At night, both sides of the east gate of Bukhara were filled with soldiers taking naps. In fact, the city gate was very narrow, with buildings on both sides, and the ground was paved with stone slabs. The soldiers slept against the buildings.
At this moment, 500 big-eating warriors flashed out of the alley, swarmed up, and swung their swords to kill the sleeping soldiers. Unfortunately, more than 100 soldiers had not yet reacted, and they became the victims of the sword.
The city gates of Sogdia are not like the gates of the Tang Dynasty. Their gates are not related to the city head. They just use a few iron bars as door latches and can be opened directly.
The food warrior opened the city gate and the leading warrior waved a torch.
Sabah, who was a mile away, could see it clearly. He was so happy that he waved his sword and shouted: "Capture Bukhara tonight, fight into the city!"
Fifteen thousand soldiers shouted, and the followers of Sabah rushed towards Bukhara.
The defenders on the top of the city noticed something unusual and immediately rushed down to fight for the city gate. However, they were blocked by the large warriors and the two sides fought on the streets below the city.
At this time, Sabah rushed in on horseback, carrying a scimitar, and killed a general with one blow. Countless soldiers behind him rushed in.
Sabah raised his knife and shouted to the defenders at the top of the city: "Go home quickly! I won't kill you."
Many soldiers knew Sabah, and they were so frightened that they abandoned their armor and fled home.
In the palace, King Amman was pushed awake by his guards. The guards said in horror: "King, Sabah has entered the city!"
"What?"
Anman was stunned with shock. He suddenly turned around and said to his wife: "You should leave the palace quickly and take your daughter to find a place to hide. Sabah will definitely kill you."
The queen hurriedly put on her clothes, put on some jewelry, and left the palace with her daughter from behind, looking for a place to hide.
Amman rushed out of the palace with a group of guards and encountered the defeated soldiers. He asked anxiously: "How did Sabah enter the city?"
"King, there is an insider in Sabah, and there are rumors that he is a food warrior!"
King Amman felt his scalp was exploding. How could there be a food warrior in the city?
At this moment, Sabah rushed towards the palace with thousands of soldiers. He happened to see the King of Amman. Without saying a word, Sabah rode his horse to kill the King of Amman. The King of Amman blocked it with a sword, but Sabah backhanded him with a knife.
He was chopped on the back of the neck, blood spurted out, and Anman fell to the ground dead.
The other guards were so frightened that they ran away. Sabah raised his knife and pointed at the palace, "Enter the palace and kill all the king's family members, leaving no one behind!"
Thousands of soldiers rushed into the palace like wolves and tigers.
News of the fall of Bukhara spread quickly, and the first to respond was the 30,000-strong food army. Sabah had long been in contact with Khorasan Governor Ziad, who sent 30,000 food troops from Mulu.
They rushed to the Amu Darya River to ambush. As soon as they got the news, 30,000 troops immediately attacked Bukhara.
The next person who received the news was Prince Ambre of King An. After receiving his father's request for help, he immediately led 20,000 troops from Samarkand to Bukhara. However, on the way, he received news that the city of Bukhara had been defeated and his father had been killed.
Anbrei was filled with grief and anger, and immediately led his army to take revenge, but was persuaded by General An Tingyu. They waited for two days and got the news that 30,000 food troops had arrived in Bukhara. Anbrei was shocked and turned pale.
Lead the army back to Samarkand.
King Constantine of Kang was very frightened by the invasion of Bukhara by the food army. On the one hand, he ordered the Six Nations Alliance to prepare a large army, and on the other hand, he immediately sent people to Shiguo to ask for help from the Tang army.
Although they were also afraid of the Tang army, at least the Tang army did not destroy the Shi Kingdom. They were just seeking wealth. Dashi wanted to annex the countries in the river and force them to convert to the Dashi religion. At this time, the Tang army became their only life-saving straw.
.
In the Tang Dynasty, a severe drought shrouded the Central Plains. From spring to now, not a drop of rain fell in the thirteen states of the Central Plains. The drought became more and more serious, the rivers dried up, and the grain price increased to 150 liters of rice. This time
This is still the result of the imperial court's suppression, otherwise food prices would skyrocket.
Praying ceremonies for rain are held everywhere in the Central Plains. Incense smoke is billowing from major temples, and monks are chanting sutras and praising the Buddha, praying to the Buddha for blessings for early rain.
But instead of asking for rain, the people asked for overwhelming locusts. While the drought was raging, the locust plague also broke out. It started in Ruzhou and soon swept through Ruzhou, Xuzhou, Zhengzhou and Henan Prefecture.
.
The summer grain harvest in the Central Plains is definitely over this year. It would be good to have a 30% harvest. The government is also working hard to provide disaster relief. The first is to dig wells to find deep underground water. The second is to reduce the taxes of the thirteen states in the Central Plains this year. The third is to set up porridge shacks in various counties for relief.
Disaster victims.
The emperor Li Ye personally came to the Central Plains to inspect the disaster situation. Li Ye mainly inspected Henan Prefecture and Ruzhou. He knew the autumn with a leaf. As long as he inspected the two hardest-hit areas, he could know the extent of the drought.
On the official road in Ruzhou, thousands of people gathered around the emperor Li Ye. In the distant fields, countless farmers were fighting locusts. The locusts did not care about the power of the emperor, and groups of locusts flew unscrupulously in front of Li Ye.
Li Ye frowned and turned around to ask Liu Yan, who was accompanying him on the inspection: "Have the white-necked ducks from Bashu arrived?"
They urgently transferred 30,000 ducks from Bashu to participate in the locust extermination. Liu Yan quickly said: "We have already arrived in Jiangling. We will reach Ruzhou in two days!"
Next to him, Liang Fang, the governor of Ruzhou, said worriedly: "Wei Chen is a little worried that farmers will steal ducks for food!"
Li Ye glared at him, "That's why I want you to increase relief, prevent hungry people from showing up, and do a lot of publicity. I think that as long as they are not extremely hungry, farmers will not steal ducks!"
"Wei Chen understands!"
Li Ye then said to Zhang Hao, another assistant prime minister: "I am most worried about the floods that will follow the severe drought. I require the local governments to make preparations for flood control in advance, move all the families in low-lying areas out of the low-lying areas, and mobilize farmers to start protecting fertile farmland. Once
Once flooded, fertile farmland is destroyed, and within a few decades, the soil will not be able to recover its fertility."
Zhang Hao was urgently appointed as the comfort envoy of Henan Province and was fully responsible for fighting the disaster. When Zhang Hao took office, he organized relief and disaster relief vigorously and resolutely. For more than a month, he could not eat well or sleep well, and he lost a lot of weight, which he silently endured.
Zhang Hao bowed and said: "Your Majesty is right, we will mobilize all our forces to prevent floods!"
At this time, several old farmers who had exterminated locusts were brought in. They knelt down to pay homage to the emperor. Li Ye waved his hands and said, "I'm sorry for you!"
Several old men stood up, and Li Ye asked again: "Now that the disaster is serious, what are you most afraid of? What are you most looking forward to? Don't have any worries, just tell me the truth!"
The leader of the old man said: "Your Majesty, our biggest fear is starvation without food. Now everyone is packing up. If one day the relief food is gone, we will have to go south to find a way to survive."
Another old man also said: "No one wants to leave their home, but when the day comes, there is nothing we can do!"
Li Ye nodded, "What about expectations?"
The leader of the old man said: "We heard that the government organized ducks from other places to participate in locust extermination. We look forward to it every day! Our necks are sore from anticipation. This is our greatest expectation."
Everyone was buzzing, all looking forward to the arrival of the locust-killing duck army.
Li Ye sent several old men away, and he said earnestly to Zhang Hao and several officials: "The top priority of all is to relieve the victims. As long as the victims are stabilized and do not form floating hungry people, they can fight the disaster at home.
All disaster losses can be minimized.
I have already issued an order to dispatch 500,000 shi of wheat from the Hahuang Valley, 400,000 shi of grain from Silla, and another 300,000 shi of grain from Jiangnan. This will give us 1.2 million shi of grain, which should be able to help the victims.
Hold on.
Jiangnan is also deploying 100,000 ducks to join in the locust extermination. Hexi and Hedong will mobilize 300,000 livestock. Sir Zhang, I have given you all the food and materials. The rest is a human problem. I will give you the top.
Emperor Sword, any official who dares to take advantage of the opportunity to enrich himself or fails to act, you have the right to remove him directly. If the crime is serious, you can even publicly behead him in public to serve as a warning to others!"
Zhang Hao was excited and solemnly expressed his position: "Thank you for your majesty's support. I will never let down your majesty's trust!"
Li Ye also told Liu Wutong, the deputy commander of the inner guard: "Assign three thousand inner guards to the Central Plains to assist Zhang Shilang. They will obey Zhang Shilang's command and monitor officials in various places. If there is any situation, do not make the decision without authorization. You must report it to Zhang Shilang, who will
Decide!"
Liu Wutong bowed and said: "I humbly obey my orders!"
Li Ye inspected Ruzhou, then went to Xuzhou and Zhengzhou, turned around and returned to Luoyang, then ended his inspection and returned to Chang'an.
