In the early morning of July 20, after ten days of tearing and killing, the fortress that once held the Star Gorge was conquered one after another, and the once intact fortress became a piece of ruins under the bombardment of siege artillery, and between the broken walls, groups of surrendered Qing troops drooped their heads and walked along the gravel road in panic, as they walked out of the fortress. The carriages of the Ming army were running in a row, heading towards them, and groups of soldiers were passing through the Star Gorge.

It's over.

Li Guozhu thought so in his heart, he didn't know what would be waiting for him, but it was certain that now his life was in the hands of the Ming army.

All the captives had their hats removed, revealing the rat-tail-like braid at the back of their heads, and the bare head, compared to the coolness of the past, only made him feel a little hot. He didn't even dare to raise his eyes to look around, because he knew who he was—he was Han.

Although he was raised the flag, it was still the flag of the Han army, which meant that he was a traitor. He also realized that anyone who came in front of him had the right to beat him, scold him, and even kill him on the side of the road, as if he was killing a beast, and no one would care at all.

The curse of this identity weighed on him the shadow of death, and he was somewhat suffocated. His eyes had dimmed, his hands hung obediently at his sides, and his hunched back was bent even harder, waiting every second to be beaten, thrusted, or hammered.

Now he, like thousands of other captives, awaited their punishment as if they were fateful, and they did not know whether they would live or die, who knows. If they want to kill someone, then kill me, but don't torture me, the hope of life has long been extinguished in his heart.

When will it all end?

At this time, a horse stopped beside him, Li Guozhu didn't need to look up, he could guess, this must be those high-headed horses unique to the Ming army, although he guessed it, but he didn't dare to raise his head to confirm his speculation, after all, no one knew whether raising his head would cause the other party's dissatisfaction, so he just continued to walk forward, a pair of broken shoes continued to walk his own way in the ruins.

It will also go all the way to death.

"You, get out of here!"

The sudden shout made Li Guozhu's whole body tremble, he raised his head, and saw the Ming army on the side of the road pointing at him, his legs were weak, and he immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

"Military master, military master, don't kill me, don't kill me, I, I'm also Han, Han people......"

Looking at Li Guozhu, who was kneeling on the ground and crying, the people around him all lowered their heads, they were afraid that they would be selected by those Ming troops, and they were afraid that they would be pulled out and killed.

As long as it's not your own who dies.

"Damn, I know that I am Han at this time."

A Ming soldier spat in front of Li Guozhu,

"Why didn't you know that you were Han at the beginning?"

"Jun, Junye, I, I should be, I was also forced to ...... back then"

"Do you know how to speak the words of Jiannu?"

"Yes, it will be a little ......"

"Come here, come over here."

Realizing that there was no longer a threat to his life, Li Guozhu stood up smoothly, bowed to the side of the road, and followed the soldier to a ruin, in the ruins, he saw a general-like man tied there, unruly to meet the eyes of the surroundings. Muttered Manchurian dialect in his mouth.

"What did he say?"

Seeing that his subordinate had brought a prisoner of war over, Wang Keming didn't even look at him, so he asked directly.

"He said let the soldiers kill him."

"What else?"

He said that if you blink an eye, you are not a man...... Also, I scolded you. ”

"Oh, a hard bone?"

Wang Ziming replied casually, and then said.

"Since this is the case, let's fulfill him, Jiannu will be killed anyway, this is a military order, but you kid, are you Han or bannerman?"

"The villain is a Han person, and he is a Han ......"

Li Guozhu said urgently.

"The villain's hometown is from Beizhili, and he was taken away by Jiannu back then, and the villain is really a Han ......?"

At this moment, Guan Zuo, who was still roaring there, suddenly said loudly.

"I, I am also Han, I am Han, although I am Shuming Ha, but the surname of Han is Li, which is ...... Han from Liaodong"

The once unruly man, suddenly cried and cried in his defense, obviously, he knew Chinese, and naturally knew that this was his only chance to live, although he did not raise his head, but Li Guozhu could conclude from the corner of his eyes that when Shu Mingha spoke, the corner of the Ming army's lips showed a smile, and he seemed to be very proud, obviously he said it on purpose.

"This person is really yin!"

Li Guozhu thought so in his heart.

Wang Ziming looked back at Shu Mingha and sneered without saying a word, while Shu Mingha shrank in the corner, not even daring to raise his head.

"Will you be able to speak Chinese?"

"I, I'm afraid that you will kill the traitor......"

It's Shu Mingha who is afraid, and Li Guozhu is not alone.

"Humph......"

Wang Ziming didn't speak, he didn't have the slightest good impression of the traitor, whether to kill or not to kill was all based on the orders of the commander, of course, if there were brothers who killed these people on the battlefield, he would not pursue it.

On the battlefield, there was always no way to stop the execution in private, and when Wang Ziming handed over the prisoners, it was in a corner of the ruins. A few warriors drove the panicked Qing soldiers forward.

"Go forward, go forward......"

As they were in the process, one of the warriors suddenly raised his fire and aimed at them. The three surrendered Qing troops were knocked down.

"Why did you kill someone?"

The class leader not far away asked loudly.

"They're walking too slowly!"

As he spoke, the warrior killed the enemy, who was still struggling in a pool of blood, with a bayonet, without the slightest sympathy.

Then they sat haphazardly on the ruins and took out paper cigarettes. As he smoked a cigarette, he looked at the captives and said.

"You say, do they deserve to die?"

The comrades-in-arms did not understand what he meant, and listened to him talk to himself.

"Yes, what do you say they are, when we fight, not only did they not surrender, but they dared to shoot back, you said they should be damned or not......

The warrior casually spat out a puff of smoke, then smirked at the corpse on the ground.

"According to me, we will have to be like this in the future, when we fight, those Jiannu surrendered, leaving him alive, and those who dared to resist were killed, ......"

Before he finished speaking, his comrades-in-arms on the side said.

"Okay, okay, you think you're the commander, don't blow there!"

"If I were the commander, would they survive?"

In fact, he didn't know that the question of the life and death of the prisoners was also a dilemma for Li Dingguo, as a commander.

"In love with the law, whether it is those traitors or Jiannu, killing them can indeed relieve the hatred of the people!"

Li Dingguo, who was in Lanzhou, had been thinking about this issue since he learned that nearly 7,000 prisoners had been captured in Xingxingxia.

"Why don't you kill them?"

Zhang Xiaowu looked at the commander in confusion, he advocated killing the prisoners.

"No one will think that it is wrong for us to do this, and Your Majesty, you also know the attitude towards traitors, as for Jiannu, His Majesty built Jingguan under the Yellow River back then, and even now, Jingguan is still there......"

It is not uncommon to use the enemy's head to build a view of the city, and His Majesty has also built a temple of Beijing, and there is a memorial park in Gyeonggi Province, just to tell the world a truth - blood for blood.

"I know it's good to have blood for blood, but ......"

Pacing by the Yellow River with his head bowed, Li Dingguo said helplessly.

"However, we also need labor, think about it, what do we rely on to advance to the Western Regions along the way? Instead of killing them, it is better to use them as laborers, and besides, these laborers do not need wages, as long as they are fed. ”

Then he continued.

"Moreover, this also has the advantage of telling Jiannu that we can let them live, so that they will not stubbornly resist to the end, after all, if we resist to the end, our casualties will definitely increase in the end."

"Only a dead Jiannu is a good Jiannu."

Looking at the commander, Zhang Xiaowu said what His Majesty had told him many years ago.

"Let them live, it is true that they can recover the Western Regions as soon as possible, but leaving them behind, for Daming, is a hidden danger!"

Different from the past when they blindly emphasized benevolence and righteousness, for people who have experienced the killing of the Qing captives, they agree with the saying that "let the tiger return to the mountain, and the future will be endless", so they must "cut the grass and eradicate the roots".

"Leaving them behind is not the same as letting the tiger go back to the mountain."

Shaking his head, Li Dingguo said in a deep voice.

"After building the railway, you can let them dig coal, in short, they will be used as hard laborers, for one year, two years, ten years, more than ten years, how many will survive?"

But not everyone agreed with his idea, and Zhang Xiaowu just smiled helplessly at the commander's explanation.

"People in the world are all fast after the establishment of slaves, such a soft knife, I'm afraid no one will like it!"

As a subordinate, Zhang Xiaowu could only remind him that as for the rest, it was no longer something he could interfere with, after all, the commander had already decided.

"I know,"

With a helpless wry smile, Li Dingguo sighed.

"How many people have died over the years? There are so many people who have died, even if they ...... They may be traitors, but in the end, hey, the older a person is, the more indecisive he becomes! ”

After a long sigh, Li Dingguo walked silently along the Yellow River, occasionally bending down to pick up some stone chips from the ground, trying to make a few water floats on the river, but in the end he did not make any water floats.

In the end, Li Dingguo sat there silently, staring at the Yellow River in front of him......