"Cut! Cut off the big traitor! ”……

"Kill Yuan Chonghuan!" ……

The execution ground in Xishi was crowded with people, shouting and howling, wanting to see with their own eyes that Yuan Chonghuan, the great traitor who led the Eastern Captives into Beijing, was executed by Ling Chi. Every time Yuan Chonghuan on the high platform was cut, the crowd would let out a wave of shouts.

"I'll pay a penny to help Liao pay and buy the meat of the big traitor to eat!" Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted loudly. Then the people around him were inspired to shout loudly. After a while, the sound of paying for Yuan Chonghuan's meat sounded repeatedly in the crowd, and the call became higher and higher.

After a while, a brocade-clothed guard in a flying fish suit went up to the execution platform and whispered a few words to the executioner. The executioner nodded in response, halted the execution, and sprinkled the hemostatic medicine on Yuan Chonghuan's wounds. This is to allow the inmates to live to endure the punishment of 3,600 knives, and if the inmates die in the middle of the sentence, then they will receive the same punishment, so their family craftsmanship not only has knife skills, but also stops bleeding.

When a group of soldiers arrived, they drove the crowd back, and in a small open space in the middle of nowhere, a basket was placed at the feet of an official. The soldiers began to let in the shouting people one by one, and those who came in put a penny of silver in a basket and stood there waiting for their 'meat'.

The officer waved to the executioner, who bowed respectfully and began his delicate sword performance. He meticulously cut off pieces of flesh from Yuan Chonghuan's body, each one an inch long and half a finger wide. Every time he cut off a piece of meat, he threw it to the person who paid for it below.

And the person who received the meat was like a hero, holding the bloody strip of meat in his hand high and showing it to the rest of the people.

"Thief Yuan goes to the eighteenth layer of hell! Never turn over! The man shouted loudly after showing it to the public, and then calmly put the strip of meat that had just been cut from Yuan Chonghuan's body into his mouth and chewed it heavily.

"Well done!"

"The big traitor Yuan Chonghuan will never be able to turn over!"

"Good food!"

……

The crowd outside let out wave after wave of shouts, and after the man swallowed the flesh in his mouth, he grinned blood-red and bared his bloody teeth, and arched in all directions, accepting the hero's worship.

……

In the eleventh year of Ming Chongzhen, December 11, Julu, Jiazhuang.

Lu Xiangsheng suddenly got up from the bed, sweating profusely. He had palpitations, the dream was so terrible, he didn't want to think about it anymore, but it kept coming back to his mind.

That was when Chongzhen was three years old, Yuan Chonghuan changed from the Jiliao Governor to a traitor, and became a traitor who guided the Eastern Prisoners into the customs and ravaged the Beijing Division, just because Yuan Chonghuan wanted to negotiate peace. Now Yang Sichang also wants to negotiate peace, but he is resolutely opposed, and there is only one way for him, that is, the main battle.

"Master, are you alright?" His servant Gu Xian heard the movement and hurriedly came over and asked.

Lu Xiangsheng said calmly: "It's okay, bring a towel." ”

Gu Xian immediately went to prepare, and after a while, he came in with a towel soaked in warm water, and after Lu Xiangsheng finished wiping his face, he persuaded: "It's still early, master sleep for a while." Two porridges a day, no one can last long, so the master should rest more. ”

There was no food in the army, and the food supply of the military headquarters had been cut off for seven days, saying that the captives were raging and could not be transported. In fact, he knew that it was Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian who put pressure on him not to fight and not to sabotage their plan for peace talks. In fact, this situation began after he expressed the idea of the main battle to the emperor, first transferred the Guan Ning soldiers, and then transferred the Datong soldiers, after several major battles, now he only has 5,000 tired soldiers in his hands.

But Yuan Chonghuan's example is there, who dares to negotiate peace, that is the way to die, it is really a thousand cuts! No matter what, the main battle can only be his only attitude. Moreover, the alliance under the city without a fight, the conditions must be harsh, and this kind of thing like Qin Hui in the Song Dynasty that has been smelling for 10,000 years cannot be agreed to in any case. So even if there are only 5,000 tired soldiers now, he can only lead troops to battle.

"How many days can you eat military rations?" Lu Xiangsheng shook his head, stood up, motioned for Gu Xian to help him dress, and asked casually.

Gu Xian helped him put on Lu Xiangsheng's sackcloth, and replied in a low voice: "It's enough for today." "This food was sent by the people who did not flee from Julu.

In the past few years, the year has not been good, and there are all kinds of taxes, such as levies, reminders and compensation for evasives (Lijia in the Ming Dynasty, if there are evacuees, then the taxes and forced labor of the evasors will be compensated by the people of the same Jia), and the small people really can't survive. The more people flee, the more they owe and pay compensation. Either abandon the land and run away, or dedicate the land to the princes and eunuchs, or be ruthless and participate in the thieves, the world is getting worse and worse.

"Alas," Lu Xiangsheng sighed slightly, and said, "It's time to go, otherwise the will of rebuke will come again." ”

Gu Xian brought the white scarf to Lu Xiangsheng, and persuaded in a low voice: "Master, can't you just be soft?" At least let Yang Benbing (Yang Sichang) send us grain and grass. ”

"My father is dead, and Your Majesty is taking away the affection to defend the society. Filial piety is already incomplete, if there is a loss of loyalty, what face is there in the world. Lu Xiangsheng said lightly: "You don't need to persuade anymore, it's just death." ”

Gu Xian wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, thought for a while, and then said: "Then the master doesn't need to wear armor, wait until the camp starts to wear it, and save a little effort if you can save a little effort." "Don't look at Lu Xiangsheng is the governor of the world, the king of soldiers and horses, and now he has just been demoted by one level, and he has the rank of squire of the military department, but he has always shared weal and woe with the soldiers. The soldiers had two porridges a day, and he was the same, and he would never eat more, so that the soldiers still followed him out of the fortified city even though they were without food for seven days, and pursued the Dongyu who made all the officers and soldiers, including the border army, fearful.

"Put it on," Lu Xiangsheng said without the slightest hesitation: "This sackcloth is filial piety, which makes the soldiers look bad, and it also has an impact on morale." ”

Gu Xian had no choice but to take down the set of mountain armor from the shelf and help Lu Xiangsheng put it on his body. The whole set of armor weighs thirty pounds, so there is naturally no problem in normal times, but now that there are only two porridges a day, it is a bit of a waste of physical strength.

Lu Xiangsheng sorted out his armor, got out of the military tent, looked at the sky that was still dark and heavy, and the fire of the Huotou army starting to make food, and a sadness unconsciously surged into his heart.

At this time, many soldiers came out of the tent one after another, not because they didn't want to continue sleeping, but because they couldn't sleep when they were hungry, they got up early, even if they drank a bowl of hot boiling water and paddled it first. Some of them were still wounded, some of them had turned white, and they slowly moved towards the fire, waiting for breakfast while they roasted the fire.