Pang Tong's words made Yan Liang alert again and he thought about this matter seriously again.
Indeed, with Zhuge Liang's ingenuity, he let tens of thousands of people go in vain. If it was just to cause trouble for himself and relieve himself of the burden, it seemed too simple.
After pondering for a moment, Yan Liang's eyes suddenly lit up, "Does the Prime Minister mean that Zhuge Liang will mix his masterpieces with the common people and release them from the city together?"
"Your Majesty is wise, this is exactly what I mean." Pang Tong said with a smile.
So that’s it.
Now that Yecheng is surrounded and impenetrable, Liu Bei's meticulous work cannot penetrate, and Zhuge Liang's message for help cannot be sent out. What Zhuge Liang wants to do most now is probably to get in touch with Liu Bei.
Then, wouldn't it be the best way to take advantage of the opportunity to release the people, mix your own work among the people, and sneak out of the city without anyone noticing?
Yan Liang thought that if it were him, he would definitely do the same thing.
"What does the Prime Minister mean? How should I respond?" Yan Liang asked.
Pang Tong thought over and over again and sighed: "If you don't accept these people, at most you will lose an opportunity to win over the people. I think the priority should be to besiege Yecheng and cut off its connection with Liu Bei."
Pang Tong's meaning shows that I do not agree with accepting these tens of thousands of people.
Yan Liang pondered for a long time, then sneered: "How can I be afraid of Zhuge Liang's little tricks? If he spreads my will, I will accept these tens of thousands of people."
Pang Tong was shocked and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please be careful. I'm afraid that doing this will make Zhuge Liang's conspiracy succeed."
"It doesn't matter, I have my own plan to deal with it." A cold and sly smile appeared on the corner of Yan Liang's mouth.
Pang Tong knew Yan Liang best. Seeing Yan Liang's confidence, he thought he must have a clever idea, so he had no choice but to suppress his suspicion and follow the order.
Therefore, Pang Tong responded to the Han envoy on behalf of Yan Liang and allowed Zhuge Liang to release tens of thousands of people in the city.
Early morning two days later, at the south gate of Yecheng.
The city gates opened wide, the suspension bridge creaked and lowered, and tens of thousands of Han people, dragging their almost frozen and weak bodies, slowly walked out of the city with their young and old in tow.
At this time, a wall in the wall directly opposite the door had been opened, ready to let the Han people out.
On the top of the city, Zhuge Liang and Cao Ren stood side by side on the ice wall, looking down, watching the people who originally belonged to their own country leave the city with hatred to become the people of Chu.
The soldiers on the left and right looked at the leaving civilians with a look of envy in their eyes, as if they were jealous that they could escape from this hellish prison in Ye City.
Zhuge Liang always had a sneer on his face, and that smile was full of ridicule.
"Zixiao, have all our arrangements been made?" Zhuge Liang asked, shaking his feather fan.
Cao Ren cupped his hands and said, "Everything has been arranged. Five hundred people changed into civilian clothes and mixed in with the people leaving the city."
Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, looking satisfied.
"Are these five hundred people loyal and reliable?" Zhuge Liang asked again.
Cao Ren said: "Prime Minister, don't worry. These five hundred people are all direct subordinates of Ren. They are extremely loyal to Ren, and their families are all hostages in the city, so they don't dare to have any different intentions."
"Very good. With the secret cooperation of these five hundred people, the truth will teach Yan Liang a harsh lesson and let him know the means of knowing the truth." Zhuge Liang's tone was solemn, his face full of confidence and pride.
Cao Ren was also full of energy and continued to look outside the city with a sarcastic look.
Tens of thousands of people came out of the city one after another. After a few hours, these people who were regarded as burdens by Zhuge Liang were all let out of the city, and the gates of Ye City were also closed.
These people were all blue-faced and thin, obviously suffering from cold and hunger.
After crossing the wall, they thought that the Chu army would let them go and let them fend for themselves. However, the Chu army sent them into a camp and claimed that they would be given rice as a relief.
When the news came, these people were all overjoyed, extremely grateful to the Chu army, and even more praising Yan Liang for his kindness.
At nearly noon, large pots were set up in the refugee camp, and white corn was poured into the pots. In a short time, the aroma of rice enveloped the entire refugee camp.
The refugees sitting around the fire in the camp, enjoying the rare warmth, all had their tongues wet and their eyes shining, eagerly waiting for a hot and full meal.
On the school platform at the east end of the camp, Yan Liang stood on his horse, overlooking the entire refugee camp from a distance.
"What wonderful trick does your Majesty have? Now you can tell me." Pang Tong beside him was impatient to know the truth.
Yan Liang smiled lightly and said: "Prime Minister, don't be impatient. Who is the common people and who is Zhuge Liang's work will be revealed soon."
Pang Tong had no choice but to suppress his curiosity and wait patiently to see what Yan Liang would do.
Not long after, the rice porridge was cooked, and the Chu soldiers who were maintaining order ordered the refugees to line up and go to get the porridge.
The refugees swarmed over and rushed to dozens of large pots to get porridge to eat.
The few hundred people who rushed to the front received a bowl full of fragrant rice porridge first. They quickly ran back to the fire with the hot porridge in their arms and started gobbling it down.
As soon as the porridge was in their mouth and after swallowing most of it, they realized that something was wrong with the porridge.
"Ouch, why is this porridge so salty?"
"Yeah, it's too salty. Maybe I added too much salt."
Shouting suddenly broke out, and the refugees who had been devouring their food were all smacking their lips and complaining.
"Okay, stop complaining. Just be salty. It's still hot food, so just eat it."
"That's right. I'm making irresponsible remarks when I give you food. If you don't want to eat it, you can go back to Yecheng to eat raw food in the cold."
"I'm just saying casually. Actually, this rice is a bit salty, but it's still delicious."
After complaining, these refugees were starved after all. Although the rice porridge was salty, they still endured it and ate it hungrily.
But they didn't realize that there were countless pairs of eyes around them, watching their every move.
On the school platform, Pang Tong saw this scene and suddenly realized it. When he looked at Yan Liang, his eyes were filled with admiration.
"Your Majesty, did your Majesty intentionally order more salt in the porridge?" Pang Tong asked in surprise.
"If you don't add more salt, how can these turtles leak the truth?" Yan Liang raised a sneer at the corner of his mouth, waved his hand and shouted: "Send the order, tell the soldiers to keep an eye on it, anyone who can't eat will be killed.
Catch them all by me."
Zhuge Liang wanted to mix sand into the refugees and mix in his Xizuo, so Yan Liang came up with this method to screen out Xizuo.
The refugees are so hungry that as long as there are no nails in the porridge, even if it is a little salty, they will endure it.
The craftsmen were different. Before sending them out, Zhuge Liang must have given them a full meal to boost their morale.
In this way, when these well-fed workers eat porridge that is so salty that they are tongue-tied, will they still be like the refugees and have to swallow it?
Of course not.
In this case, the identity of Xizuo and the refugee can be easily distinguished.
Porridge has been distributed to tens of thousands of people, and countless pairs of eyes are watching these mixed creations, carefully searching for any abnormalities.
Soon, the soldiers who were ordered to observe discovered suspicious elements among the large group of refugees.
Some refugees who looked very strong, after taking a few mouthfuls of salty porridge, quietly poured the porridge on the ground when others were not paying attention.
Some refugees only ate a few mouthfuls, then they said they were full and kindly poured the porridge in their bowls to others.
Moreover, these suspicious-looking refugees mostly appeared in groups of twos and threes, and they would look at each other from time to time.
These people are obviously the ones Yan Liang wants to catch.
Deng Ai, who was in charge of the matter, saw that the time was almost up, so he gave an order, and the sergeants quietly approached the suspicious elements, and took the suspicious elements away from the refugee camp one by one on the pretext of asking about the situation in Yecheng.
.
Yan Liang saw that he had almost caught him, so he sneered, got off the school platform, and went straight to the other camp.
About five hundred fake refugees were brought here from another camp, and the interrogation had already begun before Yan Liang arrived.
Yan Liang rode his horse into the camp, and piercing screams could be heard from the military tents. This was the interrogating Chu soldiers, who were executing the torture on the fake refugees to force them to confess.
Yan Liang got off his horse and walked straight into the military tent where Deng Ai was.
At this time, the man tied to the pillar in the tent was howling like a slaughtered pig, being beaten with a whip soaked in water, and kept shouting "Unjust".
"Father." Deng Ai saw Yan Liang and hurried forward to see him.
Yan Liang nodded and raised his whip: "Isn't this guy still unwilling to admit it?"
"Yes, this kid is so stubborn that he refuses to admit it until he bites him." Deng Ai said bitterly.
Yan Liang signaled to stop the torture, walked up to his man, and looked him up and down.
Most of the refugees in the city had traces of frostbite on their bodies, but the man in front of him had no scratches at all, and he didn't look like he had been hungry. It was obviously a trick.
"Your Majesty, the common people have been wronged. Your Majesty, please have mercy." The man defended himself bitterly.
Yan Liang was indifferent. He only grabbed one of his palms and glanced at it carefully. Then, Yan Liang sneered disdainfully.
"What are you doing in Yecheng?" Yan Liang asked.
"As a young man, he just opened a small restaurant and did some small business to make a living. He is really not a meticulous person. Your Majesty, please have mercy on me."
Yan Liang pointed at his palm and said coldly: "A restaurant owner has calluses on his hands that look the same as a soldier holding a knife. Zhuge Liang is blind. Even with a guy like you, you want to fool me."
?”
As soon as these words came out, the man's face suddenly changed, with such a stunned expression, it was obvious that Yan Liang had discovered his identity.
While he was still waiting to defend himself, Yan Liang waved his hand and shouted: "Come here, castrate this guy for me, make his eggs into broth, and feed it to this guy." (To be continued.)
