Chapter 839 The Righteous Army
On that day, it was not until the evening that Xun Ge'er had not returned. The militiamen in the tent became anxious, worried that the matter would be exposed and that they would be in trouble.
Some people asked, "Why hasn't Xun Ge'er returned yet? Was he killed by Elder Jin?"
"Don't worry, I don't think so. Before dinner in the evening, I went to the elders' big tent to check. It was quiet and nothing happened there. If Elder Jin wanted to kill Xun Ge'er, he would definitely not do it so quietly. He would definitely let the whole army know the consequences of surrender." The old man in the tent comforted everyone.
"That's right. It was just early this morning that the news of the Han army attacking the camp and killing three people came out. I think Elder Jin must be scared. He originally came from the Han tribe. If he knew the truth, he would not be willing to be a shield for the commander-in-chief. Maybe he listened to Brother Xun'er and sent people to negotiate with the Han army. It will take a long time to go back and forth. Everyone, keep calm. Nothing will happen." Another older militiaman who had participated in the operation said.
After hearing this, everyone felt relieved, but the old man still reminded, "Yes, everyone should keep calm, but we must not lose the necessary precautions. We have to take turns to guard at night. If something goes wrong, we can also tell everyone to escape at the first time.
In addition, we have to think of ways to go to the elders' tent more often to listen to the news, and notify everyone as soon as there is news."
"That's right, taking turns to guard the night is definitely necessary. Let's assign it now. Those who have nothing to do should go to bed early and don't think too much." Another person said, and everyone began to assign the order of taking turns to guard the night, as well as the candidates for inquiring about the news, etc.
After a night of anxiety, the next morning, there was still no news of Xun Ge'er's return, as if he had disappeared in the camp, and no one from above asked about it. The militiamen in the same tent with him did not dare to ask Elder Jin, as this would expose them, so everyone had to wait.
Just after dinner that evening, some people who could not wait any longer began to propose to run away collectively, and Xun Ge'er returned to his tent.
As soon as he came back, he was surrounded by the militiamen. Some of them took the initiative to take a look outside the tent, and then sat directly at the door to keep watch, while others quickly surrounded Xun Ge'er and asked him questions.
"Xun'er, are you okay? Why did you only come back after two days? Tell us how you are? What did Elder Jin say?"
"Yes, Xun'er, tell us quickly. If you don't come back, we will all run away together. You don't know what happened that night. As soon as we left, the people from the Han tribe came and cut off the heads of those three people. It was too scary. I don't want to stay here any longer."
"Okay, stop arguing and listen to what Xun'er has to say. Come on, Xun'er, drink a bowl of water first." The old man pressed his hand towards the crowd, rescued Xun'er who was surrounded in the middle, and handed him a bamboo tube of clear water.
"It's done. Don't worry, listen to me slowly."
Xun'er first said a sentence to comfort everyone, then gulped down the water in one breath, and then sat down to tell everyone what happened. After
hearing this, everyone immediately quieted down and sat there waiting for news from Xun'er.
"Hey, I told Elder Jin about my guess that day, and he was also surprised. However, I did not dare to tell him that we had already asked the grassland soldiers. I only told him that this was my guess. So Elder Jin listened to my advice and tricked a leader from the grassland soldiers and lured him to a secluded place. Then we interrogated him together, and the result was the same as our previous interrogation.
Elder Jin was furious, and then he realized that it was the commander-in-chief who deceived us. Then he listened to my advice and wanted to go to the Han tribe to discuss our surrender and the conditions of our surrender.
Then we took the interrogated grassland soldier leader as a gift of surrender and sent that person to the Han tribe, hahahaha."
Xun Ge'er was interrupted as soon as he said this. Someone asked in surprise, "Xun Ge'er, you said that you went to the Han tribe to negotiate the terms of surrender this time?"
"What else?" Xun Ge'er asked back before continuing.
"Our elder Jin is in charge of the whole camp, so he definitely can't go. If he suddenly disappears in the camp, it will arouse suspicion, so he can't go.
I proposed this matter, and I can speak Chinese, and I know the truth and the whole process of the matter, and I can represent most of the militia, so the elders sent a few people to go to the Han tribe with me."
"Really? Then are you okay? The Han tribe didn't do anything to you?" A younger boy asked admiringly.
"Of course I'm fine, I'm fine, right?" Xun Ge'er replied with a proud look on his face, and then continued to tell the story.
"I took them to the Han tribe, but before we reached the Han camp, we were surrounded by a group of Han soldiers wearing black clothes and holding steel knives and bows and crossbows. I quickly told them in Chinese that we were here to discuss business with their chief envoy and to offer prisoners. When they saw that I could speak Chinese and brought a captive from the grassland, they took us into the Han camp."
A young man in the tent interrupted again, "Xun brother, you are so brave and awesome. What is the Han camp like? Can you tell us about it?"
"Shut up, don't interrupt, Xun brother is talking about business!" The old man slapped the young man on the head, scolded him, and motioned for Xun brother to continue.
"Yes, let's talk business first." Xun Ge nodded and continued to talk to everyone.
"They took me to the Han army tent. There were several generals wearing fish-scale iron armor inside. They asked me why I came here. I said that we were deceived by the commander-in-chief. It was not us who attacked the Han tribe city before. It was the commander-in-chief who deceived us and asked us to help him fight.
I said that we just learned the truth and did not want to be enemies with the Han tribe. If the Han tribe is willing to let us go back to our original place to farm and live, we are willing to surrender."
"Then what, then what, what did the Han tribe say?" Someone else interrupted and asked.
"Don't be anxious, listen to me continue." Xun Ge soothed the anxious mood of everyone, and then continued.
"After hearing what I said, the general laughed three times and then told me that they didn't plan to kill many people. The leader of the Han tribe told them that every grievance has its perpetrator and that the people who attacked their city and killed their soldiers and civilians were the commander-in-chief's men. The Han leader didn't want to destroy lives and commit murder, so he asked them to kill only the main culprit and not to massacre innocent people on Zhudao Island. Not to mention us militiamen who were not considered soldiers, even the bamboo armor soldiers that the commander-in-chief had created before, they didn't kill many."
"Ah? Is this true? The Han tribe really won't kill us. Didn't they say they kill anyone they see?"
"That's what I said. The Han tribe's delegation got along so well with us before. How could they kill innocent people? The commander-in-chief and those elders must have deceived us."
"So, the Han tribe agreed to our conditions?"
"Yes, they agreed." Xun Ge'er nodded affirmatively, giving everyone a reassurance, and then suddenly said mysteriously, "Guess what I saw in the Han tribe's camp?"
"What did you see?"
"I saw more than 3,000 captives in the Han tribe camp. They were the two armored corps that were deployed near the mission." Xun Ge'er said with a beaming face.
"They are the captives captured by the Han tribe, eh? That's not right. Aren't there only 4,000 people in the two corps? How did the Han tribe capture more than 3,000 captives?!" the old man in the tent asked in surprise.
Xun Ge'er slapped his thigh, gave the old man a thumbs up, and praised him, "Old man, you are really good. You got the point right away."
“Didn’t the general of the Han tribe tell me? Their leader instructed that only the main culprits should be executed, that is to say, only the elders who took the lead and the commander-in-chief should be killed. The rest, even the soldiers under their command, should not be killed at will. So, of the 4,000 people, only a few who resisted during the attack of the Han tribe were killed. The rest who escaped or surrendered were not killed after being captured by the Han tribe, and they were not abused either. The prisoners now eat better than us. They have three meals a day, two meals of corn, one meal of rice, and salted fish. I was so greedy that I almost didn’t come back. I wanted to stay there as their prisoner, hahahaha”
Xun Ge’er laughed and aroused everyone’s appetite immediately. The prisoners on the Han tribe ate so well, but they, who had to guard the tribe for the commander-in-chief, couldn’t even fill their stomachs. The treatment they received from their own people was not as good as that from the enemy. Isn’t this nonsense?
"Then what are all those captives you mentioned doing in the camp of the Han tribe? With so many people, they need a lot of food every day, right? The Han tribe can't just keep them for nothing, right?" The old man in the tent asked an important question again.
When Xun Ge'er heard this question, he was stunned for a moment, and then he showed a very heavy expression, which made everyone around him feel uneasy. Someone asked,
"Xun Ge'er, is it possible that the Han tribe treats those captives badly and doesn't treat them as human beings? Didn't you just say that the Han tribe provides the captives with three meals a day?"
Xun Ge'er shook his head with a heavy face, and then sighed deeply.
"Do you still remember the old, weak, sick and disabled people who were abandoned by the village during the migration?"
Hearing Xun Ge'er's question, everyone showed a heavy expression. Although there were no old, weak, sick and disabled people abandoned at home in the militia in this tent, there were always some in their villages. Everyone knew that there was not much food left for these people. Maybe now, those people may have died.
However, at this time, Xun Ge'er said, "When the Han tribe learned about this situation, they immediately sent cavalry to visit each village, counted the number of the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, and the food stored in their homes, and then sent the captives to form a team to deliver food to each village. The people who were abandoned by us, they were raised by the Han tribe, and they also sent their military doctors to each village to treat the elderly and the sick, but we, we are really ashamed of the elders in our hometown!"
A group of militiamen suddenly fell silent, and some even cried, as if their elders were abandoned at home during the migration.
After a long time, the old man in the tent suddenly said, "The Han tribe is really a benevolent and righteous army"
(End of this chapter)
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