Xiao Ruxun looked at Xu Guangqi and was silent for a long time. Then, he slowly opened his mouth.
"They are just a very small group of extremely lucky people among the victims of this war. They survived and were rescued by us. But more people have died, either killed or tortured to death. Compared to the survivors, the number of victims will only be more, and the number of unfortunate people will only be more. We have no better way to comfort them."
"Is that the only way?"
Xu Guangqi asked.
"In today's world, it is the luckiest thing for ordinary people to survive the disaster of war. They can't encounter anything luckier than this. If it were other troops, I don't even know if someone would kill them and exchange their heads for money. Mr. Xu, what we can do is very limited, very limited."
Xu Guangqi silently looked at these tragic but lucky people. After a long time, he revealed a bitter smile.
"Governor, now I know how stupid I am. I don't even know how to save the people in front of me. I can't even save one person, so how can I save the country? I can't hold a sword or a spear, can't shoot a bow and arrow, can't carry a load on my shoulder, and can't carry anything with my hand. How useless a scholar is! "
Xiao Ruxun looked at Xu Guangqi.
"At least, you have the heart to save people. But most people don't even have this heart. They are hopeless."
After that, Xiao Ruxun walked away. Xu Guangqi stood there for a while, pursed his lips, and quickly caught up with Xiao Ruxun.
That night, Li Rusong led the army to Huairen. After resting for a night, Xiao Ruxun ordered 500 soldiers to take nearly 20,000 people south to Yanmen Pass, and then to Shanxi to take refuge. All rations were provided by the grain caves where the army was stationed, and the food was collected according to Xiao Ruxun's order. When they arrived in Shanxi, the local government would arrange for them to be properly settled.
This was an order issued by him as the Governor-General of the four regions. He did not know if this order would be effective. At present, nearly one-third of the government in Shanxi was paralyzed, and the remaining two-thirds could not even protect themselves.
While Xiao Ruxun was reorganizing the army in Huairen County, she received a military report from Chai Guozhu and Dong Yiyuan. They had already arrived at Pingkouwei and recovered several fallen castles. They had rescued more than five hundred soldiers and two thousand six hundred and eighteen civilians. In total, they had killed a total of one thousand one hundred and seventeen enemies.
On the way there, they encountered three small groups of Northern Barbarians. One group consisted of five hundred men, while the other two groups consisted of a thousand men. They were annihilated, saving three thousand six hundred and seventy-two civilians. Currently, they have been escorted south according to Xiao Ruxun's orders and are awaiting further instructions.
How else could he instruct them?
Chai Guozhu and Dong Yiyuan were grateful for his kindness. At least they did not kill innocent people and take credit for themselves. Otherwise, if they chopped off the heads of the civilians and did their hair according to the hair ornaments of the Northern Barbarians, ordinary people would not be able to tell the difference. Daming Han people and the Northern Barbarians looked very similar.
If the Northern Barbarians all looked like Europeans and Africans, they would not have killed innocent people and taken credit for themselves.
This was already very good. They would not harm the already miserable civilians. This was the minimum requirement that Xiao Ruxun had for the Ming Dynasty Army.
These civilians were really too bitter and miserable. If they still had to kill innocent people and take credit for themselves, it would be really intolerable. Even if Xiao Ruxun risked losing his position, he would teach these heartless beast soldiers a lesson.
Xiao Ruxun ordered Chai Guozhu and Dong Yiyuan to continue advancing according to the predetermined route. He also shared the information he had obtained with them. He told them not to rush to attack or go around the cities they encountered on the way, but to send people to investigate first.
According to the information, several Northern Barbarian tribes have gone south on a large scale to spend the winter in Datong. Now that the weather is still cold, they do not have any signs of returning north. They also do not know that we have already begun the northern expedition. Therefore, the cities are filled with lazy and tired Northern Barbarians and a large number of enslaved Han people.
Xiao Ruxun requested them to kill the Northern Barbarians, take back the cities, and save the civilians.
He did not know if they could do it, but Xiao Ruxun had to do it.
On the seventh day of the third month in the 26th year of Wanli, Xiao Ruxun led the army to Summer Rice Village. This place was less than two days away from Datong, and the cavalry could reach it in a day. According to the information obtained from the interrogation, the surrounding cities were all occupied by the Northern Barbarians for the winter. There were 2,000 to 20,000 Northern Barbarians and thousands to tens of thousands of Han people, all of whom were enslaved by the Northern Barbarians.
They squeezed the blood and sweat of the Han people and lived comfortably in the Han people's cities and houses for the winter. After the winter passed, spring arrived. If it was in Jiangnan, it would already be the third month of spring. However, in the north, the temperature was still cold, so they did not plan to return north.
The days here were too comfortable. Food and drink were guaranteed, and they were in charge of cooking, fetching water, chopping firewood, and washing clothes. There was no need to pay, no need to supervise, and they only had to send out orders.
Any ordinary family that went south could get five to ten Han slaves. As their status rose, they could get even more Han slaves to serve them. They could be beaten, scolded, killed, and humiliated. They would pour all their malice onto the Han slaves and enjoy this happy life that they had never enjoyed before. This was the life of a superior being.
It was no wonder that these people dragged their families south. Those who did not go south were still arranging for groups to go south together. It was as if they were reenacting the Five Barbarians' Chaos and occupying the Han territory for themselves.
Days like this, of course, they lived like gods. Days like this could quickly corrupt them, just like the valiant generals of the Eight Banners after they entered Beijing.
However, later generations mocked them for their lack of ambition. They never thought that behind their corruption was the blood and tears of the thousands of Han people and the humiliation of the entire nation. The Han people were enslaved, the Han women were humiliated, and the gold, silver, treasures, rice, and fine grains that they had earned through hard work were given to them without compensation. Tens of thousands of people were used to support the millions of barbarians. Only in this way could they be 'quickly corrupted'.
In the land of Huaxia, the Han people were born and grew up here. How can we let you people occupy our land and emit the stench of blood?
How can I watch you people enslave my people and do nothing?
In the past, there was Zu Ti, there was Huan Wen, there was Liu Yu, and now there is me.
I will make sure that none of you return.
Under Xiao Ruxun's orders, Li Rusong, Li Rumei, Li Rubai, Nurhachi, Wang Hui, and the other generals split up. With Xia Mi Zhuang as the command center, they attacked from all directions, targeting all the cities where the Northern Barbarians were stationed.
Before attacking Datong Town, they had to uproot all these strongholds. While rescuing the people, they had to cut off the wings of the Northern Barbarians. Before they could react, they had to give them a beating. By the time they reacted, they would already have no strength to fight back.
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