Volume 1 Jia Wu Chapter 55 Beheading to Offer Sacrifices to the Spirits

  The Koreans in this cave were originally mourning for Kim Ok-gyun!

  They were either members of Kim Ok-kyun's faction, the Enlightenment Party, or sympathizers with him. Whoever they were, they must have had a deep-seated hatred for the Great Qing Empire!

  Because Kim Ok-kyun was killed in the Qing Empire, and despite strong international opposition, the Qing Empire extradited the murderer and Kim's body back to Korea, causing Kim to be mutilated after his death.

  The Qing government's actions not only gave Japan a pretext for war but also aroused the strong indignation of the Korean people!

  At the end of the 19th century, the Korean royal court was corrupt and incompetent to the extreme. The three thousand li of rivers and mountains were ravaged by the Lee Dynasty, and the people were struggling to survive. The government was acting recklessly, and the contradictions between the people and the government were severely intensified. At the same time, Japan in East Asia was eyeing Korea covetously, ready to annex it at any moment.

  Korea is plagued by internal and external troubles. However, in the imperial court, the Taewongun faction and the Min clan only know how to fight for power and profit, completely disregarding the suffering of the people. The heavy taxes and levies are increasing day by day, forcing the Korean people to have nowhere to turn. The people's hatred for the imperial court is deep-seated, and Korea is like a pile of dry firewood, which can ignite into a raging fire with just one spark.

  Jin Yujun is this spark.

  Jin Yuke walked on the road of radical reform and innovation.

  He is called a reformist because Kim Ok-gyun did not want to overthrow the imperial system, and the reforms he advocated were still within the framework of traditional imperialism. However, he was also radical, and his Kaehwadang party advocated for an iron-blood policy against conservative forces. To this end, he did not hesitate to use Japanese power to launch the "Gapsin Coup", during which Kaehwadang members slaughtered conservative forces, with corpses piling up outside the Korean palace.

  But in the eyes of the people, as long as it is against the corrupt and incompetent court, it is worthy of sympathy. Although the North Korean people have some reservations about Kim Ok-gyun's reliance on Japanese power, because Japan is the archenemy of Korea, for 500 years, the North Korean people have always maintained a high level of vigilance and hostility towards Japan. However, Kim Ok-gyun still gained widespread support from the North Korean people.

  Especially after Kim Ok-kyun was torn to pieces, the imperial court sent his corpse to various places in Korea for display, intimidating the people. However, the actual effect was the opposite. After seeing Kim Ok-kyun's scattered body, the Korean people became even more hostile towards the imperial court. Even those who were dissatisfied with Kim Ok-kyun's reliance on Japanese power expressed sympathy for his fate.

  In fact, Kim Ok-gyun is dead, but he has become the spiritual soul of the Korean people. The Donghak Peasant Army rose up and raised a flag to avenge Kim Ok-gyun. The Korean people responded collectively, and the uprising quickly swept across the Korean Peninsula with great momentum, eventually forcing the imperial court to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa in Jeonju.

  The people's resentment towards the imperial court also shifted to the Qing state.

  Korea is a vassal state of the Qing, and in the eyes of the people, the corruption and incompetence of the imperial court are the result of the Qing's indulgence and connivance. The Gaehwadang people are extremely dissatisfied with the Qing. The death of Kim Ok-gyun by slow slicing is an irreparable responsibility of the Qing.

  Now, Zhou Xuan Zhang has fallen into the hands of this group of mysterious Koreans, who worshiped Kim Ok-kyun's portrait. As the leader of the Qing army, Zhou Xuan Zhang is likely to be beheaded by the Koreans and sacrificed to Kim Ok-kyun.

  The crowd automatically made way for a passage, and the dark thin man pushed Zhou Xuanzhang to walk through the passage and came under the high platform.

  As he arrived at the platform, Zhou Xuan Zhang became even more despondent. He saw that all 108 men of his battalion were kneeling below the high platform, each one tightly bound with ropes, and behind each person stood a burly man with a bare upper body, holding a large knife with a ghostly head. It seemed they intended to kill Zhou Xuan Zhang along with his entire battalion in one fell swoop as an offering to Jin Yu Jun.

  Nah Wu and Yao Xi knelt together, seeing Zhou Xianzhang, Nah Wu called out in a depressed tone "Master", but Yao Xi was stunned, he had been frightened silly.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was both shocked and delighted. Shocked that all 108 people in the whole company were captured, not a single one escaped. Delighted that up to now, everyone is still alive!

  As long as I'm alive!

  Zhou Xuanzhang nodded at everyone and was about to speak when the dark and thin man punched him in the back: "Kneel down!"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang, along with his entourage, became the meat on someone else's chopping board. At this point, Zhou Xuan Zhang no longer dared to be stubborn and had to kneel down beside Ha Wu.

  A dark and thin man beckoned with one hand, four Korean men carrying guns walked up, picked up the rope, and tied Zhou Xuan Zhang into a tight knot.

  Suddenly three loud whistles sounded, and the whole field fell silent.

  On the left side of the high platform, a stone door opened.

  Out of the gate, an old man with a thin build walked out. He was wearing coarse linen clothes, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his thick beard reached down to his chest. His gait was nimble, but his expression was cold and indifferent.

  The old man walked to the center of the high platform, facing Jin Yujun's spirit tablet and stood still. Four men in white clothes walked up onto the platform from four directions and stood on either side of the old man, including the dark and thin man who had escorted Zhou Xuanzhang. The dark and thin man was standing to the left of the old man, right next to him. It seems that this person's status is extremely high.

  The old man led four men in white clothes to bow three times in front of Jin Yujun's spirit tablet, while the crowd below knelt down and kowtowed.

  Zhou Xuanzhang was deeply disappointed. These people were so respectful to Jin Yujun, they must be members of the Kaifa Party without a doubt. The Kaifa Party believed in using iron and blood to save the country, they were bloodthirsty and loved killing, they would definitely take revenge if they had a grudge, and would never forgive. If he fell into their hands, what good could come of it?

  The old man finished his courtesy and walked to the side of the portrait, sitting on a stone chair. The dark thin man and the other three white-clothed men stood on both sides of the old man.

  The people in white clothes under the stage shouted in unison, Zhou Xuan Zhang couldn't understand what they were shouting, guessing it should be something like "Long live" or "Pay respects".

  The crowd's shouting ceased, and the dark, thin man beckoned with one hand. Two burly men dragged a person onto the high platform. The person was short and stout, with a small mustache under his nose, and his hair was tied up in a queue. As he walked, he struggled with all his might, muttering loudly and shouting something, being very stubborn.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was shocked, the person who was pushed onto the high platform was actually a Japanese!

  When Zhou Xuanzhang was at the Tianjin Military Academy, he was forced by Feng Guozhang to learn Japanese. That short and fat guy spoke in Japanese, shouting slogans like "Loyalty to the Emperor" and "Long live the Great Empire of Japan".

  Two big men, without saying a word, like an eagle swooping down on a small chicken, dragged the little guy to the spirit tablet, pinned him down and made him kneel. The little guy was still shouting non-stop, one of the big men swung up a gleaming ghost-headed knife, raised his hand and brought it down, with a "ka-cha" sound, the little guy's head fell to the ground, his mouth was still moving, but there was no more sound.

  Blood splattered on the pristine Gendarmerie, as if a bloody rain had fallen. The hall was filled with a scorching bloody smell.

  The crowd was in a state of jubilation. The originally solemn hall suddenly became as lively as a festival, extraordinary and bustling.

  There was a bloody smell mixed with the smell of urine. Zhou Xuanzhang frowned and turned his head to look, only to see that Yao Xi's crotch was wet, this kid had peed in his pants.

  What made Zhou Xuanzhang even more depressed was that it wasn't just Yao Xi who had wet his pants, but one-third of the Qing soldiers had also done so.

  This is utterly humiliating!

  Naha Wus pants were still dry. Zhou Xianzhang rushed to Naha Wu and praised him, "Good job!" His heart was even more sorrowful - what kind of soldiers are these? Not wetting their pants is considered "good job".

  "Thank you, Master, for your praise." Na Ha Wu's voice trembled with pleasure, his face flushed with delight.

  "Master, I'm also quite good." Qian Yougui knelt behind Na Ha Wu's body, saying with a smile.

  "You're pretty good too!" Zhou Xianzhang sincerely praised, Qian Yougui not only didn't wet his pants, but also managed to laugh it off, which was more than what Ha Wuqiang could do.

  Qian Yougui is also a new recruit, his family runs a shop in Dandong, doing business with ginseng and fur. This kid has fair skin, small eyes, looks like a businessman, not a soldier at all. But today's performance made Zhou Xuanzhang look at him in a new light.

  Qian smiled with a pair of small eyes narrowed and said: "Master, we will be fine."

  "How did you know?"

  "They killed Japanese people, we're going to Yashan, and the ones we'll be fighting are also Japanese, they're their comrades."

  "How did you know?" Zhou Xianzhang asked, he understood Japanese, could it be that this money also understands Japanese?

  "Boss, that kid shouted something in Japanese before he died, something about 'Long live the Emperor'." Qian Yougui said.

  "Does your dog know Japanese?"

  "I understand a bit, my family does business, I know a little Japanese, Korean and Russian."

  Zhou Xuanzhang finally understood why Qian had a strange expression, it turned out that this kid could understand Japanese and was thinking to himself - the white-clothed people kill Japanese people, they won't kill people of the Great Qing.

  "You're a real talent!" Zhou Xuan Zhang shouted, but in his heart, he couldn't feel any joy at all. These white-clad men killing Japanese people actually can't prove that they won't kill people of the Great Qing Empire either. There is no logical connection between these two things. This Qian Yougui's small business calculation might end up being a waste.

  "Thank you for your praise, Master," said Qian Yougui.

  "Crawl over here." Zhou Xuan Zhang shouted.

  "Ah!" Qian You knelt down and moved his knees, coming to Zhou Xuanzhang's side.

  "Tell me what they said, translate it for me word by word!"

  "Understood."

  On the high platform, the old man waved his hand and the crowd quieted down.

  The old man's deeply sunken eye sockets suddenly shot out two cold glints, shooting towards Zhou Xianzhang below the stage.

  Everyone's eyes followed the old man and gathered on these one hundred and twenty Qing soldiers.

  Na Ha Wu's crotch finally got wet: "Dad, Dad, it's our turn."