The two thousand households of infantry brought by General Li Zicheng were handed over to Song Wen again, and the army set up camp at the northern foot of Lutou Mountain, continuing to confront the Ming army, while waiting for the thousand households in the rear to escort the Ming prisoners of war.

In the afternoon of the second day, they arrived, and the 7th Battalion was back to its full strength.

Li Zicheng, accompanied by his own soldiers, went to visit the 1,500 prisoners of war, Zhao Guangrui saw Li Zicheng, and hurriedly got up and bowed, "Governor! The defeat of Hou Liangzhu's Sichuan soldiers this time made him more admired by the Metropolitan Governor and more confident in the future.

"Get up!" Li Zicheng waved his hand and said, "What about the prisoners of war?" Are there any suicides? ”

"No, no," Zhao Guangrui said, "these rotten soldiers...... If they had the courage to commit suicide, they would not have surrendered on the battlefield......" Suddenly thinking that he had also been a prisoner of war of the Grand Governor, he hurriedly closed his mouth and did not dare to speak.

"Haha, it's good that people's hearts are stable," Li Zicheng didn't seem to care, "Have the prisoners of war eaten?" How are you eating? ”

"I've already eaten the rice," Zhao Guangrui pouted, "Dadu Governor, they are prisoners of war, it's good to fill their stomachs......"

"Guangrui, this is yours," Li Zicheng chuckled and shook his head, "They are also human beings, each of them was their own master at that time, and there was nothing wrong with them." ”

"Grand Duke, if they fight to the end with the Mandate of Heaven Army, their subordinates will admire them...... However, on the battlefield, such a soldier who escaped without permission deserves respect? ”

"Guangrui, you don't know their situation," Li Zicheng estimated that most of the Ming Dynasty's taxes were put in Liaodong, Sichuan was neither a frontier, nor a major war, and the army owed food and wages, which should be commonplace, "They even have a full stomach, what kind of blood do they talk about?" ”

Zhao Guangrui scratched his hair, "How does the Metropolitan Governor know ......?"

"Don't worry about this," Li Zicheng said, "they are just soldiers who obey orders to fight, don't embarrass them." ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!" Although Zhao Guangrui didn't understand it very well, how could he dare to disobey the order of the Grand Governor?

"Are their names registered?"

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, it's all registered," Zhao Guangrui took out a stack of lists from his arms, "Do you want to see the Metropolitan Governor?" ”

"No need, take me to see them!" Li Zicheng stretched out his hand and pointed at Zhao Guangri to lead the way.

The prisoners of war were concentrated in several extra-large tents, their hands and feet were tied, squatting or sitting, and many of them were lying down, and when Zhao Guangrui opened the tents, they barely reacted.

Zhao Guangrui was a little annoyed, most of the governors came to visit you in a hurry, but you didn't appreciate it? He wanted to kick a few kicks, but he was afraid that the Metropolitan Governor would punish him, so he shouted at the prisoners in the camp: "Get up quickly, the Metropolitan Governor has come to visit you!" ”

"The Grand Duke?" Although the prisoners of war did not know Li Zicheng, on the way to Lutou Mountain, they already knew the title of "Heavenly Mandate Army", and even knew that the Heavenly Mandate Army had a great governor.

In the minds of the Mandate of Heaven, the Metropolitan Governor is a god-like being, could he have come to visit these poor prisoners of war?

Zhao Guangrui only said that these prisoners of war ignored the metropolitan governor, and he was annoyed in his heart, and shouted angrily: "Did you hear that? Salute the Governor! ”

"Guangrui, it doesn't have to be like this!" Li Zicheng entered the camp tent and saw a soldier lying on the ground in front of him, so he squatted down and asked, "This brother, are you injured?" ”

"No......" the soldier shook his head blankly.

Li Zicheng smiled and said, "Then why are you lying on the ground?" ”

"I'm ......" The soldier stood for a long time, but he couldn't speak, and the soldier in the corner said: "Go back to the Dudu, if you lie on the ground, you can reduce your consumption and not starve......"

"Hungry?" Li Zicheng turned around and looked at Zhao Guangrui and said, "Can't they eat enough?" ”

"The Governor ......"

Li Zicheng knew that he was a little tired, but the prisoners of war of the Heavenly Mandate Army, except for Jingyuwei, have always been people from various Mongolian tribes, of course, they will not be treated too favorably, and besides, there is no preferential treatment of prisoners of war in the military discipline of the Heavenly Mandate Army.

Maybe Zhao Guangrui is not wrong, but Li Zicheng wants to borrow him to establish his authority today, so he said with a calm face: "Their dinner today must be the same as the ordinary soldiers of the Heavenly Mandate Army!" ”

"Yes, the Metropolitan Governor ......" Although Zhao Guangrui didn't understand, but the Metropolitan Governor ordered, he could only do it, so he quietly asked a soldier to tell the fireman.

The Ming prisoners of war were taken aback, and the prisoners of war were fed the same as ordinary soldiers? It's really unheard of, this Metropolitan Governor of the Heavenly Mandate Army, it's really ......

If it weren't for what they saw and heard with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed it if they were killed, and there was such a Grand Governor?

Li Zicheng's face changed suddenly, and he smiled at the Ming prisoners of war: "I know, you are just ordinary soldiers, the war is not your fault, if you want to be punished, it is also to punish the officials, it has nothing to do with you!" ”

"Ah......" The Ming prisoners of war were even more surprised, and some of them even screamed.

Li Zicheng pretended not to see anything, and said to himself: "You are soldiers, just to eat, I won't embarrass you, tomorrow morning, I will release you, you all have parents, wives and children in your family, you died in battle, what should they do?" Now that the imperial court has gone down, it will never give them a pension......"

"Bereavement?" Someone whispered: "I haven't seen the court's pension for many years......"

"It's a military feat, and there's nowhere to cash it out!"

"What other military feats? I can't get enough to eat on weekdays......"

……

"I know," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "So, I came to visit you today to tell everyone in public that you are already people who have died once, and you will not be a soldier in the court in the future......"

"But if we are not soldiers, what do we eat? There is no arable land at home......"

"Hey," Li Zichang sighed, "There are too many of you, and I don't have anything to do for the time being......"

Zhao Guangrui said in a low voice: "Metropolitan Governor, are you really going to release them tomorrow?" They are our enemies......"

Li Zicheng frowned, and said, "Let go, you must let go," he turned to the prisoners of war and said: "However, let me tell you, the first battle, I don't know you, and you don't know the Mandate of Heaven Army, this time I let you go, if you meet you again on the battlefield next time, then don't blame the Governor of Pontus for being ruthless, each of you is here to register and file, if you don't know what to do, and then you are the enemy of the Mandate of Heaven, it will be killed!" ”

Li Zicheng's tone suddenly became gloomy, like an ice cave in December.

"Ah......" The prisoners of war suddenly gasped, as if all the coldness came from Li Zicheng's body.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Zicheng said again: "If you have arable land at home, even if it is hard, don't come to be a soldier, today's battle by the Luoshui side, you have all seen it, this is not a real battle, but a massacre, a one-sided slaughter, your chief soldier, did not save you at the critical moment, but escaped on horseback alone......"

"Yes, the official only cares about himself!"

"He's gone, what are we going to do?"

"This is the ...... that let us go to death"

……

Li Zicheng waved his hand to stop the discussion of the prisoners of war, "I don't know what way you have to live, but in any case, don't be a soldier for the imperial court anymore, unless you are impatient to live and go to the battlefield to find ...... death."

"We don't want to die!"

"I still have elderly parents to take care of at home, and they forced me to join the army......"

"The cultivated land in my family has been ...... by the king of Shu If I occupy it, I will die if I am not a soldier! ”

……

"Hey......" Li Zicheng frowned, was silent for a long time, let out a long breath, and looked very embarrassed, "In this way, people who really can't survive can come to our side as soldiers, but it's ......"

"But what ......"

Li Zicheng sighed: "As a soldier on our side, although there is no shortage of food and the salary is paid monthly, the conditions for being a soldier are high, and the number of people needed is small...... Forget it, I'll let you go tomorrow, you better fend for yourselves, just don't show up on the battlefield! ”

The Mandate of Heaven Army recruits, what conditions are needed, and how many people are needed, Li Zicheng did not say, and the prisoners of war did not ask.

Li Zicheng then went to several other barracks and looked at them one by one before going back.

That night, according to Li Zicheng's instructions, Zhao Guangrui gave the prisoners of war exactly the same meals as the soldiers of the Heavenly Mandate Army, a salted fish and mutton soup, a cabbage, and a large bowl of white rice.

The standard of the Mandate of Heaven Army in Longyou, the staple food is white-flour steamed buns, but after entering Sichuan, Shu only produces rice, and the staple food is replaced by white rice.

For the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven, apart from the staple food, during the war, the dishes were still one meat and one vegetable, and there was not much difference.

What really caused the riots was the prisoners of war of the Ming army, when they fought on weekdays, they didn't even have to eat their bellies, but today as a prisoner of war, they can still eat mutton!

Although there were only a few pieces, they hadn't smelled meat for at least three months, no, they hadn't tasted it, they did, but the meat was all for the officials, and they could only come to the firemen and sniff their dirty white coats.

But the ordinary soldiers of the Heavenly Mandate Army have meat to eat every day, and their food is even better than that of the Ming Army.

What puzzled them even more was that the officers of the Mandate of Heaven Army were eating the same meals as the soldiers, and the firefighters of the Mandate of Heaven Army would not be able to open a small stove at all, even their Metropolitan Governor, what kind of army was this?

Why haven't you heard of it before?

When eating, the prisoners of war were eaten in batches, and the bound hands and feet were also untied, and they did not go to the camp tent to breathe fresh air, but secretly inquired about the Mandate of Heaven Army, as long as it was the message of the Tianming Army, they liked to listen to everything, which seemed to be more attractive than fish soup and broth.

After dinner, the prisoners of war returned to their respective camps, but the dinner they had just eaten had fermented in their hearts, and in each barracks, they were whispering until late at night......