C138 Surround the City

The next day, it was early in the morning in Qing. Zhang Jingxuan was still bedridden when he heard a piece of news that made him lose all his sleepiness.

Tian Liewu's subordinate, Pegasus, came to report that something big had happened in the county town. It was almost an irreparable situation.

The Yan'an Province, which was supposed to be giving porridge and food, had now become a mess.

County Magistrate Zhao, on the other hand, carried out the order of opening the warehouse to provide food. Under the heavy pressure, he did a good job.

But it was precisely because of this that the trouble was even greater.

The hungry people spread word by word, and the news spread out like a snowflake, covering the sky and covering the earth. When the hungry people in the nearby provinces heard about this, they all headed towards Yan'an Province County in groups. The grain in the granary was like a cup of water and a cart of water. Within a day, it had all been distributed.

Luckily, Lee Yao was on the side helping to arrange the food. He chose to set up a tent outside the city to distribute the food. Those starving people did not enter the city, or else the chaos would be even greater.

Seeing that more and more starving people were coming, County Magistrate Zhao was scared to death. The four doors of the county were tightly shut and no one was allowed to enter or leave. He also ordered people to inform the starving people that the food had been distributed.

He originally thought that the hungry people outside the city would disperse on their own when they knew that there was no food. He did not think that someone was spreading rumors within the city, saying that there was still a large amount of food in the city. It was the official who hid it and refused to release it again.

With the rumors spreading, the number of hungry people outside the city was huge. With more people, they even became bold. Under the leadership of a few leaders, they actually did not want to disperse and even charged into the city gate.

Fortunately, they did not have any weapons. They only used their hands to knock on the door and fiercely smashed it with stones. However, County Magistrate Zhao was like a frightened bird in the city. He ordered the soldiers on the city wall to shoot arrows, instantly killing and injuring more than a dozen starving people.

County Magistrate Zhao originally wanted to scare off the starving people. He thought that they would escape in all directions. In the end, not only did this not have the effect that he wanted, but it also added fuel to the fire.

At this moment, there were about four or five thousand starving people gathered outside the city. Most of them ran over with hope for a bite of food. Some of them even carried the heavy responsibility of bringing some food for their families to save their lives. They were furious when they saw the situation at the scene. They were at a loss.

At this time, as long as someone shouted, the hungry men and women would no longer look like they usually did. They might not even recognize themselves when they looked at the mirror.

However, they were unarmed and did not have any tools. No matter how many disaster victims there were, they could not do anything against the tall city wall.

However, they were not willing to leave. They were all bitterly guarding outside the city. Using... Their eyes were filled with hatred as they stared at the city gate. As long as the city gate was opened, they would risk their lives to rush into the city. It was as if there really was an inexhaustible treasury in the city that could fill everyone's stomachs. They could bring back food that could save lives for their families.

In this chaotic world, as long as one lived one more day than others, it was the hope of one day. As for the rest, not many people thought about it anymore.

Furthermore, this butterfly effect was constantly on the verge of being magnified. As long as the surrounding famine citizens heard about this, they would all drag their families along and rush over.

In this state of despair, even a tiny bit of hope was worth using the greatest strength to grab hold of. It was believed that before long, the entire county would be surrounded by the hungry people who rushed over from all directions. If this sliver of hope was destroyed again, then there would only be endless despair left.

There were only a few soldiers in Yan'an Province City. Yesterday, some of them were scared away by the Breeze Stronghold's invasion. It was all because of the high wall that blocked the tens of thousands of starving people. If someone opened the city gate at this moment... The consequences would be unimaginable.

The starving people didn't dare to look at each other because they were afraid of being scared by the light in each other's eyes. These people gathered together like piles of dry gunpowder scattered there. As long as there was a little spark, it would cause a great explosion.

At this time, Zhang Nanyao and Lee Huanqing also heard the news and came over. When Lee Huanqing encountered something, she immediately acted as if she was a different person. Standing there, she was solemn and serious. Zhang Jingxuan felt that he often did not know or just knew this person.

Zhang Jingxuan first asked for Zhang Nanyao's opinion. This matter had a lot to do with him. It seemed like he might have done something bad out of kindness, so he needed to be more cautious in dealing with this later. Otherwise, if it caused a huge disaster, although the Breeze Stronghold wouldn't suffer any losses, but how could he feel at ease when the time came?

Zhang Nanyao knew what Zhang Jingxuan was thinking, so he explained.

"This matter involves chivalry, we, the Breeze Stronghold, cannot ignore it. Moreover, it's better to deal with this kind of group matter as soon as possible. If we delay it by even a quarter of an hour, there might be changes. I think it's better this way. We have obtained a lot of wealth from the Lei family. We can consider buying a batch of food to feed the starving people. This can also be considered as doing a good deed for the Lei family.

The only problem with doing this is the time limit. We need to buy so much food. It was not an easy task. Moreover, it could easily cause the price of food to rise. I'm afraid we can only take out a portion of the stockpile from the stockpile to solve the urgent situation. "

Lee Huanqing also felt that what Zhang Nanyao said was a feasible way. It seemed that there was no other good plan, so she nodded in agreement at the side.

Zhang Jingxuan lowered his head and pondered. Zhang and Li tactfully did not disturb him.

After a long while, Zhang Jingxuan seemed to have gotten rid of the doubt in his heart. He finally made up his mind and said to the two of them.

"Brother Zhang's method is indeed more reliable. It might be the best choice under the circumstances. However, there are pros and cons to everything. This method is reliable. But we can only temporarily resolve the current crisis, treating the symptoms and not the root.

Furthermore, our grain can't be easily moved. Grain is the foundation of the army. I have no right to use the foundation of Breeze Stronghold in private. If the Imperial Court troops surround the stronghold now, without grain in the mountain, the people's morale would be unstable. Thus, I have a bold idea. I would like to discuss it with the two of you."

Zhang Nanyao and Lee Huanqing looked at each other. This was the first time they had seen Zhang Jingxuan so serious and serious. They were not used to it and nodded at the same time.

Zhang Jingxuan stood up at this time and spoke in a deep tone. He said a long speech that seemed like he had just finished drafting. Zhang Nanyao and Lee Huanqing could not help but be dumbfounded. Lee Huanqing even suspected that the last time she named him, she said that he had no knowledge. Could it be that this fellow did not sleep all night to study?

It was because Zhang Jingxuan had started to use the scriptures that she had never seen before.

"As the saying goes, Taigong has a saying: Mortals are greedy, but they are honest and use their name to fish for fame. Officials and villages are willing to use private favors to cause private and public interests to be indistinguishable, and the rules are in chaos. This is a thief among the government. The person in front of him shouted, while the person in front of him shouted, This is a thief among the government. If a country's politics were like this, then the country would not be long.

As I said, it seems that this catastrophe will not be able to escape. At the very least, we will have to act according to the heavens.

During these years, strange phenomena were constantly occurring. One had to understand that as the saying went, when the heavens released killing intent, the stars shifted, the earth trembled, the great drought, the cold never stopped, and the earth emitted killing intent. Dragon snakes rose from the earth, causing locusts, mice, and snakes to flood the land. People were too busy to deal with the situation; people were killing intent, and the world was turning upside down. The people were not living a good life right now, and there were endless complaints and grievances everywhere. However, Zhu Men wine and meat were smelly, so why not eat minced meat? It was not any worse than Xia Jie and Yin Zhou. It was still better than that.

It was said that Jiangnan was rich and prosperous, and there was a lot of wealth gathered there. However, there were many conflicts of interest between the powerful and influential people in the dynasty. That was why the tax was low, and the years of natural disasters and man-made disasters in the provinces in the northwest were as harsh as taxes. The local government did not care about the people's feelings and opinions, and they had forced their way into the country. Finally, the situation had gotten out of hand. However, this kind of man-made disaster is not only a crisis for the court but also an opportunity for us."