Chapter 2

The Zhou family was just an ordinary household in the county town of Xinhui. Zhou Shixiang clearly remembered that his father, Zhou Shanyuan, made a living by making wooden barrels for people, and was honest and hardworking. His mother, He Shi, was a kind-hearted woman who deeply believed in the Buddha and could not bear to see anyone in the world suffer. The old couple were typical residents of their time, as plain as could be.

Zhou Shixiang was the only son in the family. He was born when He Shi was nearly forty, making him a late-born child. Therefore, Zhou Shanyuan and his wife loved him dearly, much like many parents in later generations, worrying about him being too hot in summer and too cold in winter, wishing they could nurture him in their mouths.

Zhou Shanyuan, who had been honest and hardworking all his life, perhaps knowing that he had suffered all his life, did not want his descendants to suffer like him. Therefore, he specially named his son Shixiang and insisted that he study to achieve a scholarly rank and become a person of high status, bringing glory to the Zhou family.

To support their son's education, the couple lived frugally, wishing they could split a copper coin in half to use, but they always made sure their son had the best food, never sparing a bite for themselves. Truly, the hearts of parents are pitiable.

Zhou Shixiang was also very intelligent and did not disappoint his parents' expectations. He studied hard and passed the examination to become a scholar at the age of fourteen, which made the people of Xinhui look at him with new respect, saying that the Zhou family would produce a literary star. Zhou Shanyuan and He Shi were overjoyed.

At that time, Guangdong was still under the Ming Dynasty. Zhou Shixiang originally planned to take the provincial examination in the provincial capital the following year, but unexpectedly, the Qing army suddenly attacked from the north. The Ming provincial examination could no longer be held, and the Qing, busy fighting the Ming army for control of Guangdong, also had no time to hold the imperial examinations. Thus, the matter of taking the examination for a higher rank was delayed.

When Zhou Shixiang was eighteen, Zhou Shanyuan and He Shi, seeing their son grow up and unable to take the examination for the time being, had the idea of having a grandson. They arranged a marriage for him with the daughter of the Zhao family, who ran a rice shop in the city. The Zhao family was well-off and the daughter was beautiful. If it weren't for Zhou Shixiang's scholarly rank and promising future, the Zhao family would never have agreed to the marriage. After all, compared to the Zhao family, the Zhou family was very poor.

At first, Zhou Shixiang was not satisfied with the arranged marriage, but after meeting Zhao Shi, he immediately fell in love. Within a few days, the young couple became inseparable, deeply in love.

Two years after their marriage, Zhao Shi gave birth to a healthy baby boy, much to the delight of the Zhou family. Zhou Shixiang, now a father, happily named his son Zhou Bingzheng, meaning "upright character," with the nickname An'er.

With An'er, the Zhou family was overjoyed. The young couple was happy, and the old couple was even more delighted. Life was full of joy and harmony. For them, whether it was the Ming or the Qing, the change of dynasties was far away. What mattered was living a good life.

With the old at home and the young in the family, and with enough food, this was the good life that common people aspired to. As long as they were not threatened, and as long as they could live, who would risk their life for the old Zhu family?

Moreover, although Zhou Shixiang was a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty also recognized his rank, and the benefits he received were no different. In fact, the Qing government placed even more emphasis on scholars with ranks.

The Southern Ming was already on the decline, with only a few provinces in the southwest left. It was clear to everyone that the Ming Dynasty was finished, and the Qing Dynasty's rule was inevitable. Therefore, Zhou Shixiang did not plan to remain loyal to the Ming. He intended to wait until the situation in Guangdong stabilized and then take the Qing provincial examination, hoping to pass and become a provincial scholar. If he could pass the imperial examination, it would be a great honor for his ancestors.

As for the issues of barbarians and the Han, they were not something a small scholar like him should consider. The Ming emperors had already died, many ministers and generals had died, and the territory had shrunk. What could he, a small scholar, do? He should follow the will of heaven and the people.

Unexpectedly, the Southern Ming, which was almost finished, attacked Guangdong again in the tenth year of Shunzhi. The following year, the Ming army's commander, Li Dingguo, personally led the troops to attack, and the city of Xinhui was besieged for a full eight months!

At first, the residents of Xinhui were not too worried. The Ming army had attacked Guangdong the previous year but had been defeated in Zhaoqing. This time, although Li Dingguo was leading the attack, the Qing army was strong, and he would not be able to break through Xinhui. When the food supplies ran out, he would have to retreat.

However, the nightmare for the residents of Xinhui came quickly, and it came from the Qing army they relied on. The Ming army's food supplies did not run out, but theirs did!

To defend the city, the Qing army commander ordered the confiscation of all food in the city. The Qing soldiers looted from house to house, leaving the residents with no food. They had to dig for rats and catch birds to survive. Later, they even ate water plants and grass. The Qing army did not stop looting the residents, and if they saw any food in a household, they would immediately slaughter the family.

As the saying goes, "Better to be a dog in peace than a man in chaos." In this chaotic world, people were worse off than dogs!

Four months after the Ming army besieged the city, the Qing army began to kill the residents for food. At first, they only ate the common people, and those with ranks could avoid this fate. However, later, whether they had ranks or not, they were all seen as food by the Qing army.

When the Ming army lifted the siege and retreated, the Qing-appointed governor of Guangdong, Li Shuai, entered the city and found that the Qing army still had enough food to last for three months. But the bones of the residents lay everywhere, with no one to seek justice!

Rise, and the people suffer; fall, and the people suffer.

...

Just like the tragedies that unfolded throughout Xinhui, when the Qing soldiers rushed into the Zhou family to capture Zhou Shixiang, his father, Zhou Shanyuan, stepped forward to die in his place. His mother, He Shi, was willing to die in place of her husband, and his wife, Zhao Shi, was willing to die in place of her mother-in-law. In the end, the Qing army killed Zhou Shanyuan and He Shi, and three days later, they killed Zhao Shi, even killing the infant An'er in front of Zhou Shixiang.

Of the five family members, only Zhou Shixiang was left. It was only because his wife, Zhao Shi, begged for his life before she died that the Qing soldiers let him go. Otherwise, he would have also been killed.

When his parents were brutally killed, the naturally timid Zhou Shixiang hid in the house, too scared to come out. When his wife and child were killed, he fainted from fear. When he woke up, his soul had been possessed by a person from the future, and the original Zhou Shixiang had disappeared.

Truly, it was a cruel joke by heaven. Less than ten days after his parents, wife, and child were killed, the Ming army lifted the siege and retreated.

Ten days, just ten days!

Zhou Shixiang, now carrying the memories and emotions of the original body, pounded his chest and wailed. He felt ashamed for the original body, who had watched his parents and family die without doing anything. Zhou Shixiang, are you still a man? How could you live on like this? Why didn't you die? Why didn't you fight the Qing soldiers? Why?

With all his family dead, what was the point of living alone in this world?

...

The two new graves in front of him, without even tombstones, were built by Zhou Shixiang from the future. The graves contained nothing, truly empty.

The bones of his parents, wife, and child were long gone, leaving no place to mourn.

Whether there were graves or not, what use were they?

National and personal grievances, Zhou Shixiang stood silently in front of the two empty graves, his heart full of bitterness and sorrow.

As a Han person, the blood of the Chinese in his veins made him naturally reject all foreigners. In his previous life, the society he lived in greatly belittled the main ethnic group and glorified foreign rule. At that time, although he was a soldier in one of the few cavalry units of the Republic, he could do nothing about this distorted phenomenon, and could only remain silent. But after the穿越, the death of his parents and family made him unable to remain silent any longer!

For the first time, the national and personal grievances were so vividly presented before him. No one could remain a coward, no one could turn a blind eye, and no one could avoid seeking revenge!

Zhou Shixiang, since you lack the courage, let me, the person from the future, give you the backbone!

In his mind, scenes flashed by...

In the courtyard, his father, with white hair, looked at the wooden barrel he had made and smiled contentedly.

Under the lamp, his aged mother looked at the shoes she had sewn for her son, her eyes full of kindness.

By the desk, his wife held a bowl of night snacks and watched her husband study, her face full of happiness.

In the cradle, his son, only a few months old, laughed and looked at his father with curiosity.

Scene after scene flashed in his mind, and Zhou Shixiang felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to cry out loud, but he couldn't. His eyes were dry.

Father, Mother, Qing'er, An'er, I, Zhou Shixiang, will avenge you, I will avenge you!

At some point, Zhou Shixiang turned and left the two empty graves.

...

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"The Han People Will Not Be Slaves" aims to tell the world that history is brutal, and so is the穿越. In this era of the decline of China, will the Han people really become slaves to foreigners?

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