Liu Xiu turned to look at the women and asked, "Are they your family members?"
The women lowered their heads in unison. In front of Liu Xiu, they did not even dare to take a breath.
Several benefactors looked at each other, and one of them, a slightly older man, raised his hands and said, "Your Majesty, they... they are all camp prostitutes."
At that time, prostitutes could be roughly divided into four types. One was domestic prostitutes, who were talented and could sing and dance. Usually, prostitutes of this type were among the princes and nobles. The other was palace prostitutes, who were outstanding in talent and beauty and were thousands of miles away.
Choose one, usually a singer in the palace, a dancer who can serve the emperor. One is a private prostitute, a folk brothel girl, and the number of prostitutes in this category is the largest.
Another type is camp prostitutes, also known as military prostitutes.
The rise of camp prostitutes can be traced back to the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. During Emperor Wu's reign, the soldiers fought against the Xiongnu for many years, and the soldiers were away from home for many years. In order to improve the morale of the soldiers, camp prostitutes began to rise. This tradition has been passed down to this day.
Camp prostitutes are also divided into two categories, one is voluntary and the other is involuntary.
The voluntary ones are all recruited, and they are either from good families who cannot make a living, or they are private prostitutes. The involuntary ones are very mixed, they may be the wives and daughters of bandits, or they may be the wives and daughters of criminal officials, criminals, etc.
wait.
After listening to Ben Minglang's introduction, Liu Xiu nodded, picked up the pottery pot, and took another sip of wine. He asked several big men: "Looking at the accent, are you all from Youzhou?"
Several big men nodded at the same time and said in a flurry: "Your Majesty, I am from Liaoxi!" "Your Majesty, I am from Liaodong!" "Your Majesty, I am from Zhuojun!"
Everyone offered tribute to their hometowns as if they were offering treasures. Most of the Benming Langs were from Youzhou, which borders the Huns. They have been fighting against the Huns for many years. The people are fierce and fierce, and they are extremely good at fighting.
Liu Xiu asked: "How long have you been away from your hometown?"
Everyone looked at each other, and two of them lowered their heads, feeling sad. The older Ben Minglang said: "When Your Majesty is campaigning in Hebei, I will join the army soon."
Liu Xiu asked: "You have never returned to your hometown?"
Several people nodded in unison. Liu Xiu patted the shoulder of the big man closest to him and said: "The war in Nanyang is over, and everyone can return home soon!"
Everyone's expressions became serious and they said in unison: "Your Majesty, we are all willing to follow your Majesty and conquer the world!"
Liu Xiuxiao asked: "Why?"
"Your Majesty is a benevolent king!" "Your Majesty can lead us to win the battle!" "We follow your Majesty in the battles and have never felt despair. Even if there are thousands of troops on the opposite side, the villain dares to draw his sword and fight!"
When Liu Xiu heard this, he couldn't help but smile, and his depressed mood suddenly became much lighter. One sentence said into his heart and brought hope to everyone. This was his duty as the emperor.
If he releases Deng Feng and Deng Feng rebels, I believe many soldiers will be disappointed in him! Thinking of this, he asked casually: "Do you think Deng Feng should be killed or should not be killed?"
Several Ben Ming Lang looked at each other, no one dared to answer. Liu Xiu smiled and said: "I want to hear your true thoughts."
"Your Majesty, this is a matter of state affairs and I don't dare to say anything."
"But it doesn't matter. No matter whether it's right or wrong, I will forgive you."
After hearing this, everyone felt relieved. They were all desperate men with their heads in their waistbands. They were the death squads in the army. They had a strong character and were straightforward.
"Your Majesty, I think Deng Feng deserves to be killed! My brother and a dead brother were all killed in Nanyang. Deng Feng is the chief culprit. If Deng Feng doesn't die, I won't be reconciled!"
"The villain also has a friend who died in Nanyang!"
"We traveled thousands of miles to Nanyang just to kill the rebels and help the Han Dynasty. The brothers narrowly escaped death and finally won the battle, but the culprit was not punished. We...we waited for the bloody battle in Nanyang,
What’s the point anymore?!”
Listening to everyone's words, Liu Xiu fell into deep thought.
This was the real voice coming from the lower ranks of the army. The generals of Wu and Han repeatedly urged Liu Xiu to kill Deng Feng, but none of them affected Liu Xiu as much as the words of these men.
Liu Xiu's contemplation was also a reflection on whether he was too indifferent between public and private affairs. Killing Deng Feng was for the public good, and all the reasons for not killing Deng Feng were actually personal affairs.
The friendship between Lihua and Deng Feng was a private relationship; the relationship between Deng Chen and Deng Feng's uncle and nephew was a private relationship; and Ziling's intercession for Deng Feng because of Deng Zijun's relationship was also a private relationship.
Seeing Liu Xiu's eyes lowered and his face expressionless, he remained silent for a long time. Everyone stopped talking and looked at each other. The older Ben Minglang said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I'll wait... I
Did you say something wrong and make His Majesty unhappy?"
Liu Xiu came back to his senses, raised his head, smiled, waved his hands and said, "What you said is very good, and it touched me a lot." As he spoke, he picked up the pottery pot and said, "Drink!"
Everyone was flattered and quickly picked up their wine bottles and saluted Liu Xiu. They each took a big sip. Liu Xiu also took a big sip and felt a ball of fire burning in his stomach.
He took a breath of alcohol and sighed: "It's so nice!"
The older Ben Minglang laughed and said, "I never thought that Your Majesty would be able to drink the strong wine I am waiting for!"
Liu Xiu smiled and said: "Since you are all old brothers who followed me to fight in Hebei, how could you not know that I am also from the army?"
Hearing this, the Ben Ming Lang all smiled, their tense nerves relaxed a lot, their fear of the Emperor was also reduced a lot, and instead they showed a bit more respect.
This is the emperor they ideally swear allegiance to, the emperor they follow to the death.
The elder Ben Minglang scratched his hair, held the clay pot in both hands, and said: "Your Majesty, I... I dare to offer you another drink!"
Liu Xiu smiled and said: "We don't have a cup, so just take a sip!"
"Yes, yes, the villain made a mistake!"
Liu Xiu didn't take it seriously, picked up the pottery pot, touched the pot with the elder Ben Minglang, then raised his head and took a big sip.
The elder Ben Minglang drank almost all of the remaining half of the bottle of wine in one gulp. Seeing this, several Ben Minglang also toasted to Liu Xiu.
Not long after, Liu Xiu drank every drop of the wine in the pottery pot. Just as Liu Xiu and several men were drinking happily, a man's roar and a woman's roar suddenly came from a tent not far away.
Screams.
Long Yuan, Long Zhun, and Long Bo, who were standing not far away, were all shaken. They immediately came to Liu Xiu, swords in hand, looking for the reputation with sharp eyes.
Liu Xiu and several Ben Ming Lang also heard the commotion. One Ben Ming Lang stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I'll go over and see what's going on!"
"Yeah." Seeing Liu Xiu nodding, the Ben Minglang threw his legs and ran straight to the camp where the cry came from.
The older Ben Minglang watched for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, that tent seems to belong to Miss Li!"
Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows in confusion and asked: "Miss Li?"
The elder Ben Minglang hurriedly bowed and saluted, and explained: "Your Majesty, Miss Li's father is Li Yuan, who was once a confidant of Liu Dao, and later took refuge with Dong Xin. After General Jian captured Wancheng, Dong Xin ran away, and Li Yuan The family was arrested and has been imprisoned in Wancheng Prison. Later, when our army came to Wancheng, General Jian sent Li Yuan's wives, concubines, and daughters to the camp to serve as camp prostitutes."
Liu Dao was originally the prefect of Nanyang. When Jiantan and Wanxiu led the Han army to Wancheng, Liu Dao refused to surrender and wanted to resist the Han army in Wancheng to the end. As a result, Dong Xin in the city suddenly rebelled against Liu Dao. But Dong Xin did not defect to the Han army, he just wanted to replace Liu Dao.
Taking advantage of the chaos in Wancheng, Jiantan and Wanxiu attacked Wancheng late at night and defeated Dong Xin in one fell swoop. In the end, Dong Xin abandoned the city and fled. A large number of Dong Xin's subordinates were also captured alive, including Li Yuan.
The elder Ben Minglang continued: "This Miss Li has a strong temper. She would rather die than wait for guests. Several brothers have been injured by her before. I don't know which unlucky guy will fall into her trap again this time!" "
After hearing this, Liu Xiu roughly understood the cause and effect of the matter. He smiled and said: "How can a mere weak woman..."
Before he could finish his words, he saw a man running out of the tent in a panic. The man was still covering his face with one hand, and bright red blood was flowing out from the gaps between his fingers.
Not long after, Ben Minglang, who had just run over to check, also came out of the camp, but he was thrown out and rolled over.
Seeing this, Liu Xiu frowned and walked over. Several Ben Minglang also felt that they couldn't save face, and they all said angrily: "This old horse is so useless!"
This Miss Li had just been sent to the army not long ago. They had only heard a few things about her before, but had never been in contact with her, and they didn't know how capable she was.
Liu Xiu walked closer to the tent. The Ben Minglang who had fallen out had already stood up and was dusting off his clothes. Seeing Liu Xiu approaching, he hurriedly bowed and saluted. Just as he was about to speak, Liu Xiu waved his hand to him.
He walked to the tent's curtain and was about to lift it up when the Ben Minglang said subconsciously: "Be careful -"
Just when he reminded Liu Xiu, a wooden barrel flew out from inside and hit Liu Xiu's head. Liu Xiu, with his quick hands and eyes, raised his hand and reached forward to catch the barrel.
Then he looked up and saw a disheveled woman standing in the tent with disheveled hair. He couldn't tell what she looked like.
Seeing that someone who was not afraid of death dared to come in, the woman shouted angrily, stepped up to Liu Xiu, and scratched his cheek with her paw.
Liu Xiu subconsciously raised his hand to block the woman's wrist. When their wrists collided, Liu Xiu felt a slight tingling sensation. The woman's wrist strength was really quite strong.
The other party didn't seem to expect Liu Xiu to be able to block her blow. She angrily kicked Liu Xiu again in the lower body.
This was a death blow, and no matter who it was, it would not be a good feeling if they suffered the fate of her.
Liu Xiu frowned secretly, moved his palm downwards, and grabbed the woman's ankle. While the other party retracted her legs, Liu Xiu took advantage of the situation and sent it outward. The woman took several steps back, unable to stand up. , and sat down on the ground.
At this time, Long Yuan, Long Zhun, and Long Bo also rushed in, glared at the woman sitting on the ground, and shouted in a loud voice: "You cunning woman! How brave you are!"
