Deng Kui glared at the Xiong brothers and shouted loudly.
"General Deng Qi, it's them..." Xiong Minfan defended tremblingly. Just now, he was only thinking about the rice and didn't think about the consequences. Now when he saw the officer, he realized that something was wrong. However, in
In front of everyone, he still felt a little embarrassed if he was asked to kneel down immediately.
"Kneel down!" Deng Kui didn't listen to any explanation at all and shouted again.
"I...are them..."
Xiong Minfan raised his hand and wanted to point at the people who were fighting with him. Deng Kui couldn't wait any longer. He stretched out his hand, grabbed Xiong Minfan's wrist, lifted it up, and swung it hard with the backhand of his other hand.
He slapped Xiong Minfan on his exposed soft ribs. This move was a surefire move in a fight. Xiong Minfannuo, who was a big man, was knocked out of breath all of a sudden. The pain was unbearable and he couldn't help but bend down.
Deng Kui raised his leg and kicked Xiong Minfan's knee. Xiong Minfan's knees softened and he knelt down involuntarily.
"Brother!" Xiong Min looked up and saw his brother being beaten, and his eyes suddenly turned red. Regardless of the fact that his fighting power was not as good as his brother's, he rushed towards Deng Kui with all his teeth and claws. The result was as you can imagine, he couldn't get close to Deng Kui.
, was kicked to the ground by Deng Kui, and rolled together with his brother.
"There are four more fighting men, come here and kneel down!" Deng Kui turned his head and looked at the group beside him. He Benzheng and other four soldiers involved in the fight dared to hesitate, and one by one they walked forward with their heads lowered.
Come, kneel in front of Deng Kui.
"What's going on?" Hao Tong also came over. He arrived with Deng Kui, but when Deng Kui took care of several soldiers, he did not take action because he knew that with Deng Kui's ability, he would not be able to deal with six soldiers.
There is no problem for farm children who have not received military training.
Led by He Benzheng, several soldiers recounted what had happened. Some of the bystanders even brought the Xiong brothers' rice in their coats, which was considered to be conclusive evidence.
"Is what they said true?" Hao Tong asked the Xiong brothers. After being beaten by Deng Kui, these two brothers had become honest. They knelt opposite the four companions with their heads lowered and did not dare to stand up.
"Report to the General Banner Master, it is true that my brothers used their small coats to carry rice, but this is because they forgot to bring bowls," Xiong Minyang said.
"You didn't bring a bowl? I think you did it on purpose, right?" Hao Tong sneered, "Everyone remembers to bring a bowl, but you brothers don't. Even if you don't remember to bring a bowl, you always remember to bring your brains, right? Don't bring a bowl."
How much food, how much food do you have in your little coats?"
"This... Mr. Zongqi, I think other people only put as much rice as the bowl has, so we brothers didn't pay attention at once... we packed a little too much. Mr. Zongqi, please forgive me." Xiong Min said with a smile.
He said with a look of remorse that he already felt that his brother had gone too far and got into big trouble. Now he could only pretend to be pitiful and sincere in order to get through.
"You, go and invite Su Baihu." Hao Tong pointed at a sergeant, and the sergeant agreed and ran off to find Su Hao.
Su Hao was really tired after a busy day, so he did not go to the dining hall to eat with the soldiers. Instead, he stayed in his own Baihu government office and ate with Ma Yu and other soldiers.
Discussing the future lessons for the soldiers. I heard that some soldiers fought over grabbing food. Su Hao's head was as big as a fight, and he didn't care about showing off to hundreds of households, so he trotted all the way to the dining hall.
After listening to Hao Tong's introduction of what happened, Su Hao couldn't laugh or cry. He looked at the nearly seven or eight bowls of rice wrapped in his small coat, shook his head, walked to the Xiong brothers, and asked: "These
Did you two pretend to be rice?"
"Yes." Xiong Minyang replied.
"I know you two, are you two brothers?" Su Hao asked.
"Yes, Mr. Xie Baihu still remembers." Xiong Minyang lost no time in flattering Su Hao, but he still had that regretful expression on his face, hoping to arouse Su Hao's sympathy.
Su Hao asked again: "You have packed so much food, can you finish it?"
Xiong Minfan raised his head and replied angrily: "Yes, let alone us brothers, if there is enough food, I can eat even one person."
Su Hao was shocked. He really couldn't imagine how one person could eat food that was several times larger than his own stomach. It seemed that he had really underestimated his food intake.
In terms of the level of economic development in the Ming Dynasty, it is even said to be the highest peak in all dynasties. If the technological content of the products is not taken into account, in terms of physical output per capita, it is still somewhat better than that of Europe at the same time. But even
In this way, the people can only achieve a low level of food and clothing, and most of them have little food in their stomachs, so the potential for food intake is endless.
"So, do you usually eat so much at home?" Su Hao asked again.
Xiong Minfan shook his head: "If we had so much food at home, who would be a soldier?"
"I understand." Su Hao nodded.
He returned to Hao Tong and asked Hao Tong: "General Hao Qi, according to military law, how should we deal with this situation?"
Hao Tong said: "A fight in the camp is punishable by whipping according to military law. 30. This incident happened because of the Xiong brothers. The reason was that they robbed Pao Ze of his food. Can this... be treated as a robbery of property?"
Su Hao said: "If it is treated as robbing property and causing a fight, how should we deal with it?"
"Behead!" Hao Tong replied without hesitation.
"Behead?" When the Xiong brothers heard this, they felt like their souls were flying away. Xiong Minfan immediately wanted to jump up, but was caught by Xiong Minyang. Xiong Minyang knew that his brother's skills would be useless under the hands of Hao Tong and Deng Kui.
In less than two rounds, resisting at this time will only lead to faster death. He saw that Su Hao was a white-faced scholar, and he must have a soft heart. His brother's life depended on Su Hao's thoughts.
"Master Baihu, please spare my life!" Xiong Min leaned forward and crawled forward for two steps, tears and snot flowing from his nose, "My two brothers were just very hungry last day. After seeing this much rice today, they shouldn't be greedy.
I also ask Mr. Baihu to consider my brother’s ignorance and spare our lives. We brothers will be like cows and horses in the future to repay Mr. Baihu for his kindness.”
"This..." Su Hao also faltered. He was born in an era where Taoism was important, and he really couldn't adapt to the ancient tradition of not taking life seriously. In his opinion, just to grab a bowl of rice,
If you want to lose your head, this punishment is too severe.
"One hundred households can only win a hundred battles if they have strict military orders. It has been said since ancient times that kindness does not lead the army. Hundred households must not abandon military law because of a little kindness." Hao Tong said with a stern face, not knowing that he was a soldier.
How could a person from such a good background know so many idioms? Maybe he learned it from being around Deng Zilong. History books record that Deng Zilong was also a man of both civil and military skills and could write good poems.
Su Hao said: "It's true that military law is strict. But for a group of farm boys who have just entered the military camp for less than an hour, beheading them if they make a mistake is a little too harsh. If they are not saints, who are they?
Is there no mistake, or should I be given some opportunities to reform, Mr. Hao Qi, what do you think?"
Hao Tong clasped his fists and gave a military salute to Su Hao and said: "Su Baihu has a kind heart. I humbly thank Su Baihu for not killing him on behalf of the Xiong brothers."
Hao Tong naturally did not want to casually chop off the heads of two subordinates to grab a meal. After all, it was not as serious a crime as running away on the battlefield and cutting off the heads of a family member for a bowl of rice. Hao Tong himself did this.
It doesn't come out. The reason why he pretends to be serious is actually because he wants to play a double act with Su Hao. He can do the bad things by himself, and let Su Hao do the good things. The way of running the army has always been about leniency and severity.
economical.
Hearing what Hao Tong said, the Xiong brothers knew that their heads were saved, and that this kindness should be remembered on Su Hao. No matter how violent they were, they would not dare to make a mistake in this situation, so they could only
He kowtowed like pecking at rice, and kept saying words like "Thank you for not killing me."
Deng Kui and Hao Tong had the same idea. He was fierce on the face, but he was still a farmer's boy in his heart. He didn't want to see fellow villagers like him lose their heads in confusion. Seeing that Su Hao spared the Xiong family
After asking for his brother's fate, he stepped forward, saluted and said: "Su Baihu, this brother of the Xiong family can be exempted from death, but unforgivable for living. How to cure his crime of robbing food, please tell me from Baihu."
Su Hao said: "The six people who are fighting will all be whipped regardless of each other. Considering that it is their first time to commit a crime and they are new here and are not familiar with military regulations, they will give each of them 10 whips first. The rest will be recorded in the account. If they commit another crime later, they will be punished together."
"
"No!" Hao Tong and Deng Kui replied at the same time.
Su Hao said again: "Brothers from the Xiong family, regardless of the righteousness of the robe, snatch food, they should be killed according to the law. In the same way, because of their ignorance, they will be exempted from the death penalty, and they will be sentenced to two days of confinement and three days of confinement without being allowed to eat."
"Confinement..." Hao Tong said in surprise.
"Is there no such thing as confinement in the army?" Su Hao was also puzzled. He thought for a while and said, "Just find a dark room, lock them both up for three whole days, and no one is allowed to talk to them from now on.
Anyone in the camp who makes a mistake will be dealt with accordingly."
"No!" Hao Tong responded. He couldn't think of what kind of punishment this could be, but since the chief officer said so, he couldn't question it in public. He might as well wait until afterward to discuss it with Su Hao.
"The confinement time starts from now." Su Hao said. After saying that, he seemed to have remembered something. He picked up an unknown bowl from the side and scooped out the big bag of rice wrapped by the Xiong brothers.
He took half the bowl, put it on the table, and said to the Xiong brothers:
"The punishment of starvation starts from now on. However, before that, you brothers have been hungry for several hours and haven't eaten dinner yet. This hundred households take pity on you and reward your brothers with this bowl of rice. You can eat together."
, after eating, go to the solitary room and starve for 36 hours.”
"This..." The Xiong brothers looked at each other in confusion, looking at the half bowl of rice, neither of them willing to reach out.