History of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 177 Fifty Slaves·Seventy Years

Outside the Chu Kingdom——

Prisoners of war?

slave!

A vast area of ​​darkness, guarded by Chu soldiers...

During the Battle of Yangyue, the first person to return was not Dou Lian Sima, but the prisoners of war from Yangyue who were escorted back by Jingyang.

At this time, with the enfeoffment of the king of Chu, these prisoners of war will also become slaves divided among the dignitaries of the Chu state.

Of course, before this, most of the strong slaves had been separated by Chu Jun...

Next, there are the three major clans-Qu, Zhao, and Jing.

"Fengzi, today I, the Qu family, also want to choose a slave, you can come with Yuan."

Yes, Qu Yuan was a nobleman, and he was accustomed to this slavery system, just like the sun rising and the moon setting.

"Go and have a look."

Feng Yun did not refuse. Slaves are an important institution under the "Rites of Zhou" today. They are at the bottom of the class and are a group that cannot be ignored.

It's interesting to say that from Da Ting to Yu Yue and then to Bai Yue, only the generals allowed Feng Yun to see a trace of slaves.

But Ganjiang was dull, and Feng Yun never saw the true nature of slaves.

"Xu..."

The carriage gradually stopped.

Qu Yuan helped Feng Yun get out of the car.

"call…"

The autumn wind is refreshing, but it is filled with the sound of crying and whipping.

Feng Yun's eyebrows twitched slightly, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Bang!" A whip struck the man with a thin face, his hands tied with straw ropes, and his body covered in blood. With the blow, the linen clothes fell apart, revealing his flesh and blood.

"These are the soldiers who killed Chu people on the battlefield. According to the laws of Chu, they will be made slaves."

Qu Yuan told.

And points to the other side.

"Those are the Yangyue people who helped these soldiers escape and provided them with help. According to the laws of Chu, they will also become slaves."

the other side……

"Those are the nobles in Yangyue, and most of them are skilled people."

Also, the largest group of people...

"This group is the original slaves of the Yangyue gentry..."

…

Explain to Feng Yun where these people come from.

Feng Yun stared silently at these prisoners of war who were about to become slaves, with few of them having light in their eyes.

He lowered his head in silence, seeming to have accepted his fate.

"Qu Yuan, if the Chu people became prisoners of war of other countries, would this be the same?"

Feng Yun asked.

Suddenly heard a sound——

"Fengjun!"

It was among this group of Yangyue prisoners of war that someone recognized Feng Yun.

Yes, Feng Yun held the Yangyue Merchant Festival in Yangyue King City back then.

At this time, an unknown number of prisoners of war knew Feng Yun.

But now the world is different.

One is the style of selecting slaves.

One is the selected prisoners of war.

Feng Yun's blood stagnated, and his whole body was unable to take another step and stayed in place.

Looking up, there were pairs of Cantonese people with dirty black faces, and eyes that were like abyss, but reflected by the autumn sun, glowing with faint light.

It seemed that in these eyes, Feng Yun saw the people of Yangyue rejoicing underneath when they held Yangyue sacrifices in Yangyue.

"Fengjun..."

Some Cantonese people murmured, but they remained silent.

Some people shouted for help, but the Chu soldiers around them were frightened by the reflection on their bronze spears that had been sharpened and shiny under the sun, making them lower their heads in fear.

Hopes were shattered by reality.

Even those who fought hard still whimpered and struggled to speak during the whipping, rolling to the ground and begging for mercy.

"Fengzi... If Chu falls into the hands of other countries, it will be the same."

Qu Yuan pursed his lips, unable to speak.

"Are slaves really a good thing?"

"Prisoners of war in ancient times could also be redeemed, but prisoners of war from Chu were immediately enslaved. It seems that the Lord of Chu decided that Yang Yue was unable to redeem him and did not want to let him redeem him."

Qu Yuan Na Na.

At this time, Yang Yue fled, and Chu State was pressing hard, so naturally they would not let him go.

While thinking, Qu Yuan said: "Master Feng, these prisoners of war are in the city of King Yangyue. During the war between Chu and Yangyue, there was a lot of resistance. They cannot be treated as ordinary people."

"All the countries in the Zhou Dynasty, whether they are Chu or others, treat prisoners of war in this way."

Feng Yun nodded silently.

"Indeed, this is the way the world is."

Chu took prisoners of war from Yangyue as slaves, and the nobles in Yangyue also had their own slaves...

"Fengzi, do you think these prisoners of war should not be slaves?" At this time, a young man's voice was heard.

Immediately following, there was a silvery fire that cut through the sky.

In this way, the prisoners of war around were frightened and panicked, which showed that they were afraid of the coming people.

"Sima Jingyang, don't make random conclusions." Qu Yuan looked at Jingyang who was riding towards him and shouted sternly.

Jingyang smiled lightly, looking aloof and indifferent. When he glanced at Feng Yun, there was no respect in his eyes, but annoyance.

Turn over and dismount, holding a long whip.

Jingyang strode closer.

"Fengzi is safe, but if Fengzi is not good for Chu, then he will be uneasy."

After finishing speaking, he scanned the slaves and saw that most of them were looking at this place and avoided their eyes.

He laughed directly and said: "Fengzi wants to choose slaves, right... haha."

At this sound, many people looked sad, but there were also those who begged, hoping that Feng Yun would be accepted as a slave.

When Jingyang saw this, he smiled and snorted: "Fengzi's virtue, I'm afraid many people want to be slaves and maids..."

As he spoke, he looked at Qu Yuan, who frowned.

However, Jingyang was also a chief official at this time, and he was also a prominent figure in the three major clans. A few words of oral sex between the two was enough, but if there was more, it would affect the relationship in the family.

Qu Yuan tolerated it, and Jingyang was not here to attack Qu Yuan.

Look at Feng Yun.

Jingyang said: "I wonder if the Sima of Chu State is qualified to choose slaves for Fengzi?"

Jingyang saluted, but did not wait for Feng Yun to answer, and directly looked around the slaves.

"Oh, there are also beautiful women in Yangyue."

As he said that, he really looked at the young ladies from the Yangyue gentry.

"I heard that Lord Chu rewarded Fengzi with twenty maidservants. Come and select twenty beauties among them and send them to Lord Feng's home in the capital city of Ying."

"…promise."

Before it was over, Jingyang looked at the group of nobles again.

Choose one by one.

Many of them were thin and weak, and one could tell at a glance that they were young men from the Yangyue gentry. Most of them were people who commanded slaves. How could they do the work of slaves?

"Jingyang Sima, what do you mean?"

The king of Chu did not want to send a beautiful woman from the Yangyue gentry and select a young master from the Yangyue gentry. He planned to send it to the workshop and train it for several years to wear away the love for the old country and then serve as a slave for entertainment. At this time,

I gave it to Feng Yun, not to embarrass Feng Yun!

If Feng Yun accepts it, what will Lord Chu think of it?

Do you want to promote the descendants of the Cantonese gentry and cause chaos?

Feng Yun stopped Qu Yuan.

At this time, there was no difference in his heart among the prisoners of war in Wuyangyang, who he chose as his slave, so why not take a look at what Jingyang meant.

Without Chu Jun's arrangements, would Jingyang have made things difficult for him like this?

"Qu Dazhai, you have misunderstood. This is also for Fengzi. Fengzi is a man of virtue. If you let those who are illiterate become slaves, how can you satisfy Fengzi's needs?"

"Let's do this. Let's pick a few illiterate people to do dirty work for Fengzi."

Jingyang bypassed the strong prisoners of war and came to the thinnest group of prisoners of war.

"Just now, were you the first to recognize Fengzi?"

A thin boy of fourteen or fifteen years old stared at Jingyang fiercely.

A happy day in Jingyang.

"Pa!" The whip came straight down.

"Buzz!"

Weiji Gua...

The long whip slipped and hit the ground.

"Fengzi, what do you mean?"

"This person, come to my place." Feng Yun recognized this child - Bang.

When he was in Yangyue City, Feng Yun met a man who had no food in winter.

At that time, the list was that those who wanted to be slaves asked for food and asked Fengyun for help.

But Feng Yun did not agree, but went to King Yangyue and asked King Yangyue to let these people who had no food in winter work for them. Those who work hard will naturally survive.

The King of Yangyue...

Thinking about it this way, it was because of this incident that King Yangyue used Feng Yun as an excuse to donate ten thousand shi of grain and send twenty chariots and soldiers into Baiyue. This was a favor owed by Feng Yun.

Jingyang glanced at Bang Bang's thin body, and there was nothing wrong with it.

Then I saw an old man standing in the crowd of people with his head raised and chest raised...

"Yo?"

His hair is gray, and he looks like he is about to die.

Jingyang signaled to the soldiers around him.

The two armored soldiers were holding spears, and the prisoners around them retreated in fear.

The old man was brought out, but he seemed to be frightened out of his courage. He had no strength as before and was weak and ready to collapse.

"Hold well, hold well!"

Jingyang found it interesting that at such a long distance from Yangyue to Yingdu, there was such an old man still alive.

"The wind is big, but since it's a small one, let's take this old man and leave too."

"I think Fengzi Xiande will not refuse."

With a wave of their hands, the two armored soldiers escorted the old man and Bang to a group of slaves that had just been selected.

His old appearance is in contrast to the slaves around him, which is extremely funny.

Moreover, this group of Yangyue gentry and noble ladies are very pampered and very different from other slaves.

"Now that Fengzi has finished selecting, Jingyang takes his leave."

Jingyang rode on horseback and rode on the horse. He did not choose slaves for the Jing family and went straight back to the capital of Ying.

"Fengzi?" Qu Yuan also saw that Jingyang came just for Feng Yun.

Feng Yun shook his head.

"It's just that Mr. Chu was afraid and caused some trouble for me. Even if I want to become an official at this time, it will be difficult for me to do so because of these...slaves."

"It's not a big deal."

"Let's go and have a look at the fiefdom so that I can settle these people."

"No." Qu Yuan saluted, but when he saw Feng Yun getting on the carriage, he clenched his fists.

After entering this important government position in the Chu State, every piece of the darkness of the tyranny of the powerful was forcibly placed in front of him without any cover-up, and he was asked to obey.

He can go against his family's orders, but will your Majesty support him?

Qu Yuan lowered his eyebrows and stepped forward to pull away the man driving the horse.

"I'm here to drive Fengzi's chariot."

"promise."

The driver of the chariot retreated.

The carriage sets off.

After the carriage, the fifty slaves were escorted and escorted by a group of armored soldiers as the carriage moved forward.

Among the guards, I saw Xiang Yan as the leader. He stepped forward and said: "Fengzi, your Majesty has sent us as Fengzi's private soldiers. When Fengzi is in Chu, we will protect Fengzi's safety. Fengzi can also order us to do something."

.”

Feng Yun nodded in the carriage.

"Got it."

"Ahem..." An old man coughed outside.

Feng Yun said: "Let the old man get in the car, I want to ask him why he came here after a bumpy journey from Yangyue."

"No." The carriage stopped, and the old man was searched by the armored soldiers before he was put in the carriage.

"Rumble..." The carriage continued to move towards the fifty-mile fiefdom Feng Yun acquired outside Yingdu.

"To the northeast, the Han River?"

The old man got into the car and murmured something.

Feng Yun was surprised when he heard the sound.

"My father-in-law is not from Guangdong?"

The Voice of Cantonese is not like this.

The old man knelt down, bowed and said, "I am from the Yu State."

Yu State?

Feng Yun thought about the place.

Just listen to the old man saying: "Don't be upset, Fengzi. The State of Yu is under the State of Jin, and among the States of Zhou, it is a small country with a square radius."

The land of Zhou is no less than the distance from Ying, the capital of Chu State, to Yu Yue at this time. It is really far away.

"Why did my father come here from Yu State?"

Feng Yun asked.

The old man sighed.

"In my early years, I was not able to get into official service. I moved around many places, doing nothing and was useless."

"It wasn't until he was old that he entered the State of Yu as a scholar on the recommendation of his friends."

"But when Lord Yu died, I was expelled by the new ruler and fled to Jin. Because of his merit in shepherding, he was captured as a slave and used as a concubine to marry the daughter of the Lord of Jin. He was sent as a dowry to the land of Qin Ying."

"I didn't want to, so I ran away... I heard that Fengzi was in Baiyue, and there were many obstacles, so I prepared to come to Baiyue to have a look and serve as an official in Baiyue. However, I never thought that when I passed through Yangyue, I was attacked by the Chu army and ended up falling.

As prisoners of war."

He lowered his head and shook his head.

Feng Yun on the side asked nonchalantly, "How old is Sir?"

"I'm old, I'm old." The old man sighed, calmly, as if he was reminiscing: "Almost...seventy."

Seventy, rare.

At this time, it was already a rare old man.

"Sir, my experience has been tortuous, but to be able to go from Yu to Yangyue, survive as a prisoner of war, and then to Chu in seventy years is extremely tenacious."

Feng Yun praised.

"Haha, Fengzi is ridiculous. I'm just afraid of dying and not being able to use it. I have nothing to rely on in my life's learning, so I'm not willing to die."

The old man shook his head and then remembered.

He bowed to him and said, "I took Fengzi's position as a slave, and attracted Fengzi's attention with the sound of coughing. I talked to Fengzi about my own affairs, and hoped that Fengzi would not be upset."

"I am willing to feed Fengzi a thousand sheep to repay Fengzi for picking them up."

Feng Yun hurriedly helped him up.

"Sir, please stop being polite. In my eyes, you and everyone else are neither commoners nor slaves. You are all living members of the human race."

"A person from the human race?" the old man thought, and couldn't help but admire Feng Yun's heart.

Feng Yun continued: "You are old and not a native of Guangdong. It will be easy for you to leave Chu State if I find an opportunity later."

When the father-in-law heard this, he was shocked and hurriedly thanked him.

"I'd like to thank you Fengzi."

"Oh, I am a member of the Baili clan of Yu State, and my name is Xi. Fengzi can just call him Bailixi, but I don't dare to respect him as 'sir'."

Baili Xi?

Guan Yiwu was promoted to the scholars, Sun Shuao was promoted to the sea, and Baili Xi was promoted to the city. Therefore, when heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person, his ambition must be hardened first...

Looking at Baili Xi who was dressed in tatters, with messy white hair and skinny bones, and then looking at the tenacity in his eyes, Feng Yun had a very profound understanding of Mencius' "Born in sorrow, died in happiness"

.

"Maybe now you are just a slave that can be sold in the market, but what about the future?"

"Slaves don't have the same belief as you. Although you have only spoken a few words to me in this life, it shows your quality. If you are given a chance, you will continue to survive for what you have learned."

Bailixi is a person who has gone through many hardships in his life, but has never fallen and respected his nature. This makes Feng Yun sigh with emotion and respect him, which is also the attitude towards life that Feng Yun admires.

"Praise, Fengzi, you can say such generous words to a useless old man like me... ugh..."

Baili Xi couldn't help but feel a sore nose.

Choking with sobs, he said: "Fengzi, I will shepherd three thousand sheep for you. Please leave again."

Baili Xi was just a slave at this time. Living in this world, he naturally understood the huge disparity in status between a slave and a person called "Zi".

How could Baili Xi, who had suffered for a long time, not be moved by Feng Yun's sincere treatment?

Gratitude is self-repaying.

He is sincere!

As for the three thousand sheep that Baili Xi said, Feng Yun didn't refuse after thinking about it.

On the contrary, there is a way to settle the nearly fifty children of the Yangyue gentry outside.

As for those prisoners of war...

Waiting for other methods, don't be impatient and angry for a moment, panic and choose a way out, otherwise things will not work out.

At the end of the Baiyue chapter, the map changes when the flood broke out are inserted. If you are interested, you can take a look.

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