I still listen to your noise!"
"Brigands!" Liu Chengzong turned around and spat disdainfully, and asked Bai Yiqing: "Why, our Emperor Taizu founded the Ming Dynasty, do you really think that it will last forever? Jingnan was in trouble the year after his death!"
Bai Yiqing was left speechless by Liu Chengzong, partly because anyone who has read books knows that no dynasty can last forever, but from his perspective, the Ming Dynasty had many big problems, but they had little impact.
On the other hand, he had never considered why he wanted to flee from the perspective of a rogue bandit.
He saw that Liu Chengzong was a little excited, so he asked knowingly and with a comforting attitude: "But Marshal Liu didn't become a bandit like them. Why is that?"
Soothing is very effective.
Liu Chengzong glanced at Bai Yiqing: "Why, because I am brave and good at fighting, clever and clever, use soldiers like a god, win every battle, fight both ways and sides, be tolerant and righteous, and cunning? Because I am lucky. If I am not lucky, I will be killed early."
Bai Yiqing had a lot of twists and turns in his heart regarding this answer. When he heard Liu Chengzong praising himself for being brave, good at fighting, witty and intelligent, he thought it was quite like that. But after hearing the series of boasts behind him, he felt that such a military leader in troubled times had become like this. status, but it relies on being shameless.
But when he heard the end, it was very real. Bai Yiqing couldn't help but nodded slowly: "Everyone has luck, but whether he can rise to heaven or not, it all depends on his ability."
"I am their luck. They can live well if they follow me."
Liu Chengzong agreed very much with this statement. He raised his finger to the shirtless soldiers below and said, "Look at the flesh on their bodies. Anyone with fat is a new member of the Ming army; those who are lean are all with me." Veterans, we were all fat and strong from the Qinghai camp, and when we walked to Jiayuguan, each of us lost ten to fifteen kilograms."
Liu Chengzong pointed his thumb at himself: "I lost twelve pounds...Now this is what they deserve. Following me, they will suffer hardships, but they should have everything."
At this moment, even though Liu Chengzong had already ordered the soldiers on duty in the city not to tell the soldiers who were eating, someone in Wengcheng still saw Liu Chengzong on the top of the city and shouted "The commander is here" and "The commander is on the city" several times. In the midst of whispers, a shirtless officer in Wengcheng suddenly ordered: "Stand up! Line up!"
In a moment of chaotic footsteps and two clanging sounds, the entire Wengcheng's thousands of soldiers, whether wearing armor or not, wearing cotton-padded jackets or not, whether they were veterans of the surrender, all put down their chopsticks and quickly lined up in the gaps beside the tables and chairs. They were neatly organized, even if they were shirtless, everyone was holding a weapon.
The veterans all carried leather belts and tied them around their waists when they lined up... It just made the officer standing in the middle a little embarrassed, because all the soldiers were uniform, and each team was holding weapons and facing the direction outside the city. Liu Chengzong was left on the city gate tower with a series of hair tied on the back of his head.
"turn back!"
The army turned around quickly, but this movement was not so orderly. The veterans all turned back to the right, while the surrendered troops were from the left or right.
Liu Chengzong asked in the city: "Is the military ration delicious today?"
The sergeants in Wengcheng shouted: "It's delicious! Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, for your kindness!"
"Remember the military law. Follow the officers when you go out to play. Don't interfere with the people and violate the military law. Otherwise, you will not be lenient. Do you understand?"
"Don't worry, Commander!"
"Come back in the evening and study hard. If we take Liangzhou, we will eat better." Liu Chengzong stretched out his hand at the top of the city and pressed down: "Sit down!"
"yes!"
The soldiers then sat down neatly, but this time they were not as natural as before. They all sat upright, with their spines straight, and some shirtless ones slowly put on their clothes without even daring to look back. Cotton jacket.
Liu Chengzong didn't say anything about this. There were two battalions stationed outside the city whose turn was to eat in the evening. It was no problem for the sergeants to relax properly while eating.
He turned around and asked Bai Yiqing to go down to the city with him, leaving the soldiers to have a good meal in Wengcheng. As he walked, he said: "Soldiers are also human beings. They are not tools to kill the enemy. They are just restricted by military law. When you see the corpses in military uniforms on the streets in the city, Those are all soldiers who surrendered to me. I have already told you the ugly things. You rushed into the city and killed people and robbed them randomly. This is what you will get if you don't obey military laws."
"But we walked out from the Yellow River in northern Shaanxi and traveled thousands of mountains and rivers. We captured the mountain castle of Uzang and marched towards God; we saw the grassy swamps of Ruoergai, and the men and horses fell down as soon as they stepped on them; we rushed across the chain bridge on the Jinsha River, My generals commanded night battles in the river; we watched the Yellow River, worshiped the Yellow Emperor, saw the sunset over the long river in the desert, fired artillery amidst the rising spring waves of Hongqiao in Lanzhou, and carried muskets to chase cattle and horses in Qinghai Lake. They had seen little of the world. They are all less than you officials."
After saying that, walking down the city wall walkway, Liu Chengzong asked Bai Yiqing at the city gate: "Now it's your choice. Is it your luck to have long-term peace and stability in Gansu, to protect the country and the people and restore order?"
Good evening!
(End of chapter)
