Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 640 A Day in Zuo Jigao's Life

'Snapped! '

A stack of documents remained on the table in front of Zuo Zongtang.

“This is for today.”

The orphanage boy who came to deliver the documents glanced at Zuo Zongtang, who was sitting with his eyes closed and not saying a word, grinned, and turned to leave.

The sounds of pens scratching paper, turning pages, and hushed conversations around him failed to make Zuo Zongtang open his eyes.

Until a roar came from outside~
"Dinner's ready!"

The people who were busy with paperwork put down their work and got up noisily to leave.

"Brother Ji Gao." Someone came to Zuo Zongtang's side and greeted him, "You haven't eaten for two days. If this continues, your body won't be able to take it."

Zuo Zongtang sat upright with his eyes closed, not uttering a single word.

"Never mind him." Someone nearby laughed and said, "He's just a traitor who wants to be a lackey of the Manchus and die for them. It's better if he starves to death. Let's go eat."

"Sigh~ Let's go."

The sounds of footsteps and laughter gradually faded away from the house, and the aroma of food wafted in from outside, causing Zuo Zongtang's stomach to rumble involuntarily.

Finally, he opened his eyes.

His eyes were filled with confusion.

Since the negotiations failed three days ago, all he did was mention his name, but then Leader Lin immediately offered to recruit him, and he was thrown here in a daze.

This is the Taiping Army's document room, responsible for handling all kinds of documents and materials.

Those busy here are mostly the best of the Taiping Army's night school trainees, or scholars from various places who have gone to great lengths to study despite their families' poverty and lack of wealth.

Zuo Zongtang, who had just arrived, was still figuring out the situation.

The day before yesterday, the Taiping army entered the city, and he followed them in without knowing what was going on, and was greatly shocked along the way.

Along the way, there were local militias and Green Standard Army soldiers being dealt with everywhere, and the scene was extremely tragic.

Yesterday, he even witnessed firsthand how Hunan Governor Yu Wanqing, Hunan Provincial Governor Zhang Liangji, and his friend Guo Songtao, who had come to Changsha, were dragged to a public trial wearing hats and placards, ultimately being overwhelmed by the endless rage of the people.

This greatly provoked Zuo Zongtang.

He refused to work and refused to eat.

The Taiping army chose to ignore this.

Eat as much as you like!

"Ah~"

Zuo Zongtang sighed, got up, went to the teapot, and poured himself some tea.

When you're hungry, you can only relieve it with tea.

The tea here is not green tea, but rather a small bag of tea leaves taken out of a cardboard box and placed directly into the teacup.

It is called black tea.

The rich aroma of tea invigorated Zuo Zongtang.

After finishing the tea, I brewed it twice more, and finally felt a bit full.

But the aroma of food outside grew stronger and stronger, making Zuo Zongtang feel extremely uncomfortable.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he reached out and took out a tea bag, tore it open, and popped the tea leaves inside into his mouth to chew and swallow.

"The leader has arrived!"

A sudden roar came from outside, startling Zuo Zongtang into a flurry of activity.

The tea leaves I hadn't swallowed were stuck in my throat, making me cough and cough and cough...

After he finally coughed it up and stood up, he saw Lin Dao standing to the side watching him.

Filled with shame and remorse, Zuo Zongtang stiffened his neck and closed his eyes, saying, "Kill me if you want, death is the only option!"

"Do you think I'm a born killer?"

Lin Dao, who was laughing, simply said, "Come with me."

Watching his retreating figure, Zuo Zongtang hesitated for a moment before following him.

Several large pots were set up in the courtyard, and a group of clerks were bowing respectfully to Lin Dao.

Many people looked on with envy when they saw Zuo Zongtang following behind the leader of the association.

The fact that the head of the association, despite his busy schedule, personally came to seek him out indicates a promising future.

Hungry, Zuo Zongtang followed Lin Dao out of the imperial envoy's residence and wandered around the streets.

Both the front and back sides were filled with large numbers of orphanage boy soldiers.

There were few civilians on the road, because the city was still under military control.

At various intersections, many wooden poles were erected, with many corpses hanging from them.

Zuo Zongtang knew this; these were villains who took advantage of the army's entry into the city to commit atrocities, burning, killing, and robbing women.

He agrees with this.

To deal with these villains, we must be ruthless.

After a long and winding journey, we finally arrived at the Changsha County Government Office.

Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province, the capital of Changsha Prefecture, and the county seat of Changsha County.

Under the imperial system, being a county magistrate here was second only to being a county magistrate in the capital in terms of misfortune.

There's no way around it; if they were placed in local areas, they would all be like marquises, their words capable of deciding life and death.

Destroying their families and wiping out their entire clan is a given.

But that won't work here; there are too many "grandmothers" above us.

The county government office clearly showed signs of burning, suggesting that it had been the site of a fierce battle when the Taiping Army entered the city.

Taiping soldiers carrying buckets of water washed away the bloodstains on the ground.

Those in the government office also knew that the Taiping Army would not let them go, and in their desperation, there were many who fought back to the death.

Along the way, Taiping soldiers saluted him, and Lin Dao waved to signal them to go about their business.

Upon arriving at the county government dungeon, Lin Dao stopped and asked Zuo Zongtang, "Do you know where this is?"

Zuo Zongtang thought to himself, 'Do you think I'm stupid?'

"This place is a prison."

“You’re wrong.” Lin Dao shook his head. “This place is hell for the people!”

The dungeon entrance is narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time.

Lin Dao was tall and even had to bend slightly.

The walls on both sides were covered with mottled mold.

The road descended into an extremely eerie atmosphere.

Every cell along the way was extremely cramped, resembling a dog kennel. Unlike the spacious prisons depicted in movies and TV shows, some even with haystacks on the floor, real ancient prisons were so cramped that prisoners could neither stand nor lie flat, and could only huddle in a precarious position.

Because of the limited ventilation, only a few places inside were lit by oil lamps.

The flickering light and shadow perfectly illustrate what it means to be utterly dark.

Amidst the squeaking sounds, mice and insects scurried and crawled everywhere.

A pungent, strange stench hit me, making me want to vomit.

The only slightly spacious place was where the prisoners were on duty.

There are tables, several benches, and various instruments of torture.

People were tied to the instruments of torture, but they weren't prisoners; they were former jailers and others.

The Taiping soldiers who were waiting there greeted Lin Dao as he approached.

"you."

Lin Dao greeted Zuo Zongtang, "Do you know how dark it is here?"

There are some things that educated people are aware of.

But because he had never encountered such a thing before, Zuo Zongtang opened his mouth but could not utter a word.

Lin Dao smiled and told the Taiping soldiers who were settling in the area, "Tell him."

"When our army took over this place, there were 119 people being held in custody and five corpses inside."

"Thirty-seven of the living people are disabled, and fifty-eight suffer from various diseases."

"Of the eleven female prisoners, one has died, and five suffer from serious gynecological diseases. All the female prisoners have long suffered from violence and abuse."

"After reviewing the documents and interrogating the officials and jailers, it was confirmed that three of them were notorious bandits, eleven were anti-Qing patriots, sixteen were imprisoned for theft, fighting and other crimes, and the rest were all wrongfully imprisoned."

“Some people who came to complain were thrown into jail instead.”

“Some offended officials’ relatives and were imprisoned.”

"Some tried to protect their families from being harassed by thugs, but ended up being falsely accused and imprisoned along with their entire families."

“Some people were imprisoned because they couldn’t afford to pay the temple’s interest.”

“There were cases where female family members were targeted by men, falsely accused, and imprisoned.”

Yes~~~

"Is he dying?" Lin Dao pointed to the prison warden who was tied to the shackles. "Go and see."

The prison guard, whose body was so mangled that not a single piece of flesh remained, hung his head and remained motionless, looking as if he had lost all life.

The Taiping soldiers stepped forward to check and reported, "He's about to die."

"This is not okay."

Lin Dao, who was standing with his hands behind his back, immediately shook his head: "These scumbags have harmed so many people, how can they die so easily?"

"Needle insertion."

"Use all the heart stimulants, adrenaline, and nutritional supplements. We must make them taste the suffering that the wrongfully imprisoned people have endured."

Zuo Zongtang, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

"Chief Lin, why have you gone to such lengths?"

"Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them, why torture them like this?"

"Why did it come to this?" Lin Dao suddenly turned his head, his eyes flashing with a fierce light. "You shouldn't have said that to me."

"You should say this to those who died unjustly here!"

"Say this to those who have suffered physical and mental trauma!"

"A stubborn fool." Lin Dao, his face full of impatience, waved his hand. "Take him to the wounded soldiers' camp and let him speak to those wrongfully imprisoned people in person."

The young soldiers quickly stepped forward and dragged Zuo Zongtang away.

As he was being dragged away, Zuo Zongtang saw yet another prisoner weeping and pleading, kowtowing repeatedly as he was being dragged onto the torture instruments.

Upon arriving at the wounded soldiers' camp, Zuo Zongtang was forced to stand before the unjustly imprisoned civilians who were receiving medical treatment.

Looking at these people whose bodies were mutilated, covered in wounds, and whose faces were ashen, I felt a deep sense of loss.

Looking at those women who opened their eyes and were about to commit suicide, Zuo Zongtang couldn't say a word.

He was only dragged back to the imperial envoy's residence as night fell.

Luncheon meat cans, Fuling pickled mustard tuber, pickled garlic, and a big bowl of instant noodles.

This is Lin Dao's dinner.

Looking at Lin Dao's meal, Zuo Zongtang sighed inwardly.

Putting everything else aside, in terms of setting a good example, this person certainly has the air of a king.

He once served as the governor's tutor, which could be considered as a staff member.

I have seen many official documents from the imperial court, many of which contain information about anti-Qing uprisings in various regions.

Many rebel leaders began indulging in luxury and pleasure even before they had captured a county town.

There were all sorts of kingships, all sorts of concubine selections, and all sorts of debauchery and extravagance.

Such a person will never achieve great things.

Lin Dao, who was eating noodles, pointed to the seat next to the table.

Zuo Zongtang hesitated for a moment, then sat down, but did not touch his chopsticks.

Lin Dao didn't rush him, and continued eating and talking.

"The world belongs to the people, not to one family or one clan."

"The people are human beings, and the greatest thing in the world is the human being. Nothing and no matter what else is more important than the human being."

"The colonists and their lackeys do not treat the people as human beings, so naturally we will not treat them as human beings either."

"They seized the land of China with their swords, enslaved its people, and wantonly humiliated its women."

"We are not convinced, and we will rise up in rebellion to repay them tenfold!"

Lin Dao put down his chopsticks and looked at Zuo Zongtang, saying, "This world belongs to the people of the Central Plains!"

"The Mite-Cleansing colonists have stolen the world for two hundred years; it's time for them to pay the price they deserve."

"As for you."

“If you consider yourself a lackey of the Qing dynasty and are willing to serve and die for those slave owners, then go out and face your death now.”

"If you are willing to stand on the side of the people of China, drive out the barbarians, and restore China."

"Let's start eating now!"

"Only when you are well-fed can you have the strength to work for the future of the people!"

(End of this chapter)