The summer in the southern wilderness of the Tang Dynasty is not very hot, just like the queen mother who is also called Futian, it is very comfortable, all the way to the south, Ning Que naturally remembered the journey that took Sangsang to the Rotten Ke Temple, it was here at that time, and he fell in love with it.

He and Wang Jingluo rode in an ordinary carriage, and when they arrived at Qingxia, they could no longer move forward, so they abandoned the carriage and walked, struggling to find a way through the mountains and rocks. There were many Tang troops who reinforced the guards between the steep canyons, and the imperial court still had no intention of completely sealing the Qingxia, so it was naturally thinking that one day in the future it would recover the Qinghe.

Walking out of the Qingxia, I saw that the wild grass was growing in the field, even the mature cultivated land had been abandoned, and the brown old blood stains could still be faintly seen in the field, as if you could step on the blood with a casual foot.

Ning Que seemed to see that in the late autumn of last year, the senior brothers and sisters stood here facing hundreds of thousands of troops, as if he saw the second senior brother holding an iron sword and fighting with the world's heroes, and felt that the pressure on his shoulders was even heavier.

It was getting late, and the two of them rested in the open air in the wilderness in front of Qingxia, and the insects chirped in the summer night.

Wake up early in the morning of the second day, he and Wang Yingluo continue to the south, all the way to see the same as in previous years, the small bridge and flowing water are still the same, the white walls and black eaves are like yesterday, the Fuchun River is full of famous gardens, beautiful.

There are no traces of war in Yangzhou City, the bluestone street is as clean as washed by water, where there are blood stains in the past, the vendors call for business with a soft local voice, and the unique aroma of bad duck overflows from time to time in the restaurant, if it were not for the continuous patrols of the well-equipped armies on the street, it is impossible to imagine that just a few months ago, so many people died in this city, and so many bloodsheds occurred.

Ning Que and Wang Jingluo walked outside the back garden of the city guard's mansion.

He looked at the green bamboos sticking out of the wall, and was silent, and there were spots on those bamboos, like tears and blood.

On the same day, the city guard mansion took the order of gathering troops in the Xiling Temple and the coalition army' to gather several officials in Yangzhou to gather in the mansion, and then suddenly turned his face and asked these officials to surrender, and after being refused, they began to wash blood, and a total of thirteen court officials were killed, three of whom were sons of Zhujian. ”

Wang Jingluo looked at the City Guard Mansion and said in a low voice: "The person who presided over this matter is called Zhong Dajun, who was the commander of the City Guard Mansion at that time, and he was the son of the Yangguan City Guard. After a hard battle, the commander of the Navy Division and the senior officers were killed, and then there was a purge and massacre of the Daze Water Division, and in the evening, the Cui Valve armed forces forcibly entered the Qinghe County Taishou Mansion, and the Taishou committed suicide. ”

In a few very simple words, the major events on the day of the rebellion in Qinghe County were clearly stated, in that bloody day, 3,000 officers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty Navy Division were killed or wounded, and more than 300 court officials loyal to the Tang Dynasty were beheaded, as Wang Jingluo said before, there was actually no shortage of the sons and daughters of these officials, but they did not agree with the opinions of the elders in the valve, so they also became victims.

Even if the bluestone streets in Yangzhou City are washed cleanly, they can't see a little blood or smell a little blood, but the blood has flowed out after all, seeping into the soil of the bluestone cracks.

Ning Que didn't say anything, took Wang Jingluo out of the city guard's mansion, did not go to the inn, but went directly out of the city to the bank of the Fuchun River, rented a canopy boat with five taels of silver, and went down the river.

The war has not been over for a long time, and the temporary calm in Qinghe County does not make people feel truly relaxed, at least it is difficult for tourists to relax, so there are not many cruises on the beautiful Fuchun River.

Ning Que and Wang Jingluo sat on both sides of the canopy boat, looking at the scenery by the river, even if they were well-informed, they had to admit that if they wanted to talk about exquisite and beautiful, there was no place in the world that could beat this.

The canopy boat swayed leisurely, passing between the famous gardens on the riverside, the boatman explained from time to time which famous garden had what historical origin, and whose private property was the green bamboo under Crouching Tiger Mountain, these things were like treasures, Wang Jingluo was not in the mood to listen to these, but Ning Que listened very seriously.

The Fuchun River is extremely beautiful, but unfortunately it is not long, the canopy boat travels slowly, shakes and shakes to the downstream, goes ashore through the forest, and comes to the coal mountain of Qinghe County.

The lords of Qinghe County are known as poems and books, but where can they lack military and economic support, this coal mountain that stretches for hundreds of miles is the treasure given by Haotian to the lords.

Ning Que and Wang Jingluo stood in the remote part of the coal mountain, silently looking at the movement here, only to see the stewards of the lords waving leather whips, and those miners with their bodies dragging the coal cart crawling with difficulty, their bodies were covered with coal ash, and the coal ash was mixed with the blood that had been whipped, and they looked miserable.

Wang Jingluo's face was extremely ugly at first, but after observing it for a while, he got a little better, and said, "It should be a barbarian captured from the primeval forest, as well as some criminal slaves sent from Xiling. ”

Ning Que said: "Now that the peace agreement has been reached, as long as the surnames of Qinghe County are not arrogant and stupid to the point of idiocy, they should know what awaits them if they dare to trap our people here doing hard labor." ”

In the Qinghe County rebellion last autumn, 3,000 officers and soldiers of the Tang Water Division suffered heavy casualties, and all the Tang troops who did not die were taken to the coal mountains in the lower reaches of the Fuchun River for hard labor. In the peace treaty signed between the Tang Dynasty and the Xiling Temple, it was the most important condition for Qinghe County to return these Tang troops, and some time ago, those Tang troops who suffered inhuman torture were sent back to Chang'an, according to them, those days were too miserable.

Ning Que made a special trip to Coal Mountain because the Tang court felt that there was a problem with the number of people returned by Qinghe County, and after the rebellion, there were at least more than 1,000 Tang troops who were sent to Coal Mountain for hard labor, but less than 600 were sent back to Chang'an this time. The explanation given by Qinghe County is that many Tang soldiers were injured in the battle, and after being escorted to Coal Mountain, they could not be cured even though they received medical treatment, so they died.

This is a very reasonable explanation, but Ning Que doesn't believe it. As the clock ticked and the sun began to set west, the drudger in the coal mountain was still struggling desperately as he walked towards an abandoned coal pit.

According to the intelligence of the secret guards, when the envoy of the Xiling Temple left Qinghe and began to prepare for negotiations with the Tang Kingdom, the coal pit became quiet, and no one entered it again.

Ning Que and Wang Jingluo walked along the tunnel into the abandoned coal pit, and as the tunnel extended inward, the top of the pit became shorter and shorter, and they had to stand up, and it became much more difficult to move.

I don't know how long I walked, but it was dark and cold in the underground coal pit, and the faint wind condensed the pungent smell of rot in one place, which could not be released outward.

Ning Que stopped, stretched out his hand to hold the Pu knife, and after confirming that there was no danger at the bottom of the pit, he lit an oil lamp next to the cave wall. Wang Jingluo looked at the bottom of the pit illuminated by the dim light, and his face became extremely pale.

The expression on Ning Que's face did not change, he squatted down, touched the leg bones of a rotting corpse with his hand, confirmed that it was broken by a heavy object, and then he walked inside to see the injuries on the bodies of those corpses.

At the bottom of the pit were at least hundreds of corpses, rotting and unable to find any identification, but he knew that these were the people he was looking for.

These people did not die of knife wounds or arrow wounds, but were starved to death, thirsted to death, or exhausted to death, these people were once heroic Tang soldiers in their lives, and of course they resisted before being tortured, so those whips would take away the flesh from the bones, and the leg bones would be broken by stones.

Ning Que and Wang Jingluo stood in front of these corpses of Tang Jun and were silent for a long time.

For the soldiers who fought for the country, Datang always paid the highest respect, even a skeleton would not be left behind, let alone the Tang Army who was alive at that time. From the moment he knew that more than 1,000 people in the Tang Dynasty were sent to the coal mountains by the lords of Qinghe County to work in labor, the Tang Dynasty court never stopped its efforts to save them, even at such a critical juncture as the Guanzhu entering Chang'an, the court still did not forget to issue a warning to Qinghe, and secretly promised to give corresponding benefits, as long as they could release these people back.

I believe that after this, the surnames of Qinghe County should be very clear about the attitude of Chang'an City, and dare not torture these Tang troops anymore, but in less than a month before that, these Tang soldiers died hundreds of people in the coal mountain, you can imagine what kind of torture and pain they endured at that time.

Wang Jingluo used to be the worship of the prince's mansion, and lived a chic and wishful life, and was later sent to General Xu Shi by His Majesty, and he was already a real soldier after several years of polishing.

Looking at the hundreds of corpses at the bottom of the pit, he said, "We have to find a way to get them back."

Ning Que has been in the army in Weicheng for many years and knows the conventions in the army, but he does not agree with Wang Jingluo's words, and said: "There is no problem with being buried here, but you need to build a better tomb." ”

Wang Jingluo understood what he meant, one day in the future, the Datang Iron Cavalry will rush out of Qingxia and sweep across the south of the world, Qinghe County was and will be the land of Datang.

Ning Que said: "I washed the Qinghe Hall in Chang'an City, some people always think that I am too ruthless, worried about affecting the aspirations of the people of Qinghe, if they see this picture, I don't know if they will stick to their own opinions, the people's hearts This kind of thing can come slowly, but the dead will urge us to move faster." ”

Wang Jingluo said: "There are still many people in Qinghe County who still have their hearts set on the Tang Dynasty, and even many of the sons of the lords still regard themselves as Tang people, otherwise on the day of the rebellion, there will not be so many officials of the sons and daughters of the lords who will also be martyred and die, and they are only worried that if they kill too much, they will not be pushed to the opposite side." ”

"When the lords rebelled, those people did not stand up to show their attitude, when more than 300 Tang officials were beheaded, they were still silent and watching, I don't know where their hearts are heading, I only know that they were silent, that is an accomplice, then there is a reason to die. ”

Ning Que said: "I have a lot of blood on my hands, no matter how much I wash them, I can't wash them clean, some people don't seem to have blood on their hands, but even if they jump into the Fuchun River, don't want to wash them." ”