This sudden curse startled the scholars and students, but did not scare them.

"What do you want to do?"

"Who are you?"

The scholars and students shouted at the top of their lungs.

In front of the surging crowds, even though their faces turned pale, they maintained their proper attitude and refused to retreat.

"Who are we?"

The leading man shouted, with anger in his eyes, pointing behind him.

Behind him was the army formation of Duke Cheng, which consisted of soldiers who were bewildered as they had encountered so many unexpected things since leaving the camp.

"We are the sinners you call Duke Cheng!"

What does this mean?

"Duke Cheng disobeyed the emperor's orders, acted rashly and greedily, and caused tens of thousands of soldiers to die because of us."

"Duke Cheng is cunning and power-hungry, and he is sabotaging the peace talks just for our sake."

"Duke Cheng is fond of war and values ​​military power. He is always engaged in war, which drains the national treasury and causes loss of labor and property. It is all for us."

"Duke Cheng is so arrogant and conceited, and he demands rewards and fame just for us."

"We are the ones who made Zhu Shan, the Duke of Cheng, a traitor to his country."

Having said this he took a step forward, and even though he was in tattered clothes, unkempt hair and had no dignity, the scholar in front of him involuntarily took a step back.

"If you want to investigate Duke Cheng's crimes, then first investigate our crimes!"

As his words fell, loud noises arose all around.

"If you want to ask Duke Cheng about his crimes, ask us first!"

It was like a violent storm in the sea, and the surrounded scholars, civilians, officers and soldiers could not help but be tossed around physically and mentally.

The scholars and students who had never retreated even a single step in the face of the fierce soldiers in iron armor and bloody weapons, however, involuntarily took a step back at the shouts of this group of pale and skinny civilians.

"Who are you?" the scribe asked.

This sentence caused a commotion all around again.

“I’m from Baozhou.”

"I am from Bazhou."

"I'm from Xiongzhou."

Countless chaotic shouts echoed, yet they were clearly heard by everyone.

"We are refugees from the North."

Refugees from the North.

The so-called refugees are naturally people who have been displaced.

Ever since the war between the North and the Jin people, there have been many people like this. Now more than half of the beggars in the capital are refugees from the North. Everyone understands this identity.

“No, you don’t understand at all.” An elderly man with a Bazhou accent said, his voice trembling, “You only know the four words ‘displaced’, but you don’t know what these four words mean!”

"It means losing your home, not having enough food to eat and not having warm clothes to wear, and being in a state of anxiety all day long!"

The old man glanced at the people in front of him.

"We will never have the leisure to watch the excitement like you do."

"What's even more cruel is that all this happened in the blink of an eye overnight!"

These words aroused the grief of the northern refugees present.

"We once lived just as well as you do."

"The gold thief came to kill me when he said he would."

"Everything is gone."

Listening to the countless people's sobbing stories, the people present couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

The officers and soldiers on duty as well as the scholars and students were less frightened, because after all, they were just a group of civilians who had lost their homes and were displaced.

"This is all because of the war, and the people are suffering." A scholar said, looking at the people and taking a step forward, "So this is all the fault of Duke Chengguo for raising troops..."

Before he could finish his words, someone nearby spat on his head.

"What are you talking about!"

This was a toothless old woman who was leaning on a cane and spoke with a thick accent.

"If it weren't for Duke Cheng who led the troops to defend and fight, we would have all died long ago and could not live a peaceful day. How can you, a young man with a sharp look, say such nonsense?"

"Yeah, that's bullshit."

"If it weren't for Duke Cheng who led these good soldiers to fight against the gold thieves, we wouldn't have a good life."

"You have been living a good life for too long. I don't know how this happened."

"How could you say such a heartless thing?"

"Do you think that the reason you are standing here and watching the excitement is because the wind is blowing and it is a good day?"

"That's all because of the countless soldiers who fought against the bandits for you, and how many of them died."

Countless voices came in a chaotic and angry manner, not only making the scribe who had spoken earlier dare not speak anymore, but also making everyone else retreat in fear.

They retreat, and the people here advance.

"Do you know what war is?"

"Have you ever seen with your own eyes that hundreds of soldiers went out, but only one or two came back?"

"Have you ever seen the gold thief's knife? One strike cuts off half of the body."

They shouted angrily, and some simply ran to the nearest soldier.

"Little brother, take off your armor and let them see it."

The soldier who was suddenly called was a little stunned.

In fact, they have been stunned and at a loss since they were besieged and questioned.

"Team One of the A Battalion, take off your armor and clothes." A loud and clear female voice came from the military formation.

Even though he was still a little dazed, he dismounted without hesitation when he heard the sound. His armor was removed with a loud noise, and the dozen or so soldiers standing in front of him looked a little thin.

They did not stop and did not care that there were women among them. They quickly took off their outer robes and exposed their upper bodies.

This series of actions happened so quickly that the person shouting almost had no time to react.

"Look at them..." He came to his senses and said, pointing at the soldiers. He looked over there himself and suddenly stopped talking with an expression of disbelief.

Because of his words, everyone looked over here and saw that these soldiers, without their armor and robes to cover them, had lost their majestic appearance and their bodies were not even as strong as the imperial guards on duty here.

But the reason for the people's increasing astonishment was not because of this, but because of the crisscrossing scars on their bodies.

There were more than a dozen people, tall and short, fat and thin, of different ages, but the same thing was that their bodies were covered with scars, some knife wounds, some arrow wounds, some new and some old, some shallow and some deep. I never thought that a person could have so many wounds and still be alive.

The noise all around stopped.

"They have so many injuries..." The man standing next to the soldier finally spoke again, with a complicated expression, "I didn't expect that either."

He did think that soldiers, especially those from the north, might be injured, so he wanted to ask the soldier to take off his armor so that everyone could see if he was injured.

He didn't expect there were so many injuries, and he didn't expect that these dozen soldiers were all like this. So these soldiers...

He looked toward the military formation.

Everyone thought of this and looked over there.

The other soldiers in the array were all wearing armor. How many hails of bullets and arrows and how many near-death experiences had they endured on those mighty and strong-looking bodies?

"They are accused of greed and warmongering. Who are they not human?" The man's voice suddenly rang out, pointing at the soldiers and looking angrily at the scholars and students, "You go and be greedy!"

Accusations were heard again all around.

The scholars and the people took another step back.

"There's no need to be like this if we had negotiated peace earlier. Wouldn't it be better if we didn't fight?" Someone said in dissatisfaction.

These words did not refute the northern refugees, but instead drew another round of spitting.

"Make peace early? Do you know how peace comes? It's not the wind that brings it! It's the war that brings it!"

"If it weren't for the fact that Duke Cheng frightened the gold thieves, and if it weren't for the bloody battles of the soldiers who repelled the gold thieves and dared not offend them, they would be crazy to initiate peace talks!"

"Not only will they not negotiate peace, but they will march southward recklessly!"

"Are you people in Beijing all stupid? Don't you know this?"

Hearing the overwhelming curses, the faces of the people in the capital turned red, and what was more, they felt ashamed in addition to fear.

Yes, how could they not understand this truth? How could they forget who defended the border for more than ten years, which allowed them to enjoy peace and stability for more than ten years.

Otherwise they would be like these refugees from the north.

Looking at these refugees looking haggard and emaciated, and thinking about the days they had just described, the people of the capital couldn't help but shudder. They didn't want to live this kind of life. How could they be so crazy as to think that Duke Cheng and the officers and soldiers were guilty? Wasn't this ruining their good days?

It’s all these scholars!

The people of the capital immediately looked at the scholars and literati, then turned around and stood with the refugees from the north.