Liu Santong took a breath, leaned slightly, let go of the rope in his hand, and the stone on his back fell to the ground with a thud, lifted his clothes, wiped his sweat, and looked up at the entire construction site.

On the construction site, which is about hundreds of paces long, there are busy crowds everywhere, and a little farther away, a team of heavily armed Tang troops patrols back and forth on the construction site.

They're building roads. The workers who built the road were all Pinglu soldiers who were captured along the Yellow River and after the Battle of Linzi.

Liu Santong once thought that a general of his level should receive the most basic respect and treatment after the final surrender of the city, but the truth was beyond his imagination.

There was no preferential treatment, and of course, no deliberate abuse, and he was divided into small groups along with all the captured soldiers, and then he was taken to the present construction site, where the construction of roads began, and some of them were sent to repair the water conservancy.

Not even a single person interrogated him, as if he were no different from ordinary captured soldiers.

It made him a little lost.

The daily work is exactly the same, tamping the roadbed, then separating the road from the rest of the place with stones, digging large holes in the side of the road, which are obviously used to plant trees.

Liu Santong had to admit that the Tang army was serious about building roads, and did not do anything perfunctory, or simply found something for them, the prisoners of war, to spend their mental strength so as not to make trouble.

The roadbed is extremely solid, and the top layer of Sanhe soil is actually steamed with great effort. After paving, the top is filled with gravel, and after the thick stone mill is repeatedly rolled on the road, a beautiful and sturdy avenue is presented in front of you, and after planting big trees on both sides in the future, such a road is a beautiful scenery.

In more than a month, these people have extended the road for nearly a kilometer, and workers like them who build roads now have tens of thousands of people along the entire Yellow River to Linzi, even if only half of them are building roads, the mileage built is considerable.

And such a road, Hou Xiyi ruled Pinglu for many years, but he did not build one.

Liu Santong doesn't know much about the cost of building roads, but even if they are laborers who don't need money, the other expenses are not low. Besides, they always have to eat and drink Lazar.

Although he was a prisoner, he still had enough food. The black buns are full at every meal, and although there are not many side dishes, they are enough. Salted fish, pickles, big bone broth, and a meal of meat every ten days, in the words of the Tang Army officer who was in charge of them, they had to eat enough to have the energy to work.

This kind of food is naturally extremely poor for a general like Liu Santong, but for ordinary soldiers, there is not much difference compared with before.

In all fairness, the Tang army's attitude towards the captives was far beyond Liu Santong's imagination, and the wounded and sick soldiers could all be well treated, and in their group of 500 people, there was a physician stationed.

But what made Liu Santong a little uncomfortable was that in their group of 500 people, the captain was not him, the squadron leader was not him, and he didn't even mix with a small group leader. When this team of prisoners of war was first brought here, the Tang army organized these people to elect their own leaders at all levels, and although Liu Santong held the highest official position, he was completely defeated in the election of one vote per person.

Of course, this also has a lot to do with the composition of this group of prisoners, these prisoners of war come from different units, and there are not many people who recognize him Liu Santong.

But Liu Santong felt that this was Tang Jun deliberately embarrassing him.

was called around by the big-headed soldiers who didn't look at him on weekdays, and how awkward it was to feel awkward. But he still has to listen patiently and work hard, otherwise, he will be dragged away by Tang Jun and locked up in a small black house and hungry.

The hero does not suffer the immediate loss, Liu Santong gritted his teeth and endured all this. Now, although it is suffocating, it is still alive, and as long as it is alive, there is hope for everything, isn't it?

At the sound of a loud trumpet, all the prisoners of war put down their work, and soon formed a queue, and walked towards a row of tents not far away.

It's a sign to eat.

After being captured for more than a month, all the Pinglu prisoners of war were also accustomed to these orders of the Tang army.

There are large porcelain bowls in the big basket, washed very cleanly, held in the hand, and a little hot, these bowls have been boiled in a meeting, I heard that it is for hygiene, so that the soldiers will be less sick, in Liu Santong's view, it is completely redundant, but it is obvious that the person in charge of this matter does not think so, the Tang Army strictly enforces all regulations, and the prisoners of war who are responsible for these things, under their supervision, do not dare to be sloppy at all.

Two big buns for one person, you can take it again if you can't eat enough, one bowl of bone broth for one person, on top of the noodle soup, there is still a lot of oil meat, which makes Liu Santong a little surprised that today, there is actually one more grilled fish for one person.

In groups of twenty, they sat down in a circle and devoured their first meal of the day. No one dared to procrastinate, because the time of the meal was strictly regulated, and as soon as the trumpet sounded, the meal was over, and whether you had finished eating or not, you had to assemble the whole team, and then go and wash your big bowl, and finally put it in the big basket.

Liu Santong quickly finished today's first meal, and then lowered his head to think about his thoughts. It seemed that something was about to happen, for while he was receiving the meal, he saw several people in a tent who clearly did not belong here. Their costumes are obviously not those of the Tang Army's Zuo Xiaowei, two of them are dressed in black, they should be the Tang Army's internal guards, and the other person is simply a civilian official.

Liu Santong was a little frightened, people like him were most afraid of the internal guards.

The trumpets sounded again, and the prisoners of war quickly jumped up, went to the sink to wash their large bowls, and then re-lined themselves, and when the procession was ready, the men in the tent came out, accompanied by the commander.

This commander's surname is Yang, his name is Yang Hong, and he usually looks like a very kind person, but at this time he is even more smiling.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to your support and hard work during this time, our twelfth team has been in front of all teams in the entire project, and here, I thank you very much." Yang Hong hugged his fists and gave a military salute.

The prisoners of war looked at each other, and the ranks were silent.

"I think everyone has noticed today that the food is better than usual, this is because there is a happy event, and when the happy event comes, it is natural to add food." Yang Hong smiled and said.

"What joy? Of course it's not me, Yang Hong, who has been promoted. Yang Hong made a joke and continued: "Of course, this happy event belongs to everyone, Li Xianghongen, all the Pinglu soldiers who were captured in the Pinglu War, if they meet the conditions, will be released on the spot." ”

There was a coax, and the team suddenly made a noise.

Yang Hong pressed his hands down, waited until it was quiet, and then turned sideways to the side, the civil official stepped forward, compared to Yang Hong's smile, the civil official was expressionless on his face. "Everyone, listen up, this is the grace of the imperial court, the grace of Li Xiang, according to the past practice, you have to serve at least three to five years of hard labor, but in Hou Xiyi's reckless military force, forced Pinglu Qingzhuang to enlist in the army, many people were forced to rebel against the court, so Li Xiang was extra gracious. All those who have been released will receive the same amount of money for the journey, and from the date of release, depending on the distance traveled, there will be 10 to 20 days to return to the hometown, remember, you must return to your hometown and report to the local government immediately, and if you do not return within the time limit, you will be included in the ranks of fugitives and re-arrested, and if you are caught again, congratulations, you will be doubled and sentenced to at least ten years of hard labor. ”

"We're definitely going home on time."

"I was captured by an official and brought into the army."

"I still have my father and mother at home, of course I go home."

Suddenly, the crowd responded one after another.

Only at this time did a smile appear on the face of the civil official, and as soon as he stretched out his hand, he took a file from the guard beside him: "The person who reads the name is the first batch of people who have been released, don't worry about those who have not been released this time, there is a second batch, a third batch, there must be an order!" The farthest from here are the first to be released, and then every half a month, a group of people are released on the spot. ”

"Hooray!"

"Thank you, Lee Sang!"

In the crowd, cheers rang out.

As the civil official's mouth opened and closed, one by one the soldiers walked out of the queue with joy, and on the other side, someone had already set up a long table, and a basket of yellow and shining copper coins was placed in the basket, taking away their own pardon documents, taking away the money, and then couldn't wait to leave.

Liu Santong lowered his head, he knew that no matter what aspect he was, he could not be the type of person who was qualified. It's just that I ended up serving a few years of hard labor.

General Liu Xinda once told him to run away to find him when he had the chance, and it seemed that he really had to pay attention. Tang Jun did not treat himself differently, and it was a good thing for him to escape.

The civil official put down the document scroll in his hand, the first batch of people who were released was about 50 people, just one-tenth of their group, those who were not read by name could not help but be disappointed, but thinking that there was a second group, a third group, disappointed but hopeful.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that everyone will cooperate sincerely in the future to complete the tasks assigned above, otherwise, I am qualified to cancel your qualification for pardon!" The civil official returned to the tent, and Yang Hong appeared with a smile again, but the words that came out of his mouth were not warm at all.

Liu Santong raised his eyes and glanced at the civil officials in the tent, he seemed to have something to do, otherwise he should have left with his guards after completing his official duties at this time.

What is it?