Chapter 91 Really so important (1)
There was a voice in his heart that complained to him that he could go!
It was just that he didn’t dare to leak out this thought out of his mind. It wasn’t because of the reason that although he was a leader of a troop, but he didn’t kill many Xiongnu. It had nothing to do with the amount. He didn’t need to behead the enemy like ordinary soldiers. His more important function was to be a role model and arouse the morale of all the soldiers.
But what exactly did Zhao Zhong mean.
The pressure coming from Zhao Zimu made Zhang Xin extremely nervous and uneasy. He moved his left foot involuntarily and wanted to take a step back. Unexpectedly, Zhao Zimu withdrew her gaze on him and turned her gaze to the soldiers of Great Liang who were plundering the Xiongnu wantonly. She gently opened her thin lips and said, “You are high-ranking official. If you want to go, then go, but you have to remember to not compete with the soldiers.”
As a high-ranking official, you have the right to get the honor you deserve, but there was no need to compete with the soldiers because they could bring you much more than you can get by yourself.
They could win you victory, meritorious service, honor and even life. They could bring you a meritorious service that would go down to history.
Therefore, they had brought you enough. What you want, you can get yourself, but you need to leave room for these soldiers because these were brought by them. You must give them enough benefits to ensure that they would work loyally for you.
Only with profit could one gain the loyalty of others the fastest. It was the same for all people.
After listening to Zhao Zimu, Zhang Xin stopped trying to step out and looked at the soldiers who had plunged into the Xiongnu’s yurts. There was a thoughtful look in his eyes, but in the end, he didn’t take the hesitating step.
Zhao Zimu listen to the sounds coming out gradually from the camp. There were burst of women’s crying, cursing, yelling and as well as the low sobs of the elderly and children. However, there was no fluctuation in her heart.
Because she knew that it had always been like this; the winners took all. Those who had become trophies tonight couldn’t blame anyone because they were the enemy. Moreover, they were the enemies that had to be defeated.
Their bodies were exactly what these soldiers needed to vent on in their dull and hot-blooded life. These soldiers were people who would go through death every time. They didn’t have high demands and, in their eyes, there was only the enemy and their own people. They could treat their people well and protect them with their lives and use their swords to fight for them.
The pay of being a soldier wasn’t much. They wouldn’t open their mouth like Confucius and Mencius to pay attention to being a gentleman. They left their native place and have no family to rely on. They may even die young. The chance that they would get married was also very small. Thus, what they did to these Xiongnu women became a must and as it should be by rights.
- Mencius (c.372-c.289 BC): a Confucian philosopher second only to Confucius.
Because they were the enemy. They could only bring fear and hatred to the opponent. There was no right or wrong between enemies. There was only life or death and winning or losing.
Zhao Zimu knew that her true identity was different from these people. She would not use her own standards to restrict the needs of these soldiers as men. Besides, these were what they deserved. She would only draw a basic bottom line for them and will not let these soldiers be as cruel as beasts.
- I don’t know what she meant by that. To women of those times, I think it would be better to get killed than getting raped. Besides, no matter how a rape was performed, I feel that it will be brutal and cruel like a beast.
What these soldiers did will make the Xiongnu remember them firmly and fear them deeply.
Keep in mind the horror of this Great Liang’s army. This was the purpose of Zhao Zimu. Raise Great Liang’s prestige!
As far as Zhao Zimu knew, the salaries of the generals in the imperial court were not high. It was already great for the generals with a high ranking to earn a hundred or so silver taels, not to mention the soldiers at the bottom.
Therefore, Zhao Zimu allowed them to loot and plunder because only this way could she bring these soldiers quick benefits, get them to work for her and willing to sacrifice their life for her, stimulate their desire for war and help her find Lin Qing.
The cheers of the winners and the wailings of the losers drifted above this grassland, but no one knew that all of this was due to someone’s selfishness and obsession.
No one knew what Zhao Zimu did on the grassland and what was happening outside the grassland, Zhao Zimu also didn’t know. She didn’t know that some people were on the road to the grassland to find her.
At a border sentry post in a small town, a little fair face was explaining something to a soldier. She said anxiously, “I’m one of Lord Qiansui’s people. Now that Lord Qiansui is missing, I want to go look for him. Troubling this brother to let me out.”
The soldier shook his head firmly and rejected her proposal, because not only could this person not come up with an official letter that approved him (LE) to go out, he didn’t even have anything to prove his identity. Furthermore, this guy looked more tender than woman. Could he let him out? Don’t joke. No matter from what aspect he looked at him, he didn’t have the conditions to go out. Let him out to go feed the wolf?
Seeing that this person was unmoved by force and persuasion, Ling Er couldn’t help but put her hands on her hips and scolded, “Hey, why don’t you believe a thing I said?! I’m truly one of Lord Qiansui’s people. Let me out. I have to go look for him!”
Of course, she referred to her here, but no one could tell.
- She/he, him/her are pronounced the same in Chinese.
[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]
Well that got real horrible real fast. Glad we spent a couple paragraphs on it, too
I agree with you TL!! Rape is never justified.. maybe pillage sure but rape is no… Thanks for the hard work!
LE is really grinding my gears… Can’t she sit her useless ass still for one second without getting her masters in more trouble…?
War is really cruel. Rape isn’t justified but ZZ is right about one thing. And that is the winner takes it all. Can’t judge her because ancient times are really brutal. The Xiongnu experienced what they’ve always did to the Great Liang.