Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 374 Meals for the Captives
"What's your name?" Zhao Wen looked at Wu Xiao who was kneeling in front of him, and asked in a cold voice.

Wu Xiao's body kept shaking, and his whole body kept shaking like chaff.

His hands were tied behind his back and he knelt on the ground.

"My name is Wu Xiao, and I am from the former Qianhu House of Zhenwuwei. There are more than 750 soldiers under him. I was ordered by Chen Zhong, the commander of Zhenwuwei, to come to support Yanmen Pass." Wu Xiao buried his head very low, and his tone was full of fear.

"How many troops does Zhenwuwei have now, and how many of them are good at fighting?" Zhao Wen asked again.

"Except for the battalion soldiers and servants of Commander-in-Chief, the soldiers in Zhenwu Guard are similar to my subordinates, they are a group of peasants carrying hoes.

There are more than 100 soldiers in the battalion of the commanding officer, and about [-] soldiers as for the servants.Commander-in-Chief's servants are all cavalry, and their equipment is even better than that of us thousands of households. "Wu Xiaosheng was afraid that Zhao Wen would cut himself off if he was dissatisfied, so he said what he knew like beans in a bamboo tube.

Zhao Wen listened to Wu Xiao's words with a blank expression on his face.

After Wu Xiao finished speaking, Zhao Wen pointed at Wu Xiao and looked at Song Hu, "Put this person alone. As for the prisoners, except for his family members who were separated, all of them will be detained together."

"By the way, the food standard for ordinary captives these days is half of our standard. These captives are very thin. If they don't make up for it, where will they get the strength to build the railway for us.

When the repairs are almost complete, they will be sent to the rear to repair the railway for us. Zhao Wen pointed to the captives who were strung up with ropes and squatting on the ground, and looked at Song Hu.

These captives were malnourished all year round. If they went to repair the railway in this state, they would probably die of exhaustion before much repairs were made.

After all, there are no machines for railway construction in this era, and it is up to people to lift horses. The bones are too weak, so how can they lift the rails.

Of course, it was impossible for Zhao Wen to provide them with this kind of food all the time, nor could he provide them with canned meat every day.

After taking down Yanmen Pass, Zhao Wen will send them to the rear and let them build the railway.

Song Hu nodded and said, "Obey!"

After Zhao Wen finished speaking, he led Song Hu and others to the front of the camp.

As for Wu Xiao, Wang Tiewa and others made a special cell and locked him up alone.

Wu Xiao's servants were also stripped of their armor, leaving only a jacket, and they were imprisoned next door to Wu Xiao.

The remaining more than 1000 captives were all left in an open field, guarded by about a hundred soldiers with live ammunition.

These prisoners squatted on the ground, looking at the armor and strong bodies of the soldiers under Wang Tiewa's command, with envy on their faces.

"Grandma, if I had such excellent equipment, I wouldn't just run away." A man over [-] years old with two missing front teeth said enviously.

"Hey, just looking at their physiques, you can tell that their food must be good. Our group of people are like beggars, how can we compare with others."

"It's true, we are just a bunch of beggars, we can't even eat enough, and we can't stop panting after two steps, let alone fighting."

The prisoners squatted on the ground, watching the soldiers guarding them talking non-stop.

These people looked at these soldiers with envious eyes.

Time passed by little by little, and it had been almost a whole day since the soldiers set off, and they had never eaten any other food except for a half-dry porridge before setting off.

Now they are very hungry in their stomachs, and they look helpless as they look at the sun that is gradually setting in the sky.

"Oh, I starved to death. I was not killed, but now I am going to starve to death."

The man with missing front teeth was lying on the ground, looking at the sky, his stomach growling.

At this moment, a smell of meat suddenly wafted from the camp, and the smell of meat became more and more serious.

Now it was time for dinner, and the cooks in the camp also started to make dinner.

Soldiers sat around the fire and heated the canned meat in the iron pot on the fire.

Under the transpiration of water vapor, the aroma in the can keeps coming out of the iron pot and drifting away.

"It smells so good. This is the smell of meat. This is the smell of meat." The man with missing front teeth twitched his nose vigorously, smelling the smell of meat wafting over, and his mouth kept flowing.

"Grandma, the food of this group of people is so good that they can even eat meat. Grandma's, I haven't seen meat once in all these years."

Except for the man who had lost his front teeth, the other captive soldiers also looked envious, squatting, and looked around with blazing eyes.

"If you give me this kind of food, I will rebel. I will starve to death sooner or later if I follow the court. It is better to rebel with these people, at least I can eat meat."

"Yes, that's right. Brother Zhao's words are reasonable. When have we poor soldiers eaten this kind of food? If we can really give us this kind of food, what does it matter if we sell our lives to them? Woolen cloth?"

All of a sudden, the captives squatting on the ground started talking about it.

"Man, is this the food you had before the war? Isn't this food too good?" The man without front teeth kept rubbing to the side. He squatted on the ground, looking at the soldiers standing beside them and guarding them. Looking up, he asked curiously.

For the man missing his front teeth, he had already been captured anyway, and it couldn't be worse than this, so he asked with a sullen face.

The man with missing front teeth is called Zhao Yi, he is Wu Xiao's subordinate, and now he is a chief banner officer.

The soldier he was questioning was also surnamed Zhao, named Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng looked at Zhao Yi, and said arrogantly: "Not only was our meal like this before the war, but our usual meal is also like this.

Every meal has rice or white noodles, three dishes and one soup, there is meat in every meal, and there are enough steamed buns. "

"Really? Is it really that good? If you said that the food before the war was so good, I would still believe it, but if you said that your usual food is like this, I don't quite believe it." Zhao Yi expressed disbelief, There is enough rice and white noodles, and there is meat in every meal. Even a hundred households cannot have such a meal. Isn't this bragging what is this?
Zhao Yi didn't believe Zhao Sheng's words from the bottom of his heart. In his opinion, this kind of food could only be available before the war. After all, according to what the soldier said, these rebels had to be rich to afford it. If there is so much money for this kind of food, why rebel?

In Zhao Yi's mind, being able to eat rice and white flour steamed buns is considered a very good meal.

Zhao Sheng couldn't help laughing at Zhao Yi's unseen appearance.

"You really are watching the sky from a well, you have never been to our Xuan Town, and you have no idea how rich our Xuan Town is.

Have you ever seen a tall building made of cement?Have you ever seen a floor made of cement?Have you ever seen canned meat in tin cans?You have never seen anything. "Zhao Sheng's face was full of pride, and his eyes were full of pride when he looked at Zhao Yi.

"Hey, you guys who are not stingy, your ancestors have accumulated virtues, and you have met such a benevolent general as our Lord Chief Soldier."

While talking, a hundred households came over with a hundred soldiers carrying dozens of large boxes.

As soon as Baihu appeared, he attracted the attention of these captives.

They looked at the boxes carried by the soldiers behind Baihu with curiosity in their eyes.

"Zhao Sheng, what are you talking to this prisoner?" Baihu looked at Zhao Sheng.

Although Zhao Sheng is not under the jurisdiction of this hundred households, he also knows them.

He hastily gave a military salute to Baihu, and said, "My lord, this prisoner just asked me whether our food was like this before the war or it has always been like this.

I just said that it has always been like this, but they don't believe it. "

Zhao Yi looked at Baihu who was walking over, and hurriedly retreated.

Baihu sneered and scolded, "They're all a group of people who have been deceived by lard. They still don't believe in our food. Believe it or not."

"Okay, I won't say any more. This is the food that the adults ordered for the prisoners. You can ask them to distribute these things to them. I have something to do, so I will leave first." Baihu pointed to the box behind him, and then He asked the soldiers to put these boxes on the ground, and then he led the men and horses back along the way they came.

Zhao Sheng looked at the boxes placed together, then at Zhao Yi, and said with a sarcasm: "Hehe, you are really blessed, the adults are willing to give you canned food."

Zhao Yi and the others looked at the boxes placed together in confusion, they couldn't figure out what was in the box, and they didn't know what canned food Zhao Sheng was talking about.

Looking at the bewildered eyes of these people, Zhao Wen shook his head, then called over a dozen soldiers, opened the box, and took out the cans inside.

"Okay, now you prisoners stand up for me, line up, and come one by one, each with a can." Zhao Sheng stood in front of the box, pointed at the cans inside the box and shouted at the prisoners.

Every time he shouted, the soldiers standing beside him would shout in unison and pass on his words.

Zhao Yi stood at the front. He looked at the iron cans in the box, and the confusion on his face became more serious.

"Is this food edible?" Zhao Yi asked suspiciously, pointing to the iron can in the box.

Zhao Sheng picked up a can with a sneer on his face, pulled the ring on the can, and turned around the edge of the can.

After a few breaths, a smell of meat rushed out from inside.

Because there is no heating, the smell of meat is not dignified.

But even so, it still made Zhao Yi and the others scream.

"Hey, is there meat in this? Is this for us?" Zhao Yi pointed at the can in Zhao Sheng's hand with a look of disbelief.

Zhao Sheng said: "Hmph, you also met our Chief Soldier, otherwise, you still want to eat this kind of food, it's just a dream.

Now, all of you line up for me, if anyone dares to loot, don't blame me for not recognizing people with the weapons in my hands. "

As he said that, Zhao Sheng put down the can in his hand, held up the 56 and fired several shots at the sky.

These captives all looked at the 56 Chong in Zhao Sheng's hand with horror on their faces, and they involuntarily took a few steps back.

"Okay, line up now, come and get it!" Zhao Sheng put down the 56 Chong, stood beside him, and began to distribute the cans.

After Zhao Yi received the can, he squatted aside and slowly opened the can in the way Zhao Sheng did just now.

After opening it, Zhao Yi didn't eat it directly. Instead, he swung his palm and smacked his face a few times.

"Clap!"

After a few crisp sounds, Zhao Yi's face swelled rapidly, and a pain surged up.

Zhao Yi covered his face with excitement, "I'm not dreaming, it's real, my God, it's actually real, it's actually giving us meat."

Looking at the meat in the can, Zhao Yi didn't care whether his hands were clean or not, so he directly put his hand in and clasped it.

Zhao Wen's cans are relatively large, which means they are smaller than the milk powder cans of later generations, so they can be stuffed in with hands.

After Zhao Yi dug out the meat, he stuffed it into his mouth like a storm.

As soon as it was stuffed into his mouth, Zhao Yi's eyes lit up, "Is this salt? My mother-in-law, fourth uncle, grandpa, there is so much salt in it."

In ancient times, table salt was a very precious thing.

Only those rich people can eat salt every meal. Ordinary people, especially farmers, can only eat salt when they are busy with farming.

Under normal circumstances, people don't dare to add more salt when cooking, just to make the food have a salty taste.

As for the refined salt, only rich families can afford it.Ordinary people can only eat miscellaneous salt, which not only has many impurities, but also has a bitter taste.

The salt used in this can is refined salt, which not only has no bitter taste, but also has a large amount.

Zhao Yi squatted on the ground, devouring the food in the can.

Not long after, Zhao Yi wiped out all the meat in the can.

After eating, Zhao Yi drank all the soup inside, and stretched out his hand to wipe off the juice inside, and licked it all over with his tongue.

"It's so fresh!" Zhao Yi put down the canned food, squatted on the ground, savoring the taste just now, and kept laughing silly.

Except for Zhao Yi, everyone else ate in the same way, devouring canned food.

As the saying goes, evil starts from the heart and grows from the gallbladder.

Among these captives, there are some green-skinned rogue-like characters.

When they tasted something they had never eaten before, greed suddenly filled their hearts.

There was a long scar on his face. After finishing the canned food in his hand, the tall and thick man set his sights on a boy who looked only fourteen or fifteen years old.

The front is very thin, squatting on the ground, eating very slowly holding the can.

The man looked at the boy, stood up slowly from the ground, and walked towards the boy with a ferocious face.

Taking advantage of the young man's inattention, the man snatched the can from the young man's arms and kicked the young man.

"What are you doing? This is mine. Give it back to me. You can't take it away." The boy fell to the ground and looked at the man angrily.

"Shit, what I like is my own. You go eat your ass, this is my own."

The man cursed angrily, and kept stuffing the meat inside into his mouth.

Seeing this, the young man hurriedly got up from the ground and rushed towards the man.

It's a pity that the boy was no match for the man at all, and he was knocked down to the ground.

Seeing this scene, several people with the same malicious intentions around them became more courageous, and stretched their hands into the bodies of those who hadn't finished eating.

In an instant, there was chaos here.

The chaos here quickly attracted Zhao Sheng's attention, and Zhao Sheng hurriedly led the people over.

(End of this chapter)