The defenders of Shuning City were on guard day and night and did not dare to take the situation lightly.
After Dong Guangxiao sealed the city, the rebels came to the city. Dong County Magistrate had a serious shortage of troops and could only mobilize the young men in the city to defend the city. However, not many people actually joined the defense team.
Although there are tens of thousands of people in the city, many of them young and strong, they are all ordinary people.
We have lived and worked in peace and contentment for many years, and in the prosperous land south of the Yangtze River, we have hardly suffered any wars or wars. Now that the war has broken out, many people are stunned, and most people do not have the courage to take up arms and fight against the rebels.
Born in sorrow, died in happiness.
There have been too many peaceful days, and few people are willing to go into battle with weapons.
After all, most people have not seen the cruel behavior of the followers of the Queen Mother. More people think that this is just a war between officers and soldiers and the rebels. As long as they stay out of it, even if the rebels really capture Shuning City, they may not really succeed.
Raise the butcher's knife against the people.
On the contrary, if you follow the officers and soldiers to fight against the rebels, and the rebels capture the county town and settle the score later, you will definitely die.
Therefore, the number of young people who actually joined the team to defend the city was less than 10% of the number of young people in the city.
Although Dong Guangxiao was annoyed, he was helpless.
He could not force the people to resist the rebels with a sword. If he did that and provoked a civil uprising in the city, the people in the city would be able to kill him without the rebels coming in.
Fortunately, although most of the people in the city were unwilling to join the team to defend the city, they did not cause chaos in the city. The order in the city was quite orderly.
"The news of the princess's visit to Shuning City has been released." In the Shuning County Yamen, Dong Guangxiao was reporting the situation to She Yue: "In just two days, more than 400 people joined the defense team. Now the strength of the defenders in the city is
There are 1,500 people." He frowned slightly and said: "However, the defenders have hardly been trained. The defenders are mainly archers. However, practicing archery does not result in success overnight. The defenders in the city can shoot arrows.
There are less than sixty people in total, and they have to guard two city gates, with less than thirty archers assigned to each gate. If the rebels attack the city in full force, these archers will not be able to stop them from approaching the city gate.
.”
She Yue nodded slightly, her beautiful face also looking serious: "Is there enough food and grass in the city?"
"Princess, don't worry about the food and grass." Dong Guangxiao said immediately: "When Grandpa reminded me to pay attention to the rebellion, he had already secretly transported a lot of food and grass to Shuning City, and meiji also secretly stored the food and grass in the warehouse. In addition,
In addition, Beizhi had already hinted to the grain merchants in the city to stock up on grain, and they were also very obedient. They had previously taken stock of the grain in the city, and it was enough to last Shuning City for at least three months. Beizhi thought that no matter how slow the court's reinforcements were, there would be three
A month's supply of food is enough to last them until they arrive."
She Yue knew that the grandpa Dong Guangxiao was talking about was the deceased Dong Yuan, the head of the Dong family.
Dong Yuan was the first head of the family in Suzhou who noticed signs of the Queen Mother Society. He was also extremely shrewd. Although he did not act rashly in Suzhou, he secretly warned Dong Guangxiao, and used the power of the Dong family to quietly inform them.
Shuning City has transported a large amount of supplies, so it is prepared in case anything changes.
Dong Guangxiao had previously reported these matters to She Yue in detail, and She Yue appreciated Dong Yuan's precautions. If Dong Yuan had not made arrangements in advance, Shuning City would have fallen into the hands of the rebels long ago.
What She Yue was most worried about was the lack of food and grass in the city. Knowing that there was enough food and grass to last three months, she was slightly relieved.
"In the past two days, I have been reinforcing the city." Dong Guangxiao said: "If they want to break through the city gate, it will not be easy. However, I thought that they had been besieged for several days without any action. Apart from gathering more troops, they should
They are preparing siege weapons."
She Yue was not good at military affairs, but she knew clearly that siege equipment was needed to attack the city, so she asked: "Is it a ladder?"
"Exactly." Dong Guangxiao looked solemn: "It is easy to build a ladder. There is a large forest outside the city, and you can use local materials. I looked at the top of the city earlier and found that they were cutting down trees. They must be building a ladder. The strength of the thieves
Everyone, if thousands of thieves rush to the city and climb up the city with ladders, our archers will not be able to stop it at all. We can only increase our troops to resist at the top of the city." After a pause, he continued: "I have found that there are still thieves in the past two days.
Soldiers are gathering in an endless stream. If the judgment is correct, the news that the princess is in Shuning City may have spread, and the Queen Mother's rebels are gathering people from all walks of life to prepare to attack Shuning City with heavy troops, so they are waiting for them to attack the city.
At that time, the number of troops may exceed 10,000, so our military strength will be even more stretched."
She Yue understood what Dong Guangxiao meant and asked: "Your biggest difficulty now is the lack of troops?"
"Exactly." Dong Guangxiao said with a bitter smile: "I sent people from my humble position to persuade the young men in the city to participate in the defense of the city, but the results were very little, and we cannot force the recruitment of troops."
Just as he finished speaking, he heard a voice coming from outside: "Forcible recruitment, even if successful, they will only work but not contribute. Once they are at a disadvantage during the war, they retreat, which will lead to fatal results." Then he saw it.
Qin Xiao walked in slowly.
She Yue raised her head and saw Qin Xiao. She was startled for a moment, but Dong Guangxiao had already raised his hand and said, "Master Qin, why are you here?"
"Is your leg injury healed?" Seeing that Qin Xiao was obviously in trouble when walking around, She Yue frowned: "Just take good care of your injury, who asked you to walk around."
"The rebels are just outside the city, how can I rest in peace and recover?" Qin Xiao sighed, walked to a chair, looked at She Yue and asked: "Princess, can I sit down?"
She Yue knew that he was just pretending and said calmly: "Stand if you can."
"My legs hurt, let's talk sitting down." Qin Xiao sat down and said with a smile: "To defend the city, three things are indispensable. The first is food, the second is the city, and the third is to defend the city.
troops."
Dong Guangxiao was convinced and nodded: "Master Qin is right. We are not short of food. As for the city, although Shuning City is not impregnable, it is still solid. Since the rebels besieged the city, I humbled myself and summoned the craftsmen in the city to reinforce it.
It is not easy for the rebels to attack the city, especially the two city gates. The only unresolved problem right now is the strength of the troops. Once the rebels attack the city, guards will be assigned to the head of Shuning County. Currently, there are only more than a thousand people.
, the troops are still a little weak."
"Master Dong just said that the young men in the city are unwilling to defend the city?"
"Exactly." Dong Guangxiao sighed.
Qin Xiaodao: "Actually, this is understandable. Most of the people in the city don't know what happened at all. They don't even know that the rebels outside the city are followers of the Queen Mother. Even if they know that they are followers of the Queen Mother, they don't know that the Queen Mother will
What the hell is this? The city was suddenly sealed off to resist the enemy. The people didn’t even understand what the enemy was doing, so how could they easily join the defense team?"
"Then what do you think we should do?" She Yue stared at Qin Xiao and asked.
"Actually, Mr. Dong has a solution in his mind, but it's hard to say." Qin Xiao said with a smile: "Mr. Dong, am I right?"
Dong Guangxiao was startled, slightly embarrassed, and smiled.
"Don't show off." She Yue frowned and said, "It's not too late. If you have any ideas, tell me as soon as possible."
Qin Xiao then put away his smile and said solemnly: "Whether we can make the people in the city defend the city to the death, it all depends on the princess."
"On me?"
"If you want a horse to run fast, you must feed it well." Qin Xiao said seriously: "As long as the princess gives an order, I believe that the people in the city will enthusiastically defend the city."
"What order?"
"No need to pay!"
She Yue was startled, then frowned and said: "Actually, I have thought about this method, but although I am a princess, I do not have the right to exempt from local taxes."
"Princess, for the people, what is really important is their own clothing and food." Qin Xiao said calmly: "If it is to resist foreigners, I believe that these people do not need to call for help, and they will rise up to resist for their own survival. But right now
Most of the people besieging the city are Suzhou people who were forcibly recruited into the army. They are no different from the people in the city. There may be many people outside the city who are relatives. In this case, they must take up arms and fight the rebels outside the city.
If there is no immediate benefit in fighting, no one will go into battle easily. If the princess gives an order that the people who participate in the defense of the city will be exempted from taxes for ten years or even for life, many people will definitely join the team to defend the city immediately. "
Dong Guangxiao finally said at this time: "Your Highness, what Mr. Qin said is indeed to the point. Jiangnan is the place where the most taxes are paid in the Tang Dynasty, and the people of Shuning County pay a lot of taxes every year. If the princess exempts them from taxes, for herself
, they will also actively participate in defending the city."
"Not only that, the princess also promises everyone who participated in the defense of the city that once Shuning City is defended and reinforcements arrive to defeat the rebels, all the young men who participated in the defense will be rewarded." Qin Xiao stared at Musk.
Yue Dao: "After the war, you will be rewarded for your merits. The court will reward those with meritorious services with large sums of money, and even grant them official positions. The princess is a royal relative, and the people will naturally believe in your promise to the people. In this way, not only the young people in the city will
Actively participate in the defense of the city, and in order to be rewarded for meritorious service, you will never be timid in fighting."
Dong Guangxiao nodded and said: "If these people want to get promoted and make a fortune, there is almost no way. Now that they have this opportunity, they have been promised by the princess. If they have performed meritorious service, they will be rewarded with a golden official position. Not only will they benefit, but they will even be able to honor their ancestors. They will definitely not have it again."
Hesitant." After a pause, he added: "In addition, there are some big families in the city. Their status in Shuning County is not low and they are very prestigious. It is precisely because they remain silent that many people are unwilling to participate in the war. If the princess summons these big families,
, promise them rewards, and then let them come forward to persuade, then the entire Shuning City will definitely work together to fight against the rebels."
She Yue was thoughtful, while Qin Xiao had already said: "Princess, there is no need to have any scruples at this point. Although you have no right to order tax exemptions, at present, only by promising the people in the city will they be willing to risk their lives. After the war, return to
In Kyoto, the princess can ask the sage to issue an order to exempt Shuning County from taxes. The people of the city will fight bloody battles against the rebels and protect the princess safe and sound. When the sage knows about it, he will never object. Although the minister has a humble status, when the time comes
I will definitely stand with the princess and jointly petition the saint to exempt the tax. If the saint does not agree, I will make sacrifices every day and will not give up until I achieve my goal."
She Yue felt funny when she saw Qin Xiao's expression of a dead pig not afraid of boiling water, but she also knew that this was indeed the only way at the moment, and it was not that difficult to exempt a county from taxes. After thinking about it,
He nodded and said: "In that case, I will do as you said. I will issue an order now that all the people who participate in the defense of the city will be exempted from taxes for ten years."
"Stingy!" Qin Xiao muttered.
She Yue heard clearly, glared at Qin Xiao, and asked, "What did you say?"
"Nothing, nothing." Qin Xiao chuckled: "I want to say that exempting them from taxes for ten years is not as good as directly exempting them from taxes for life. This can show the princess's open-mindedness."
"What do you know?" the princess said angrily: "If they really return to Kyoto, I will naturally ask the saint to exempt them from taxes for life, but I can't say too much. I will temporarily promise to exempt them from taxes for ten years and wait for the saint.
If we really promise to be exempted from taxes for life, they will naturally be even more happy when the decree is issued."
After the problem of the source of troops was solved, Dong Guangxiao relaxed his brows and said with a smile: "What the princess said is true. If you can be exempted from taxes for ten years, the people in the city will already be grateful."
At this moment, they heard the sound of rapid footsteps outside. Several people followed the sound and looked over. They saw a man dressed as a gangster quickly walking to the door. He cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Dong, go to the north gate quickly!"