Chapter 126 A Life for a Life
In the evening, Huang Wei was tidying up the disaster relief accounts when a subordinate stumbled in and rushed in to report something.
"My lord, something terrible has happened!"
Huang Wei immediately sensed something was wrong. "What happened?"
The subordinate, panting heavily, reported incoherently, "Lord Cui's grain transport team... has been robbed!"
"What?!" Huang Wei jumped to his feet. "What exactly happened?"
"When Lord Cui passed through Qianniu Town, he was surrounded by a large number of starving people. When the grain carts passed by, the people rushed forward to beg for food. In order to ensure the safety of the grain, Lord Cui ordered his soldiers to drive them away. In the ensuing scuffle, a conflict broke out, and several elderly and weak people were pushed to the ground... The people were immediately enraged, and someone shouted 'Rob the grain!' and the crowd surged forward like madmen. The soldiers could not stop them at all! The grain carts were overturned, and all the grain was looted! Even Lord Cui only managed to escape back with great difficulty under the escort of the soldiers."
Huang Wei frowned deeply. "How is this possible? Where is Lord Cui? I need to see him."
"Lord Cui has just escaped and is currently having his wounds bandaged at the government office."
Huang Wei rushed over and saw that Cui Dalang had a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his head and was covered in wounds, clearly indicating that his injuries were serious.
Upon seeing him, Cui Dalang couldn't help but complain, "These unruly people! My Cui family kindly provided grain for disaster relief, and they repay kindness with such ingratitude! Lord Huang, why don't you quickly send General He to suppress them? If this continues, won't the world descend into chaos!"
Huang Wei pressed on in a deep voice, "Was all the grain really looted? Weren't there two hundred soldiers escorting it? How could it have been so easily taken away by those refugees?"
Cui Dalang said anxiously, "Is this a lie? The rioters swarmed in and looted the grain they saw. How could we stop them? Not only did they loot the grain, but they also attacked and injured people. They were utterly lawless! They outnumbered us and we lost many brothers before we barely managed to escape!"
Huang Wei became increasingly aware of something amiss: "The disaster victims are already too weak from hunger, how could they possibly have the strength to fight against the government troops?"
Cui Dalang was taken aback upon hearing this. Recalling the chaotic scene at the time, he nodded in agreement: "Speaking of which... it is indeed a bit strange. That group of people acted with great discipline and speed... In this light, it is clearly the work of bandits! Lord Huang, what are you waiting for? Quickly order the suppression."
Huang Wei knew the situation was dire.
At this critical juncture, if we do not take strong measures against the looting of grain, the order will completely collapse once such behavior becomes widespread.
After consulting with the Second Prince, he immediately ordered General He to lead the remaining officers and soldiers out of the city to "suppress the bandits," in order to recover the grain and stabilize the morale of the people.
Cui Dalang was also furious, and immediately ordered the Cui family to send out their soldiers to wipe out and massacre the bandits in Qianniu Town, claiming that they would "capture the bandit leader as a warning to others".
Even though it was late at night, the mountain was still brightly lit.
Everyone gathered around the campfire, holding their bowls and eating heartily, their faces finally showing some signs of life.
A burly man dressed in coarse cloth and shorts carried a bowl of steaming rice into the middle of the wooden house. He said to the people inside, "Brother Shi, everyone has already eaten. Please eat while it's hot."
The person inside turned around upon hearing the sound, and there stood Shi Zhu, who had been missing for nearly four months.
Since leaving the capital, Shi Zhu's hatred has never dissipated.
However, he was outnumbered and outmatched, and could hardly stand up against the second prince.
He knew that the Cui family was the Second Prince's support, so he came all the way to Qinghe County with the intention of causing trouble for the Cui family.
Unexpectedly, upon arriving in Qianniu Town, I was shocked by the devastation before my eyes.
The drought has ravaged the land, leaving the fields cracked and the harvests nonexistent. The people have long since run out of food and are forced to dig up grass roots and eat tree bark to survive.
However, the local powerful clans took advantage of the famine to drive down prices, offering only one bushel of rice for half an acre of land. In order to survive, everyone had no choice but to agree.
Local wealthy households even colluded with officials to buy government grain from the granaries at low prices and then sell it to the people at high prices, enriching themselves.
Shi Zhu immediately abandoned her original plan and decided to stay.
He gathered a group of equally desperate people, harassed local wealthy households from time to time, and raided grain stores under the cover of night to steal grain and distribute it among the people.
As time went on, more and more desperate disaster victims gathered around him, hailed him as their "leader," and followed him to fight against the powerful and tyrannical.
When Cui Dalang's grain transport team passed through Qianniu Town, Shizhu learned that the grain belonged to the Cui family and immediately decided to take action.
It was not only to seize grain for emergency relief, but also to cause trouble for the Cui family.
He intended to take advantage of the chaos to kill Cui Dalang to avenge his son, but unfortunately, Cui Dalang escaped in the end.
"Has the grain been counted?" Shi Zhu asked after taking a bite of rice from her bowl.
The burly man was named Chen Er. He was originally a local villager who had sold all his land due to a drought and almost starved to death. It was Shi Zhu who saved his family, and from then on, he devoted himself to following Shi Zhu.
He said angrily, "The Cui family is truly despicable! They speak so grandly, about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, about being righteous, but half of those twenty carts of grain were mixed with rice bran, and there was also a lot of old and moldy rice, old stockpiled for who knows how many years. They used it to appease the disaster victims and even wanted to gain a good reputation! They really have a clever plan!"
Shi Zhu sneered, her eyes full of mockery: "It's not surprising that the Cui family would do something like this. Haven't they taken advantage of this drought to make a fortune? Weren't your three acres of fertile land forced to be sold at a low price by a distant relative of the Cui family?"
Chen Er clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "That's right! So I feel great about robbing their grain!"
Then, he became worried, "But Brother Shi, what should we do if they send troops to suppress us? Although we have a lot of people, most of them are not even full, and there are many elderly, weak, women and children. How can we fight against the government troops?"
"Don't be afraid." Shi Zhu finished his meal in a few bites, put down his bowl, and said, "We have food now, enough to last us for a while. Immediately send someone to inform the refugees in the surrounding area that there is grain on Qianniu Mountain, and anyone willing to come will be given a meal!"
He stood up, looked at the scattered campfires outside the window, and said, "With more people, we won't be afraid of the imperial army! When the time comes, we can fight back and take back the land that was taken from us!"
Chen Er's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied, "Okay! I'll go right away!"
Shi Zhu watched Chen Erdao's retreating figure, her heart filled with barely concealed excitement.
This is a golden opportunity, as the Second Prince is in Weizhou.
He absolutely could not allow the other party to easily gain credit for disaster relief and return to Beijing in glory!
He wanted him to pay with his life, to make the young master pay for his life.
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