Continuous white snow fell all day and all night, and in the morning of the next day, a faint ray of sunshine barely appeared from the clouds. />
Green smoke is curling up on the roofs of wealthy people's houses, and heat waves are steaming inside their houses. However, ordinary people have neither dry firewood for heating nor food to feed their families, and they are about to die of cold and hunger before their very eyes.
This is the current situation of Zhongshan Kingdom.
Although he has the reputation of being an able minister and a benevolent king, the territory under Liu Yu's rule is not much different from that of the Han Dynasty, which was once in the sunset. The burden on the people is not lighter than before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but is actually heavier.
Some, because the existence of Qingzhou brought too heavy military pressure to Liu Yu, and he had to pass these pressures on to the people.
As soon as the snow stopped, Wang Men breathed a sigh of relief. He was not worried that the heavy snow would cause too many hungry people, but he was worried that Jiang Qi would not be able to reach his destination in time, which would threaten the safety of the entire Hutuo River defense line.
Youzhou's early warning work was done well. Although the gale force cavalry came with ferocity, Jiang Qi took advantage of the distance after all. After receiving the news, he knew that it was a matter of life and death and set off without any delay. There is no heavy snow now.
Without interference, the chances of winning this contest will be much greater.
However, before Wang Men's anxious heart could return to his stomach, he was frightened by another urgent information that made him jump up and down.
"A large number of refugees have gathered outside the city? How many are there? What are they going to do? Do they dare to gather to cause chaos?"
A series of questions made the city gate official have the urge to roll his eyes. What are the refugees doing gathering outside the city? Isn't this nonsense? A snowstorm is also a disaster. The hungry people have no choice but to come to the county town to beg for food? The government's
Whether it's relief or charity from a wealthy family, it's always a way to survive.
For asking such an idiotic question, should we say that General Wang is overly nervous? Or does he have no common sense in the first place?
Carefully concealing the disdain in his heart, the city gate official replied truthfully: "There are countless people outside the city. Looking at the momentum, there must be ten or twenty thousand people."
"I know that refugees will come to the city to beg for food!" Although he was very careful, his little thought was still looked down upon by the Wang family, who became angry and emphasized in tone: "But the problem is, in Lu
When we were slaves, no matter how severe the disaster was, only a few hundred or thousands of refugees would come to the city. How come there are so many people here in Wuji?"
"This..." The city gate officer immediately paused. The answer was very simple, but he did not dare to say it out loud.
The city gate officials don't know much about how the king's clan governs in Lunu, but just looking at the number of soldiers and horses under his command, the word "extreme expropriation and expropriation" is readily apparent.
On the Wuji side, headed by the Zhen family, there are quite a few kind-hearted people in the city. The snowstorm came suddenly and violently. Many houses in the countryside must have collapsed, and the hungry people did not come to Wuji.
They could only cross the Hutuo River and go to Xisan County to find a way out.
But the Hutuo River is under martial law, and those who are able to cross the river are not inferior in status. Those who are not able to cross the river can only come to Wanji City. Is it surprising that there are more people?
"Someone must have known that the general was here, so he came here to surrender. This is all due to the general's prestige." In line with the principle of protecting one's own safety, the city gate official changed to a more euphemistic way of saying it.
"Haha. Is that so?"
Even if you try to flatter him, you will never be able to flatter him. Wang Men knew that the other party was trying to flatter him, but he still couldn't suppress the drunkenness in his heart. He stroked his thick beard on his chin and muttered: "Despite this, the Qingzhou Army
The soldiers are pressing down on the territory, and Wang Yu and his minions are also cunning people. There is no guarantee that they will not take the opportunity to attack, but the city gate cannot be opened wide..."
After thinking about it, he felt that this was still not safe enough, so he waved his hand and said: "The city gate cannot be opened. All the food stored in the city is military rations. Without the order of the Grand Sima, I have no right to embezzle it. This is good. Let the big families in the city
Just collect some food, set up a few porridge shacks outside the city, and send the hungry people back early."
The city gate officer was already yelling curses in his heart, and of course he was scolding the Wang Clan for their shamelessness.
It cannot be misappropriated without the order of Da Sima? These grains are obviously scraped from the countryside with Liu Yu's tiger skins after you arrived in Wuji, okay? If you hadn't scraped the land too cleanly, there would be no food outside the city.
As for there being so many refugees.
There are also big households in the city...
Hey, have you all been less oppressed by you during this time? The Zhen family is such a good family, but one of their careless sons went to Qingzhou to do business and brought back some local products.
In spite of the prosperity of Qingzhou, you were forcefully forced to plead guilty and contributed a lot of money and food. In the final analysis, you are just a tough person and a weak person, and you only know how to bully good people!
He scolded fiercely in his heart, but the smile on the face of the city gate official became more and more humble. He nodded and bowed and said: "Yes, yes, I will go and deliver the order right away... In fact, the Zhen family has already prepared.
Several hundred bushels of grain are just waiting for your order to help the hungry people in your name."
"Oh?" When Wang Men heard this, he was full of heart and said with a smile: "Mr. Xianyi is really a thoughtful person, why is this so embarrassing?"
The city gate official smiled apologetically and said: "Only when the army and the people are united can we resist foreign aggression. Master Zhen said so..."
"It makes sense, so I would be disrespectful to reject it." Wang Men nodded and became more and more proud. His trick of buying horse bones for a thousand gold was simply a stroke of genius. If not for this, how could the Zhen family be so dedicated?
Speaking of which, the Zhen family is really rich. They had previously donated three thousand bushels of grain as military rations, and now they casually donated several hundred bushels of grain. It was really exciting. He thought with regret.
: It's a pity that I agreed to Zhen Yi's thing, but it's hard to do anything again. It's really a pity.
"By the way, what's your name?" Wangmen stopped the city gate official who was about to leave and asked. The other person was very good at talking, and there were many warriors around Wangmen. What they lacked was this kind of smart person. He was determined to conquer him.
An eye liner, so he can spy on the secrets of big families in the city, so as to prevent those people from acting treacherously.
"Xiaoguan Lu Ze, courtesy name Shaorong, is from Luoyang, Sili. He worked as a buyer in Sikong Mansion for several years..."
Wang Men's eyes lit up: "It turns out that I have experienced it in a high school, good, very good, Qin Shou..."
"Here are the subordinates!" Lu Ze was startled. He didn't realize until someone came out of the tent in response to the order. The other person was not scolding him, but calling someone. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and cursed the schoolmaster with a weird name.
Wei Lai. What name is difficult to choose, but it is called a beast?
"You go to the city gate with Shaorong. You must maintain good order and prevent the enemy from sneaking through."
"Here!"
The Zhen family had long been prepared, and under its leadership, the big families in the city who were on good terms with the Zhen family, or who were interested in currying favor with the king, also quickly joined in, and soon a series of disaster relief porridge shacks were set up outside the city gate. Now, everyone was waiting for death.
The people finally had hope. They came in droves with large and small bowls, and a long queue formed in front of the porridge shed.
By noon, not only the refugees and beggars in the villages around the city had received the news, but also the poor people from farther away came with their families and knelt at the city gate to beg General Wang for a way to survive.
"The place where you live has its own local government and a good family is responsible for providing relief. Why do you all come to Wuji?" After receiving the royal family's strict order, Lu Ze did not dare to neglect and stood at the top of the city and rebuked loudly.
"Go home and wait! The relief food will be sent out soon!" Seeing that Lu Ze's words had no effect, Qin Shou stood in front of Lu Ze with a dark face and shouted loudly: "You haven't eaten the porridge yet.
Come on, are you going to gather people to cause trouble?"
The people in the city were speechless and just kowtowed and cried.
After crying for a while. Seeing that the defenders still had no intention of opening the door, a few elderly people raised their faces, shook their eyebrows condensed with ice and snow, and prayed loudly: "Please be merciful, gentlemen. Let women and children go."
Let the children go in and have a warm meal. The house at home has long been uninhabitable, and we old bones are frozen to death. But the children can't survive any longer!"
"Master, please have mercy and live!" The women and children cried out in unison. The scene was so miserable that Lu Ze on the other side wiped away his tears.
He was not a local, but after escaping, he married a local daughter-in-law. With his previous experience and shrewdness, he became a county magistrate. After a few years, he had already integrated into the place.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he was very helpless. He simply leaned out half of his body from the top of the city and advised softly: "Several old people, don't say depressing words. Don't mention others, can you still not trust Master Zhen? In order to help everyone, he
We have put all our property on the line. If we all endure for one more day, just one day, and the day after tomorrow morning at the latest, the relief food will be delivered to every pavilion and every village!"
"Uncle Lu, look at us like this, can we survive until the morning the day after tomorrow?" He opened his eyes and told lies, but the refugees outside the city were not stupid either. A skinny old man lifted up his single clothes that were riddled with holes and said,
He pointed at his shriveled belly and cried.
"Uncle Lu, please do it. I will definitely build a shrine for you in the future! From now on, you will be my reborn parents!" The young men kneeling in the back row of the crowd were all pleading in unison.
Lu Ze stopped moving and looked at Qin Shou eagerly.
He, the county magistrate, only has a hundred or so yamen servants available, and those who are really in charge are the soldiers of the Wang Clan. Usually the latter will be lazy and leave everything to him and his subordinates. But when it comes to serious matters, he still has to listen to others.
of.
"The whole army has them, load up the arrows!" The king's clan appointed Qin Shoulai for a reason. His eloquence is far inferior to that of Lu Ze, but he has more courage to kill decisively than the latter. He has a tigerish face.
, raised his right arm high, and shouted like a thunderbolt, which made the snow fall, and everyone's faces instantly turned pale.
"Now is the time of battle. Qingzhou soldiers and horses are arriving in a moment. How can there be any reason to open the city gate lightly? Anyone who dares to come forward to make noise will be regarded as spies and will be killed without mercy!"
"Kill!" the defenders at the top of the city shouted in unison, rushing toward them with murderous intent.
The people who were kneeling and begging under the city were so frightened that they trembled all over, regardless of the cold, and desperately moved closer to each other, as if they could escape the danger. Although they were frightened, no one was willing to retreat. Their homes had been destroyed by the heavy snow, and the only hope was
Just go to the city to spend the winter. If you can't get into the city, you will still be dead in the end.
Seeing that the crowd was not retreating, Qin Shou frowned at first, then let go, and finally stood upright! He placed his left hand behind his back and waved it a few times. Several personal guards understood, opened the bow strings in their hands, and aimed at the target.
Those old men taking the lead!
When Lu Ze caught a glimpse, his whole body felt violently. He was about to open his mouth to stop him, but when he turned his head, his eyes suddenly met Qin Shou's cold eyes. In an instant, the blood all over his body seemed to be frozen.
I have so much intolerance and so much helplessness, how can I open my mouth?
When everything was quiet, a soft and childish voice sounded softly: "It's so cold, how pitiful it is to be freezing outside. General, please be kind and let everyone in, please?"