Ming Zuo

Chapter 119 The Meaning of Sacrifice

A small wooden door seems to be extremely heavy.

A group of powerful soldiers did not dare to move forward.

It was still the movement inside that opened the wooden door, revealing a young face.

Unexpectedly, there were so many people outside. The young man let out an "ah" and immediately realized that he was full of joy.

"Zuo Qianzuo, Guanshi Chen, why are you here?"

After finishing speaking, the young man hurriedly turned his head and shouted inside: "Mother, mother, come quickly, Zuo Qianzuo and Chen Guanshi are here."

Chen Zhi introduced softly from the side.

"This is Zhao Eryang's younger brother, Zhao Sanyang."

Zuo Menggeng nodded, since the door was opened, he walked in.

Just at this time, an old lady also came out of the house, and saw a group of officers head-on.

In an instant, the old lady's body shook, and she hurriedly supported the door frame next to her, her eyes were full of moisture.

"Qianzuo, Eryang... Eryang, he..."

Aunt Zhao has a premonition of something.Otherwise, so many high officials would not come to the house for no reason.

Zuo Menggeng's eyeballs turned red, the most despicable thing is this kind of situation.

But he is the chief officer and must face all this.

"Ma'am, Eryang... I'm sorry, but I couldn't bring Eryang back."

Zhao Sanyang's happy face also froze, but he just didn't want to believe it.

"My brother...what's wrong with my brother? Qianzuo, isn't my brother well in the camp? He also told me that he worked hard to be the leader of the team. My brother...what's wrong with my brother?"

Liu Yiyuan explained for Zuo Menggeng.

"A few days ago, your brother... died in Dengzhou."

Zhao Sanyang was stunned, his young face was full of confusion.

People who are too young don't quite understand the meaning of death.It will take a lot of time to accept it.

Aunt Zhao's tears finally fell, but she was still calm.

This performance made everyone feel better.

"Ma'am, my condolences!"

Zuo Menggeng walked over and helped her to sit down gently, but her hands were tightly clenched.

It is admirable that an old man in his dying years can still hold on to a white-haired man for a black-haired man.

"I've seen too many dead people in these years. On the way here last year, there were dead people all over the place. At that time, I thought, maybe at any time, we will die too. Later, I met Qianzuo, and let me We went to work on the pier, and finally had enough to eat. Look at today’s days, there are houses to live in, and food to eat. In the past... I didn’t even dare to think about it.”

In the old lady's rambling memories, Zhao Sanyang squatted aside and finally understood what happened.The sound of crying resounded through the small courtyard, causing the big guy to cry along with him.

"This good day was given by Qianzuo, and Eryang should have worked hard for Qianzuo..."

Zuo Menggeng hurriedly said: "Ma'am, Eryang didn't die for me. He was on a mission, met the Tartars, fought to the death and died."

"What?"

Aunt Zhao looked up in astonishment.

"You... have you met Tartars?"

Hou Qingchun said from the side: "Ma'am, Eryang is my soldier. I saw with my own eyes that Eryang and the others met the Tartars. Eryang did not persuade him. He died in battle. He is a good man."

Aunt Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, and her thoughts drifted further.

"My family used to be in Henan, and they also had land. It's not a good land, but there are several acres. Eryang's father and I get up early every day to wait on the crops. The government collects a lot of money, such as land tax and head tax. , we don’t understand what it’s all about. I have to work for the government every now and then. But no matter what I say, I’m exhausted, and I can still have some rations after a year. Later, I got an extra money , what is it called... Liao Xing."

"This Liao salary is quite a lot, three cents and five cents per mu of land. If you don't pay it, you won't get it. If you pay it, the family will lose a lot of rations. Since then, we have always been hungry. Hungry growling At that time, I thought, where is this Liaodong, why can't I finish it?"

"Later, there were a dozen young men from the next door village who went to Liaodong to serve as soldiers. After a few years, two of them came back. Talking to us about Tartars, they really did all sorts of crimes! Never won."

"At that time, the only thought of the old woman was this battle. Let's finish the fight quickly. After the fight is over, the officials will not ask for more money, and there will always be a stutter."

"We haven't waited for that day yet. A catastrophe has caused our family to lose all their land. If we stay at home, we will die. We have no choice but to beg everywhere. For the sake of his two children, his father hasn't eaten a bite in ten days. That morning, when I got up and looked, there was no one there.”

"Qianzuo, tell me, if the officials don't levy Liao's salary, if the tartars don't bully us, can our life go on?"

Zuo Menggeng wiped his face and tried to stabilize himself.

"Only when the Tartars are completely wiped out, as well as the government that is cruel to the people, can the big guy live a good life."

After talking so much, Aunt Zhao was both tired and calm.

"Eryang killed the Tartars, so he didn't embarrass my old Zhao family. Qianzuo, did you win?"

Zuo Menggeng nodded heavily.

"Well, we killed two Tartars."

"Wow, good!"

Aunt Zhao smiled happily.

"His father knows, and is happy to appoint him. My Eryang is a good boy."

She turned her head to look at Zhao Sanyang again.

"Sanwazi, your brother is a hero, so you can't be cowardly. From now on, you also go to be a soldier. Kill all the tartars as soon as possible, and let us poor people live a better life as soon as possible."

Zhao Sanyang stood up with a "chuckle".

"Qianzuo, I want to be a soldier too, and I want to kill Tartars."

Zuo Menggeng disagreed.

"Ma'am, there are only three suns left in your family, you have to keep your roots."

Aunt Zhao was very determined.

"This is the way of the world, the old lady can see it. You have to fight him. Only by beating him upside down can we poor people have a way of life. Qianzuo, you are ambitious, and all of us can see it. I have never seen you before." This is good for us poor people, and we all keep it in our hearts. Take us to fight, or... you can't keep anything."

Zuo Menggeng held Aunt Zhao's hand and listened quietly to such heartfelt words.

For the first time in his life, he had unparalleled confidence in what he was about to do.

On this day, he visited the homes of all the fallen soldiers.

Although the soldiers' families were all in grief, they heard that their children had died while fighting the Tartars, and none of them felt that it was worthless.

Among these poor people, which one of them has not been tortured by Liao's salary, and his life is worse than death?

Although he had never met a Tartar, his hatred for the Tartar was deeply rooted.

Seven days later, a clean cemetery was built in the open space on the west side of the barracks.

This is Zuo Menggeng's decision.

There must be a place to commemorate all the martyrs who died.

Let those great moments of sacrifice be remembered and become the driving force for the living to move on.

【Houying Martyrs Cemetery】

Zuo Menggeng named it himself, and Bi Maokang wrote it in handwriting.

[-] officers and soldiers gathered here, and the eight people in the front held the spirit cards of the sacrificed martyrs in their hands.

Although their remains cannot be brought back, their names and achievements must live on forever.

Zuo Menggeng stood solemnly on the stage and decided to use this opportunity to instill a new spirit into the entire army.

"Eight of our comrades-in-arms died. When they were carrying out their mission, they encountered Tartars..."

Hearing this, there was a commotion below, and many people whispered and showed fear.

In the hearts of Ming people in this era, the Tartars in Liaodong have become a nightmare.

Zuo Menggeng ignored the discussion below, and continued to speak loudly: "Five beat two, and all our comrades died. Isn't this result very bad?"

It's quiet below, but obviously many people think so in their hearts.

"No!"

Zuo Menggeng let out a roar that was deafening.

"When they sacrificed, I was by the side, and I could see clearly. None of the five comrades in arms were afraid, and none of them ran away. Facing the ferocious enemy, they all chose to be brave. Although in terms of martial arts they There are big shortcomings, but in terms of courage, they are heroes. The brave win when we meet on a narrow road. Their sacrifices let me see that our rear battalion is an army with courage. As long as we use courage to face any strong enemy, we We will not be timid and will not admit defeat. As long as we can still fight, we have the possibility of winning!"

The breeze is coming, and the warmth of early summer seems to be the comfort of the martyrs.

"The Tartars are cruel and tyrannical. If we are afraid and cowardly, can we survive? Wouldn't the Tartars' butcher knives kill us? Obviously not."

"Since fear and cowardice can't exchange for hope of survival, do we have any other choice?"

When the three thousand soldiers heard these words, they couldn't help thinking.

Then, they heard Zuo Menggeng's shout.

"We have two legs, we can't fight, we can run. But you look back, what is behind us? It is our home, our parents, wives and children. We can run away, what about them? Are we going to Leave them to the Tartars, to the slaughter of all their vicious enemies?"

The feelings of family and country have firmly influenced every Chinese for thousands of years.

When Zuo Menggeng mentioned these things, many people's thoughts changed dramatically.

"The death of life is terrible, but the life beyond death must be great. If our sacrifice can be exchanged for the happiness and safety of our homeland and family, shall we do it? Do we want to die? Are we afraid of death?"

A strong emotion quickly permeated among the soldiers, and even the most muddled people felt unprecedented excitement.

Huang Zongxi raised his arms violently and shouted.

"When you meet on a narrow road, the brave wins, and you will never surrender your homeland!"

This roar quickly turned into the voice of the whole army.

"When you meet on a narrow road, the brave wins, and you will never surrender your homeland!"

Seeing this scene, Zuo Menggeng understood that this still weak army had begun to inject a new soul.

"salute!"

"Bang... bang... bang..."

Eighteen consecutive shots were fired, and the spirit cards of the eight martyrs became the first batch of owners of the cemetery.

They were all ordinary people in the first place, and there was nothing worth showing off in their entire lives.But only as precious lives, their choices and sacrifices far exceed the general sense of greatness.

Zhao Eryang, Liu Tiezhu, Xu Baitie, Xu Shuanzhu, Wang Xiaodao, Li Gazi, Chen Minghui, Guo Shitou...

Even if he walks on the street, he will not be looked at more than once, but now he has become a hero in the hearts of countless people.

From now on, the officers and soldiers of the rear battalion will definitely remember these eight names firmly and take them as an example.

There will inevitably be more such heroes in the future back camp.

(End of this chapter)