Wuwuwu, bursts of crying came from inside and outside a temple in the city. Three days have passed since the end of the battle. The battlefield outside the city has been thoroughly cleaned. All the wounded on the other side were executed by the angry soldiers. Gao Heng mobilized the soldiers to dig a big pit outside the city and burned the enemy's corpses. buried.
The weather was still relatively hot in September. Not to mention people like Gao Heng who came from later generations, even people at that time knew that if the corpses were left exposed outside the city and not dealt with, it would bring serious plague. They managed to survive the attacks of the Annamites. It would be a pity if they were taken away by a wave of plague.
In addition, for the soldiers who died in the battle, because the land area in the city was small, a cemetery was also opened outside the city. After the bodies of the soldiers were buried, tombstones were erected with hardwood. Most of the soldiers were buried by their relatives. Or comrades identified and confirmed their names, but only a few people could not confirm them, so Gao Heng had no choice but to make an unnamed tombstone.
However, after learning this lesson, Gao Heng began to make military badges for all his soldiers. This habit was not only found in later generations, but was also very common in ancient times. For example, Jin Yiwei had name badges, which were divided according to rank and made of different materials. Wooden plaques, with iron, bronze, silver and gold medals on them. Gao Heng didn't have so much material here, so everyone had wooden plaques that they hung on their chests on weekdays. If they died in battle, they could be identified by the names on the wooden plaques.
Not only that, Gao Heng also turned a small temple in the city into an ancestral hall to commemorate the fallen soldiers. In the Ming Dynasty, Annan believed in Buddhism, especially in the north, which was mainly influenced by the Central Plains. Beginning in the second century AD, Northern Buddhism had entered Annan. Therefore, the Annan people in the north at that time mainly believed in Buddhism, and Buddhist temples were spread all over the country. Basically, every city They are all there, just different sizes.
Tuo County is a small town with only one small temple. Normally there are only a dozen or so monks. During this war, the population in the city was driven away, so the temple naturally became vacant. Now there are not many conditions, so we can only temporarily borrow the temple and transform it into an ancestral hall. Although it is a transformation, it is actually very simple. It just opens the main hall and places the memorial tablets of the fallen soldiers for people to offer incense and pay homage.
According to Chinese customs, after death, the body must be quiescent for three days before being buried. It is commonly known as Xiao Sanyang, which means that the soul can rest in peace three days after death. Overseas expatriates pay even more attention to this custom. However, the war was brutal and the remains of many fallen soldiers were beyond recognition. The weather was hot and they would definitely rot, so they were buried early.
Today is the last day of Xiao Sanyang. The carpenters in the city worked overtime to make the memorial tablet. Gao Heng asked everyone not to go to the cemetery and to pay their respects in this ancestral hall.
The cries of old people, children, and women resounded throughout the sky, and some people cried so hard that they fainted. The soldiers on duty at the top of the city couldn't help wiping their tears when they heard the cries coming from far away. The comrades who were joking together a few days ago have now become a handful of loess. If it weren't for the wolfish ambitions of the Annan people, they would still be peaceful. How could life be broken, and how could so many relatives and comrades be separated from them?
Click click click, neat footsteps sounded on the street, and a large group of soldiers appeared on the street, led by Gao Heng. Except for the soldiers guarding the city, everyone else was gathered by Gao Heng and came to the outside of the temple.
After several bloody battles, especially the last face-to-face battle, the survivors have grown up visibly. The recruits have seen the blood and will grow into veterans after surviving. I dare not say that their combat skills have been greatly improved. Improvement, but major psychological changes have taken place. At least they have understood the importance of military rules and discipline, the importance of unity, and the concept that everyone on the battlefield is not an individual, but a part of the army as a whole. .
So today, after Gao Heng gave the order, the soldiers lined up consciously and arrived in front of the temple with steps that were not particularly neat, but looked very impressive.
"Stop!" With a crash, all the soldiers stood up straight. The crowds inside and outside the temple also turned around, stopped crying, and looked at the surviving soldiers.
Gao Heng took a step forward, not only to lecture the soldiers, but also to speak to all the overseas Chinese. "Soldiers! Folks! You are originally from all over the world and from various nationalities. For one reason or another, you came to Annan to seek life. You thought you could create a family business with your own efforts, but the people of Annan did not I didn’t give you such an opportunity and pushed you to where you are today.”
He pointed in the direction outside the city, "Just outside the city, there are nearly a thousand people lying there. They are all our former relatives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Now, they are all sleeping there. But , what are they for? They are to allow us to live better. What I want to tell you is that the two thousand soldiers of the Survival Brigade were fortunate enough to live up to their orders. No matter what the price, they did it. They fought hard for Let the survivors live a better life, you must not live up to their sacrifice!"
Gao Heng paused and then said: "Today is the day when their souls can rest in peace. Although our conditions are simple and we cannot give them anything to do, but from today on, this temple will be officially renamed Zhongyi Temple. From now on, However, all the deceased soldiers of the Survival Brigade will be invited to the Zhongyi Temple to enjoy the incense and worship. Unless our group of people die, otherwise, if we have the money and the ability to contribute, we must try our best to help the families of the victims to survive. Difficulties, high self-balancing, everyone, without exception. Do you understand?"
"Understood! Understood! Understood!" the soldiers shouted loudly. Thousands of people also responded loudly: "We will definitely do it!"
After saying that, Gao Heng turned around and said, "Bring me the wine!"
Soldiers had already carried several jars of rice wine. These rice wines were found in tavern warehouses in the city. The Annan people left these behind when they left. However, in Annan, grain winemaking is also strictly controlled, so the price of wine is expensive. The quantity was small, so it was good to be able to collect these. After drinking, they were basically gone. But on an occasion like today, Gao Heng took out all the drinks.
"Pour the wine!" Gao Heng ordered.
The soldiers took out pottery bowls, gave one to everyone, and then filled the bowls with wine. Gao Heng even held a large bowl in his hand. The wine was poured into the bowl, exuding bursts of aroma. , but Gao Heng was not in the mood to taste wine at the moment.
He said loudly: "This wine! It is the celebration wine for all the soldiers of our survival brigade, and also the memorial wine for all the fallen soldiers. This bowl of wine, come on, to honor the heroes who died in battle!"
With a splash, Gao Heng spilled some wine in the bowl onto the ground. "Exit, respect the living beings who have lost their lives." Gao Heng poured out some wine again, "In the middle, respect the conscience of heaven and earth!" Another drink was poured out.
"My brothers in the survival brigade, the fellow villagers present, and those who sacrificed their lives, we will always remember them. As long as there is one person left in our survival brigade, we will protect everyone, and leave the military salary and pension money to me. Gao Heng, I will give you an explanation. The Annan people may not give up, and we may face a more complicated situation in the future. As long as there is a war, people will die. I, Gao Heng, have already prepared to meet my brothers at Zhongyi Temple. The preparations. But now, since we are alive, we must live a decent life! Respect! All the brothers who died in the battle! Have a safe journey!" After Gao Heng finished speaking, he drank the wine in the bowl.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" The soldiers roared three times, raised their necks and drank the wine in their hands.
Bang bang bang, all the soldiers threw the wine bowls in their hands on the ground and broke them into pieces, making a crisp sound.
This public sacrifice had a profound impact on the future. Before setting off, military officers often said to their comrades, "See you at the Loyalty Shrine!"
"Let me out! Let me out! You damn bastards!" Angry roars came from the dungeon of the county government. With a crash, the chain of the door was pulled open, and Gao Heng walked in first.
The person detained here is Zheng Zuo. After he was captured, although he was tied up, Gao Heng originally decided to give him a chance and put him in the side room of the county government. Gao Heng was not prepared to kill him anyway. This guy is a very good bargaining chip and can exchange a lot of things with the Zheng family's court. He is more valuable alive than dead.
But this guy's mouth was really bad. Because he was a high-level official in Annan, he spoke Chinese very well. Instead of saying a kind word, he yelled and cursed loudly in the side room, and even the eighteen generations of expatriates' ancestors were greeted. I don't know where he learned these curse words, but they don't have the same meaning. Gao Heng felt that this man really didn't know how to appreciate others, so he threw him into the dungeon.
The climate in Annan is humid and rainy. Strictly speaking, this kind of dungeon built under the county government should be a water prison. After entering, my calves were half submerged in the water. I couldn't sit or stand. After all, how could I be soaked in water for a long time? It's comfortable. So these days, Zheng Zuo has been tortured so much that he can't rest. He even cursed loudly. Strangely enough, he didn't eat the food given to him. He drank some water every day for three consecutive days. He didn't get much rest, but he still had the energy to curse.
"Okay! Shut your stinky mouth!" As soon as Gao Heng entered the dungeon, he smelled a stench. This dungeon is also a place where prisoners are kept on weekdays, where they can eat, drink, and defecate, plus water. Bubble, this smell can't be good.
When Gao Heng saw Zheng Zuo making a lot of noise, he shouted angrily. Zheng Zuo was startled. There was almost no light in the cell, and it was dark. He didn't see Gao Heng's appearance clearly, and thought he was a soldier delivering food to him, so he yelled and cursed even more vigorously. Gao Heng's voice stopped him.
Zheng Zuo narrowed his eyes and looked at the speaker. As Gao Heng got closer and closer, he finally saw clearly, "It's you!" Zheng Zuo pointed at Gao Heng. Gao Heng sneered, "Yes, it's me. You can recognize me at a glance, which means I left a deep impression on you."
"Who are you?" Zheng Zuo asked. Since he was captured, Zheng Zuo still didn't know the name of the opponent's general. When he asked the guarding soldiers, no one answered. He wanted to know who this person was. He had never known such a number one person before, although he was captured. It was due to carelessness, but this person led the expatriates to resist, which is not simple in itself.
Gao Heng didn't intend to hide it, he also wanted to use Zheng Zuo to spread his name, so that the Annan court would tremble when hearing Gao Heng's name. "My name is Gao Heng. It turns out that I am just a small flag officer in the Ming army. I volunteered to come to Annan to rescue the overseas Chinese. I didn't expect that I would catch such a big fish like you as soon as I came up." Gao Heng said coldly.
"What did you say?" Zheng Zuo's eyes widened for a moment. He was familiar with the military system of the Ming army. The flag officer, a low-ranking officer who was not even as good as the commander of the Annan Army, was actually the leader of so many expatriates. , this does sound a bit fantasy. What he couldn't accept the most was that he was captured by such a little person who was worse than an ant. This made him turn his face.
"I didn't expect it. I didn't lie to you. My original identity was a small flag officer, but now I am the commander-in-chief of the survival brigade." Gao Heng said.
"What is the Survival Brigade?" Zheng Zuo was a little confused.
Gao Heng said: "Thanks to you and the Zheng family, the Chinese expatriates can no longer survive. So in order to find a way to survive, they spontaneously formed a survival brigade under my leadership and elected me as their leader."
"How many of you are there?" Zheng Zuo asked again.
Gao Heng shook his head, "His Royal Highness, it seems that you haven't figured out the situation yet. Now that you are a prisoner, I should be the one asking you, not you asking me. Do you understand?"
"You!" Zheng Zuo pointed at him and said angrily. Then the conversation changed and he said: "Let's do this, let me go now, and I will go to the father to plead for mercy and give you a way to survive. Otherwise, I, the Annan Army, with a hundred thousand people, will kill thousands of you with ease!"
"Hahahaha, it's so easy? You can tell me that you, a prisoner, still have the guts to bark in front of me. You are really ungrateful. So what if your Zheng family has a hundred thousand troops? If you don't send troops to defend your place, you still don't follow Ruan The Ming Dynasty went to war, and now they have offended the Ming Dynasty. Don’t forget, the centipede insect is dead but not stiff. No matter how bad the Ming Dynasty is, it is not something you Annan can win. How many troops do you think you can use to fight without these aspects? Us?" Gao Heng asked.
"This." Zheng Zuo was speechless for a moment. What this guy said was not completely unreasonable. The Zheng family used troops everywhere. This time they could gather more than 10,000 people, which was already empty of their wealth. As a result, they returned in a great defeat, not to mention the loss of soldiers and horses. , the equipment is gone, it is really not easy to organize such an offensive again.
"I advise you to eat well. You have two choices now. Either you cooperate obediently or your life will be worse than death."
