835 Not Even the Fuchun River Can Cleanse Them (2/2)
Qinghe County had rebelled last fall, killing 3,000 Tang Empire navy officers and soldiers. All the other Tang Army soldiers who did not die were taken to the Mei Mountain, downstream of Fuchun River, to do hard labor. In the agreement signed by the Tang Empire and the West-Hill Divine Palace, the Tang Empire had asked for the return of these soldiers by the Qinghe County. That was the most important condition. Some time ago, the Tang Army, who suffered inhuman torture, were sent back to Chang'an. According to them, those days were really too painful.
Ning Que had made a special trip to the Mei Mountain this time because the Tang Empire imperial court felt there was a problem with the number of people returned by Qinghe County. After the rebellion, there were at least 1000 people in the Tang Army who were sent to Mei Mountain to do hard labor, but less than 600 were sent back to Chang'an this time. Qinghe County explained that many of the Tang Army were seriously injured in the battle and died after being taken to the Mei Mountain. They had died even though they had received medical treatment.
This was a very reasonable explanation, but Ning Que did not believe it. As time slowly went by, the sun began to move westward, the coolies in Mei Mountain continued to struggle. He walked toward an abandoned coal mine.
According to the intelligence from the secret guards, when the West-Hill Divine Palace's diplomatic corps left Qinghe and began to prepare for talks with the Tang Empire, the coal mine had become quiet and no one ever entered again.
Ning Que and Wang Jinglue walked into the abandoned coal mine and along the tunnel. As the tunnel extended inward, the top of the mine became shorter and shorter. They had to hunch their bodies and move with increasing difficulty.
They walked for an indeterminable amount of time. The bottom of the mine was completely dark and freezingly cold. The cold wind gathered the pungent smell of decay into one place, unable to release it outward.
Ning Que stopped and reached for his podao. After confirming that there was no danger at the bottom of the mine, he lit an oil lamp near the cave wall. Wang Jinglue looked at the bottom of the pit illuminated by dim light and turned extremely pale.
Ning Que's facial expression did not change. He squatted down and touched the femur of a decaying remain with his hand. He determined it to have been broken by a heavy object. Then he walked inside to see the injuries on the bodies.
There were at least hundreds of corpses piled up at the bottom of the coal mine. These corpses were badly decayed and could not be identified, but he knew these were the people he was looking for.
These people were not killed by knife or arrow wounds, but had died of starvation and thirst, or exhaustion. These people were the heroic soldiers of the Tang Army and had, of course, resisted against torture. That was why the whips had torn away the flesh on their bones, and that was why their femurs were broken by stones.
Ning Que and Wang Jinglue stood in front of the corpses of these Tang soldiers and remained silent for a long time.
The Tang Empire always paid the highest respect to the soldiers who fought for their country. Even their remains would not be allowed to be left out, much less the soldiers who were alive then. The Tang imperial court had not ceased their efforts in rescuing these soldiers once they found out that more than a thousand Tang navy officers were sent to Mei Mountain by the warlords of Qinghe County to do hard labor. Even at a critical moment when the Abbey Dean had entered Chang'an, the imperial court had not forgotten to send warnings to Qinghe and secretly promised to reward them should they release these men.
The families of Qinghe County should be well aware of Chang'an City's stance and would not dare torture these soldiers again. However, in less than a month, hundreds of these soldiers had died in Mei Mountain. One could imagine what kind of torture they had suffered.
Wang Jinglue used to be the Minister of Offerings at the prince's residence. He had lived a carefree life before being sent by His Majesty to study under General Xu Shi. After several years of training, he was now a true soldier.
He looked at the hundreds of remains at the bottom of the pit and said, ”We must find a way to send them back.”
Ning Que had joined the army in the City of Wei for many years and clearly understood the military practice, but he did not agree with Wang Jinglue. He said, ”There is no problem with them being buried here, but a better tomb needs to be built.”
Wang Jinglue understood what he meant. One day in the future, the Tang Empire cavalry will rush out of the Verdant Canyon and sweep across the south. Qinghe County was and will be the Tang Empire's territory.
Ning Que said, ”I have flooded the Qinghe River Guildhall in Chang'an with blood. Some think that I was too vicious and are worried that it would affect the loyalty of those in Qinghe River County. I wonder if they will still hold on to their views if they were to see this. The loyalty of the people can take time, but the dead will urge us to hurry.”
Wang Jinglue said, ”There are still many people in Qinghe County who are still loyal to the Tang Empire, and even many of the warlords' children still regard themselves as Tang citizens. Otherwise, there would not have been so many officials who were also children of warlords who died in martyrdom during the rebellion. The only worry is that killing too many of them might push them into opposing us.”
”When the warlords rebelled, the people did not stand up and make their stand. When more than 300 Tang officials were beheaded, they remained silent and looked on. I don't know who they are loyal to. I only know that they were silent once. That is being an accomplice, and that is a reason to die.”
Ning Que said, ”I have a lot of blood on my hands, but they can't be cleansed no matter how much I wash them. Some people don't seem to have blood on their hands, but even if they jump into the Fuchun River, they can never be cleansed.”