readytorunbook Chapter 256: Guan Xing or Sun Quan?
Chapter 256: Guan Xing or Sun Quan?
The more you adjust the lamp, the brighter it becomes; the more you debate, the clearer the truth becomes.
Tens of thousands of soldiers, led by their respective platoon leaders, fell into a heated argument. After several hours of intense discussion, they finally came to a conclusion: Sun Quan must not be allowed to return to Jiangdong.
If Sun Quan returns, their land will be confiscated, their families will be forced to continue working as tenant farmers for the gentry, and they themselves will even be forcibly conscripted again to resist the Wei or Han armies.
Fighting a war is not a problem, the problem is, for whom are we fighting?
Should they fight for the powerful clans and corrupt officials who bullied them?
They treat us like dirt, and we're supposed to fight them to the death? Why should we? Is it their fault?
Are we just inherently masochistic?
General Guan was different. He allocated land to us, cracked down on the gentry to protect our interests, and even taught us to read and write. He gave us opportunities to grow and didn't care about our background, only our ability. As long as we did well, even a common soldier could become a general.
This was unthinkable in Jiangdong under Sun Quan's control. Which of those so-called poor families under Sun Quan were actually ordinary people?
Take Lü Meng for example. He keeps saying that he was poor when he was young, making it seem like he was very poor. But don't forget that his brother-in-law was Deng Dang, a separate commander under Sun Ce.
In an era where marriage is based on social standing and family background, if the Lü family did not have an equal status with Deng Dang, would Deng Dang have married Lü Meng's sister? Did they really think Deng Dang was from a poverty alleviation office?
There is also Cavalry Commandant Luo Tong. Everyone knows that he lost his father at a young age and had a tragic background, so they think he comes from a poor family. But they don't know that Luo Tong's father was Luo Jun, the Chancellor of Chen State, who was assassinated by Yuan Shu. His mother remarried Hua Xin as a concubine after his father's death.
Although Luo Tong's mother went to Luoyang with Hua Xin, Hua Xin's connections and resources in Jiangdong ended up with Luo Tong. Luo Tong now has the connections of both his father and stepfather. Does that make him an ordinary citizen?
Which of the so-called poor families in Eastern Wu were not figures that ordinary people could only look up to?
Are there any officials who truly come from among the common people? At least, these ordinary soldiers had never heard of any.
Guan Xing, on the other hand, truly doesn't care about background but only about ability. As long as you have the ability, he will promote you; if you don't have the ability, he will do his best to cultivate you.
Putting everything else aside, at least 90% of the soldiers can now recite the lyrics of "Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty," which is two or three hundred words long.
If you go back to the village after the war, and show off your skills in front of your childhood friends who grew up together, who wouldn't respect you?
Although being forced to copy song lyrics and having knowledge forcibly crammed into your brain is painful, the sense of accomplishment from learning is even more satisfying.
On one side is Guan Xing, who is completely devoted to them; on the other side is Sun Quan, who treats them like dirt. If you were in their shoes, who would you choose?
The soldiers voted with their feet, quickly made their choice, and then it was time to eat.
During the meal service, Guan Xing announced that anyone who wanted to go home should sign up immediately after the meal, as time was running out and it would get dark soon.
The soldiers were torn again. Rationally, they didn't want Sun Quan to return and wanted to stay in the army to serve Guan Xing. However, they couldn't resist their longing for their families. The homesickness was spreading wildly in their hearts, making it difficult for them to make a decision.
If Guan Xingruo were to then, oblivious to the situation, sing "Green Flowers in the Army," the effect would be absolutely explosive.
The soldiers ate their dinner with a bitter taste, and some chose to go home afterward, feeling both anxious and ashamed as they went to their superiors to report for duty. They then spent the most difficult night of their lives.
At daybreak, everyone assembled again. Guan Xing stood on the platform and shouted, "A total of 8,473 people signed up to go home yesterday. All those who signed up, please step forward and stand to my left."
As soon as the words were spoken, the line stirred, only calming down after a quarter of an hour. Those going home and those staying formed two distinct squares, and then...
The returning soldiers all lowered their heads in shame, not daring to look at the soldiers left behind, let alone Guan Xing. In their hearts, they had become shameful deserters and had no face to face their former comrades.
The remaining team looked at the returning team with disdain, thinking, "A bunch of deserters, what a bunch of trash."
Guan Xing did not look down on the group that wanted to go home. Instead, he looked at the group that stayed behind and shouted, "Is there anyone else who wants to go home? You have half an hour to think about it."
There weren't enough people going home, which wasn't good for his later plans, so he needed to bring more people back.
Humans are all a bit perverse. Yesterday, Guan Xing was worried that too many people had left, so he asked Shen Yi to persuade everyone. But today, he's unhappy that no one is leaving. Isn't that just plain crazy?
The soldiers looked at each other, staring at each other for half an hour. Only about four hundred men came out, but more than a thousand went back.
In other words, after half an hour of deliberation, four hundred people in the remaining group chose to go home, while over a thousand people in the returning group chose to stay.
Based on this calculation, the number of people heading home not only didn't increase, but actually decreased by six or seven hundred, which made Guan Xing extremely frustrated.
Fearing that everyone who wanted to go home might change their minds if the registration continued, Guan Xing quickly closed the registration and shouted again, "I, Guan Xing, who chose to stay, thank you all. Thank you for your trust in me, and I promise you that I will never let you down."
"Those who are going home should not have any worries. We are all brothers, all Han people and descendants of Yan and Huang. Maybe we were even one family five hundred years ago."
"What I'm saying is that your choice was not wrong. You're just going home temporarily, not running away. So you're not deserters, you're just on a temporary leave. Maybe you'll come back after you go back, and then we'll still be good comrades."
These words were like a warm current flowing through the heart in the dead of winter, or a cool breeze brushing against the cheek on a hot summer day. The soldiers returning home felt their noses sting and tears welled up in their eyes.
Some even knelt down and wailed, "General, I don't want to leave, I don't want to leave you, but I really miss home, I miss my mother and children so much. I promise I'll come back as soon as I see them. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west."
The others knelt down one after another, and for a moment, cries of grief filled the air.
General Guan treated them like brothers, but they chose to leave when General Guan was in the most danger and needed them the most. What is the difference between such behavior and being ungrateful and kicking someone when they are down?
They were so ashamed of themselves for what they had done, but General Guan not only did not blame them, but also comforted them, saying that they were just on leave and not deserters, and that he was willing to accept them if they wanted to come back. How could they bear this?
Guan Xing jumped down from the platform and came to the soldiers. He personally helped the soldier at the front up and said, "Get up, all of you. A man's knees are worth gold. Don't kneel down so easily, and don't cry and make a fool of yourself. Don't forget that we are all seven-foot men who shed blood and sweat but not tears."
"As the old saying goes, 'A poor family should travel with plenty of resources.' If you're going to leave, you should leave decisively and openly. Here you go."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Shen Yi and his men, carrying bamboo baskets, walked toward them.
Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of soldiers, Shen Yi placed two bamboo baskets in front of Guan Xing. Guan Xing smiled and said, "I can't go home to see my parents empty-handed, so I've prepared some gifts for everyone. They're not very valuable, so I hope you won't mind."
After saying that, he casually pulled off the white cloth covering the bamboo basket. When everyone looked down, they were surprised to find that the basket was full of cloth shoes. The brand-new cloth shoes looked very appealing.
Guan Xing said, "Making shoes is slower than making clothes. Although I worked through the night, I only made these few thousand pairs. I originally planned to distribute them to everyone after a while, when I had enough for one pair for each person. But now that you're going home, you can use them first."