Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 946: Ghost Power

At that time, they were walking on the loess road between the military camps in Daning City. As soon as Zhu Xiongying finished speaking, Xie Jin and Fang Xiaoru were also surprised to realize that they seemed to have heard the sound of poetry reciting in a consistent tone. The three of them could not help but listen carefully, but after a moment, the sound disappeared.

"Strange, it's gone again." Zhu Xiongying said in surprise. "I clearly heard someone reciting a poem."

"Perhaps one of the military officers came here to inspect, and he was inspired to compose a poem?" Fang Xiaoru said. There were also civil servants in the army. If any of them were in a nearby military camp at this time, it would not be surprising to hear two voices reciting poems.

"Your Highness, did you hear what poem that person recited?" Xie Jin asked. If there was really a soldier in the army who could recite poetry, then it would be no problem to borrow him to act as a storyteller in case of emergency. "Based on the meaning of the poem, we may be able to infer something..."

"Hmm, I vaguely heard that the poem he was reciting should be the one written by Mr. Meng De in the early Tang Dynasty, 'Many times in this world we are saddened by the past, yet the mountains remain as they were before us, resting on the cold current.'..." said Zhu Xiongying.

"'Wang Jun's ship sailed down to Yizhou, the royal aura of Jinling faded, the thousand-foot iron chain sank to the bottom of the river, and a banner came out of the stone?'" Xie Jin said in surprise. "Who in this army would have such a sad mood?..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone in front of him on the left chanting: "Alas, alas! A tiger in plain land is bullied by a dog! I never thought that I would end up like this!"

"Shut up! What kind of curse are you chanting, you slut! Why don't you clean this toilet bowl for us?"

"If you dare to be lazy, I will make you sleep in this toilet from now on!"

The sound of whipping, screaming and begging for mercy, followed closely behind the two sighs, which seemed quite out of place. Zhu Xiongying and the two men looked at each other in surprise and said, "Whose camp is this on the left? Why are there still people forcing scholars to clean toilets?"

Fang Xiaoru, who had walked around the city in advance and had some impression of the city's layout, looked at the camp gate in the left front, and said "Oh" with sudden realization, and explained: "Your Highness, that is the prisoner-of-war camp in Daning City. I think the one who just recited the poem was a prisoner of war."

"Since he is a prisoner of war, it is no wonder that he would do such a dirty thing despite his literary talent."

Since Zhu Su invented the term "labor reform" and forced prisoners of war to build bridges and roads, reclaim wasteland and cultivate land for the Ming Dynasty, and squeezed out all the human value of the prisoners of war, all the armies of the Ming Dynasty have become black-hearted labor contractors for the prisoners of war. Labor is the most expensive in the Ming Dynasty now, and the guys who are prisoners of war in the army naturally can't expect to have a leisurely time. Moving bricks and laying stones, building bridges and roads are all common. Even in wartime, serving the soldiers by washing toilets, making beds and folding quilts is commonplace.

All in all, don't expect to have any free time.

The same is true in the Daning Dusi. Once you become a prisoner of war, naturally no one cares whether you are a big shot or not, whether you can write well or not, you will be served with a stinky fresh toilet. It just so happens that the Daning Dusi just set up an ambush yesterday and won a great victory over Ben Ya Shi Li and A Lu Tai. These newly captured prisoners have not been sent to the rear and are still being held here. I think this man is one of the prisoners captured yesterday.

Zhu Xiongying stopped to think for a moment, then raised his foot and said, "Let's go and take a look."

"Since he is a prisoner of war, he will not be picky. We will definitely be able to get him."

"Your Highness..." Fang Xiaoru hurriedly stopped Zhu Xiongying. "Your Highness, this man must be a prisoner of war. Isn't this a bit..."

"What's wrong with prisoners of war? Cleaning toilets and singing operas are all forms of 'labor reform'." As he said this, he strode towards the prisoner-of-war camp.

After all, he is the most anticipated third-generation descendant of the Zhu family. He is the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty who was taught by Empress Ma, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Su. Zhu Xiongying has known since childhood that indecision is absolutely unacceptable. Once he makes a decision, he acts decisively, which is in line with his father and grandfather.

He was the crown prince, and although Fang Jie and the other two still felt that it was inappropriate, they could not stop him. The two followed Zhu Xiongying into the prisoner-of-war camp. The general at the entrance of the camp recognized Zhu Xiongying, and when he saw the crown prince coming, he hurriedly bowed respectfully, clasped his fists to Zhu Xiongying and said, "Your Highness."

"No need to be so polite." Zhu Xiongying raised his hand gently, with a friendly smile on his face: "Just now I heard someone reciting a poem... I wonder who was reciting it?"

The general was startled when he heard this, and his eyes could not help but glance at a figure in the corner, who was only wearing dirty linen clothes. Zhu Xiongying, surrounded by the general and Fang Jie, walked up to the man and saw that he had a shaved head with only a small tuft of hair in front of his forehead, like a child's hair. He couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Tartar?"

Among a group of kneeling prisoners of war, the man raised his head. It was indeed a face of a Mongolian man who looked big and strong and did not look like a man who could recite poetry at all.

The man also knew that the word "Tartar" was a derogatory term. He did not dare to say anything when the officer who whipped him just now called him that. But when he saw Zhu Xiongying, a young man who looked like he was still wet behind the ears, calling him a Tartar, he immediately became unhappy and retorted in standard Chinese: "Who are you calling a Tartar? You are the Tartar."

"Your whole family are Tartars!"

"You scoundrel, how dare you insult the Crown Prince!" The general was furious. He swung his whip in the air with a loud bang, and then he hit the foul-mouthed Tartar on the head and face, making him scream in pain.

Zhu Xiongying touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed. Given his social status and upbringing, calling someone a "Tartar" to their face was indeed somewhat rude.

But he was also really surprised. Just now, he heard the generals scolding "slutty Tartar" outside the camp, and he thought it was because a certain scholar worked for the Tartars. After all, there were many Han scholars in the imperial court who fled north with their Mongolian masters... But he didn't expect that this "Jia Hu" guy who kept saying "Jia Hu" and seemed to like reciting poems was actually a Tartar, and a big and strong Tartar.

"Who is this person?" Zhu Xiongying asked the general after he finished drawing.

"Your Highness." The officer looked ferocious when whipping Jiehuge, but when he turned to Zhu Xiongying, his demeanor was as docile as a sheep. "Your Highness, please tell me: this man is a tribal leader under the command of Bayanchuri of the Tatar tribe."

"His name is Guilichi. It is said that he is a descendant of a former Yuan Dynasty Tartar named Ogedei. Because he has some status, the Duke ordered us to urge him to clean the toilet for the Duke, and wait for a day to be chosen to escort him back to the capital to meet Your Majesty."

"Otherwise, right now, he should be carrying a shoulder pole and going to open up mountains and build cities for us in Daning... This thief is doing the easy job of washing toilets, but he is still full of complaints and chanting some weird curses from time to time." The general glared at Gui Li Chidao.

(End of this chapter)