A village by the river.
Originally there were more than a hundred households in the village, but now there are only more than thirty households left. The rest of the people all fled south. Since the refugees returned from the north, they knew that the Tang Dynasty was attacking again. Although the Goguryeo court repeatedly ordered them not to retreat, these people also supported each other and retreated south late at night.
Although the imperial court touted divine protection, claiming that neither Emperor Yang of Sui nor Emperor Taizong of Tang could do anything to them, the common people were discerning. Their victories on those two occasions were largely due to luck. Would luck be on our side this time? If Goguryeo had real strength, they wouldn't have retreated. But who would dare risk their entire family on a single stroke of luck?
So no matter how the imperial court promoted the protection of the gods, or no matter how the law prohibited it, these people still took the risk. If they were caught, they would be sentenced to three years of hard labor at most, but if they were not caught, then we could continue to run south.
The consequences of staying here are even worse. I heard that the Tang Dynasty's commander this time is extremely cruel and wants to enslave everyone for generations...
There were also many slaves in Goguryeo, and many of them were Han people abducted from Liaodong. If we were asked to do that kind of work now and live in a place that was like a pigsty, how could we do it? So these people tried their best to escape.
But no matter how they run, there are always some of them living here. Gai Yuansu Wen's order is very clear. We must go in and capture them. If we can't gather enough people, then we will look at each level one by one and start killing them from the lowest level first.
Nine people slept in a dilapidated house, four of them were locals and five were refugees from the north. The cold wind blew in from all parts of the house, and at night the nine people could only lean against each other to get through the cold night. Although this life was not very satisfactory, at least the whole family could live together, and they felt warm in their hearts.
But even such a spiritually satisfying day is now a luxury. As the door was kicked open by several soldiers, the whole family looked at the door in panic. Can't we even live such a day?
"Take them all away, including these two children and the two old men. Take away anything that can move in the house. Take this dog to the barracks. If they run out of food in a few days, they might eat it."
The leading officer exclaimed loudly, and the people in the room were dumbfounded. They had lived for decades and had never heard of such a law. Even when the army came to conscript men, they only took away the young and strong men. Now, were they going to take away children and the elderly as well? What's more, there were so many women here. What's the point of taking them away?
"Sir, how could you do this? We are both nearly sixty years old and can't do much heavy work at home. How can we possibly go to war for you? What's more, my two grandchildren are only six years old..."
An old man was quite famous in the village and thought he could stand up and say a few words, but before he could finish his words, the leading officer came up and slapped the old man in the face, making him see stars. Life expectancy in this era was relatively short, and people in their sixties were considered to be old.
Several young people in the room wanted to resist, but the knife was already at their necks. If they dared to resist, we could draw blood from their aorta at any time. I just don't know if you have the ability to do so.
"Don't try to show off your seniority here. I have no point in trying to reason with you today. If I can't capture fifty people today, my head will fall off. If there are fifty people on the way back, I will release the elderly and children, but if there are not fifty people, as long as you are still breathing, you must go to the military camp."
The leading officer said arrogantly, looking around the room casually.
This family is extremely poor. They don't have anything valuable. Last night's meal was all watery. There was only a little rice left in the rice jar. Even if we don't take them to the military camp, they will probably run out of food in two days. I'm doing a good deed now. At least you will have something to eat when you get to the military camp.
The old man wanted to say something, but his son quickly covered his mouth. "Don't you understand the current situation? They are no longer reasonable. If we provoke them, before the Tang army arrives, these people may even kill us."
The old man looked at the young people in his family, and finally had no choice but to give in. He followed these people and slowly walked out. It turned out that everyone in the village had been arrested...
"What are you doing? This is our only house..."
The old man had just taken two steps when he heard someone shouting behind him. They hurriedly looked back and found that after these people left, the Goguryeo soldiers were preparing to burn the house.
Others who had already set out also hurried back. For the farmers here, they might only have one thatched house like this in their lifetime. If you burn it down, I won't be able to live like this in the future.
"Stop them! Anyone who dares to move forward will be killed without mercy. This is the Prime Minister's order. Once everyone enters the barracks, your houses will be of no use. If you defeat the Tang army, the court will pay for your reconstruction. This will allow you to fight bravely without worries."
At the command of the leading officer, more than a dozen soldiers drew their swords and pressed them against the chests of these people. Even when they saw their own houses burning, they did not dare to move forward. After all, they were just ordinary people, not the kind of people who would not care about their lives.
Gai Yuansu Wen issued this order. He knew that he was doing an immoral thing and his descendants might be scolded by them, but he had to do it now. Only by burning down these people's houses would they have no worries. Otherwise, they would run away at any time. Now that all the habitable places around were burned down, you either stay in the army or go to the mountains to be a savage. If you live as a savage in the mountains, you will die in a few days.
Gai Yuansu Wen is definitely a smart guy, but all the common people along the way were cursing at him, wishing they could dig up his ancestral graves. It's okay for you to scheme against others, but why are you so cruel to your own people?