Chapter 16: Perseverance (6)

Familiar faces, yet revealing expressions utterly strange to one.
Strangeness brought fear, and fear brought guilt.
Thirty-seven surviving villagers stood before Li Kuo. Most of them were strong and well-built men; women, children, and the elderly had mostly perished in the battles with the Hu troops. Many young and beautiful women had been brutally abused by the Hu soldiers before dying, losing even their last shred of dignity.
Li Kuo’s lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing. What could he say now? That the Tang court would send troops to Tongguan soon to fight An Lushan to the death? If the court truly intended to do so and had the strength, why would it stand by while An Lushan captured Luoyang? If the court was truly determined, why send local militia to defend it in Guanzhong instead of sending them to the battlefield in Henan?
Or perhaps comfort them by saying the emperor would exempt them from taxes for several years as compensation?
For them, after that night, almost all their relatives were dead. What use were those so-called lands if they remained? Tax exemptions? Ha! What good were tax exemptions without wives, children, or parents?
The generals present felt their throats tighten; it seemed all comfort was futile. If so, it was better not to speak at all.
“General, did you come from the south?”
After a long silence, Lin Erlang spoke first.
“Mm. We received imperial orders to come from Yangzhou in Jianghuai Province, aiming to join the effort to defend the capital.”
Li Kuo nodded and replied in a deep voice.
Lin Erlang was momentarily stunned, clearly trying to figure out where Yangzhou was. For these peasants who spent most of their time working the land, they only had time to go to the county town around New Year’s to buy necessities.
Yangzhou? What was Yangzhou? It was too far away for them—so distant it was meaningless, something they didn’t need to worry about.
“Then, then will you head west?”
Although Lin Erlang didn’t know where Yangzhou was in the Tang Empire, he realized an important question: where was this army going?
After all, an army of nearly ten thousand people couldn’t stay in a small village. Where would they go? If they left the Ling River basin, where would they go if the Hu troops came to seize food and plunder them again?
“Mm. The emperor has ordered us to station in Tongguan to strengthen the defenses of the capital region.”
Li Kuo paused briefly before adding, “I am pleased that you were able to resist like this.”

Li Kuoshi was truly shocked by the indomitable spirit of these villagers. That Hu army numbered at least a thousand men. Though they were a ragtag group of mercenaries, they were well-equipped with armor and weapons. Faced with Hu soldiers outnumbering them by many times, these villagers resolutely picked up hoes and plows to resist, killing quite a number of them in battle. With such people in the Great Tang, it was clear that its people valued martial prowess. With such subjects, recovering lost territories was just a matter of time!

“Sigh, pushed to the brink, we have to fight! To be honest, we didn’t know about the imperial troops near Ling River beforehand. But those damned Hu soldiers wanted to kill us to use us as food for their army. Even if no imperial troops came to rescue us later, we would still fight to the death!” Lin Erlang said, clenching his fists and speaking slowly. His eyes were red, his voice hoarse, yet he kept his head high—a truly admirable attitude.

“Heh! These cowards! They dig deep to exploit the people and enjoy their labor all day long. But when it comes to fighting against the enemy, they betray us faster than anyone else!” Pu Dachui stamped his foot angrily, cursing those flesh-eating, blood-drinking county officials. It was said that most of the counties under Tangzhou surrendered without a fight, and the original officials were reinstated by An Lushan. These spineless officials won the trust of their new masters by simply bending their knees and naturally enjoyed their ease. As for the lives of the common people, they certainly didn’t care at all!

“Yes, if they had put up any resistance, An Lushan wouldn’t have conquered so many counties so quickly. The southern part of Henan Circuit has always been the granary of our Great Tang. Now it’s fallen into the hands of the rebels for free.” Li Sheng also sighed and said slowly, “With this, the rebels have supplies and will surely focus their attacks on Tongguan next. Your Majesty has truly pushed yourself into a corner.”

“General, they can’t take a single grain of food!” Lin Erlang said, eyes red as he clenched his fists. “Most of the grain stores in the county towns and prefectures have been burned. As for the grain stored in villages, each family buried it underground. Even if it rots completely, we won’t give a single grain to those Hu dogs!”

“In that case, these dog officials have done a ‘good deed’ after all.” Dou Qing shook his head and smiled bitterly.

“What so-called good deed? It’s not certain that these officials burned those grain stores!” Wang Xiaochun waved his whip dismissively and said coldly. These officials were only too eager to please their new masters—they would never burn the grain stores on their own. In his opinion, it must have been some conscientious supervisor in the yamen who couldn’t stand it.

“Don’t worry about all this. It’s good if the rebels don’t get food. At least that will prevent them from attacking Tongguan for a while.”
Xianyu Yu Cheng spread his hands and analyzed, “As long as time is given to the imperial court to make preparations, An Lushan’s chances of success will greatly decrease. Once a stalemate sets in, An Lushan, who has lost the support of the people, will surely be abandoned by everyone.”
“Hmph, I don’t think the emperor has much popular support either!”
Wang Xiaochun snorted coldly and turned away.
“Xiaochun, don’t talk nonsense!”
Li Kuo glared at Wang Xiaochun to stop his reckless speech.
After a pause, Li Kuo asked Lin Erlang, “I wonder what plans this fellow villager has for the future?”
Upon hearing this, Lin Erlang knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to Li Kuo, saying, “Please, General Li, take us in. From today onward, we will join the army and follow General Li. Without hesitation, I, Lin Erlang, will be at the forefront in fighting the enemies.”
“Please, General Li, take us in!”
“Please, General Li, take us in!”
Seeing this, the other villagers also knelt down and declared their resolve, imitating Lin Erlang.
“Ah, why go through such hardship?”
Li Kuo quickly waved his hand to signal Lin Erlang and the others to get up.
“Now that our homes have been ruined by those barbarians, and our wives and children have been slaughtered, staying here means becoming slaves to those barbarians even if we survive. Who would want to live like this?”
After a pause, Lin Erlang continued, “Rather than watching those barbarians act arrogantly, we might as well join the army and fight them to the death! General, look—our Yuzhou was once fertile land, but now it’s been ruined by those barbarians. If this continues, I’m really afraid…”
“I only hope General Li will accept us. We can chop wood, cook, and fight. We’ll do whatever you ask—we’ll never bring shame to you or to the Tang army!”
A man should not cry, but it’s only when heartbroken.
Tears traced down Lin Erlang’s cracked cheeks, dripping like rain and melting the snow on the ground.