Five days later, Su Jin, who was waiting for the Yangzhou government to mobilize animals to transport the remaining grain, did not wait for an animal. Instead, he was awakened by the noise of people early in the morning. Before he could get dressed, Ma Han rushed in.
He shouted, "Master, this is terrible. The refugees are gathering nearby."
Su Jin was startled and asked hurriedly: "The rioters? Where did the rioters come from? How many are there?"
"I don't know where it came from. It came from the east. It's a huge area of darkness. I don't know how many there are. It's only seven or eight miles away from the main camp."
Su Jin hurriedly washed up and then ordered: "Pass my order, all officers and soldiers who have surrendered to the bandits will rush down the mountain to protect the grain trucks, and order the head of the cavalry army Zhaodu to send cavalry army sentries to investigate."
Ma Han agreed loudly, turned around and ran out. After a while, the sound of people neighing and horses roared everywhere, and the whole camp was in chaos. The soldiers gathered one after another and trotted to the open space at the foot of the mountain where the grain truck was, and formed a guard.
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Su Jin hurried out of the tent and happened to meet a worried Li Chong. As soon as Li Chong saw Su Jin, he said, "What's going on? Why do you say there are refugees approaching? There is trouble in the state capital somewhere."
Su Jin said: "I'm not sure, I'll tell you just by looking at it."
The two people hurriedly climbed up to the heights of the camp and looked toward the east. Indeed, as Mahan said, a dark crowd five or six miles away, numbering in the thousands at least, was striding towards this direction.
Su Jin frowned and said, "They don't look like refugees. There are no women or children among them. They all look like men."
Li Chong also focused his eyes to take a closer look, nodded and said: "It doesn't look like that." Suddenly he was shocked and said: "Could it be another group of bandits? They are all men. You see, there are still people carrying sticks and other objects."
Su Jin shook his head and said: "How can a bandit be so blatant? Besides, it's not a stick, it's... a shoulder pole! And there are cloth bags... I know, it must be the people of Yangzhou who came to pick up the food."
Li Zhong said: "Didn't you ask them to gather the animals to pull the cart away?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "Where are the animals? People are starving to death, are there still animals to pull carts? I forgot about this that day. Fortunately, Song Xiang was not too confused and mobilized the young and strong people of Yangzhou to come and use it.
Using manpower to transport food is not a bad idea."
Li Zhong breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "That's good, it scared me."
Su Jin took Li Chong's arm and laughed loudly, and sent people to confirm; the Ma Jun sentry reported that it was indeed a human-pulled cart team coming from Yangzhou. Su Jin felt a big stone in his heart, and immediately ordered someone to lead the team.
The people went to the place where the grain trucks were distributed and waited for the order to set off.
Li Chong was silent beside him, watching Su Jin giving orders and busy busy. It was not until Su Jin finished allocating everything that he pulled Su Jin's sleeve and said: "Brother Su, my trip has been successfully completed."
The mission is over, and I will say goodbye and go back to Tianchang later. I have been out for more than ten days, and I don’t know how the people in the county are doing."
Su Jin said in astonishment: "Are you leaving so soon? I plan to go to Yangzhou with you for a few days. In the past few days, I have been busy suppressing bandits and running errands, and I haven't had a deep conversation with you."
Li Chong said with a smile: "It's been a long time since we came. You are now very different from when you were in Luzhou. I saw you with admiration three days ago. Brother Su has a limitless future."
Su Jin held Li Zhong's hand and said solemnly: "Brother Zhaoting, you should know me best. I, Su Jin, don't have much ambition. I just do what I should do and do what I should do. Brother Zhaoting, I am Su Jin."
Jin's biggest gain this time is that from now on, I, Su Jin, will treat Zhaoting as an elder brother as long as I live, but I will not hesitate to do anything when asked."
Li Chong smiled and said: "Brother Su can speak like this, so it's not in vain for me to come to help you. However, the burden on your shoulders is really not light. You have to be careful about everything. A small matter of transporting food can be a big problem."
To cause such a big disaster, it is obvious that you are not good at being a food envoy."
Su Jin smiled and said: "Every experience brings wisdom. How can you see a rainbow without going through the wind and rain? I have taken note of Brother Zhaoting's words."
Li Chong cupped his hands and said, "Then I will go back to pack my things and take the people back. We will meet again later."
Su Jin waved his hand and said: "Don't be busy, I have something to give you."
Li Zhongdao: "What?"
"Do you want me to give you twenty carts of food?" Su Jin said with a smile.
Li Chong opened his eyes wide and said: "This...but...this is Yangzhou's relief food. How dare I accept it?"
Su Jin said: "I am the special envoy of food affairs. I will give it to whomever I say, unless you are never short of food."
"It's missing! Why is it not missing? I'm worried to death."
Su Jin smiled and said: "Then what are you refusing? Twenty carts of grain are only a thousand shi, which is a drop in the bucket for you. You can use it for emergency relief, but you have to use thunderous means to kill the big grain merchants in the center of the county.
Only by digging it out can we survive this crisis; today is November 26th, and the court's deadline has long passed. Don't be soft-hearted and make up your mind, otherwise you and the people of Tianchang will be unlucky."
Li Chong said solemnly: "I know this. I will not let you go to Tianchang to put out the fire. If you go, you will go to me to have a good time with poetry and wine, instead of going to rescue the people who are displaced."
Su Jin smiled and said, "Do you still want food?"
Li Chong chuckled and said, "In this way, this county can thank the special envoy for his grace on behalf of the people of Tianchang."
Su Jin laughed and said: "Yes, food belongs to the people. As for Brother Zhaoting, I have another gift. I have ordered someone to send a box to your account, but you must get Tianchang before opening it. This time I will give you a gift."
I also mentioned your name above, but whether I can win a glory for Brother Zhaoting can only depend on God's grace."
Li Chong thanked him profusely and ordered the soldiers to pack their things when he returned. Su Jin personally took the reins of Li Chong's donkey and sent Li Chong outside the camp. Yan Biyun and others also came out to see him off. Everyone watched Li Chong's figure.
Along with more than 100 government officials escorting 20 grain carts full of grain, they rolled away.
In this compartment, the grain trucks had already been allocated. Su Jin ordered the soldiers to pull out the camp and collect the stronghold. After packing up, he waved his hand, and the team of 6,000 people slowly marched towards Yangzhou for seven or eight miles.
Everyone was enthusiastic and full of emotions, and Su Jin was rarely relaxed, talking and laughing with the people. The people in Yangzhou had become accustomed to calling Su Jin Su Qingtian. Su Jin was not used to it at first, but after several attempts to dissuade them, everyone refused to change his mind.
So that's it, I felt complacent in the end.
Xiaoxing stayed overnight along the way, and without any further mishaps, on the last day of November, the grain transport team arrived outside the west gate of Yangzhou City.
Song Xiang and Gou Dasheng, who had already received the news, opened the city gates and led the people of Yangzhou to come to greet them. Gou Dasheng almost shed tears when he saw Su Jin. Su Jin knew that he was worried, but what he was worried about was not his own life or death.
But if he couldn't get the food back, his head would have to be moved. This was a desperate attempt to save his life.
Song Xiang was also very impressed. All the previous dissatisfaction and complaints about Su Jin were thrown away. Although Master Zhuang acted rashly, he was really capable. He poked such a big hole and made up for it in the blink of an eye.
For Song Xiang, this was an impossible task, but the young man in front of him made all this impossible possible.
Su Jin rode a tall horse into the city gate. The streets of Yangzhou City were clean and spotless; the shops on both sides were open, but the streets were empty.
Su Jin asked something strange about Song Xiang and Gou Dasheng beside him. Both of them smiled mysteriously but did not answer.
Everyone walked to the Ximen School Ground at the end of West Street. Su Jin was suddenly surprised to find that the entire school ground was filled with men, women, old and young. People were standing on the school ground supporting the elderly and young children. Several streets nearby,
The alleys and lanes were also filled with people.
Su Jin stopped his horse and asked, "What's going on?"
A white-haired old man walked out of the crowd and handed it over with a bowl of wine. With tears streaming down his face, he said, "My lord, please drink a bowl of triumphant wine sent by the people of Yangzhou."
Su Jin quickly dismounted and took the wine bowl and said, "Thank you, husband, I'll drink this wine." After that, he raised his neck and drank the whole bowl of strong wine.
The old man took the empty bowl, raised his hands and shouted: "Please Su Qingtian, please accept the worship of the people of Yangzhou."
As soon as he finished speaking, tens of thousands of people fell to their knees on the ground and kowtowed to Su Jin. With tears in their eyes, people shouted loudly: "Su Qingtian, please accept the worship of the common people."
"Master Qingtian, I wish you a long life and a long life."
"Master Qingtian, you are the savior of our Yangzhou people."
"..."
Su Jin stood there blankly, speechless, and felt something slipping off his face and falling into his mouth, which was unbearably salty.dd