Ronglu didn't know that in the Chinese army's tent, Emperor Guangxu and his son actually talked about the Story of Stones, and what they talked about was extremely exciting!
At this time, Ronglu was looking for someone in the army of disaster victims. All his direct relatives were sent out to search for him one by one in the camp.
"Are there any masons? Are there any masons? If so, come out and run errands for the general..."
"Look at how hungry you all are. There are masons, bricklayers and carpenters who want to go out to work and have food to eat..."
What kind of good treatment can the victims get when they become an army? After this day's bloody battle, the army's so-called repair is actually to give them some moldy old rice and salt, and let them dig wild vegetables to make porridge.
There are ten teams and ten stoves under a centurion leader. The weak bonfire is dancing in the dark night, and the cauldron is full of messy things.
The soldiers dug up wild vegetables, added a little old rice, and sprinkled some salt as if they were gold. Just a mouthful of wild vegetable porridge with clear soup and little water was the reward after today's bloody battle!
This is the treatment of the most ordinary disaster victims, and those victims who have completely surrendered to the rebels and lost the conscience of the common people have become living bandits, eating and drinking with the officers.
Even when these Eight Banners officers went on a mission, they all followed them like doglegs. They all ate with grease flowing from the corners of their mouths. The freshly cooked horse meat pot paired with sesame seed cakes tasted delicious.
"Shout... you guys shout quickly and gather all the masons. Master Rong has a task... Anyone who can work will be rewarded with two corns..."
"Damn it, when are you still lazy? Now you have to work hard... If you can raise the flag in the future, you will also be my slaves!"
"It will be really popular to drink spicy food by then!"
This is what war is like. The Eight Banners will always use slaves to control the army. This army is composed of disaster victims, and the original Eight Banners officials can't manage it with a small number of officials.
They will carefully select a group of slaves among the Han victims, with good food, drink and good women, give them hope of raising the flag, and use these slaves to control the army!
Ronglu is the emperor's slave, Rongfu Ronggui is Ronglu's slave, but these slaves Rongfu and Ronggui also have slaves under them!
The rich and powerful families that gave birth to children depended on this war. Each of them carefully selected hundreds of tough domestic slaves, and these people helped them rob.
Needless to say, Ronglu will be rich and powerful in the future. Once Prince Gong really ascends the throne and becomes Emperor Guangxu, he will secure the Forbidden City in the capital!
There is no problem in being granted the title of duke by Ronglu, but how can people like Rongfu and Ronglu be granted the title of general or something like that, with a net worth of one million taels, a garden house in the capital, and a group of domestic slaves!
The hope of promotion and wealth one after another made slavery like the Eight Banners flourish!
Upon the master's order, all these slaves were sent out. They held baskets filled with cornbread and walked back and forth among the hungry victims.
"Are they all deaf? The masons came out, the carpenters and masons came out too. If you have cornbread to eat... the rest you will starve to death!"
"But listen carefully, you have to work when you come out. If you don't know how to work, then your head will be chopped off..."
Some of the victims huddled in grass huts with their backs to the wind were so hungry that they raised their hands without fear and said, "Master Jun, I... I'm a mason... I'm from Quyang, and I've done a lot of work..."
"Master Jun, can you give me an extra bun? My brothers are too young and hungry..."
Rongfu glanced at him from the side and said, "Well... give him four steamed buns and let him eat them. I heard that there are many masons in Quyang... Do you know a few of them? Hurry up and find the ones with good craftsmanship..."
"Don't worry, there's something good going on. I won't let you risk your lives to kill people... Follow me to dismantle the things, and you must dismantle them carefully..."
Holding four steamed buns in his hands, the mason quickly distributed them to the brothers around him. "Don't worry, Lord... our hometown masons are famous..."
At this time, there was a commotion among the victims. In fact, it was not that there were no craftsmen, but they were afraid of not knowing whether they would be forced to work hard and did not dare to speak out.
As soon as they saw the beginning, the people behind them couldn't help it. In a short time, more than seventy craftsmen from Quyang gathered together.
Rongfu saw that the number of people was almost there, so he led them away. The victims were so hungry that they gnawed on the steamed buns as they walked. There were also a few old pickles stuffed into the holes in the steamed buns. The food was so delicious that it was a full banquet for Man and Han. I guess that’s all it tastes like!
"Master! More than seventy people are enough to demolish an archway, right? Have Ronggui and the others found the village?"
Ronglu, who was on horseback, looked at the people behind him and nodded, "Let's go... Just over ten miles to the north, in Shipai Village, there really is a chastity archway from the early Ming Dynasty... I will demolish it with you." !”
A group of masons, protected by more than 500 elite rebels, took advantage of the night and headed north. These people would definitely pass by the crematorium area.
As a result, as soon as they passed by, the eyes of these disaster victims and rebels turned blue!
"Ouch... what is this? Why does it smell so good? My ancestors, what does this smell like..."
Shimazu Dairo has always controlled the railway. Coal and firewood for cremation were transported by train. Emperor Guangxu did not prohibit it. The train not only transported firewood and coal, but also some food supplies!
These half-grown men who followed the Chinese soldiers to collect the corpses actually ate canned Chinese individual soldier rations, braised pork, braised beef, Sixi meatballs... and big cold steamed buns!
The aroma was enough to seduce the gluttons in Ronglu. These children used tree branches to string steamed buns and roasted them on the fire. When they were hot, they ate them with large pieces of meat. Several children were choked and almost burped and caught cold!
"Let's take a walk... What are you looking for? When we capture Sijiu City, I'll treat you to hot pot and roasted whole lamb... What's so good about this kind of thing!"
Under the urging of the whip, the group headed straight for Shipai Village!
Shipai Village really got its name from this Ming Dynasty archway. As soon as we arrived at the village entrance, we saw a dark archway standing tall in the darkness. At this moment, there were rebels holding torches to guard the place.
Ronglu rode his horse and took a closer look. The archway was really exquisite, with three four-column rooms, flower-printed Minglou, blue and white stone Xumizuo, columns, fangs, quetai, regular columns, dragon and phoenix boards, and secondary columns on the wall. The building, the mezzanine building, the side building...are all decorated with exquisite reliefs.
Since it is a chastity archway, it rewards filial daughters who are chaste and virtuous, so the reliefs are all stories about virtuous daughters and filial piety in ancient times. Each picture, one scene, one story, is still very vivid after hundreds of years!
Ronglu stretched out his hand to touch the archway and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "The people in this village must cherish it very much. Look at the sculptures at the height of people walking underneath. There is no damage at all. It can be seen that the people in the village are protective..."
"You masons, come here and see how long it will take to dismantle this archway... Remember, after it is dismantled and transported by train, you still have to reassemble it in another place!"
The masons pushed an elderly mason over to take a closer look. Touching the carvings on the terrace, the old mason seemed to have returned to a time when there was no war.
His eyes are shining, which is the magnanimity brought by his confidence in his professional field!
"What a good thing... The carving style of the early Ming Dynasty is most likely from the Yongle period... At that time, the country was strong and everyone was happy with their achievements..."
"According to the current market price of an archway like this, you can't buy it without 150,000 taels of silver... The carvings alone are valuable!"
"Look, there are a lot of knife skills that we don't understand... This kind of knife skills has been lost..."
