Chapter 101: Slaves as Soldiers
Li Ergou was a slave who was sold to a minister by his uncle and aunt after his parents died when he was a child. As a slave, in the Yin Kingdom, the status is no different from that of pigs and dogs, doing the most menial work, eating the worst food, and sleeping in the cowshed stable.
He never imagined that one day he would be able to clear his slavery and become a free man again. Until today, Emperor Xin, the lord of Yin, returned from a great victory against the orcs, but the capital of Chaoge was besieged by rebels, and all the soldiers fled.
"Have you ever thought about getting rid of your slavery status and living in the sun as a true free man. On the high platform of the barracks, Di Xin gave an impassioned speech.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
The slaves in the audience responded weakly, as if they had not eaten enough.
Seeing this situation, Di Xin felt a little lost in his heart, and he wanted to free slaves and abolish slavery all his life. Unexpectedly, these slaves themselves did not have much enthusiasm for clearing their slave identities. Such a strong contrast almost suffocated Di Xin, but he still held back.
Di Xin continued: "It is very easy to get rid of slavery, as long as you are strong and stubborn, fight for me, and defeat the rebels in the country. I will give you back your freedom, and I will even reward you for your meritorious deeds, so that you can exchange your military merits for official positions. ”
"Yes! Thank you, Your Majesty. ”
After the slaves had finished answering, some of them began to ask, "What is the official position, what is the official position, what is the reward for meritorious deeds, can you eat it?"
"Hahaha, you don't know this, do you? Actually, the official position is an animal, and his meat is particularly delicious, and the king wants to reward us with it. The Slave Clever explained.
"Meat, meat, meat!"
"It turns out that the official position is meat!"
Hearing the word meat, the slaves became excited, they had not eaten meat since they were children. It's just that in the barracks, when I saw Di Xin rewarding the three armies, it was on the soldier's table. The smell can almost hook the souls of the slaves, and even the thought of the word meat makes the slaves' saliva drool.
Di Xin on the high platform was confused, what kind of mess, meat and food, what are these slaves pretending to be in their heads. "Yes, that's right, as long as you help me defeat the rebels in the country, I will make you a general, not to mention eating meat, even if you eat meat every day, it's not impossible!"
"Yay!"
"King, King!"
"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"
Hearing that Di Xin actually said that he could eat meat every day made these slaves so happy that it was like a dream.
When Di Xin saw this, he knew that people's hearts were available, so he said: "Everyone, prepare for war, tomorrow, we will fight the rebels to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
Slaves don't care at all, the identity of slaves has been imprinted on their bodies, hearts and minds since childhood. What they want is oily, tender meat.
The news was transmitted back to the camp in Xiqi by the spies in the army, and it happened that Jiang Shang and Ji Fa were discussing military affairs.
"What are you talking about? Di Xin actually released all the slaves, put them on armor and horses, and fight us to the death?" Ji Fa laughed when he heard the spies' report. "Hahaha, this old fellow Di Xin, is he dizzy? This slave is a slave, a pig and a dog, how can he fight? Hahaha, it's ridiculous. ”
Jiang Shang is not as optimistic as Ji Fa, he knows that Di Xin is not a mediocre king, and this move must have deep meaning. If he hadn't built the Grand Canal and annoyed the ministers of the court, he wouldn't have seen the flag of Xiqi standing at the head of the city of Chaoge in his life. "Your Majesty, Emperor Xin is extremely cunning, please don't take it lightly. ”
"Hehehe, the old thief of Di Xin, this is definitely a stupid trick, a slave is such a thing, can he fight?" Ji Fa laughed. "This level of army, even if I command it with my eyes closed, I will definitely not be able to lose!"
"But ......." Jiang Shang wanted to speak and stopped, he knew that Ji Fa, who was self-confident at this time, couldn't listen to a word. Therefore, he simply didn't speak, and when Ji Fa hit a wall, he would come to ask for his own advice.
War is on the verge of breaking out.
"Kill!"
"These are just lowly slaves, don't be afraid at all, kill them!"
"Kill, kill, as long as you kill Di Xin, you can be crowned king, and there is a fief. ”
In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of the soldiers, Ji Fa also let go, and he directly promised the position of a prince. O lord, that is the lord, and for the sake of this name and great profit, the soldiers will not hesitate to die.
"Rush Rush!"
"Kill them, just kill them, and we'll have meat to eat tonight!"
"For the meat rewarded by the king, rush!"
Obviously, the morale of the slaves was a little higher, they had nothing in their heads, and their greatest desire was to eat a meal of meat and fight more bravely. On the Xiqi side, their soldiers were arrogant in the face of the slaves, and they didn't take the slaves seriously at all, so they inevitably suffered a big loss.
Moreover, because of the slavery system, even ordinary people have one or two slaves in their homes, and they do not need to work in the fields themselves. Their physical fitness is not at all comparable to that of the slaves who face the loess with their backs to the sky.
The battle situation was extremely tragic, even if the combat strength of the slaves was higher than that of Xiqi's soldiers and horses, but they could not withstand Xiqi's endless stream of reinforcements! In this war, they fought for three days and three nights, and the Dixin side sacrificed more than 90,000 slaves, while the Xiqi side left nearly 200,000 corpses. As the morning sun rose on the fourth day, they each retreated, like wild beasts returning to their lair, licking their wounds.
Xiqi Daying.
"Damn, these damn slaves, damn it!" In the camp, Ji Fa kicked over the bookcase, he originally thought that the battle would be a one-sided absolute advantage. But who would have thought that these damn slaves were so capable of fighting that they would let themselves lose the lives of nearly 200,000 soldiers. These are not soldiers who rebelled against the allied forces of the Yin State, but soldiers and horses belonging to him in Xiqi! If he wiped out his family here, how could he compete with other princes for the world and sit firmly on the throne?
Ji Fa was in the camp tent, constantly venting, chopsticks, bamboo slips, and bookcases flying around. He vented for about an hour, and finally calmed down.
"Let the military advisor come to the big tent of the Chinese army, I have something important to discuss with him, quickly!" Ji Fa said to his subordinates.
"Yes!" the subordinates agreed.
"No need, I'm already here. An old voice came from outside the tent, and he pushed the door in, it was Jiang Shang.
"Strategist, you are finally here, and now our army is suffering heavy damage, what can you do about it?" Seeing Jiang Shang, Ji Fa felt that the savior was coming, and ran to Jiang Shang to ask for advice completely regardless of etiquette.
"Hehehe, the son is worried, the son is worried, the old man has already made a plan. Jiang Shang smiled, stroked his snow-white beard, and said with a smile: "You listen to me slowly.......
On the other side, Di Xin's celebration banquet has begun, they slaughtered chickens and cows, and came to a big feast. These were all seized from the orcs, and some were given by the border people on their own initiative.
Whoa, whoa.
At the banquet, the slaves saw such a sumptuous feast of meat for the first time, and they moved their index fingers one by one, feasting happily, and their mouths were full of oil.
Looking at the slaves who were eating happily, and recalling their heroic battles on the battlefield, Di Xin smiled. "It's worth it, and they're still very cute as slaves. ”
"Big Brother ......" walked out of the tent, a figure walked out, and he called Di Xin's name timidly.
"Why did you come out? What's the matter?" said to Di Xin with a cold face, he really didn't know what to do with his sworn brother, it stands to reason that his son rebelled, and he should be shown to the public. But Ji Sheng really didn't do much to be sorry for his emperor, and he also gave grain, grass and troops when the Yin country was in the most crisis. Although, Di Xin knew, they had other plans.
Ji Sheng wanted to speak, but he was very embarrassed, but he finally said it. "King, I don't know if you can let your brother go back, my brother wants to go back and persuade Ji Fa to stop. Even if my words are not good, I will put the king back to the court. ”
"Ji Sheng, you dog, you still have the fucking face to live in this world!" A black shadow burst out, he was covered in torn armor and covered in blood, like a demon in hell. He threw Ji Sheng to the ground with a tiger pounce, clenched his fists, and smashed Ji Sheng in the face. One punch, two punches, three punches, it's such an all-out effort, it's such hatred.
But when Ji Sheng saw the man's face clearly, the fire in his heart was extinguished by a stream of cold water. "Third brother, how could it be you, didn't the rumors say that you died in Luzhou?"
"What, Ji Sheng, are you disappointed to see that I'm still alive?" Riding on him was a young general covered in blood, his sword eyebrows towering, and under his calm face, endless anger was hidden.
Ji Sheng waved his hand again and again. "Third brother, how can you say that? I am so happy to see that you are still alive. ”
"Hehe, I really believe it. However, my second brother, you have taught a good son, Ji Fa is really a good son!" Bi Gan sneered: "What a chaotic minister and thief, who does not think about the country's kindness, actually colludes with the thief and tries in vain to replace him." It's really for you Xiqi Guangzong to glorify your ancestors. ”
Di Xin, who was on the side, spoke. "Okay, needless to say, the third brother, it's not your second brother's fault. ”
"It's not the fault of the second brother Ji Sheng, my eldest brother, are you in a war and your brain is confused!" Bigan walked up to Di Xin, grabbed his shoulder, and shook him a few times. Then Ji Sheng, who was still lying on the ground, said: "It's this thief who abandoned the brotherhood of the three of us, lost his loyalty to the country, and forgot the kindness of your eldest brother in building the Grand Canal for Xiqi." He even gathered up his forces to fight against us, and now it is his son who is besieging us. This kind of disloyalty, unfilial piety, unkindness and unrighteousness, big brother, why do you still speak for him?"
Ji Sheng was dizzy from being beaten by Bigan, and was still lying on the ground, he was also surprised when he heard Di Xin's words, he didn't expect that Di Xin would open his mouth to intercede for himself at this time.