The bandit army will arrive in a day or two, and the Anping army entered Lunu County after taking a bath by the river.
Zhongshan's prime minister, chief minister, captain and officials were all in fear. Liu Xiang's reputation for killing people had spread throughout the country. In their words, he could make children stop crying.
It's all nonsense. Children don't know anything. Are they afraid of their own reputation? They are afraid of adults' slaps. They are simply afraid of being beaten.
Liu Xiang resisted the desire to complain. He still had business to do. He wanted to entertain the rich people in the city. The thieves and soldiers were coming, so of course they had to unite as one, have money to contribute, and have the strength to contribute.
The common people had long been recruited by Lu Nu's officials, and many young men and women had gone up to the city wall to prepare for their lives, and now they had to pay for it.
The Anping Army made a big fuss in Youzhou and had a notorious reputation. All the big families in Lu Nu had heard about it, and few dared to refuse. Even if the head of the family was away, a steward who could take charge was sent.
"It's a pity that so many people are not here. Make a note of those who didn't come. I'll make sure to visit them one by one when I'm free later." Liu Xiang turned to Shi A and said that he was quite skilled in the business of looking for back accounts.
After saying that, he looked at the Prime Minister of Zhongshan: "Is there anyone who hasn't come?" Without waiting for his answer, he said to himself: "If you haven't come, I won't wait. Make a note of it and I will come to apologize later.
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Those who didn't even send a steward are a little unclear. Liu Xiang did accept the imperial edict, but he didn't surrender in defeat. He defeated the imperial army and forced the army to be unable to conquer, so he was granted the title of general.
Soothed.
He doesn't need to be as cautious as a defeated general. As long as he doesn't attack the territory blatantly and as long as he doesn't rebel against the emperor, the court will have to tolerate him.
What else? Should we send out more troops to suppress him? The imperial court still has no spare troops to fight against him. There is rebellion all over the world, and the emperor's ancestral graves will be dug up.
It's not a big problem if he kills a few scholars and disturbs the local big families.
The banquet started, and after two glasses of wine, Liu Xiang wanted to get down to business. It wasn't that he was rude and unruly, but with his limited drinking capacity, he couldn't wait for three rounds of wine, let alone the stage where he was full of wine and could talk freely. By that time, he
He has long been unconscious.
He picked up the wine cup and tapped it twice. After everyone's attention was concentrated, he said: "Everyone, the thieves are coming and their force is not small. This is not the time for a banquet. We need to discuss it.
To resist the thieves."
"The general has strong soldiers and horses, but they are just thieves, so what's the point?" Prime Minister Zhongshan praised him.
Chang Shi also echoed: "This is just a bandit, the general will definitely defeat it in one battle. Let me first congratulate the general."
Liu Xiang waved his hand and interrupted everyone's flattery. They are a bunch of old foxes and they will not be able to get down to business if they continue talking.
"The thieves are holding the people hostage, marching and growing in strength, but our army is exhausted, with insufficient food and grass, and insufficient military resources, making it difficult to fight."
Upon hearing this, everyone understood that they were asking for money. Although they felt distressed, the Anping Army had a notorious reputation and they really did not have the guts to refuse.
He could only ask: "I wonder how much food the general needs?"
Liu Xiang settled accounts with them seriously, saying that he was definitely not blackmailing:
"A war horse eats two bushels of grain every day. Our army has more than 10,000 horses and needs two thousand bushels of grain every day. A soldier needs to eat one bushel of corn every day. Our army of 23,000 people needs 2,000 bushels of grain every day.
Two thousand three hundred dendrobium of corn. It is a common practice in the army to prepare one month's worth of food when sending troops, which requires 130,000 dendrobium of corn."
One hundred and thirty thousand dendrobium is almost equal to one hundred and thirty thousand stone. Dendrobium is the volume and stone is the weight.
The number he quoted doubled. One dou is almost equivalent to six kilograms in modern times. Although there are many pot-bellied men in the army, it is not an average of six kilograms of rice per person. Two kilograms is about the same. A dou of fine grain is enough for a war horse in a day.
That's enough.
He knew this, and of course others knew it, but those people did not dare to push back forcefully, and could only complain softly: "Why do you eat so much?"
Liu Xiang glared and said: "The army is full of big-bellied men. How about we call a few of them and eat them for you to see in front of you? If you can't eat a bushel of rice, I'll take off your head to make amends for your lies."
crime."
Let alone six kilograms of rice a day, there are big-bellied men who can eat six kilograms of rice a meal. There are several such strong men in Suwei who can eat it for them on the spot, scaring them to death.
"No, no, it's all as the general said. We don't understand military strategy and have little knowledge. I hope the general will understand."
They tried to coax them, but Liu Xiang didn't want to let them go. He wanted to use the topic to his advantage, so he said loudly: "Come here, bring me a bushel of corn and cook it on the spot."
Ignoring everyone's advice, he measured rice and cooked in the hall.
When the rice is cooked, put it all out and fill a bucket full, weighing seven or eight kilograms.
He picked up the sauce on his food, handed it to Zhao Jing, and said, "Zhao Jing, eat it for everyone here to see. The athletes in the army need strength to fight fiercely on the battlefield. If you don't have enough food, where can you get the strength?"
Su Wei Zhao Jing untied the leather belt around his waist and loosened the pine silk sash. He glanced contemptuously at the guests sitting behind the table, ate the sauce with a big mouthful, and ate the rice between cups of tea.
Eating everything.
After eating, he stood up, patted his belly, and said with a lingering feeling: "I'm not full yet, I'm just hungry."
Many of the people sitting here have heard of the matter of eating rice for a meal. There are records in books about which warriors eat rice for a meal and ten kilograms of meat. This is the first time to see it with my own eyes. It is quite novel. They all cheered:
"He has a good appetite, and this is a strong man."
Liu Xiang pretended to be sad and complained: "You have also seen that one meal is a fight for food. I just calculated a little less. The soldiers cannot fight when they are hungry, so they have to double the food."
As soon as these words came out, everyone choked. Doubling it would be 260,000 dan. This was an open robbery.
But they didn't dare to object. They knew in their hearts that the army had already entered the city, with strong armor and sharp swords at their sides. It was good enough to negotiate with them, and they couldn't tolerate rejection.
They could only hold their noses and admit it, Liu Xiang wanted to sign a document on the spot, and they had no choice but to scrape together enough food and grass with ten thousand and twenty thousand.
But these can't satisfy Liu Xiang's appetite: "Thank you for your help. I just don't have to scratch my mouth, but I still lack some clothes to keep out the cold. Why don't you all solve it together."
The people had no choice but to collect another 10,000 pieces of linen.
After taking care of food and clothing, he spoke again: "The swords and shields in the army are rusty, the halberds are loose, and the wheels are half flat and not round. It is really annoying. Please think of a solution."
"General, we really can't do anything about this ordnance, so I beg you, General, to show your kindness."
Liu Xiang's face darkened: "I'm just borrowing a few craftsmen, why are you so stingy?"
When the people sitting here heard this, they knew they couldn't run away, so they gathered together more than 500 blacksmiths and carpenters.
It was quite a lot, and if he knocked any more, he would probably get angry. Liu Xiang stood up, thanked him, and said generously: "Thank you all for your donation. As soon as the supplies arrive, I will be responsible for any thieves. Everyone."
Gao Xian only needs to sit quietly in the city without worrying about anyone disturbing him."
The wealthy families in Lunu finally breathed a sigh of relief. They finally satisfied this vicious man's appetite and could go home and live in peace.
No one was in the mood to have a banquet, and they dispersed soon after.
Before leaving, Liu Xiang pulled the sleeve of the Prime Minister of Zhongshan and said with an embarrassed smile: "Master, please solve the problem of military pay."