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More than 300 captured Qing Army soldiers were sitting naked on a hillside, surrounded by nearly a hundred Taiping army soldiers. It was no longer cold in May. Even if they were naked, they wouldn't freeze. However, the insects had started to become active. The Qing Army soldiers kept using their hands to chase away the insects. Some Qing Army soldiers also started to curse their comrades in a low voice. If they hadn't secretly put the money they found into their pockets when searching the corpses, they wouldn't have to suffer like this.
However, even if they were cursing their comrades, they weren't cursing their comrades for secretly hiding the money. Instead, they were cursing their comrades for being discovered. "Blind!" "Incompetent!" Words like these were the contents of their curses.
The sun was already setting in the west, but the Taiping army still hadn't come to deal with the captives. Many of the captives had a bad feeling about this. If they decided early on how to deal with these captives, they could still find some ways to deal with them, such as begging for mercy and wailing. This wasn't a problem at all. However, if they only dealt with the captives when it was getting dark, the eerie darkness of the night wouldn't be able to bring about any good associations. Perhaps the Taiping army would directly execute the captives in the middle of the night...
This thought made the captives even more restless. The Taiping army soldiers could only use their guns to force the captives to temporarily suppress their strange behavior.
At this moment, a group of Taiping army soldiers carrying guns and broadswords rushed towards the captives. The leaders of the group wore yellow vests, which made them look different from the others. When they approached the Qing Army, the leader of the group shouted, "I am Vézé, the inspector of the Taiping army. After you have eaten, prepare to be on your way."
Eat, prepare to be on their way. This was the common language used when executing prisoners. Although he didn't directly say that he was going to execute the captives, the coldness in his words made the captives shudder.
Some of the more quick-witted captives knelt down from their sitting position and started to howl, "Sir, sir, please spare our lives!"
There were a lot of Taiping army soldiers around the group of captives, who were carrying long spears. They did not dare to attack the Taiping army inspector, Vézé. With someone taking the lead, the captives all knelt down and begged for mercy.
A general of the Taiping army who was standing beside Vézé hurriedly crossed his arms and saluted. "Sir Inspector, if we want to attack Guilin, we should do it as soon as possible. If we let them go and they continue to defend the city, we will be in trouble."
His voice was quite loud, and it was obvious that he wanted the captives to hear him. What the two of them said had already made clear the determination of the Taiping army to kill the captives, as well as the reason why the Taiping army wanted to kill the captives. Some of the quick-witted Qing Army soldiers were so scared that they almost pissed their pants. They kowtowed and begged for mercy. Some of the quick-witted and intelligent Qing Army soldiers came up with a solution. One of them shouted, "Your Excellency! My Lord! If you want to attack Guilin, please spare us. We are willing to lead the way! "
"Pfft!" Wei Ze spat, "What can you scoundrels do to help? Do you think you can take down a city just because I asked you to?"
Standing beside Vézé was Zhang Yingchen. He quickly leaned over to Vézé and whispered, "Wei Jiandian, it seems that the Qing Army is quite quick-witted."
Vézé also whispered, "How can they not be quick-witted if they were able to survive until they were captured? By the way, let's talk for a while longer. Don't let the Qing Army see through us. "
Zhang Yingchen suppressed his laughter. "Wei Jiandian, do you think the Qing Army will believe you if you lie to them like this?"
"Ying Chen," Vézé's voice was soft, but it sounded sincere. "If you want to lie, then lie bigger than the sky. Because a lie that was bigger than the sky would make it hard for people to not believe it. Between a small lie and a big lie, the commoners are more likely to believe a big lie. The commoners often tell small lies about small matters, but they are too embarrassed to tell big lies. Because these people don't have the ability to come up with big lies, they think that others can't make up big lies. The more unbelievable a lie is, the more people will believe it. "
When Zhang Yingchen heard this, he turned his back to the captives. If he didn't, he was afraid that the captives would see his twisted face because he was trying to hold back his laughter. Originally, it was Zhang Yingchen's plan to deceive the captives. First, they would spread the news that the Taiping army was going to attack Guilin, and then they would be released. This way, they would be able to spread the news.
Unexpectedly, after listening to Vézé, everyone praised him and personally modified the plan. Now, he put forward a set of lies in a serious manner. Zhang Yingchen was a very clever person. After listening to Vézé's words, he felt that it was a fallacy. However, this fallacy seemed to have a strange persuasiveness, so he felt that he couldn't ignore it, but had to think about it carefully. This feeling stimulated Zhang Yingchen's emotions, and he couldn't help but want to laugh.
Finally, he suppressed his laughter, and Zhang Yingchen asked in a low voice, "Wei Jiandian, how did you come up with this?"
Vézé replied in a low voice with a straight face, "How did I come up with it? It doesn't matter. Let's talk a few more words, and then we can start acting."
The captives looked at the people who could decide their life and death, whispering to each other, but they didn't know what they were talking about. If they wanted to kill without mercy, these two people would have already given the order. However, the way they were whispering to each other made it seem like they were planning something extremely disadvantageous to the captives. This made the captives even more uneasy.
Finally, the man next to the Taiping army inspector, who called himself Vézé, turned his head and looked at the captives kneeling on the ground. He took a few steps forward and shouted, "If you want us to let you go, it's not difficult!"
"Sir, please spare our lives!"
"Sir, please do us a favor and spare our lives! We will never fight with you again! "
The captives were wailing! However, their voices were full of hope.
Zhang Yingchen shouted, "If you want to live, I will let you go. However, you have to sign a contract for me. When you return to Guilin City, you will be our spies. We will soon attack Guilin City, and if you don't become our spies, we will give your signed contract to the commander of Guilin City. What do you think he will do to you? "
The captives were stunned. Some of them were scared by the signed contract, but some of them were smart and shouted, "Sir, I am willing to sign the contract! I will definitely be your spy! "
With someone taking the lead, the rest of the matter was much easier. More than 300 captives signed the contract and put their fingerprints on it. Then Vézé ordered them to be given clothes and some broken weapons, and let the captives go.
Looking at the backs of the captives, Zhang Yingchen suddenly asked, "Wei Jiandian, if we attack Guilin City, will they really be our spies?"
Vézé was stunned at first, then he laughed, "Yingchen, think about it. If we attack Guilin City, how will we find these guys?"
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