Soldiers from the Survival Brigade came forward to greet them. These people were all compatriots and had the same experience as them. They felt the same way. Some people hugged each other and cried loudly. The people coming out of the city came to greet him, and there was even more crying. No matter whether they were men, women, old or young, they were both happy and grateful to have survived, and sad at the same time. After all, many people did not live to see this day.
After the people's emotions calmed down a little, Gao Heng gave the order: "Each company and platoon maintain order and arrange for people to enter the city in batches."
Prior to this, in order to welcome their arrival, the city had made preparations in advance. People were boiling water and cooking rice, and people were performing their duties, striving to provide these suffering expatriates with a relatively comfortable environment.
Under the supervision of the soldiers, the expats began to divide into groups, and men and women entered the city separately.
A little boy who looked severely malnourished, with a sallow complexion and a big head was hugging the waist of a woman, who was obviously his mother. His mother's clothes were also in rags, and her hair had not been washed for an unknown amount of time. It had turned yellow and knotted, and lice were visible to the naked eye.
A soldier from the Survival Brigade came over and said to the woman: "Madam, please go to the right."
The women quickly grabbed their children and lined up behind the others. Wang Qi happened to be leading the team to maintain order. When he saw the little boy hugging his mother and not letting go, he took a few pieces of clothing from a woman next to him, walked forward, handed them to the woman and the little boy and said, "Madam, this is The clothes we have prepared for you are all old clothes collected in the city. They can still be worn after being mended and starched. The conditions are simple and I don’t know if they will fit you, so I can only feel aggrieved."
The woman quickly bent down and thanked him: "Thank you, Master. Thank you, Master. This is already very good, very good." She then knelt down to Wang Qi.
What she said was true. Wang Qi saw it in his eyes. The clothes of these refugees could not be called clothes at all. To be precise, they should be strips of cloth. Regardless of men and women, the clothes on their bodies were already full of holes. Some children were completely naked. Women can only cover their buttocks with tattered clothes, and many men are even shirtless.
The Annan people imprisoned them but would not give them new clothes to wear. Not only that, because they were often whipped, their clothes had long been broken into pieces. The women could only use rags to piece together some clothes for the children to wear. If these people were placed on the street, they would be no different from beggars. Moreover, because they have not bathed for such a long time, their bodies will already stink. Flies will circle around them, and the stink can be smelled from a long distance away.
When Wang Qi saw that the woman was about to kneel down, he did not mind the bad smell on her body. He grabbed her and said, "Madam, please don't do this. We are all poor people who have suffered a great disaster. If the general hadn't rescued you, let alone you." , just us people have already become dry bones on the roadside, and our bodies may have been eaten clean by wild dogs."
"General? Ah, I know, I know. There is a rumor in our team that Wu Quxing came down to Annan to save us. It is said that there is a Wuquxing in the army who defeated the people of Annan and captured the prince. Then he changed We are free. We are really living Bodhisattva, living Bodhisattva." As he said this, he knelt down again. There was a lot of movement on the woman's side, and the people around him obviously heard it, and they all knelt down.
"Everyone, please don't do this!" came a voice. It was Gao Heng who was working with the soldiers to appease the people. Seeing that there were people here who wanted to kneel down, he hurriedly walked over. As a soldier of later generations, I naturally resent the practice of kneeling at every turn. In fact, there was no kneeling ceremony in ancient times. The originator of the kneeling etiquette should be Shusun Tong of the Han Dynasty. He made a custom-made one for Liu Bang. Establishing new emperor etiquette to distinguish him from the Qin Dynasty, including kneeling, allowed Liu Bang to satisfy his emperor addiction.
Although the etiquette of kneeling appeared, it has not been widely used on a large scale. The real etiquette of kneeling and worshiping by all people began in the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty implemented tyranny and divided people into four classes. Kneeling reflects that one is a slave and they are the master, so starting from the Yuan Dynasty, the etiquette of kneeling and worshiping was applied on a large scale.
Although the Ming Dynasty was a dynasty established by the Han people, it generally inherited the Yuan system, so the etiquette was also the same. But Gao Heng was very disgusted. This kind of etiquette was simply dross. Although the concept of equality for everyone cannot be instilled into the people's heads overnight, Gao Heng felt that from here on, he would abolish these inhumane systems.
"Everyone, I am Gao Heng, and I am also the leader here." Gao Heng introduced himself.
"Hey! He is Wu Quxing." "He is really heroic." "No wonder he can defeat the Annan people." The people started talking about it.
Gao Heng said: "Welcome to Tuo County and the territory of the Survival Brigade. From today on, you are free. No one will whip you or enslave you anymore. You have become one of us. From now on, we I will live a better life in this land. Now that I have come, I must abide by the rules here. From today on, no matter whether it is civilians or military, as long as they are on the territory of the Qiu Survival Brigade, the etiquette of kneeling and worshiping will be abolished. Even if we are equal, we should kneel down to heaven and kneel to our parents. Other than that, there is no reason to kneel down. As the general of the Qiu Survival Brigade, I don’t want everyone to kneel down and worship me.”
Everyone didn't know what to say for a while. When they arrived here, they didn't expect that the first rule was like this. Gao Heng continued: "All soldiers in the army obey the order!"
"Here!" The military training these days has been very effective. When the soldiers heard Gao Heng's order, they all shouted loudly, which shocked the people. Some knowledgeable people couldn't help but nod and said: "No wonder they can defeat the Annan people. Just look at this spirit, they are like a tiger and wolf army. This General Gao is amazing. He can train refugees like us into elites."
"From today on, there are only military salutes in the army, but no kneeling salutes. Violators will be punished according to military law! Do you understand?" Gao Heng said.
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.
Wang Qi shrugged at the woman and said, "Madam, as you have seen, we do not like to kneel down here. Anyone who violates the order will be dealt with according to the military law. The general is not joking."
The woman straightened up. Wang Qi asked again: "I don't know how old this child is. Because he is too thin, I can't tell his age."
The woman quickly replied: "Hui Junye, he is seven years old."
Wang Qi nodded and said: "According to the regulations, children under ten years old can stay with their mothers. That's right. We have expanded the original bathhouse in the city and boiled a lot of hot water for you to take a bath. You haven't taken a bath for so many days. , it stinks, there are many bugs, and it carries a lot of toxins. The general said that it must be cleaned, otherwise there will be a risk of spreading the plague."
As soon as she said this, the woman nodded sheepishly. As a woman, it is natural to love beauty. Who likes to look like a beggar with unkempt hair, not to mention a strong sour smell on her body.
The woman walked to the right under Wang Qi's guidance. Wang Qi touched her body and shouted, "Wait a minute," as if he remembered something.
The woman turned around and said, "Master Jun, is there anything else?"
Wang Qi took out a palm-sized small package from his arms and handed it to the child: "Here, it's for you. You haven't had candy for a long time. Take it."
Annan produces sugar cane, and there is no shortage of raw materials for sucrose. However, sugar is a strategic material at any time. Like salt, it is controlled by the state, and the price is not low. But Gao Heng, as a soldier, certainly knows the importance of sugar in war. . Especially for soldiers, you must know that sugar can provide a large amount of calories in a short period of time. During World War II, the armies of many developed countries distributed candies and chocolates to soldiers. This is a guarantee of combat effectiveness. During combat, a piece of chocolate can Allow soldiers to replenish their physical strength in a short period of time.
Now they don't have this condition. Gao Heng can only ask the officers to put some candy cubes on their bodies and distribute them to the brothers in the team when necessary. Later, when they have the conditions, all soldiers will be given high-calorie candies.
This is the nature of children. When they hear candy, their eyes immediately light up. At first, the little boy was timid and kept silent, but the moment Wang Qi stretched out his hand, he finally spoke, "Mom, it's candy."
Not to mention in Annan, even in the Central Plains, it is impossible for ordinary children to eat sugar, not to mention the children who have been tortured in the concentration camps for so long. Completely forgot about the taste of sugar.
Although she has suffered for such a long time, it can be seen that the woman still knows etiquette very well. She said to the little boy, "She saved our lives. It is a great kindness that can never be repaid in this life. How can we ask for a benefactor?" Where’s the candy?”
The little boy retracted his hand and hid behind the woman. Wang Qi hurriedly said: "It's okay. We still have them in the army. Madam, no matter how hard it is, we can't hurt the children. The general said that we are fighting not just so that the children can live a stable life. Take it, take it."
Wang Qi took the little boy's hand, stuffed the candy into his palm, wrapped it around him, and placed it on him. The candy began to melt. He quickly opened it, took out a piece of sticky candy, and stuffed it into the little boy's mouth.
Wang Qi's movements were so fast that the woman had no time to stop her. The little boy grinned and said, "Mom, that's so sweet."
Wang Qi's nose felt a little sore, and he quickly turned his back, trying hard to control himself and prevent tears from flowing out. What a good child, tortured like this by the Annamites. It is conceivable that there are many children of his age who don't even have the opportunity to eat sweets, so they become a handful of loess.
He touched the little boy's head and said, "My child, everything is over, and life will get better."
Wang Qi watched the mother and son follow the soldiers towards the bathroom in the city. The little boy couldn't wait to stuff the candies into his mouth one after another. While eating, he took out one to share with his mother. This sweetness like honey made people feel happy. His mood became happy, and he clapped his hands happily. His mother looked at his happy look and couldn't help but hold him tightly in her arms.
Wang Qi's eyes were moist. He touched the matchlock gun on his back. There were tens of thousands of such refugees in Annan. The goal of the survival brigade was to rescue them all. If the Annan people dared to stop them, they would use their own hands to save them. The arquebus blasted open their heads. He turned around with firm eyes and faced the next refugee.
There has long been a lively scene in the city. Gao Heng led people to welcome the refugees outside the city, while Jackie Chan led the temporarily organized people to arrange the lives of the refugees in the city. The first step is to take a bath first, and then take the bath to eat.
The bathhouse is divided into men and women. Jackie Chan is on the men's side. He keeps repeating: "Please take a shower and change clothes. Take off all your original clothes and throw them at the door. We will handle them together. If you have valuables, please take them away yourself."
Cheng Zilong has some knowledge of medical science and knows that these old clothes are very dirty and contain a lot of toxins. So as soon as the refugees took off their clothes, someone came forward and sprinkled them with lime powder, then shoveled them up and threw them on carts, and pushed them out of the city to be burned.
The wooden house in front of me is said to be a bathroom, but it is actually a very large pool dug, filled with boiled hot water, and a hundred people put in at a time. After washing, the wooden board at the drainage outlet is opened to release the dirty water. Get out and replace with a new pool of water.
One hundred naked men entered the wooden house. The leader first tested the water temperature. It was a little hot, but for people who hadn't bathed for a long time, seeing such clean hot water made their bodies itchy. He was the first to jump in, and the people behind him jumped in one by one like dumplings. They were so hot that they grinned. When their skin got used to it, they suddenly felt that the pores of their whole bodies were opened and they felt extremely comfortable.
"The hot bath is so comfortable. I can't even remember the last time I took a bath," someone said. Everyone helped each other and scrubbed their bodies. People enjoyed washing away the fatigue and dirt all over their bodies in the hot water.
When they came out, they put on clean clothes and felt as if their vitality had returned to their bodies again. People looked at each other and laughed. This time, they really felt like they could be upright people.
The woman and the little boy also came out of the shower. The little boy was jumping up and down in new clothes one size too big, not to mention how happy he was. The woman carefully rolled up the boy's trousers to make him more comfortable.
"Mom, look, it's Uncle Li." The woman's husband was kidnapped by the Annan people and became a civilian husband. He never returned and must have died. For such a long time, a man named Li in the camp felt sorry for the two of them and tried every means to take care of them. The woman had long made a wish in her heart that if she could get out alive, she would marry him. Now that she really came out alive, she didn't know how to face the man. However, the child didn't care so much and shouted when he saw Uncle Li.
The man also washed up. When he heard the child calling him, he ran over immediately and saw the woman at first sight. Although she was not very beautiful, after washing, her appearance was completely new. The man was a little stunned.
