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

Chapter 947: A Prisoner of War Camp Full of Talents

The generals were ignorant of literary matters, and Guilichi had a face full of flesh, so what he said was regarded as a "bird curse". However, Zhu Xiongying, Fang Xiaoru, and Xie Jin knew clearly that what this "slutty Tartar" with a face full of flesh said were indeed the poems and elegant chapters of ancient sages.

However, hearing such poetry coming from the mouth of such a ragged, flabby-faced Tartar made Zhu Xiongying and his companions feel somewhat disconnected.

"You said that this person is a descendant of Ogedei?" Zhu Xiongying said. "Then, no wonder this person understands some of our Han Chinese poetry and prose."

Ogedei, the third son of Genghis Khan, was once the Great Khan of Mongolia. But later, Kublai Khan seized power in Mongolia and established the Yuan Dynasty, which made the throne always passed down through Kublai Khan's own line. The Golden Family of Ogedei became worthless.

However, he was more or less a descendant of the Golden Family. Although he had little real power in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, he was not treated harshly. It was not surprising that he was able to come into contact with Han Chinese poetry and books.

Zhu Xiongying leaned down slightly, looked at Guilichi, who was lying on the ground with his hands protecting his head and face, and asked: "Since you have learned Chinese studies, why don't you join the Chinese tradition, but follow Bayanshili and Alutai to become a bandit who brings disaster to the world?"

"Bah, who is bringing disaster to the world? We are here to restore the Yuan Dynasty..." Guilichi moved his hand away and glared at Zhu Xiongying fiercely with his big eyes. However, he unexpectedly saw the fierce eyes of the general who had just beaten him behind Zhu Xiongying. His face turned pale and he swallowed the rest of the words.

Seeing him so burly yet so cowardly, Zhu Xiongying, Xie Jin and Fang Xiaoru couldn't help but laugh. Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and asked, "Since you can recite poetry, can you sing opera? ... That is, sing on the stage..."

"Oh, of course I will. 'I broke the law for no reason, and was punished without warning. My cries of injustice shook the earth and the sky. In an instant, my soul went to the Senluo Palace. How could I not blame the heaven and earth~'"

He sang famous lines from the Yuan Dynasty drama "The Injustice of Dou E", which was widely circulated and everyone present had heard of it. Zhu Xiongying's eyes lit up. Although this guy was big and strong, he sang these lines with a stretched voice, and the pronunciation was clear and the melody was gentle. It really had some flavor of Dou E, a weak woman who suffered injustice.

Zhu Xiongying's eyes lit up and he looked at Jie Jin, surprised that this Tartar brother, who was reciting poems while cleaning the toilet, actually had some skills in singing opera.

I guess it was because when he was a playboy in the capital of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, he went to brothels many times to listen to music, so he learned it all by himself.

Zhu Xiongying was very happy. He didn't expect that the talent he had been looking for for half a day would appear in this prisoner-of-war camp. The former Northern Yuan nobles were indeed full of talents. They cleaned their toilets and sang operas well. He liked the people in the prisoner-of-war camp very much.

"Go change his clothes, and don't ask him to clean the toilet." Zhu Xiongying said. "Please, General, inform the Duke on my behalf."

"I will take this descendant of Ogedei away first... I have another use for him!"

"Your Highness." Fang Xiaoru was a little uneasy, and approached Zhu Xiongying and said, "This man is strong and healthy. Would it be inappropriate to place him next to Your Highness?"

"Besides, let him sing..." Fang Xiaoru looked up and down at this member of the Golden Family with a face full of flesh. He imagined this man, wearing delicate female makeup, blinking his eyes and singing: "In an instant, the wandering soul will go to the Senluo Palace, how can it not blame the heaven and earth."

I'm getting goosebumps all over my sleeves.

Zhu Xiongying thought about it and found it funny, but they didn't really want to set up a professional opera troupe, and he was still young at heart. He thought it would be interesting to let the members of the Golden Family perform for the generals and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

After a few words of consolation, their conversation was overheard by Gui Lichi, who immediately became furious and shouted, "How dare you humiliate me like this!"

"How can I, a descendant of Genghis Khan and the Golden Family, entertain you, the low-ranking soldiers of the Ming Dynasty?"

"No! Absolutely not! If you want to humiliate me like this, you might as well just kill me! I am a descendant of Genghis Khan, there is no reason for me to be spineless!" After saying that, he turned his head to the side.

"If you want to talk about humiliation, you even cleaned the toilet... It seems even more shameful than singing an opera, right?"

Xie Jin looked at the clean toilet behind Gui Lichi with amusement. It was true that this man from the Golden Family was really good at cleaning toilets. A toilet that should have been extremely dirty was cleaned so shiny by him that it could be used as a bronze mirror.

Gui Lichi blushed and said cunningly, "I am born clean, is that not okay?"

Xie Jin laughed and shook his head without saying anything. Fang Xiaoru saw that this man was so pedantic and found his previous vigilance against him a little funny. Zhu Xiongying said a few more words, but this Gui Lichi could not be persuaded at all and only wanted to die.

"You're such a thief! It's your honor that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to use you, but you actually took advantage of it!" The general, who had been standing respectfully for a long time and dared not speak without permission, finally couldn't help it. The whip in his hand "snapped" and a whip flower exploded in the air. When Guilichi saw it, he protected his head and face reflexively.

"Aye, don't hit me, don't hit me... I'll go, I'll go..."

All it took to make this stubborn descendant of Genghis Khan give in was a whip... Zhu Xiongying was so amused by this guy.

"Why are your bones not hard anymore?"

Gui Lichi's old face turned red again, and he stiffened his neck and said, "Everyone is afraid of something."

“Although I am not afraid of death, I am afraid of pain.”

……

This "not afraid of death, but afraid of pain" man from the Golden Family was also a lucky general. After recruiting him, Zhu Xiongying, who was quite inspired, began to screen for people who might be useful in the prisoner-of-war camp. Not to mention, he really found a lot of "talents". There were many people in the prisoner-of-war camp who were proficient in singing songs and operas, and were familiar with vernacular stories. Some people could even show Zhu Xiongying and his team a "talent" in the enemy camp, which amazed the soldiers and officers of the Ming army in the prisoner-of-war camp and was very interested.

Unexpectedly, there are so many "stars" and "great men" in the Tatar camp. If I had known this, why would I have let them sleep? Wouldn't it be better to let them sing for the brothers after cleaning the toilet?

Zhu Xiongying noticed that most of these Mongols who knew how to sing and tell stories were between 40 and 50 years old, and their status was generally nobler than that of other captives.

Obviously, in the pre-Yuan period, these people were all rich young masters and second-generation nobles in the Northern Yuan court. They did not do their work all day long, but went to brothels to listen to music and books in teahouses. That is how they learned these "good skills".

When they arrived in Mobei, they lost the support of the prosperous Central Plains and could only eat raw meat and drink blood, and live with cattle, sheep, swords and guns. This "good skill" should have been "covered in dust" and would never be useful in their lifetime.

Perhaps they never imagined that decades later, these "skills" would come in handy in this Ming Dynasty prisoner-of-war camp.

(End of this chapter)