Before going to the battle, Li Jin had an upright posture, a vigorous aura like the scorching sun, and high-spirited spirit. He could be described as [a brave general with two spears, and a famous marquis].
At this moment, Li Jin looked extremely embarrassed under the eager gazes of the old woman's family.
Although he was wearing heavy armor and holding an iron sword, he was as frightened as a dog that had lost its home.
Most of the more than 3,000 people he led were soldiers from the Kyoto camp.
They ate, lived and slept together for many years and their relationship was as close as that of brothers.
Li Jin felt an indescribable feeling in his heart, as if he had swallowed a snake's gall, and the bitterness churned in his stomach.
He wanted to spit out the bitterness, but swallowed it back deeply.
Li Jin licked his lips, his voice dry and he spoke with difficulty: "Zhang Ge'er is gone."
The old woman's pupils suddenly dilated and her body leaned backward. Thanks to her daughter-in-law who supported her from behind, she did not fall to the ground.
After a dizzying moment, the old woman met Li Jin's guilty eyes and finally realized that her Zhang Ge'er would never come back.
The old woman tried her best to slow down her breathing, but her lungs seemed to be tightly gripped by an invisible hand, and the choking sound lingered between her lips and teeth.
She was barely breathing, but her eyes were fixed on Li Jin: "Where is my son's body? Has it been brought back?"
Li Jin felt a heavy weight on his shoulders and shook his head: "No."
The old woman closed her eyes, tears spread from the corners of her eyes to her chin, soaking her clothes: "But bury him on the battlefield?"
Li Jin was silent for a long time. He didn't know how to tell the old woman that Zhang Ge'er's body was gone.
"Mrs. Lan, it's my fault. Zhang Ge'er died for me."
Zhang Ge'er is an important subordinate of Li Jin.
That day, Li Jin was supposed to lead the troops, but for some reason, he had unbearable abdominal pain, so Zhang Ge'er volunteered.
Who would have thought that a shell would fall from the sky and hit Zhang Ge'er right on the spot.
Originally, the person who should have been standing there was Li Jin.
The old woman was heartbroken, her throat seemed to be swirled by a blunt knife, and the sound she made was hoarse and broken, just like dead leaves in winter being crushed heavily, full of desolation.
"General Li, you were a student of General Longwu and grew up in the military camp. You are so brave and powerful, why can't you bring back my son's body? What happened to my son?!"
The old woman's voice became louder and more shrill.
From ancient times to the present, the Han people have always had a noble attitude towards death, and they believe in returning to their roots.
The same was true of the Great Zhou.
From the emperor to the common people, everyone believed that people would go to another world after death.
In the afterlife, the wicked are punished and the good are honored.
Therefore, emperors liked to build mausoleums and put their favorite things, money, utensils, and even beloved women in them to ensure that they would not be lonely in the underground world and could continue to live a good life as they did before.
Even poor people would be wrapped in a tattered straw mat and buried underground after death.
But the premise of all this is to have a corpse! In the beginning, it was so difficult for the Great Zhou to promote cremation!
To put it bluntly, no one wants to be cremated unless it is absolutely necessary.
Those who could serve in the Kyoto camp were all middle class, how could they accept being mutilated?!
When everyone saw that Li Jin was slow to respond, they suddenly felt something was wrong.
They searched the crowd in panic for their families.
"General Li, do you know where my son is? My son's name is Chu Ze, and he was once praised by you!"
"General Li, my husband's name is Wu Kai! Did he come back with you?"
…
"General Li, is my brother's body intact?" The young man's eyes were red and his look was desperate.
He asked for nothing but to keep his brother's body intact: "General, can you tell me where the battlefield is? My family and I will go to take my brother home. We promise not to trouble you!"
Every word was like a sharp knife, piercing into Li Jin's chest mercilessly.
Every breath Li Jin took stung his heart, reminding him of the hellish scene that day.
Li Jin closed his eyes, and his strong back hunched a little. He felt like a punctured ball, powerless.
"I can't find their bodies either. Once they were hit by the cannon, they either broke into pieces or turned into a cloud of blood."
Everyone was extremely worried. Is the Yunzhou cannon really that terrifying?
The young man's eyes were filled with tears: "Is it really so?"
"I am telling you this. The thousand men behind me can all testify to this."
The young man refused to give up and said, "My brother has been training hard every day and is as strong as an ox, but he can't defeat me?"
Li Jin raised his lips and smiled bitterly: "The gap between humans and Yunzhou's cannons is like a grain of sand compared to a mountain, a drop of water compared to the ocean, or a mortal compared to a god. How can we defeat them?"
Everyone was in a panic, sad and angry. Someone asked softly.
"If Duke Yun goes south, can the towering walls of Kyoto stop Yunzhou's cannons?"
Li Jin hugged his head, knowing that his military career was over.
Even if the government did not punish him, he knew that he would never have the courage to go to the battlefield again.
Everything he had learned, including how to arrange troops and how to attack and defend, was burned up in a fire the moment the Yunzhou cannon demonstrated its power on the battlefield.
Li Jin didn't know how to contain the Yunzhou artillery, and didn't know what to do under such fierce artillery fire.
What’s more terrifying is that he is afraid of the Yunzhou cannon!
Li Jin walked out of the crowd silently. He wanted to report the battle situation to His Majesty and all the civil and military officials in the court.
Rumor has it that the issue of "Yunzhou Weekly" that mentioned the Yunzhou cannon was dug up again, and many people bought it at a high price.
"After my eldest nephew came back, he cried and shouted and refused to go to the Kyoto camp." The person who spoke had an expression of unwillingness in his eyes.
"At first, my brother-in-law spent a lot of money and used many connections to get him in. But after just one battle, my eldest nephew was frightened by the cannons."
His friend sighed repeatedly: "Did your brother-in-law agree?"
"I agree. We've beaten him and scolded him, but he would rather hang himself than go to the camp. What else can we do?"
A friend consoled him, "This is already very good. I heard recently that many soldiers who returned have nightmares every day, and many are in a state of madness."
The tea drinkers at the next table felt sympathetic: "It's not surprising that he went crazy. It's a pity for those good sons to die in a foreign land, which breaks their hearts. Alas, the young master of the Liu family is going to the north to look for his brother's body."
The guests at another table, who looked like merchants, hesitated to speak, but finally said, "If you know the young master of the Liu family, you'd better persuade him not to go. Not only will it be a waste of time, but he might get scared."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Alas, I have a friend who just came back from Guangde Prefecture. He heard that the soil in front of Xuanzhen County was all scarlet. It was all made of the flesh and blood of the dead soldiers. It couldn't be removed even with a button."
After hearing the description, the teahouse fell into deathly silence.
After a long while, someone gasped and said, "The Yunzhou cannon is too poisonous. It is against the harmony of nature!" (End of this chapter)
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