Chapter 1977: Traitors and the Prisoner Offering Ceremony

Before, Zhu Pingan didn't take this rumor seriously, but after what happened today, he had to take this rumor seriously.

If Zhao Zhifu surrendered to the Japanese pirates, then his incredible behavior in recent days would be explained.

He led 3,000 rabble to attack the fortified city guarded by more than 10,000 Japanese pirates;

He set up camp under the city without paying attention to anyone else within the range of the crossbows and firearms on the city;

The bloated scholar led the charge and was the first to charge;

The Japanese pirates left first, and he recovered the empty city right after, and he grasped the time so accurately.

And so on and so forth

If there were Japanese pirates to cooperate, these would not be a problem.

As for other possibilities, they are impossible.

Don't say that the Japanese pirates were scared away by Zhao Zhifu's 3,000 rabble. At the beginning, Zhao Zhifu had a fortified city and elite soldiers, and the Japanese pirates had only 400 remnants and defeated generals, just like attacking the city, not to mention that they now have more than 10,000 Japanese pirates.

Not to mention coincidence.

The Japanese pirates left, and Zhao Zhifu took the lead to recapture the empty city. Zhu Ping'an didn't believe this coincidence.

It was normal for the Japanese pirates to take care of Zhao Zhifu's 3,000 rabble before leaving.

Zhao Zhifu's camp was set up within the range of crossbows and firearms on the city, and there were no fences, chevaux de frise, sentry towers, or gates. It was an undefended, leaky crotch, and the Japanese pirates had no trouble poking him.

Why didn't the Japanese pirates take care of Zhao Zhifu's 3,000 rabble before leaving? The answer is obvious.

However, these are all inferences, and there is no evidence.

But

In extraordinary times

This hidden traitor deserves Zhu Ping'an's special attention, and Zhu Ping'an has a hunch that if he keeps an eye on him, there will be surprises in the future.

When Zhao Zhifu "recaptured" Jiaxing, the ceremony of surrendering captives at the Meridian Gate in the capital thousands of miles away was officially kicked off.

Teams of Jinyiwei dressed in gorgeous Feiyu costumes, holding embroidered spring swords, ran on the imperial road in front of the Meridian Gate, and ran all the way to the Meridian Gate, divided into two rows, and stood on the left and right sides of the imperial road as a guard of honor.

After the Jinyiwei stood, the Jiaofangsi began to enter.

In addition to managing folk music and registered musicians, the Jiaofangsi was also responsible for the rehearsal and performance of the outer court, banquets, ritual music and dance, and opera. Today's prisoner offering ceremony also needs their performance to set off the atmosphere.

The skilled musicians ran on the imperial road like the Jinyiwei, holding various musical instruments, ran to the Jinyiwei, divided into two rows, on the left and right sides of the imperial road, close to the Jinyiwei team, and stood back.

Then, officials took their positions one after another.

First, the Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites officials in charge of the ceremony, there were two tall and burly officials, serving as the officials of the ceremony, standing in front of the Meridian Gate, facing east and west.

Hundreds of officials from the six ministries and the main officials in Beijing, as well as some foreign envoys in Beijing, were divided into two rows in front of Wulou, south of the Imperial Road, according to civil and military officials, with civil officials on the east side and military officials on the west side, arranged like attending court.

After the officials were the soldiers responsible for offering the captives.

The Jinyiwei, the factory guards, and the elite soldiers of the three camps of the capital, who were responsible for security, were on guard between Wumen and Donghuamen.

The village head, gentry, and the elderly who were invited to participate in the captive offering were located farther away, on Donghua Road, and could only see Wulou from a distance.

As for the onlookers, they were even farther away, and they could not see Wulou or Wumen, and could only be on the other side of Xishi Street. Further ahead, the factory guards and the soldiers of the three camps set up barricades to prevent them from moving forward.

When the first rays of dawn appeared on the horizon, the ceremony of offering the captives officially began.

Liu Mu and other Zhejiang soldiers escorted more than 400 Japanese pirate captives to Donghuamen and handed them over to the soldiers of the three camps to continue escorting.

The curtain of the prisoner surrender ceremony was opened.

The soldiers of the three camps escorted more than 400 Japanese pirates out of Donghua Gate, one Japanese pirate was shackled, and the procession stretched for hundreds of meters.

The common people on both sides of the street gathered in three layers, densely packed and countless.

Seeing the soldiers of the three camps escorting the Japanese pirates out, the onlookers were immediately excited.

The Japanese pirates wore red prison uniforms and red hats, or more accurately, ochre clothes, not the white color commonly seen in movies and TV dramas.

The reason why ochre clothes were used as prison uniforms was actually very simple, because prisoners were not worthy of white prison uniforms.

After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the hierarchy system given to clothing colors was highly strengthened. You wore the color of clothing according to your identity, and you could not wear it randomly. If you wore it randomly, you might be transgressing the law and would be punished. For example, officials of the fifth rank can wear purple robes, officials of the sixth rank and below can wear red or green robes, while police officers can only wear blue, and civilians can only wear white, so there is the saying of "baiding".

Prisoners have a much lower status than ordinary people, and they are only worthy of wearing clothes lower than white, that is, prison uniforms.

Prison uniforms are the lowest-grade clothes, dyed ochre with red soil, easy to dye, and resistant to dirt, so they can be worn by successive generations of prisoners.

There are factory guards and soldiers from the three camps on both sides of the street who are responsible for maintaining order and security. While maintaining order, they shouted solemnly:

"Prisoners still have to present captives at the Meridian Gate, and they are not allowed to throw rotten vegetable leaves, rotten eggs and other filth! Violators will be severely punished!"

"After participating in the captive offering at the Meridian Gate and being escorted out, you will be thrown away!"

These rules were repeatedly told to the onlookers by the factory guards and soldiers before the captive offering began.

The common people also knew the importance of the matter, and they kept the rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs in their hands, waiting to throw them away after the Japanese pirates were escorted out of the Meridian Gate after the prisoner surrender ceremony.

However, they were not allowed to throw the rotten vegetable leaves, but they did not say that they could not curse.

The onlookers cursed the Japanese pirates one by one, and the national football team was so envious that they cursed the Japanese pirates.

"Damn it, those Japanese slaves are fine, you are originally the people of our Ming Dynasty, why do you do something good but become Japanese pirates, you have lost all conscience, betrayed your ancestors, and harmed the people, you are really a shame to your ancestors!"

"Fuck the Japanese pirates, you 18 generations of ancestors, wait for the 18th level of hell, I won't even leave you a complete corpse, let you never reincarnate!"

"Die, die, die"

So many people, so many soldiers, such cruel insults, made the Japanese pirates who had been devastated for days panic.

The biting cold wind could not stop the enthusiasm of the people to insult the Japanese pirates. The insults one after another were like thunder, making the Japanese pirates wearing single-clothes prison uniforms and barefoot tremble even more.

In order to torture the Japanese pirates, they were only given a single-clothes prison uniform, and they were not even given shoes to wear, so they were left barefoot.

The cold wind, insults, and shoving along the way made these pirates suffer physical and mental damage.

When the pirates were taken to the Meridian Gate, their bodies and minds were on the verge of collapse.

"Kneel!"

The ceremonial officer shouted.

The officers escorting the pirates mercilessly kicked the pirates in the knees and forced them to kneel on the ground.