Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 315: Separation of Captives
This [Ransom Camp] was a sudden idea of ​​Zhao Zhen's when he saw that most of the captives were in good health and it would be a pity to let them all do hard labor.

But the soldiers have no fighting spirit, and the generals have no fighting spirit. It is not certain that it can be formed. First, we should make some preparations. If it can be achieved, we can keep it. If it fails, we can disband it without much loss.

After waiting for more than an hour, except for Zhao Zhen, the soldiers who went up to the plateau stood in the sun for a long time, and they were all sweating. This was not the most fatal thing, after all, they were all wearing rattan armor, which was breathable. However, the exposed hands and faces suffered a lot. At this time of year, the reed marshes in the water were full of mosquitoes.

Zhao Zhen wore a Chinese medicine sachet made of angelica dahurica and carried a [Fire Bead] with him, so he was not bothered by mosquitoes. He saw Ruan Xiaowu and Ouyang Shoutong also swatting them from time to time.

Zhao Zhen said, "I didn't expect there would be so many mosquitoes here."

Ruan Xiaowu said: "It's not so bad at this time of year. If it were August, people wouldn't be able to stand by the reeds. It's still okay during the day, but at night, the mosquitoes can bite people to death. At that time, every family would burn wormwood, and the smoke would linger."

Ouyang Shoutong also said: "When I first arrived at the manor of the great official, I thought there were few mosquitoes here. After coming to Shijie Lake, I realized that there are more mosquitoes here than in Qingzhou."

"It was my negligence. There are many boxwood trees on the Dead Tree Mountain. I asked someone to bring them to you and plant them where you live. These trees can repel mosquitoes."

Ruan Xiaowu said happily: "This is good, I will have fewer worries in the future."

Xie Shun finally selected 200 people, lined them up on one side, and walked over to report.

Zhao Zhen took a look and found that the captives on the high ground had been selected. Those in the [Ransom Camp] all held their heads high and puffed out their chests, while the captives who had not been selected had different expressions.

Zhao Zhen had his men shout, "Those who are selected for the [Renunciation Camp] will be fed and drunk like sergeants every day. Those who are not selected will be sent to the mines to do hard labor."

The prisoners who were not selected started to make a commotion when they heard this. The brave ones started to curse at Jie Shun and his four companions. Ruan Xiaowu and Ouyang Shoutong heard this and started beating them with canes without waiting for Zhao Zhen's orders.

When everyone quieted down, Zhao Zhen picked out seven or eight of the loudest people and shouted, "If you have any complaints, say it now. If you are causing trouble without reason, I will not let you off easily."

Looking at the soldiers holding broadswords behind Zhao Zhen, a big man swallowed his saliva and said with a stiff face, "Sir, I am a flag bearer in the army. In terms of bravery, few can catch up with me. If I lose the duel, I will be sent to do hard labor. Qiu Cheng, who selected the soldiers, is unfair. He only selects people based on personal connections. He only selects soldiers from his hometown. Meng Er is just a poor man who doesn't know any martial arts. He relies on flattery. Now he can be selected into the army. I can beat seven or eight of him. I don't accept this."

Zhao Zhen heard this and asked Meng Er to come out. Zhao Zhen frowned, looked at the short man kneeling on the ground, and shouted, "Is that Qiu Cheng?"

After hearing this, Qiu Cheng knelt down on the ground, kowtowed and said, "Sir, Li Si often beat his colleagues in the army, so we didn't choose him. Although Meng Er's martial arts are poor, he is smart, so we chose him."

Li Si heard this and yelled, "Bullshit! It was obviously you who coveted his widowed cousin's beauty and asked him to be your concubine, so you chose him."

Zhao Zhen frowned, had two knives thrown down, and said, "You two have your own reasons, and I am too lazy to verify them. Qiu Cheng and Li Si, you two will have a duel, regardless of life or death. The winner will enter the [Revenge Camp]."

After hearing this, the two men were stunned. They each picked up a machete and glared at each other.

Ruan Xiaowu asked quietly, "Master, why isn't it Meng Er and Li Si who are competing?"

Zhao Zhen looked at the two men who were slashing fiercely in front of him and said, "There must be a reason why none of the four chose Li Si. Qiu Cheng took advantage of the time of selecting soldiers to enrich himself, and he is not a good person. Let the two of them fight, so that these people will not be ungrateful. Meng Er is smart, who knows, he may be useful later." Ouyang Shoutong stared at the two people fighting on the field and said to Zhao Zhen, "Sir, Li Si is slightly better in martial arts, should we separate the two of them to avoid bloodshed?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head. "It's better to let them fight to the death. The [Renunciation Camp] is different from the recruited soldiers. They are also meant to be used as the vanguard. If they don't see blood, what's the point of keeping them? It would be best if Li Si can win. These four are colleagues. If we don't let one in to disrupt the situation, how can we get them to move?"

As they were talking, the winner was decided. Li Si shouted loudly, and while Qiu Cheng missed his attack, he turned sideways and chopped Qiu Cheng's neck with his knife. Seeing that Qiu Cheng was dead, Li Si did not give up. He stepped forward, stepped on Qiu Cheng's chest, raised his knife, and chopped off Qiu Cheng's head.

Then he dropped the knife in his hand, walked up to Zhao Zhen and knelt down.

Zhao Zhen said: "Yes, your martial arts skills are a bit wasted if you do hard labor."

Then he asked several loud voices to repeat his words, and Zhao Zhen said: "This [Renunciation Camp] is not something that can be chosen just by being selected. You have to train in peacetime and lead the battle in wartime. You can only be transferred out after surviving three times. Think it through. It's better to do hard labor for ten years or join the [Renunciation Camp]. Don't regret it when the time comes."

"Going to do hard labor, although the food is bad, at least your life is not in danger. For those who join the [Renunciation Camp], there is no mercy on the battlefield, and life and death are left to fate."

Then Zhao Zhen pointed at the other seven or eight people who were making the most noise and said, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Seven or eight of them looked at each other, and seeing that Zhao Zhen was getting impatient, they boldly said, "Sir, a few of us would also like to join the [Renunciation Camp]."

Zhao Zhen did not object and shouted, "For a quarter of an hour, those who want to join the [Renunciation Camp] stand on the left, and those who want to do hard labor stand on the right. Once you are chosen, you cannot regret it."

The prisoners looked at each other, and finally some of them were unwilling to endure ten years of hard labor, so they went to the left hand side [Renunciation Camp]. Of course, there were also thirty or fifty people who were originally selected to the [Renunciation Camp], who bowed their heads and walked into the hard labor team.

Zhao Zhen did not interfere. After everyone stood still, Zhao Zhen said to Ouyang Shoutong: "Brother Ouyang, I will trouble you to escort this group of people to Xixi Village separately. Brother Xiao Rang will naturally know how to arrange it."

Ouyang Shoutong did not refuse. He responded and asked his soldiers to escort the prisoners on board and send them away in batches. Zhao Zhen greeted Ruan Xiaowu and turned around to board the ship to Shijie Village.

Meng Er behind him said, "Sir, how should I arrange it?"

Zhao Zhen looked at Meng Er, who had a wretched face, and said with a smile: "With your physique, if you don't go to the hard labor team, do you dare to go to the [Renunciation Camp]?"

Meng Er said: "How dare I go? Li Si won't kill me. I will go to the hard labor team right now."

As he spoke, Meng Er bowed his head and invited Zhao Zhen to board the ship. After Zhao Zhen left, he tried to straighten his chest and walked towards the hard labor team with a proud look on his face.

I don't know what Meng Er said, but it caused the laborers to groan in low voices.

(End of this chapter)