A few days later, at the south gate tower of Puzhou City, several soldiers in black armor and guns gathered together, pointing to the outside of the city and discussing in low voices.

Not far outside the city, the prototype of a camp has been built. Several archery towers are being built, various military tents in the camp are being built, drainage canals are being dug, and horses are arranged outside the camp gate, and iron caltrops are spread.

In the evening, Ding Ding was dry, and a heating scene.

Soldiers and horses holding high the imperial flag were moving back and forth, entering and leaving the camp under the eyes of the rebels at the top of the city, without any intention of concealing the movement.

Such scenes were staged simultaneously on the east, south and north sides of Puzhou City.

Three camps and more than a dozen trenches isolated Puzhou City into an isolated city.

"Look at this posture, the imperial army is preparing to stay for a long time and will not stop until Puzhou City is besieged to death!"

"Oh, it's so miserable! Puzhou City is surrounded on three sides, and there's nowhere to escape even if you want to!"

"Isn't there still one side left?"

"That side is close to the Yellow River. Do you want to jump into the Yellow River and swim away?"

"Alas~"

Several black-armored sergeants leaned against the battlement wall and discussed, all of them sighing.

"I heard that there was only enough food in the treasury to last for a month. King Qin ordered that the remaining food from the homes of the people in the city be confiscated. The resistance in the inner city was fierce and hundreds of people were killed."

"They are all the people of Hezhong Prefecture and fellow villagers. I wouldn't be able to do anything to replace them!"

"Hmph~ If you don't rob, people will rob! If you really want to starve, then you won't rob for food, but eat people!"

"I also heard that the King of Qin ordered that food be given to the soldiers living in Hexi, Sangquan and Heyang first. The porridge they eat twice a day is twice as thick as ours, and from time to time it can be stained with meat!"

"Damn it, they're all serving as soldiers to get food, so why do they have better food than us?"

"Hehe~ The soldiers with these three nationalities were personally recruited by the King of Qin. They have been with him for the longest time. They are considered to be the emperor's personal soldiers. Of course, their treatment is different!"

"Grandma's~ they always have one shoulder supporting the other's head, what's the point of it! I don't accept it!~"

Several soldiers were cursing and did not notice a general in scale armor and gray robes carrying a sword walking behind them.

"Ahem~" The general coughed heavily when he heard the complaints from the soldiers.

Several soldiers were startled and hurriedly bowed their heads and saluted: "I have seen the Zhou army envoy!"

Zhou Guangxun glanced at several people with a stern look: "Defend the city well, and if you dare to spread rumors again, you will be severely punished for the crime of confusing the morale of the army!"

All the soldiers trembled, dispersed in a hurry, and returned to their respective posts.

Zhou Guangxun stood by the battlement wall, overlooking the camp outside the city, and saw a group of soldiers and horses escorting hundreds of villagers into the camp gate.

The villagers seemed to be forced to come here, extremely reluctantly, and there were cries and howls along the way.

Zhou Guangxun asked in confusion: "What are they doing?"

A soldier next to him replied: "The nearby people were forced to build camps. In a few days, thousands of people have been captured from various counties. These imperial officers and soldiers are very fierce. Anyone who dares to escape is captured and beaten half to death in public. In

When counties and townships arrest people, they search everywhere, just like thieves!

Yesterday, we also saw that the Huayin County magistrate personally escorted the villagers to arrive, and also brought hundreds of animals, which were the treasures of the villagers' homes. They were slaughtered and eaten like this. Several men knelt on the ground and cried.

The sound shook the sky, and I kowtowed until my face was covered in blood. I looked really pitiful..."

When Zhou Guangxun heard the word Huayin, his heart couldn't help but trembled. He glanced at the soldier and asked, "Are you from Huayin too?"

The soldier grinned and said: "My mother is from Huayin, and my father works as a tracker at the ferry. I often go back to Huayin, and I know him very well! The county magistrate saw him last year!"

Zhou Guangxun nodded and said nothing more. He stared at the lively camp outside the city for a while, then continued to patrol along the city head to check the defense.

The King of Qin flag with a gold dragon embroidered on a black background buzzed overhead. Zhou Guangxun raised his head and looked up. The lifelike golden dragon was dancing on the surging flag, which was really beautiful.

Zhou Guangxun secretly lamented that the flags of the King of Qin hung all over Puzhou City could not cover up the decline of the city.

Everyone knows that the King of Qin is already in decline, and it is only a matter of time before the city is destroyed.

Zhou Guangxun turned around and looked outside the city, where hundreds of civilians were lining up to enter the camp.

No wonder the three camps were built so quickly. It turned out that the surrounding people were forcibly recruited to perform labor service.

Now is the time of summer harvest and busy farming. Of course, the people are not willing to abandon the farm work in the fields. Such a large-scale recruitment of civilians will definitely cause uproar in the counties and villages.

Zhou Guangxun was worried about his old mother who was left alone in Huayin.

My mother suffers from eye disease, and she cannot see clearly when the sky is dark, and her legs and feet are not strong enough. When she left home a few months ago, she did not know whether she had finished eating the food she left behind...

The more Zhou Guangxun thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became.

At first he wanted to move his mother to live somewhere else, but it was hard to leave her homeland and her mother refused to leave. He couldn't help it, so he had to prepare food and ask his neighbors to help take care of her.

I thought that no matter how hard this battle was fought, it would not affect Huayin. I never thought that Zhao Siwan in Huazhou would be defeated and the imperial troops would quickly recover the prefecture and county.

Now even Puzhou City is under siege, and Zhou Guangxun has completely cut off contact with his mother.

As a soldier of the Hezhong Army, Zhou Guangxun only knew how to follow the orders of his commander, without asking about right or wrong, right or wrong, and was never afraid of death.

But he couldn't bring his mother into danger.

When he thought of his old mother, whom he had lost contact with for several months, Zhou Guangxun was filled with sorrow and self-blame, and secretly clenched his fists.

He gritted his teeth and made up his mind to find a way out of the city and rush back to Huayin to settle his old mother properly.

~~~

Wang Jixun, the general who guarded Luocheng, lived in a private house not far from the city tower.

At this moment, Wang Jixun was shirtless, sitting by the fire, roasting a leg of lamb.

The golden mutton is fragrant, and the mutton fat drips into the fire, making a series of sizzling sounds.

Wang Jixun's fat body was so hot that he was sweating. He stared at the barbecue like a hungry wolf, his throat sliding up and down to swallow his saliva.

Zhou Guangxun stepped into the open courtyard, cupped his fists and said, "General Wang!"

"Haha~ You really know how to choose the right time! Come on, come and try the lamb leg that I roasted by myself! Even the King of Qin agreed with my craftsmanship after eating it!"

Wang Jixun generously cut off a large piece of meat with a short knife.

Zhou Guangxun hesitated and reached out to take it: "Thank you, General!"

Wang Jixun stretched out his tongue to lick the oil on his hands, then started to gnaw the leg of lamb with a ferocious expression on his face.

Zhou Guangxun took a bite of the mutton and chewed it. It was charred on the outside and tender on the inside, and the meat was juicy and delicious. It was indeed grilled well. However, thinking of the words of the soldiers on the city wall, Zhou Guangxun felt that it tasted less and less the more he ate.

Zhou Guangxun said: "General, I was patrolling the city today and heard some soldiers discussing that they were not satisfied with the current food."

Wang Jixun glanced at him, his fleshy face glowing with oil under the firelight.

"It's good to eat some, what else are you dissatisfied with? Whoever dares to chew their tongue next time will be chopped off!"

Wang Jixun spat out a piece of bone and sneered fiercely.

Zhou Guangxun gritted his teeth and said: "I feel that this matter is inappropriate. Regardless of whether they are guarding the inner city or the outer city, they are all sergeants under the command of King Qin. How can we treat them differently? If this continues, the Luocheng army will be unstable."

Wang Jixun said dissatisfied: "There is not much food left, so of course we can't feed everyone! The King of Qin did this because he had no choice. If he is afraid that the morale of the army will be unstable, then kill a group of people. Anyone who dares to talk nonsense will be killed! Hang up

There is a row of heads, see who dares to talk more!"

"But...."

Zhou Guangxun still wanted to argue a few words, but Wang Jixun shouted impatiently: "I said why do you care so much? You and I can eat enough and have meat to eat, so that's enough, right? The King of Qin won't treat us badly, just do your job well and don't worry about it.

Nosy business!”

Zhou Guangxun remained silent, lowering his head and saying nothing.

Wang Jixun said in a low voice: "I tell you, King Qin has already thought of a way out. If they are defeated, King Qin will use Mrs. Fu as a hostage and ask the court to let them live. When the time comes, King Qin will take us with him."

Zhou Guangxun was surprised: "Where to go?"

"Of course it's Shu!"

Wang Jixun's eyes were gleaming, "The King of Qin has made arrangements a long time ago. With Madam Fu in hand, the soldiers outside the city will not dare to take action for a while. We will find a way to escape to the west. As long as we pass Ziwu Pass, there will be people from Shu."

Respond.

The country of Shu is great. We are indispensable for its prosperity and wealth. I heard that there are many beauties in Shu, and they are all so young that they can squeeze out water..."

Zhou Guangxun was stunned for a long time, and finally realized that it turned out that King Qin Li Shouzhen did not expect Luocheng to be able to defend it.

He just wanted to win over thousands of direct soldiers and horses in the inner city, and then use Fu's wife as a condition to find an opportunity to escape to Shu.

Now he is using the whole city's food to supply the inner city defenders with good food and drink. He just hopes that these soldiers and horses can escort his father and son to escape westward smoothly.

Zhou Guangxun felt cold all over his body. The hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians were nothing more than bargaining chips for Li Shouzhen and his son to preserve their wealth.

The more than 30,000 defenders in Luocheng followed Li Shouzhen in rebellion for more than a year. In the end, they were not even worthy of a full meal and were just a bunch of burdens that could be discarded at any time.

Looking at Wang Jixun, who was biting into the mutton and his mouth was full of oil, Zhou Guangxun's heart gradually became cold.

Is it really worth being loyal to such a coach?

Zhou Guangxun gradually rose to the position of cavalry and infantry envoy by virtue of his military exploits. He was never afraid of going into battle to kill the enemy.

But at this moment, he was afraid and didn't want to die in such a worthless battle!

Wang Jixun suddenly pinched Zhou Guangxun's shoulder, pinched his shoulder bones with his big, greasy hands, and shouted: "You must not reveal these words just now! I am only telling you this as if you are one of my own. If
To be continued...