Even the swallows flying in the sky are eaten by some people.
Qi Yuning saw a few old men trying to pluck the swallows' feathers, so he stepped forward and said, "You can't eat them. They are full of poison. If you eat them, you will die."
The Shanzhou people who were eating swallows ignored Qi Yuning. "Eating swallows will kill you. If we don't eat swallows, we won't be able to survive today. We haven't eaten for three days and three nights. In the past month, we have almost eaten all the tree bark."
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze beside him and asked, "Has Shanzhou suffered a disaster?"
Lu Ze shook his head and said, "No, after the great disaster four years ago, Shanzhou City should have had a lot of food reserves, so the people of the city wouldn't have fallen into such a state."
"It's all because of you officials. For your own private words and the sake of your high position, you don't care about the lives of us ordinary people!"
"It's so hard! Being a commoner is such a hard life!"
Qi Yuning asked repeatedly: "Since there was no disaster, why did it become like this?"
"When the soldiers passed through Shanzhou City, they first raided the homes of the common people and robbed them of all their food and silver. All the able-bodied men were drafted into the army, and even the pretty daughters were raped. Now you want food, but we don't even have any, and yet you're asking us to eat swallows. What's that?"
Qi Yuning was so angry that he gripped the reins tightly and said, "Those Qin family beasts! Don't worry, there will be food! Don't eat the swallows and mice. Go and spread the word that the Qi family army is distributing porridge at the city gate."
Lu Ze looked at Qi Yuning and said, "Our military rations are not enough to provide porridge for the people in the city. After Shanzhou City, there are Chang'an and Shangzhou. Each city is more difficult to attack than the last."
Qi Yuning said, "We are raising an army for the people of the world. Do I have to watch the people of a city starve to death? We will have military supplies once we reach Chang'an. The people of Shanzhou City are more important."
Qi Yuning even went to find the Qi family army and asked them to take food to various villages in Shanzhou City and distribute rice porridge at the city gates in the east, south, west and north.
Qi Yuning and Lu Ze personally distributed white porridge to the people at the north city gate.
Qi Yu'an came over in armor and said, "Sister, Chang'an City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Now that the military rations have been given to the people, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for us."
Qi Yuning said, "We can't just watch the people of the city die because of the Qin family's evil deeds. Besides, I have already transferred military rations from the Zhou army."
Qi Yuan sighed softly.
Qi Yuning said, "The Qin family has committed many evil things. God will not let them off."
Just as Qi Yuanan said, Chang'an was the capital of Dasheng, and it was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
This place is considered Qi Yuning's fiefdom, but it is a fiefdom in name only. The aristocratic families are entrenched in Chang'an City, and it has always been the place with the strongest military force of the imperial court. After a long time, the military rations have become a little insufficient.
Near the end of July, Chang'an was still difficult to capture, but two pieces of good news came from the North City.
One reason was that the summer wheat harvest was great, and the military rations had been delivered from the North City. The other reason was that Ah Ping had given birth to a son, weighing six pounds and six ounces...
Qi Yu'an saw the letter written by A Ping and held it tightly in his hand. Qi Yuning did not see his brother's joy and said, "Aren't you happy that my eldest nephew was born?"
Qi Yu'an said: "I'm happy, but I feel guilty that I couldn't be with her."
Qi Yuning said, "Princess Pingrou Lu Baozhu is with us. It's a great joy for Ah Ping to have a son. The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, so I'll double the military pay this month. What do you think?"
Qi Yu'an said: "Okay."
Upon learning that Aping had given birth, Qi Yuning was much happier than Qi Yu'an. She also received a letter from Lingling. Under Lu Baohua's guidance, Lingling's calligraphy had made great progress. After just a few months of not seeing her, Lingling's handwriting could already be clearly read.
Lu Ze looked at Lingling's letter and thought about Lingling's small hands holding the pen and writing about her cousin. He smiled softly, "It's a pity Lingling didn't know that he was a cousin, not a brother."
Qi Yuning said: "I miss Lingling. I can't let her spend my birthday and Mid-Autumn Festival with me."
Lu Ze remembered and said, "Come to think of it, your birthday is coming soon."
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