Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 176 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 1
  Yu Hong hurriedly came forward and said, "Your Majesty, all the defenders and civilians of Shifang Temple Fort were slaughtered without a single survivor. All the food, grass and baggage in the city were looted and burned.

I have collected and buried more than 2,500 bodies of soldiers and civilians. I have ordered the military craftsmen to repair the city gates, arrange the city's defenses, and sent out scout horses to explore everywhere. I am now digging holes to bury the bodies. Please show me. "

Jia Cong looked at the ground. In addition to the corpses of the defenders, there were also the corpses of many disheveled women and children. He felt angry and his eyes were splitting. What a beast!

Jia Cong dismounted, took off his helmet, and observed a moment of silence. Everyone quickly dismounted and stood aside.

"Mr. Yu Qian, you did a good job. Mr. You Qian, arrange the purchased materials properly, and help bury the body before talking." Jia Cong said in a deep voice, and then took a hoe.

When the sergeants and prisoners saw the master of defense doing this rough work in person, they felt a bit of respect in their hearts and worked even harder.

Joined by a thousand troops, two large pits were dug before sunset and the bodies were buried.

Jia Cong wiped the sweat from his head and led everyone into the city. He saw broken walls everywhere, bricks and wood rubble, and walls blackened by flames, which seemed to silently tell the cruelty of the Tatars.

The fort wall is about two feet high and about ten and a half feet thick. There are only two gates in the north and south, and a street runs through the center. In the middle of the city is a large square, which is used as a school ground for daily military training. When viewed from the sky, it looks like a Chinese character. The defense officer's office is in the northeast corner and has now been burned to ruins.

There is a beacon tower seven or eight feet high next to the Yamen, which is also used as a lookout. Now several soldiers have been assigned to guard it.

Yu Hong had already sent people to pick up a relatively complete large house as Jia Cong's residence. He also cleared out less damaged private houses and barracks for officers and soldiers to garrison.

At this time, Youjia came to report happily: "Your Majesty, the purchased materials have been cleaned and stored, 54 crossbows, catapults, etc. have been installed properly, and more than war horses have been fed. Please show me."

Yu Hong was secretly stunned. Third Master Cong was so generous. It would be an understatement to say that he spent money like water.

Although it is easy to get some grassland horses on the Liaodong border, each one costs twenty or thirty taels of silver. In addition to expensive goods such as crossbows and catapults, this batch of supplies costs at least tens of thousands of silver.

Jia Cong nodded and looked at the sky: "Except for the guards on the city, everyone should gather at the school ground. I want to give a lecture. Order the Huotou Army to cook on the school ground."

"Follow your orders!"

In a moment, more than 1,500 soldiers and 500 prisoners were assembled and stood neatly into two square formations.

Some of the dozens of large pots on the side of the field were frying pancakes, and some were boiling water. The soup was already boiling, and the steam was steaming. The cooks poured down the radishes and bacon that had been cut into pieces. Suddenly, the aroma of meat filled the square. Almost at the same time, there was a growl in the abdomen.

Everyone swallowed their saliva and stared at the cauldrons.

Yu Hong and You Jiaxi stood out from the crowd and shouted in unison: "Now, please give me a lecture, Master Defender!"

Jia Cong stood on the platform made of tables above, stood with his sword on his head, and said loudly: "Brothers Pao Ze, you are all elite men sent to me by General Yang. I won't go into details about the rules in the army. I only have one sentence. , Those who abide by military orders and kill the enemy bravely will be rewarded, and those who disobey military orders and are cowardly will be executed! You must remember this!"

"Yes! We'll keep it in mind!" all the soldiers replied in unison.

"You have all seen the situation in the city. The Tatars are all beasts. If they are not killed, they will be killed! The place where we stand is the land of Wu, and the people we protect are our fellow villagers. I have no regrets waiting for death, but how can these beautiful rivers and mountains be trampled by barbarians!"

There were only blazing flames and military flags in the field, and more than two thousand people remained silent.

"I know that all the reasonable people understand that the imperial court has treated everyone badly in normal times. Now that the Tatars have come over, they are asking everyone to sacrifice their lives. It is really unreasonable.

A soldier has nothing to say about protecting his family and country, but he also has to eat, wear clothes and find a wife. As a rule, each frontier soldier should receive one tael of silver and one stone of rice per month. How much do you actually receive now? "

The soldiers looked at each other and did not dare to speak.

"But it doesn't matter, just say it!" Jia Cong waved his hand.

"Three coins of silver, four measures of rice."

"Sometimes four denarii."

"Sometimes only seven or eight buckets of rice are given out."

You Jiaxi and Yu Hong both looked at each other and smiled bitterly. Not to mention these big-headed soldiers, even they had not received military pay. They all relied on the money in the General Military Mansion to live their lives.

The imperial court was already very picky about military expenditures. It only paid five or six cents per ten military pay, plus layers of deductions. When it came to Liaodong, it was only three or four cents at most. The Liao Prince's Palace deducted another layer, and even less when it went to the General Military Palace. If the officers and generals at all levels drink some of the blood of the soldiers, how much more will they get in the hands of the soldiers?
  In this case, in order to ensure basic combat effectiveness, Liaodong Town was originally equipped with an army of 450,000 people, but actually only had more than 200,000 people. More than half of them were vacant. In this way, they could barely survive starvation.

Jia Cong nodded: "As you all know, I come from a noble family, and I know a little bit about the situation in the army. It's not that the commander-in-chief is embezzling money, but it's because the imperial treasury is empty and can't get out the money. Since I have taken this place, To defend, I have a few words to express my feelings. First, I have plenty of money. I disdain to eat empty wages and drink the blood of soldiers. If the court cannot afford it, I will make up for it for you, with a monthly salary of 1 per person. Two or five pieces of silver will never break your promise!

Second, as long as you serve as a soldier in my hands, I will ensure that you eat well, drink well, have enough rice and noodles, and have meat every day!
  Third, after this battle, there will be huge rewards for brave fighters! Those killed in battle will receive a pension of 100 taels. Before I came here, I had put 20 silver notes at Commander Yang's office. Even if we all die here in battle, the pension money will be distributed to your family! "

You Jiaxi and Yu Hong hurriedly echoed in unison, proving that what Jia Cong said was true.

The soldiers were finally moved. They couldn't recognize any words, and they didn't know if a soldier died for his confidant. They only knew that they would serve whoever was good to them.

Now Jia Cong's words moved them to tears and their blood boiled. They all knelt down and shouted: "I am willing to die for your Excellency!"

Jia Cong stretched out his hand to help: "Get up. We are all brothers. I won't talk nonsense. In short, I will never treat you badly. Okay, let's go eat."

"Thank you, sir!" The soldiers rushed to the big pot on the side of the field. At least they still had some military discipline. Under the scoldings of the commander, captain, and sentry commander, they automatically lined up in a queue, and each received two big cakes and a bowl of stew. The meat was gathered in a circle along the school grounds, and they devoured the pickled vegetables, almost swallowing their tongues.

While eating, some young soldiers shed tears and asked the defender to let the big guys eat meat, willing to fight to the death.

Seeing the soldiers happily feasting on their food, the five hundred prisoners became a little commotion. Each of them had red eyes, swallowing saliva wildly, wanting to dive into the big pot and eat to their heart's content.

Jia Cong looked at the group of criminals and said: "You are all guilty. I believe you know what you are here for. I promise that no matter whether you killed people or set fires in the past, as long as you are here, Risk your life and fight bravely in this battle, and all your sins will be forgiven after the war!
  If you want to cheat and fish in troubled waters, there is no need for the Tatars to come and kill you. I will chop off your dog's head first. Do you hear me clearly? "

"You hear me clearly," the prisoners said in unison.

"I only ask you to do one thing, obey! Do you understand or not?"

"Understood." This time everyone's voices were much lower. Could it be that you asked me to die and we obeyed? What is the difference between dying in the hands of the Tartars and dying in your hands? Why should I sacrifice my life for you?

Jia Cong smiled coldly, waved his hand and said, "Each person will receive a piece of cake and a bowl of hot water."

Suddenly there was some noise among the prisoners, and a few green-skinned gangsters took courage and said, "Sir, I don't accept it. Since they are all working hard to defend the city for the country and doing the same job, why do they eat two loaves and a bowl of meat? We Just eat a piece of cake? Could it be that we are not human beings?"

Jia Cong said: "You mean I am unfair?"

The few people said: "I don't dare, I just ask the adults to treat everyone equally, so that we can have the strength to serve you. Big guys, don't you think so?"

"Yes, yes." All the prisoners echoed, and the smell of meat everywhere was like a hook, seducing their courage and forgetting their identity and who they were talking to.

Jia Cong laughed and pointed his hand: "You dare to incite trouble, you don't know whether to live or die! Come here, take the leaders out and chop them off, and show their heads to the public!"

The prisoners dispersed with a roar, revealing a few people in the middle, for fear that the sergeant would misunderstand that they were the leader.

The faces of those green-skinned men paled when they heard this, and they immediately collapsed and hurriedly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, have mercy on me. We know our guilt, and we only ask for meritorious services. We will risk our lives to kill the enemy and defend the city. I beg for your mercy... Sir, please spare your life." ah……"

A dozen or so wolf-like sergeants had already gone up, pushed down four or five prisoners, pulled them out, and presented several heads in a blink of an eye.

"Hang it up to show the public." Jia Cong waved his hand.

"Yes!" the sergeants agreed, then picked them up with long bamboo poles and stuck them on the roadside.

"Is there anyone who is still lying? Stand up and let me take a look?" Jia Cong said.

Seeing Jia Cong killing people without blinking an eye, everyone was so silent that they dared not agree.

"Although you are a prisoner, I am not an unreasonable person. There is one kind of person among you who can also eat meat, and that is a capable person." Jia Cong said.

Everyone hurriedly looked over, and someone boldly asked, "May I ask, sir, what does it mean to be capable?"

Jia Cong said: "Whether you are good at literature or martial arts, as long as you have a skill, can do things that others cannot do, and can help defend the city and fight, it is a skill!"

"Sir, I know some martial arts skills." Everyone thought for a while, but Wen and the others didn't know it. Wu also knew a little bit about it, so they all raised their hands and shouted.

Jia Cong chuckled, "Don't think about getting away with it. Those who claim to know martial arts, stand up and fight with these people. If you can survive ten times, you will have meat to eat." He pointed to Wang Jin and several sworn friends. brother.

(End of this chapter)