The next day, Pingcheng, the palace city of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Behind the city gate is a huge square with a radius of five miles. It is usually used for the training and horse racing of the guards stationed in the palace, so it is so spacious. This is the first palace gate in the palace. Between the city and the inner city, it is similar to the Wengcheng when defending the city. On the four walls, horse and cow flags are flying everywhere, and thousands of fully armed sergeants are arrayed at the top of the city. Everyone is holding a big bow, and behind them There were thirty more long fang arrows in his quiver than usual. After the evil ghost faced him, a pair of fierce eyes stared at the dark crowd in the square below the city.
Most of these people are men in their prime, dressed in commoners. Judging from their hairstyles, there are Han Chinese with buns and braided hair, or barbarians with hair on all sides and a Mediterranean patch on their heads. The number is similar, with seven in each. In addition to the eight thousand people, these were the people from all over Hebei who were arrested along the way after Tuoba Gui massacred Qinghe County a few days ago. Now they were all taken into the palace city of Pingcheng. Each of them looked different. He was so panicked that he didn't dare to take a breath, and he didn't even dare to think about his terrible fate next.
Among the crowd, two Han men began to whisper, and a dark-skinned man in his thirties whispered: "Brother Shitou, look at this posture, do you want to kill us? There are archers on the surrounding walls. This round of arrow rain, I'm afraid, I'm afraid half of the people here will die."
The man called Brother Shitou was a red-faced dwarf in his mid-thirties with a rosy nose. He shook his head: "Gou Sheng, don't be so stupid. If you really wanted to kill us, you could have done it long ago. , why bother? This is Pingcheng, the capital of the Wei Dynasty. Is it necessary to bring tens of thousands of us in and kill them? "
A braided Hu man spoke in half-familiar Chinese and whispered: "You Han people don't know, these Tuoba Hu people, they, they like to make gold figures to worship the sky. I heard that when worshiping the sky, you must Kill, you have to kill a lot of people, so that you can get the protection of your ancestors. I think we will all be killed as sacrifices this time."
Gou Sheng was about to burst into tears: "Brother Albus, don't scare me. I have an old family and a young family. You still expect me to go back alive to support the whole family."
Albus sighed: "Why am I not the same? Tell me, why am I so miserable? I went out to sell four sheepskins. When I saw the cavalry, I just went to the side of the woods to hide for a while, and then I was treated as a spy. They're here. But the ones who captured me were soldiers from the Wei Dynasty. How can I reason?"
Brother Shitou asked curiously: "Albus, aren't you from the Yu tribe? You also entered the customs with the Tuoba clan. You have achieved military exploits before. It's okay for us Han people from Hebei to be arrested, so why should you be arrested too?" Already?"
Albus gritted his teeth: "It's all your fault, the Han people. I heard that it was because the Han people in Qinghe defected, which made His Majesty so angry that he arrested all the people along the way who ran away when they saw the army and sent them to Here in Pingcheng, I’ve tricked you to death!”
Brother Shitou said angrily: "We Han people are to blame for what happened in Qinghe? Aren't you the guys from the Helan tribe who forcibly kidnapped all the people in Qinghe County? Are the Helan tribe or the in-laws of the Tuoba tribe? That Helan tribe Lu is also Tuoba Gui’s uncle, and their own family fights have brought misfortune to us people!”
Albus frowned and whispered: "Stop talking. If this word reaches the emperor's ears, even if you have ten heads, it won't be enough. I heard that he is now taking Wu Shi San and is not thinking clearly." It's normal, and it's okay when you're awake, but if you get involved, you'll kill everyone on sight, even important ministers and generals of the Wei Dynasty, as well as former heroes. I advise you..."
While he was talking, the gate of the inner city suddenly opened slowly, and a sound of drums and horns soared into the sky, accompanied by thousands of voices shouting: "Long live my emperor!"
On the city wall, all the sergeants shouted in unison, speaking at least a dozen different languages. It also showed that although these sergeants wore the same military uniforms and armor, they obviously came from many different tribes. However, Under the command of uniform military orders, even though they used different languages, they still exuded a chilling majesty that shocked people's eardrums. Even the nearly 20,000 people in the palace square couldn't help but He knelt down and started shouting "Long Live the Mountain" on the ground.
Tuoba Gui was wearing a large wolf-skin chariot and golden armor. He stood on a chariot pulled by four tall horses. He held a giant sword in both hands and had a murderous look on his face. He stood before the three men led by Ba Ba Song. Accompanied by hundreds of hussar guards, they slowly walked out from the city gate of the inner city. Thousands of sergeants who were originally concentrated around the city gate, as the chariot passed by, pressed their hands on their chests and raised their hands. He knelt down and performed a salute. It was not until Tuoba Gui's chariot arrived in front of the city gate and the three hundred cavalry guards on both wings were lined up that the shouts around him gradually calmed down.
Tuoba Gui's sharp eyes swept over the people of Hebei who were kneeling in front of him, and he spoke coldly. His voice was not high, but it was full of energy. Every time he said a word, there would be more than a dozen translators. , quickly translated the words he just said into various languages. These sounds echoed in the palace and penetrated into everyone's ears: "You are my subjects of the Wei Dynasty, living in Hebei. I have been ordered by heaven. In order to alleviate your suffering, I have been fighting in Xihebei for many years, traveling thousands of miles, abandoning my family and business, and coming here with my whole family, just to save you from the hands of the Murong clan's Yan Kingdom. Although you are a grassroots people, you are still a beast. Knowing how to repay kindness, you have received the kindness of the great Wei State, and you should think of repaying it to the country and protecting your family. This is the way to be a human being."
"But I never expected that you, the country's bounty, had no intention of repaying the country. In the past, some unruly people from Qinghe secretly joined forces with the rebels of the Helan family to kill our defenders and seize our county. Later, you and other soldiers and civilians from Hebei, When I met a large army on the road, I didn’t put a pot of wine in it to welcome the king’s troops. Instead, I regarded the army as bandits and fled in the face of the wind. I saw it with my own eyes and was heartbroken!"
"Since I entered the Central Plains, I have been benevolent and indulgent to you. I have exempted and exempted taxes year after year and never called for military service. I thought that doing so would make you grateful and take the initiative to serve the country. But I was wrong. You only used my Tolerance is regarded as weakness and can be bullied. Today, I will let you understand who this world belongs to and what the use of this king's law is!"
A burst of wailing broke out from the crowd: "Your Majesty, please spare your life. We are not guilty. We were only temporarily afraid. Our crime will not lead to death!"
There was a hint of murderous intent in Tuoba Gui's eyes: "Just follow the old rules of our Tuoba tribe and let the gods and ancestors decide who is guilty and who is innocent!"
