The sky was shining with dawn, Xu Ping got out of the handsome tent and stretched out to the sky.

Spring is really coming, even if it is early in the morning, the wind blowing on the face is not a trace of coolness. Not far away, the water of the Karo River is flowing happily, and the grass on the ground has sprouted green shoots, and spring is always full of vitality. But at this time, in the Kaluo River Valley, except for the Song army barracks, there was no breath of life, and even the attached mountain bird good had dispersed.

From midnight, Xu Ping asked the sergeant to stop adding firewood to the fire, and the fire outside Zhuoluo City was much smaller. There was still a heat wave within a few hundred paces around, and it was impossible to get close to people, and the remaining party members in the city didn't know what to do.

Liu Jianji's troops and Zhang Kang's troops had already drawn their camps and retreated to Lanzhou along the road they came. At this time, there was no longer a need to march on the double road, and a big victory had just been fought, and the generals and soldiers looked relaxed and leisurely.

After having breakfast with Wang Kai, Cao Keming and others, and after a rough discussion of the current situation, Xu Ping came out.

Shi Quanbin was just washing, and was wandering outside the tent alone, when he saw Xu Ping coming out, he hurriedly greeted him and said, "Jingluo, when will you send someone into the city to search?" Whether it is dead or alive, this time we must catch Yeli Yuqi and Renduo Baoqing, the two of them have a noble status in the party, and they can withstand Liu and Shi Ershuai who have fallen in Sanchuankou! ”

Xu Ping looked in the direction of Zhuoluo City and said, "The fire is still not small now, wait until the afternoon." At that time, we managed to clear a gate and sent people in to search for it. Ye Li Yu said on the eve that there were nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses, of course he may exaggerate, but there are always thousands of people. No matter how big the fire is, it is impossible to burn all the people to death, and it is better to catch them alive. ”

Shi Quanbin shook his head: "When the fire is big, we still feel scorching when we stand a mile away, how can the people in the city survive?" According to me, I'm afraid that there are no living people in the city, and it's hard to say whether the corpses can be separated. ”

"Chief, you're thinking badly, to avoid the fire, you should go underground. The soil around the city is not hard, and in my opinion, there are still many people who survive. - In any case, there is a saying that Yeli is right on the night of begging, God has the virtue of a good life. If this fire really burned thousands of people, I would have to pay tribute before leaving, otherwise I would not be at peace. ”

Shi Quanbin nodded: "Jingluo said yes." The two armies fought and had to kill, but they burned people alive, and there was always a dry peace. ”

"Zi said, my way is consistent, loyal and forgiving. There are many interpretations of this statement, and in my opinion, it does not refer to a single meaning. Being loyal to things and forgiving others can be described as benevolent. I marched all the way, commanded 50,000 troops, crossed the horse, came from afar to fight the thief, and did the king's business. The thieves refused to surrender the city, and I had to set fire to the city, although there were many dead, but they were just faithful. The war has been decided, and the remaining soldiers should be properly pacified and the dead should be buried. In the afternoon, he arranged for the soldiers to extinguish the fire, and buried the dead soldiers in the city nearby, and paid tribute to them, in the name of the benevolence and righteousness of the whole king. ”

Although Shi Quanbin has also read and read since he was a child, he does not read poetry and books, and has no resonance with Xu Ping's words, but just nods.

Xu Ping didn't pay attention to it, and went to arrange the chores in the army, and at the same time asked Wang Kai to choose a cemetery on the surrounding hills to bury the souls of the party who died in the war. A lot of things, not sitting in this position, are very understandable. Why do you shout and kill while appeasing people's hearts? While chanting benevolence, righteousness and morality, while waving a butcher's knife? Rigid and easy to break, if you just encourage the army to kill, this army can easily lose its soul. The purpose of war is not war, and certainly not to eliminate it, but to achieve political ends. War is not a philosophical issue, but a political one. Without political discipline, war will be like a wild horse that will not know where to go.

On the one hand, the army is required to fight resolutely and not tolerate any hesitation in fulfilling military orders, while at the same time it constantly stresses political discipline, stresses benevolence, righteousness and morality, and does not let them become mere war machines. In this era, Xu Ping had to do this. If you treat the army as a beast, they will really become a beast, and the army of the Five Dynasties period is an example. Arrogant soldiers, they arbitrarily deposed not only the emperor, but also the commander. In this era, it is impossible for Xu Ping to ask the army to become a people's army, so only benevolence, righteousness and morality are left to restrain it.

Being loyal to things and forgiving others is the basic principle that Xu Ping set for this army. He is resolute and resolute in war, and always forgives those in war. Without loyalty to things, benevolence becomes the kindness of a woman, but without forgiveness to others, loyalty becomes foolishness and tyranny. Don't dare to be on either side, it's all the poison of the army.

The battle was fought, the people were killed, and the corpse should be buried at least before leaving, so that it can be justified.

In the afternoon, Jia Kui and the others changed into close-fitting short cloth shirts, each carried a large bag of water, swept away the ashes on the ground, and entered Zhuoluo City from the South City Gate. By this time, the fire had been extinguished, but the heat was still raging. Due to the impermeability, the walls of Zhuoluo have been bricked, and the inside of the city is much hotter than the outside, and you will feel out of breath after walking a short distance.

Jia Kui wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said to the soldiers beside him: "Straight lady thief, this city is so hot, where will there be living people?" If nothing else, sweat keeps flowing, where can people survive? ”

A soldier said: "Marquis Yu, I was sweating when I first came in, but now that I have lived, the people who want to come to the city are similar." When the fire first started, they sweated for a while, and after a long time, they didn't sweat anymore. ”

At this time, the sweat on Jia Kui's body also slowly stopped, and he couldn't help but say: "Hey, it's a monster!" It's hotter in the city than outside, so why doesn't sweat run down? I used to see the burning bricks sweating profusely, but I was deceived. ”

When the temperature is high to a certain level, people will not sweat, but it is even more uncomfortable at this time when the sweat does not flow. The workers in the brick cellar will sweat profusely when they go in and out, and they will not sweat until they stay in the brick cellar.

After standing for a while, Jia Kui felt uncomfortable, and hurriedly said: "Don't stand and talk, quickly check around, if there are any living people, take them out of the city." Staying here for a few more moments makes me feel very uncomfortable! After saying that, he led people to search around.

The city was as silent as death, and it was difficult to breathe in the heat, but there was no strange smell, but there were hideous-looking corpses on the streets of the city, which looked a little terrifying. Jia Kui thought that entering the city to search was just to walk around, but he didn't expect it to be so difficult in the high temperature, and he would catch up with a big battle after walking around. The tragic situation of those soldiers in the fire can be imagined.

Halfway through, Jia Kui felt really uncomfortable, turned to the soldiers beside him and said, "No, let's go back, and then come in to search after the north city gate is opened." It's very hot in this city, and I'm afraid that something will happen when I walk back and forth. ”

The soldiers were already so hot that they could only drink water to cool down. But it's also strange that at this time, after drinking water, it can't turn into sweat, and the body becomes more and more uncomfortable. As soon as Jia Kui said that he would go back, everyone agreed.

After walking a short distance, a faint cry for help suddenly came from the side of the road, Jia Kui turned around and saw a soldier lying on the side of the road weakly, waving to him. walked forward and saw that the man seemed to have something to say, where did Jia Kui have the heart to listen at this time? With force in his hands, he lifted the man up and hurried towards the city gate, where he could not stay any longer.