The old Wangtou's name is Wang Geng.
Said to be Lao Wangtou, he was actually in his thirties, but he was the oldest man in his village, and all the men older than him were dead.
Either starve to death, die of illness, or be tortured to death by officials. He is the only one who has withstood the heavy pressure and survived to this day, so everyone calls him Lao Wang to express their respect for him.
During this expedition, a total of seventeen men from their village were issued.
Because he was too poor, he couldn't afford to bribe the official who issued the ticket anyway, so he could only go on the road honestly.
Wang Geng is quite lucky. He once came back alive after being issued a certificate, which is regarded as a miracle and a lucky man by everyone.
This time, he was also lucky. He was assigned as a watchman and was responsible for keeping watch. He was somewhat luckier than other signers.
When the Shengjie Army attacked the Jin Army's Dazhai, Wang Geng and his two companions were relatively far away, so they were not affected immediately and survived.
Later, a companion suggested crossing the river to survive. Wang Geng watched a group of people crossing the river to the north bank to survive under the hazy sky. He felt that this was the only way to survive, so they crossed the river together to survive and boarded the north bank.
Then he was captured by the victorious cavalry.
Fortunately, at least he survived and was not injured.
Then all the equipment was confiscated, leaving only the clothes and being guarded. I originally thought that the best ending would be to work as a coolie until death, but who would have thought that I would actually get a bowl of fragrant wheat rice.
Farewell meal?
Wang Geng became even more frightened, and the rice didn't even taste fragrant.
As a result, now, those victors actually told them that they were friends?
Are you kidding me?
Wang Geng looked confused, and so did his companions. Everyone looked at the officer from the Victory Army with questions in their heads.
"To tell you the truth, my background is not that different from yours. I was once a farmer, and my family still had dozens of acres of land. I could barely make ends meet, but then a disaster struck, and the government and landlords joined forces to take over. Land was sold cheaply.
That year was a bad year, and we couldn't even work as tenant farmers. The family of five had no choice but to flee, and we were all gone. I was the only one left. When I was about to starve to death, I was saved by our General Su. , and have only survived to this day. "
As the officer spoke, his voice became choked.
The signing troops and civilian husbands were quite shocked.
They originally thought that the officers of the Shengjie Army would all say strange and confusing words, but the more they listened, the more they felt that the people in front of them were not some lofty victors, but miserable people like them.
But now they may have followed the right person, so they embarked on this path.
These words are not strange and confusing words, but words that speak from the bottom of my heart, so when I listen to them, I no longer feel fear or doubt, but only feel inexplicable sadness.
A sadness born of empathy.
These people who were supposed to do whatever they wanted from the perspective of the victors made them red-eyed with their heartfelt words.
So the civilians and the signers finally learned that this heavenly army that defeated the Jin soldiers was actually composed of a group of poor farmers. They were not noble people from top to bottom.
And these victors actually have a surprisingly consistent tragic past with them.
If they hadn't followed the right person and met the commander Su Yonglin, they might all have starved to death.
Then again, who would be willing to embark on the path of rebellion if they didn't have nothing to eat, if they weren't about to starve to death?
"Everyone in the Shengjie Army has come this way. They are made up of a group of cattle and horses that are not considered human beings!"
The officer clenched his fist and beat his chest: "It's just a bunch of cattle and horses like us that defeated these people! We defeated them! We are not for glory and wealth, but to fight for a breath and compete for glory." What a shame! Why do they have the same head and body? They are humans, but we are animals?"
Such words entered the hearts of the prisoners of war through their ears word by word, leaving some insignificant traces in their hearts.
They don’t know the answer, they don’t know the origin of the question, and they don’t know why someone would ask such a question.
this……
Isn't it natural?
Wang Geng didn't know where he got the courage to ask.
"Isn't that how we are born?"
Everyone's attention shifted to Wang Geng.
The officer noticed Wang Geng, smiled, walked to sit next to Wang Geng, and put his arm around his shoulders.
"I didn't understand it either, so I asked General Su the same way. Do you know how he answered me?"
"have no idea."
"He said, they all have one head and one body, two eyes and one mouth. They have to eat, poop, and sleep. They all stand and walk and bend down to pick up things. Why can't we have enough to eat even though we work so hard? There must be something wrong with their stomachs, and they sleep until dawn but still have fat brains?"
"what is the problem?"
Wang Geng was really not used to being hugged so affectionately by an officer, and he was a little scared, but he didn't dare to move, and his body was a little stiff.
The officer didn't care.
"We didn't get what we deserved. What we deserved was taken away too much by those fat-minded guys. They asked for everything from us. We didn't have the ability to say no at all. We couldn't protect ourselves. We could only let them do whatever they wanted. , the weaker we are and the more we retreat, the more they will take away what should belong to us."
Saying this, the officer let go of Wang Geng's shoulders and stood up.
"Can you have a full stomach? How many days throughout the year can you have a full stomach? Can your family members have a full stomach?"
Wang Geng and the other prisoners of war looked at each other.
"For a few days, I was basically half hungry and half full. It was hard to even be hungry and full. I could only barely get by."
Wang Geng lowered his head: "There are other people in the family. We farmers really have to eat with open stomachs. We will never have enough. There is only so much food from the fields, so we must save some for our families."
"Yes, we work so hard, with our faces turned to the earth and our backs to the sky, but we still don't have enough to eat. For the sake of our family, we have to save food. We don't have much savings all year round. Once we encounter a disaster or encounter an unscrupulous person, Officials, bankruptcy is just around the corner."
The officer's words made everyone around them lower their heads and purse their lips.
Wang Changliang, a fellow countryman next to Wang Geng, had red eyes and choked with sobs.
"My family originally had some land, and in good times, we wouldn't be completely starved of food. But last year, there was a locust plague, and half of the food was destroyed. My mother became seriously ill, and I spent all the family's savings seeking medical advice. , only a few acres of land could be sold.
The local tycoons knew that my family was in urgent need of money, so they actually lowered the price of my land, lowering the price of good fertile land to the price of low-grade thin land. I had no choice but to sell the land at a low price to treat my mother's illness, but my mother's disease was not cured in the end. Without it, life at home is no longer good. "
As soon as he said this, several prisoners sighed, obviously having similar experiences.
The officer nodded heavily.
"That's it. Even though we work so hard, we always encounter bad things. When we encounter such things, we are even more unable to resist. We can only let ourselves be ravaged. Corrupt officials and local tyrants and evil gentry do whatever they want to us and deprive us arbitrarily. This is where you are today. Here’s the reason.”
The prisoners of war recalled their unfortunate experiences and lamented one after another, and they did not stop for a long time.
After the officer sighed, he suggested that everyone present tell his story.
"Let's talk about things that we usually don't dare to say. You can't keep things in your heart without talking about them. It will be very uncomfortable. Everyone, the Shengjie Army is an army of farmers. It is an army that makes decisions for us farmers. Don't be afraid. Just talk, whatever you want to say, just say it all.”
The prisoners of war looked at me and I looked at you. The confusion and shock in their eyes slowly faded away, and the conversation continued.
Perhaps it was the gentle treatment by Shengjie Army that made them relax their guard, or perhaps the empathetic narratives of the officers made them feel close to them deep in their hearts.
They said things that had been hidden in their hearts for a long time.
One person finished speaking, and the other continued speaking. Every word was like a knife, stained with blood and tears. They wiped their tears while speaking. By the end, they became choked and unable to speak.
The original fear, wariness, and confusion in the hearts of the prisoners of war gradually melted away during this process. The empathy generated by empathy made them even feel that they were not prisoners of war, and the victorious army was not a superior victor.
Everyone seems to be really friends who can speak their minds.
In such an atmosphere, they spontaneously confided in each other.
If you win this kind of war, nothing will happen to them, but if you lose, they will most likely die.
In other words, there is no need to wait for the war to start, even on the march, their lives will be in danger.
He didn't work diligently and was a little careless. It was okay that no one saw him. Once he was seen by a regular soldier or an official, he would definitely be beaten severely.
The hierarchy in the military camp is strict, and under the name of military law, superiors have the power of life and death over subordinates, while the group of people at the bottom of the food chain can only passively endure all the suffering.
There are always people who want to escape from that terrible military camp, but escaping is not a simple matter. Once discovered, they will die miserably.
What happened that night, the female soldiers and officials didn't know.
They were imprisoned in another place and were dragged out in turns to participate in the work of salvaging the sunken ship and clearing the waterway. They were strictly monitored and supervised with whips and sticks. The work was very hard.
These female real soldiers and officials still played a very important role. In addition to serving as a reference and creating a strong sense of contrast for the other prisoners of war, they could also be used as coolies to extract labor. After draining the labor, a public trial could be held to kill them.
This is simply killing two birds with one stone.
Is there anything more wonderful than this?
