Chapter 32: The Pawn's Thoughts

The heads of the county magistrate and Gu Quchang were hung at the gate of the county government office.

The remains of hundreds of constables and Qu Bing were thrown all over Qingping County.

Zhao Hu's personal soldiers drove out all those hiding in the houses, whether they were civilians or wealthy people.

From inside the house came the soldiers' laughter and the women's cries.

The men standing outside were horrified.

But if they showed any resistance, they would be beaten to death.

In a brick house, Zhao Zheng's excited voice came out:

"Master Marshal, there is a beautiful woman here. We have helped you to restrain her. Please come in quickly!!"

Inside, there was the crying of a young woman and the begging of an old man.

At this time, Zhao Hu chopped down an old woman in silk clothes who was pulling his trouser leg with a knife, and was about to go into the house.

At this time, a refugee soldier nearby knelt down in front of Zhao Hu and begged:
“Captain! This family is well-known for being kind and generous. Although they are merchants, they are not much richer than others. They give porridge to us refugees every week.

I was almost starving to death, and it was only because I ate a bowl of porridge from this kind man that I survived.

Please, sir, have mercy on him and spare his family!!”

The thin soldier knelt before Zhao Hu and kowtowed repeatedly.

He knocked his head noisily, making a "bang bang" sound.

When he first came here, like many others, he was about to starve to death.

It was this family of three who brought out a large bowl of porridge and gave the people lying on the ground a chance to survive.

He was even so hungry that he couldn't get up, and it was the beautiful lady who asked someone to support him and feed him that saved his life.

He would never dare to forget the three people who saved his life and the beautiful lady who fed him porridge.

Seeing that Zhao Hu had killed the old woman and was about to harm Miss Xinshan inside, he kowtowed continuously.

He wanted to ask Zhao Hu to let the two people inside go.

Zhao Hu was in great spirits when he heard the call from his personal soldiers inside. He didn't care about the kowtowed soldier at all.

He snorted disdainfully and walked straight into the house.

The refugee soldier kneeling on the ground saw that his benefactor might be killed, so he rushed over in a hurry, grabbed Zhao Hu's legs and pleaded loudly:

"Sir!! Tianxing Army is the most righteous army in the world and will never rape or rob women. Please think twice!!"

Hearing this, the pawns around, who were originally unable to bear to see this purgatory-like scene, were ready to step forward and plead with Zhao Hu.

But they haven't said it yet.

A knife flashed by, and the pawn who was kneeling on the ground and holding Zhao Hu tightly had his head shot up into the sky.

A foot high of blood spurted out from the bowl-sized scar, and the headless body fell to the ground.

There was complete silence, with only the blood gushing out from the neck of the headless corpse, staining the dust on the ground red.

"Shua~!"

Zhao Hu raised his sword and said to the pawns watching nearby:
"Anyone else who can't stand this or wants to ask for mercy, please stand up for me!"

Those pawns that had already taken a step forward lowered their heads and retreated.

Zhao Hu watched his men retreat, then he spat on the headless corpse and sneered:
"Dare to teach me how to do things? Here, my rules are the rules. Anyone who dares not obey my orders will suffer the consequences!"

After saying that, he chuckled, pointed his knife at the pawns beside him and said:
"You people are just hungry and only care about food, so you don't have such thoughts.

Don't worry, you have made great contributions in the capture of Qingping County this time. I will let you eat as much food as you can here.

When we attack the next county, I will let you enjoy this paradise on earth."

How could Zhao Hu be a muddle-headed person if he could become the brigade commander and command so many personal soldiers?
Many of these soldiers had undergone weight training, and after this battle to attack the county, they had been tempered, and their combat effectiveness must have greatly increased. These were his soldiers, and he would have to rely on them to attack the city again in the future.

If everyone is dissatisfied with him, he is naturally not afraid. He and the remaining two hundred or so personal soldiers can control these people.

But after dealing with them, it will take a lot of energy to recruit refugees and train them again.

This would greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of his brigade.

Naturally, he would not be willing to kill them like he did those refugees who had just come up the mountain.

After feeding these soldiers well this time, next time when he attacks the county, he will find some women for them. After having some fun together, he will submit this letter of allegiance, and in the future, they will be in the same boat with Zhao Hu.

He might not be able to regard them as his personal soldiers.

After all, the number of his personal soldiers has been decreasing, and he can no longer rely solely on these fellow villagers to maintain his position.

It is necessary to select from these pawns who have experienced battles.

Even though there may be some people who are not willing to hand over this letter of allegiance, it will be fine as long as some of them can be selected and reused.

There will be new blood in his personal guard camp.

As for the remaining so-called righteous men, they should be the first ones to be sent into action every time a siege is launched, and they can be wiped out completely.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hu smiled evilly and stepped into the house.

Soon, an old man screamed.

And the sound of a woman crying in the house.

The soldiers guarding outside the door all had gloomy faces, lowered their heads, and said nothing.

The battle started in the early morning and ended just before noon.

All the officers, soldiers, constables, and merchants' bodyguards were killed without exception.

Most of the bodies were thrown into pits outside the county town and buried.

After being humiliated, the common people were not allowed to take a grain of rice and were driven out of the county.

Horses, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese were all brought together and managed centrally.

The grain of the government, merchants, and common people were piled together into a mountain, which was counted one by one by each of the personal soldiers.

At this time, it was in the open space in front of the county government office.

It is filled with large round wooden tables of different sizes.

Next to the open spaces where the tables were placed were large pots. Cooks were holding large shovels and scooping the meat into the pots one by one, making the large iron pots make a swishing sound.

At this time, Lu Yuan and his three team members Zhou An, Meng Yan, and Song Wen were sitting at the same table.

Although the table was large, there were only four of them sitting at it.

Lu Yuan sat alone on one side, while the other three sat on the other side of the big table.

After capturing the county town, there were so many tables that there was no need for so many people to squeeze together.

At this moment, Lu Yuan's attention was all on the big iron pot that was emitting steam next to him.

The big iron pot was covered with a large wooden lid. Thick white smoke rose from the gap in the lid. The aroma of cooked rice challenged his taste buds and his stomach which was beginning to move again.

He just drank some porridge in that house today.

Although the porridge was for four people, half of it had been eaten and there wasn't much rice in it.

It couldn't satisfy his growing appetite at all.

In his eyes, there was only the rice, and he was just waiting for Zhao Hu to come so that he could announce the start of the meal.

(End of this chapter)