? Text Online Reading Site Domain Mobile Phone Reading Please Visit
When Li Shouchang woke up, he felt that he might have had a nightmare. In that nightmare, he had unwisely launched a rebellion against the Liberation Army. It was not until he had personally experienced the powerful fighting power of the Liberation Army that he understood the way to rebel. At the end of the nightmare, the militia leaders who participated in the rebellion with him killed Li Shouchang. After experiencing the unpleasant ending of falling into death, Li Shouchang finally woke up.
The feeling of waking up from a nightmare made Li Shouchang feel relaxed. No matter how tragic the dream was, at least he was still alive, and as long as he was alive, he would have everything. As his mind became clearer, Li Shouchang was about to stretch when he felt a pain in his chest and abdomen. That pain was something he had never felt before. It wasn't just a little bit or a stretch of pain, but pain from both inside and outside his body.
Li Shouchang wanted to lift the flyers on his body to see what was going on, only to realize that his right hand was tied up by something. Taking a closer look, he saw that there was an iron hoop on his right hand. The iron hoop was chained to the headboard of the bed. Someone had actually tied him to the bed.
He tried his best to lift his body and look around carefully, only to see that the walls of the room were snow-white. Beside the bed Li Shouchang was lying on were a few empty beds, and the air was filled with the smell of lime water. Li Shouchang dropped his body back onto the bed. He had never seen such a style in Wuzhou before. If someone adopted such a style, then it could only be the Liberation Army, an outsider.
All the hallucinations disappeared, and Li Shouchang understood that the "nightmare" he felt just now was very real. If they had only been betrayed by a few other civilian groups, they could have died earlier. However, Li Shouchang was unlucky. Not only did the nightmare not end, but it continued. Falling into the hands of the Liberation Army would only lead to an even more tragic end.
This movement alarmed the people outside. Immediately, a few soldiers and people in white coats came in from outside. Seeing that Li Shouchang had woken up, the soldiers immediately went out again. On the other hand, the man in the white coat began to check Li Shouchang's injuries and asked how he felt. At this moment, Li Shouchang was completely disheartened. He didn't want to suffer any more pain. Whatever the man in the white coat asked, he would answer.
"Li Shouchang is so lucky! After being unconscious for three days, he was still able to wake up! This blood transfusion method is indeed not bad! "Luo Dagang, who got the latest news, laughed.
It was already noon on the 13th of October. Three days ago, in the early morning of the 10th of October, the heads of the other three militia groups had raided Li Shouchang's camp and severely injured him. Then they immediately launched an attack on Li Shouchang's family's property. The main business of Li Shouchang's family was to open a pawnshop. The Li family's militia was currently besieging the Wuzhou magistrate's yamen. There were not enough soldiers to guard their nest. When Li Shouchang was dying, how could the militia under his command have the power to resist?
The other three private groups robbed Li Shouchang's family of gold, silver, valuables, and other things that were easy to carry. Then, they took their own valuables and fled out of Wuzhou, fleeing in the direction of Guilin. It had to be said that this was a very smart choice. After daybreak, although the Liberation Army received some news, because of the lack of troops, it was very difficult to regain control of Wuzhou and defend against the attack of the boat army. At the same time, the troops also had to accept the property of the four major militia groups in Wuzhou and purge the remnants of the four major militia groups. Even though they knew the three militia groups had run away, they did not have the power to pursue them. They could only watch as they fled.
Of course, for the Liberation Army, the rewards this time were enormous. Not only did they purge the opposing forces in the city, they also seized large amounts of property. Not to mention anything else, just the dozens of shops and hundreds of mansions in the city had completely fallen into the hands of the Liberation Army. This income allowed the Liberation Army to completely take root in Wuzhou.
Li Shouchang's militia group no longer had any fighting spirit. Some people ran away in fear. Some people hid in their homes and did not dare to show their faces. There were still some who did not know what to do. When the Liberation Army arrived at the camp, they surrendered. Li Shouchang's body was not bad. Even after being shot for a few hours, he still had a breath. He was sent to the military hospital for surgery and then had Li Shouchang's family test his blood and give him a blood transfusion. Now, his life was saved.
"I'll go see Li Shouchang!" Shen Xin volunteered.
"What are you going to say after you go?" Luo Dagang asked. The other members of the Recovery Society were also waiting to see Shen Xin's stance.
Shen Xin replied, "I'll advise him to plead guilty and confess all his accomplices. Since he's dead for sure, I think Li Shouchang will agree if we can drag more people into the water, right? "
"Then what if he refuses to admit it and takes all the responsibility by himself?" Luo Dagang continued to ask.
Shen Xin replied, "Then we'll make a fuss about it from his family. Of course, the Li family's property will be confiscated, but we can bypass the people in his family who did not participate in this rebellion and give them some money to move them to other places to live. In short, don't implicate innocent family members! "
"The women can be spared, the children can be spared. But we cannot spare the others. "Luo Dagang raised his bottom line.
"No problem, I also think this is a good idea." Shen Xin replied. He had the same idea. Shen Xin had the experience of having his property seized by his clansmen. To spare the women and children and get rid of the other adults, Shen Xin felt that to a certain extent, it was also to vent his anger.
After reaching this consensus, Shen Xin went to persuade Li Shouchang. Li Shouchang had a deep impression of Shen Xin. This young "Army Supervisor" had once threatened Li Shouchang with an extremely tough attitude. This was also one of the reasons why Li Shouchang had no choice but to take the risk. After seeing Shen Xin, he thought that Shen Xin had come to make a triumphant declaration of victory. He did not expect that Shen Xin would only tell Li Shouchang, "We can spare your parents, wife, and children. If you are willing, you can listen to us honestly. What does Mr. Li think? "
The way the Liberation Army did things was very different. During the Manchu Qing period, parents, wives, and children were the main targets implicated. If these people could be let go, Li Shouchang did not know what the Liberation Army was planning to do. He asked hesitantly, "What are you planning to let me do?"
After hearing Shen Xin's conditions, Li Shouchang was stunned at first. Then, he could not help but laugh out loud. However, when he laughed, it affected his wounds, so Li Shouchang could not laugh anymore. Otherwise, he would probably laugh to his heart's content. Even so, Li Shouchang asked with joy, "Is the Liberation Army really not going to be bandits?"
"We want to conquer the world and rule the world. Not only will Wuzhou be ours, but every city we conquer in the future will also be ours. Why do we want to be bandits? "Shen Xin said with a cold smile. What he had suggested just now was for Li Shouchang to give up all the people who had participated in the rebellion, especially the relatives of the Li family. The Liberation Army had no interest in killing women and children, but from a political point of view, the Liberation Army had to uproot Li Shouchang and the other militia forces from Wuzhou. Thus, there would definitely be some "injustice" involved. However, the Liberation Army had no reason to allow people who could inherit the power of the four major militias to exist. Since the two sides had shed all pretense of cordiality, then the four major militias had to be completely destroyed.
Li Shouchang stared at Shen Xin. He had long known that he was going to die, so he spoke straightforwardly and straightforwardly. "How can I trust your words? You said you would spare my family. What if after you kill people, you feel that killing a few more is nothing and you kill them as well? "
"If we want to kill people indiscriminately, then why ask you? We don't even need to save you. After cutting off your head and hanging it in the city, the people of Wuzhou will know that we have won. The reason we don't kill you, or rather, save your life before we kill you, is because we want to achieve complete victory. We don't simply want to kill a group of people. "As the victor, Shen Xin naturally had the magnanimity of a victor. He spoke very calmly.
Whether or not the bandit leader could be captured and whether or not the bandit leader could be publicly executed was a very important matter for the war. To be able to capture the bandit leader and finally execute him was very useful in establishing order and dispelling the suspicions of the local people. If the bandit leader could obediently plead guilty, that would be even better. The people of China actually did not care that the government killed people. What the people were worried about was that the government would kill indiscriminately and that the target of the killing was unclear. When the scope of the killing was very clearly limited to the rebels, especially after the government was very lenient in pardoning the relatives of the rebels, the people would probably still feel that the government was very humane.
As he narrated these contents to Li Shouchang, Shen Xin suddenly felt that he had become bad. In Shen Xin's eyes, human life was no longer a human life, but a bargaining chip that needed to be considered in political tactics. To kill or not to kill was not because of resentment or fondness, nor was it because of pity or hostility. To kill or not to kill was just a method, and the goal of this method was to accomplish the political mission that the political department of the Restoration Society had given to Shen Xin with the greatest efficiency.
Shen Xin himself felt that this kind of consideration was somewhat strange, but he could not find a reason not to do so. It was just like the play that Shen Xin had put on to force Li Shouchang and the other militia to rebel not long ago. At that time, all Shen Xin had to do was make Li Shouchang believe one thing. If he did not act now while the Liberation Army was weak, Li Shouchang and the other militia leaders would only meet an incomparably tragic end in the future. In reality, that so-called "tragic end" was undoubtedly more tragic compared to the ending that was about to appear in reality.
After listening to Shen Xin's narration, Li Shouchang was silent. After a while, he said, "Let me see my family first!"
When he saw Li Shouchang cry bitterly when he met his family, Shen Xin found that his heart had softened again. Li Shouchang's youngest daughter was only four or five years old at this time, and she had no idea what had happened. Seeing her father's pale face and his upper body wrapped in a lot of gauze, the little girl only said timidly, "Dad, let's go home! Let's go home! "
Even though he had described killing in an extremely utilitarian manner just now, Shen Xin suddenly felt his eyes warm up, and tears almost flowed out. He hurriedly walked out of the room that was both a ward and a prison cell, for fear that his tears would be seen by others. Shen Xin did not sympathize with Li Shouchang. He thought of how he and his mother had been driven out of the family business after his father died when he was young, and could only live on a small amount of money. He felt that the little girl was very pitiful. Her life had undergone tremendous changes at this time, but the child was still unaware of it. She only hoped that she could return to the track of life that she was once familiar with as soon as possible.
Shen Xin found a corner with no one and with great difficulty stopped his tears. At this time, he made up his mind that no matter how Li Shouchang and the others were dealt with, he would not allow the senseless slaughter to extend to Li Shouchang's family. After all, the child was innocent.
On the 20th of October, Wuzhou City began the trial of this group of people. The core members of the militia were sentenced to death, and the bandit leader, Li Shouchang, was naturally sentenced to death. However, Shen Xin was not able to see the execution with his own eyes. The political department of the Restoration Council ordered all the political members to return to Guangzhou as soon as possible to report on their work. Shen Xin felt as if he had been granted amnesty by this order. The image of the little girl shaking her father's arm would always linger in his mind. As a political member, he had to go watch and even preside over the execution. This was far beyond what Shen Xin could bear right now.
So, on the day he received the order, Shen Xin immediately packed his luggage and took a boat to Guangzhou. Watching Wuzhou City grow smaller and smaller in the distance, Shen Xin let out a long sigh.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
