Author: Scholar Wu

The injured Wang Deren was not convinced, and led his army to attack for three days, but still failed.

At this time, the helpless Ming army finally accepted the reality. After paying a heavy price of tens of thousands of casualties, Jin Shenghuan still chose the same strategy as countless predecessors and besieged Ganzhou.

So the Ming army dug deep ravines outside Ganzhou City, built strong walls to clear the fields, and fired several cannons at the city from time to time.

The navy of the Ming army on the river also patrolled day and night, not letting go of any boat that secretly left the city to fish.

The Ming army wanted to shoot down every bird flying towards Ganzhou City. They must trap the Qing army in Ganzhou alive.

More than a month has passed since the Ming army began to siege the city on February 19.

Wang Xiaoniu's family has been without food for many days. In fact, their family originally had a lot of food in storage.

Two months ago, someone bought grain at a high price in Ganzhou City. The grain that originally cost 5 yuan per stone was bought for 3 times the price. Seeing that he could earn twice as much money by changing hands, Wang Xiaoniu, like many neighbors, just bought it for 3 times the price.

After keeping a small amount of rations, most of the stored grains were sold.

He originally thought that he would be able to buy enough food and make a fortune by buying food in nearby areas, but the food in nearby towns was also purchased. With nothing left, he could only return to Ganzhou first, prepare to settle down at home, and then go to get more food.

I went to Huguang to buy grain, but I didn't expect to encounter the Ming army attacking Ganzhou.

Soon the food reserves at home were depleted, and my relatives and friends were in a similar situation. They originally chose to sell their own food at a "high price" of 1 tael, 5 coins, and 1 stone, but now the food tanks at home have bottomed out.

So Wang Xiaoniu had to take the 3 taels of silver from selling grain to the grain store to buy grain.

When he saw the price of food, he was dumbfounded.

The wooden sign in the grain store reads: Today's grain price is 1 tael and 5 cents per bucket.

Oh my God, 1 shi is equal to 10 buckets. They sold 2 shi of rice at a "high price" of 3 taels of silver.

Now these 3 taels of silver can only buy back 2 buckets, which is a full 10 times increase from before.

Looking at the pile of rice mixed with a large amount of sand and gravel, Wang Xiaoniu felt unwilling; but his growling stomach forced him to buy rice.

He also has his parents, wife, three younger siblings, and his three-month-old child at home. If he doesn't bring rice back today, his family of eight will starve to death.

And he had no choice, because this was the last rice store in the city that still sold grain.

In addition to ordinary people like them, the same goes for the rich households in the city. Faced with three times the high price, they did not hesitate to sell the grain in their hands. It's just that the wealthy families have more rations than them, but there is no extra grain.

For sale.

Now here are people like Wang Xiaoniu waiting to buy rice. If the county government hadn't sent many officials to maintain order, I'm afraid this place would have been in chaos.

So Wang Xiaoniu cheered up and tried his best to join the grain buying team.

After a long time, it was finally his turn, but just as he was taking out his money to buy rice, the shopkeeper removed the original wooden sign and inserted a new one.

Yes, the price of rice has risen again, now to 3 taels of silver per bucket of rice.

The people who just bought rice called them lucky, but those who were still queuing up were angry!

Wang Xiaoniu cursed: "You bunch of profiteers, your price has doubled in the blink of an eye, and you're not letting anyone live anymore."

People behind started to follow suit, and there were even a few impulsive people who wanted to grab the food directly.

But when faced with the sword drawn by the officer, they were cowed again.

The shopkeeper of the rice store had long been accustomed to this. He cleared his throat and said: "You don't even look at where there is food in the city now. It is just because of my pity that I took out the last bit of food stored in the house and sold it. Anyway, it's just

What’s left is up to you whether you want to buy it or not. To tell you the truth, this rice store will have no food in stock tomorrow, and you won’t be able to buy food even with gold.”

The shopkeeper suppressed a look at Wang Xiaoniu and asked nonchalantly: "Do you want to buy it or not? If not, get out of here. Don't delay my business."

Helplessly, Wang Xiaoniu could only exchange three taels of silver in his hand for a bucket of rice filled with sand, gravel and chaff.

After leaving the rice store, Wang Xiaoniu took the bag of rice and rushed home immediately.

At this time, the situation in Ganzhou City was becoming more and more serious, and there was a serious shortage of food. The people who had no food in the city ate bark, grass roots and other wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger.

At a glance, there is almost no leaf on the trees in the city, they are all bare trunks.

Some people even start swallowing dirt to make themselves feel fuller.

The pedestrians on the street were like zombies. Their thin bodies, yellow and black shriveled faces, and tired and lifeless eyes were unbearable to look at. Some people were already dying of illness and fell on the roadside, as if they were starving and scattered all over the streets of the city.

Compared to them, Wang Xiaoniu was luckier. Thinking of this, he unconsciously clenched the rice bag in his hand.

Although the food is small, if you save some food, you can last for seven or eight days. Maybe the Ming army will retreat by then.

At this time, Wang Xiaoniu was walking alone in a dark alley. Suddenly, he felt a heavy weight behind him, and he was attacked from behind.

Maybe the person who attacked him didn't have much strength anymore and didn't knock him unconscious. Wang Xiaoniu was in a daze and grabbed the rice bag with both hands, but it seemed that there were countless hands fighting with him. The rice bag was torn during the tearing.

The grain was scattered on the ground. Wang Xiaoniu didn't care about being beaten and quickly grabbed a handful of grain from the ground and held it in his hand.

I don't know how long it took, but Wang Xiaoniu finally woke up. Opening his palms, he found that the grain was still there, but how could this little grain save the lives of his family.

Although he was starving with hunger and was already scarred, after hiding the last handful of rice, he decided to try his luck at the river.

However, hundreds of people gather by the river every day to catch fish and shrimps. After more than a month of fishing, the river is now so clear that not even a single aquatic plant can be seen, not to mention fish and shrimps.

Suddenly his eyes went dark, and with a "pop" Wang Xiaoniu fell into the river. Although he knew how to swim, he had no strength to struggle at this time.

He felt that it was good for him to die like this, because then he would not have to go back and face the expectant eyes of his family. He no longer had the face to see his family.

When he woke up, he discovered that he was not dead. It turned out that his neighbor Zhang Blacksmith was also looking for food by the river. When he saw Wang Xiaoniu falling into the water, he jumped into the river to rescue him regardless of his own life.

The people around him had disappointed expressions, as if they were saying: It's all this nosy person's fault. It would be great if this person drowned.

At this time, Wang Xiaoniu finally understood why there were so many people guarding the river every day even though there was no food left in the river. Almost everyone in Ganzhou was close to the river on three sides, but now almost every day he could hear people

News of drowning in the river.

It turned out that what they were waiting for by the river was the person who had "fallen into the water". He didn't dare to think about what would happen next. If he hadn't met Zhang Blacksmith today, he would probably be in a very bad situation by now.

Two terrifying words appeared in his mind for the first time. Although he had been starving with hunger before, he had never thought of these. But now he had to consider this problem. In order to survive, he only had to

I can now eat some things I don’t want to eat.

Zhang Tiejiang said with concern: "Wang Xiaoniu, are you okay? You scared me to death. Let me take you home."

If it were just now, he would definitely accept Zhang Tiejiang's "kindness".

But now he didn't dare. Looking at the sallow passers-by, and then at the good-looking Zhang Tiejiang, he suddenly thought of something.

So he forced himself to stand up and raised his voice and said: "Thank you to Brother Zhang for saving my life. I slipped and fell into the water just now. I can go back by myself, so I won't bother Brother Zhang to see me off."

At this time, Blacksmith Zhang smiled slightly, as if he had seen through the doubts in Wang Xiaoniu's heart, and said: "Then you have to be careful along the way. The city is not peaceful now. Some people will do anything to get food. You can

Be careful."

Then he said: "Looking at you, I must have been out of food at home for a long time. You have a lot of people at home. If you really can't do it, you can go to Guanxibo and have a look. Maybe I can help you."

Hearing the words "Guanxi Fang", Wang Xiaoniu seemed to remember something. His face turned pale with fright, and he hurried back home. After a day of fatigue and fright, and being beaten all over his body, he collapsed as soon as he entered the house.

Fell on the bed.

Soon Wang Xiaoniu fell into sleep, and he dreamed of his eldest brother and second sister, whom he had not seen for a long time.

In fact, Wang Xiaoniu was not the eldest son in the family. He once had his own brother and sister. But in a famine, they all starved to death.

Wang Xiaoniu was still young at the time and didn't know exactly what happened, but he remembered the three words "Guanxi Fang" very clearly.

He only remembered that the situation at that time was similar to that now. Every household in Ganzhou had no food. His father at that time was just like himself now, and he was helpless to do anything about it.

They prayed to gods and worshiped Buddha at home every day. Perhaps the Bodhisattvas heard their prayers. Soon a miracle occurred. Suddenly there was food at home, and Wang Xiaoniu was saved.

But at this moment, he suddenly discovered that his brother and sister had disappeared.

Not only their home, but also many playmates in the neighborhood were missing. He once asked his father repeatedly, where did they go?

His father only told him three words "Guanxifang". The young Wang Xiaoniu once naively thought that this was a place that could bring hope to people.

Only when he grew up did he understand the meaning of these three words...

Liu Wuyuan, the governor of southern Ganzhou, was naturally aware of the tragic situation in Ganzhou City. At this time, Ganzhou City was like a city of death, filled with all kinds of tragedies.

But he was powerless to stop all this, and the small amount of food in the army could not help the people in the city at all.

At this time, the commander-in-chief Hu Yousheng ran over sweating profusely and said: "Sir Governor, it's bad, the army has run out of food."

Liu Wuyuan asked in surprise: "There should be more than 3,000 shi of food in the army. Why is there no food?"

Hu Yousheng said: "At the beginning of the year, someone purchased grain at a high price in Ganzhou. The treasurer in charge of the granary secretly sold the grain from the army in order to earn the difference, and then purchased grain at a low price from elsewhere to fill the gap. However, the price of grain soared when the Ming army besieged the city. He was unable to do so at all.

fill a vacancy."

Liu Wuyuan flew into a rage and said: "Damn bastard, you ruined my big job and killed his whole family."

Hu Yousheng said: "Now that the Dongchuang incident has occurred, he knows that he is facing a dead end and has already committed suicide out of fear of crime. In his humble position, 100,000 taels of silver were confiscated from his home."

"Now the army has run out of food. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, I have ordered people to kill the horses and feed the soldiers. However, the horse meat will not last long. Soon we will be out of food again."

Liu Wuyuan said: "The price of food in the city has now risen to 60 taels per stone, and it is basically impossible to buy food on the market. The strange thing is that all the food stores have been sold out, but there is still some food flowing out."

"I suspect that the big households still have grain in their hands. Mr. Hu, please take people to the homes of several big households to collect grain. If the grain exceeds 3 dan, it will be handed over to the army."

Hu Yousheng said: "People in the city are already panicked now. If we continue to do this, we are afraid that it will trigger a civil uprising!"

Liu Wuyuan said harshly: "We buy grain, and give him 1 tael of silver for every stone of grain. Now that the country is in crisis, these wealthy households should contribute to our Qing Dynasty. Anyone who speculates on hoarding grain and obstructing the purchase of grain will be killed on the spot!"
To be continued...