Chapter 520: Prisoners of War

On 29 July, accompanied by Yuan Jian, Fang Ling, and 200 other guards, I arrived at the former Mongolian military camp at the foot of Lumen Mountain. Since Kublai Khan's withdrawal, it has become a concentration camp for prisoners of war held by our army. The entire concentration camp was divided into two camps, east and west, of which the east camp held Mongolian and Western Semu prisoners of war, and the west camp held Han prisoners of war in the Yuan army.

Entering the camp, under the leadership of the guard generals, I went directly to the largest barracks in the western camp.

Maybe it's because my dragon robe is so conspicuous, and it attracts countless eyes as soon as I enter. I looked around expressionlessly, most of them full of fear and numbness, and when they saw me, there was a clear look of curiosity again.

After more than 100 years of foreign rule, although there are many indomitable people like Zhang Shijie and He Quchen, most of them have a much weaker sense of belonging to the Song Dynasty.

Although the barracks were large, there were many prisoners of war inside, and they were very crowded and smelled very bad. These prisoners of war sat or lay staggered, and even when they saw me, the emperor of the Song Dynasty, no one stood up.

The general of the defending army who entered with me shouted angrily: "The emperor is here, and he still bows down." ”

However, it seemed to be of little use, and the prisoners of war still did not get up.

I stretched out my hand to stop the general's next move, the whip type, and said calmly, "Do you want to go home?" ”

"Home?" The eyes of the captives had told me that they wanted to, they wanted very much.

Whether it is the Yuan Dynasty or the Song Dynasty, it seems to be like that, but home is the eternal concern in everyone's heart.

After a moment of silence, a voice finally came from one of the innermost corners: "Yes, I want to go home." "I couldn't see who was speaking, but I could hear it, and I could tell that the person who was speaking was not very old.

"It's not impossible to go home, just answer a few questions I asked." I looked into the corner where the voice came from, and said to the man in a calm voice, "I am a Han Chinese, and so are you, so do you, and you come to tell me why you want to join the Mongol army and help the aliens to attack our Han Chinese?" ”

The voice paused slightly, seemed to think about it, and then stammered: "This, this, the emperor, the small family is poor, and he is in the army, just to be able to eat a full meal, as for it, I didn't think much about the rest." ”

"Yes, I hear you. Whoever speaks, come here, and I will let you go home in a moment. I pointed to the left in front of the door and continued, "Who else, who wants to go home?" ”

With the one who takes the lead, there will be a second, a third.

"Your Majesty, the little one also wants to go home." The man who spoke was not far in front of me, so I could see clearly. I saw this person stand up and say, "Your Majesty, although the little one is a Han Chinese, but since he came out of his mother's womb, he only knows that the people in power are Mongolians, and there are no other men in the small family, so he is forced to join the army, and after joining the army, he has to obey the command of his boss. ”

In 1234 A.D., the Mongols destroyed the Jin, and the northern lands were all returned to the Mongols, and the second speaker was not very old, about twenty years old, and his hometown was already under Mongol rule when he was born.

"Okay, you can stand over there, too."

The person who had just spoken did not know whether it was a curse or a blessing, and I could not see any clue from my demeanor, so I walked over and stood with the first person to speak.

The third person who stood up to speak obviously knew the person just now, and saluted me: "Your Majesty, what Brother Li said just now is that after the little one was born, he only knew that he was a native of Mongolia, and he only joined the army for food and clothing. ”

I said lightly, "You can stand over there." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

In addition to the three men's voices, there was silence in the barracks.

"Since you don't speak, then that's all for today, you think about it, and I'll come back tomorrow." I paused and said, "Come on, change the clothes of these three, give them a full meal, and give them street signs and coils, and then they can leave on their own after eating." ”

The general of the defenders said "yes" and let the three of them leave.

Walking out of the barracks, Fang Ling said, "Brother, do you want to go to Dongying to have a look?" ”

"I'm not going."

When passing through Dongying, Jiang Wanzai asked, "Your Majesty, what should you do with these Mongol captives?" ”

"The walls of the two cities of Xiangfan are seriously damaged, so let them go to labor reform."

"Labor reform?" Fang Ling was stunned, "What do you mean?" ”

"Huh? Hehe, these Mongolian soldiers can't waste our food in vain. I smiled and said, "Let them do the coolies first, and the rest will be talked about later." ”

Jiang Wanzai then asked, "What if the Mongols don't obey?" ”

I snorted coldly and said, "There is no forgiveness for killing." ”

The next day, I came to Lumen Mountain again. As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw the prisoner of war surnamed Li from yesterday wandering outside the door.

"Huh? Why hasn't this man left yet? I said to myself.

Zhang Quanyi: "Your Majesty, the last general will go and ask." ”

"Yes."

After a while, Zhang Quanyi came back and said, "Your Majesty, that person said that he still has a few fellow villagers who are also locked up and wants to return home with them." ”

"Really? I know, leave him alone, let's go. ”

I walked into the barracks yesterday, and this time all the prisoners of war stood up, and one of the prisoners, who looked like a scholar, stepped forward and saluted me: "Your Majesty, the younger one used to be a gentleman from the school, named Luda, and I was recommended by everyone to answer to the emperor as the representative of this house." ”

"Ruda? Lu Zhishen? I smiled to myself and said, "Then you can say it." ”

"Your Majesty, since the invasion of the Jin people more than 100 years ago, the ancestors of the small ones were forced to become the people of the Jin country, more than 30 years ago, the Mongols drove out the Jin people, and the small ones were forced to become the people of the Mongolian country, however, the small ones and others are Han people, this is undoubted, the emperor, please see, the people in the house are all black-eyed and black-haired, after everyone was born, I only learned from the mouths of my fathers that our ancestors were all people of the Song Dynasty, and they became people of other countries because of the war, and when they were young, they were ruled by the Mongols since they were born. It was the Mongol army that joined. Your Majesty, the small ones are all for the sake of eating together, and as for fighting with the emperor, they must not be taken as such, and please forgive the emperor. ”

"Ruda, can you represent all the people in this room?"

"Back to the emperor, the small ones can be."

"Okay, I'll ask you again, what is the status of your Han people in the north?"

Luda said: "Your Majesty, most of the Han people, including the people of the former Jin Kingdom, have a very low status, although the government did not say it explicitly, but everyone knows in their hearts that in Mongolia, the Mongols are the superior people, the people of the Western Regions are considered to be the middle people, and the Han people are listed as inferior people. ”

"I have been to the north before, and I know that the status of the Han people in the north is low, and life is very difficult, and if there is a dispute with the Mongols, whether it is reasonable or not, I can only accept defeat. Have you ever wondered, what is the reason for this? ”

Luda sighed and said, "Your Majesty, it's not because all the people in power are Mongols. ”

"Yes, have you ever thought about rising up and overthrowing the Mongols?" I looked serious and said, "Are you willing to be ruled by a foreign race and live an inferior life?" Could it be that the Han people in the north have lost their blood? ”

"This ......" Ruda was speechless for a moment.

A black-faced man standing next to Luda interjected: "The emperor, the little Wu Liu, has never entered the school, naturally not like the Lu brothers are knowledgeable, but the little ancestors are all backbone Han people, seventy years ago, the little ancestors had fled the Jin country, intending to return to the south, but were blocked by the defenders at the border pass, because the ancestors did not have money to deal with them, they suspected that the ancestors were the Jin country, and resolutely did not let the ancestors enter, thirty years ago, the little grandfather could not bear the bullying of the Mongols, and went south again, and was found by the Mongolian army near the border pass, soRunning south, my grandfather asked for help from the defenders on the opposite side, but no one paid attention to him, and he eventually died under the arrows of the Mongols. After that, my father broke off his heart to go to the south. Your Majesty, it's not that it's small and bloodless, but it's ......"

This person called Wu Liu seemed to be a little excited, but in the end he still did not express his intentions, but he was obviously dissatisfied with the Song court in the south.

I nodded, smiled, and said, "Wu Liu, I am proud that I have a bloody man like your ancestor among my Han people. Luda, Wu Liu, how long have you been in the Mongolian army? ”

Luda said: "Your Majesty, the younger one has five years of military experience, and this witch brother is also six years old. ”

"Then you are all veterans, I ask you, what is the difference between the current Song army and the previous Song army?"

Luda said: "Your Majesty, the little one thinks that the Song army in the past was afraid of us, and the current Song army is not even afraid of the Mongolian army. ”

"That's right." I suddenly raised my voice and said, "I am the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, the emperor of the Han people, the Han people in the whole world are my people, the Han people in the south are, and so are the Han people in the north. The shame of Jingkang a hundred years ago, I must snow, and I will definitely snow, this is not my words, you all participated in the battle of Guanzitan a few days ago, the victory of our dynasty comes from two aspects, one is firearms, which must be no one of you will object, the second is that the current Song army is completely different from the previous Song army, when you rushed to my camp, firearms could not shoot for a while, at this time, our army's fighting spirit and combat effectiveness are not weaker than yours, even the Mongolian cowardice is inferior to my army. With such a foundation, I believe that recovering the north and returning my rivers and mountains is no longer just an empty word, but a real existence, you say, isn't it? ”

Luda replied: "Although the small one is not certain, there is one thing, the emperor's firearms are indeed not something that the Mongol army can resist. ”