Chapter 708 Young General vs. Rich Lady 11
"This man spread rumors and deceived the people. He deserves to be killed! If the Huo family army wanted to abandon the city and flee, why would they care about your life or death? Why would they give you clean water? Just to let you drink enough water, so that you can come and rob the army rations?"
Huo Xiao's eyes were as sharp as torches. He raised his hand and shot another arrow, hitting a man who was trying to escape in the chaos.
"Catch him! If he kneels down, I won't kill him. If he resists, I will kill him without mercy!"
Huo Xiao brought a team of Huo family soldiers. Although their numbers were far less than those of the mob, they were well-fed and well-drinking, and were armed with swords and guns. They rode their horses and blocked the other end of the narrow alley, looking quite imposing.
The rioting people felt quite guilty after hearing what Huo Xiao said. They drank the water from the general's mansion, which gave them strength. They also heard rumors that came from nowhere and followed Huo Xiao here to rob military rations without knowing what was going on.
Seeing the Huo family soldiers holding swords and knives, they were frightened and scared. They threw away their weapons and knelt on the ground.
One of the leaders died and the rest were arrested. All the rioters were tied up by the Huo family army and brought out one after another, kneeling in the open space.
"Son! Let me go! Catch me, wuwu..."
An old woman beat her chest and stamped her feet, trying to rush over to save her son, but was pushed away by the soldiers.
"Boss! How can you be so stupid! I'm not hungry! Not at all! I didn't ask you to come, so why did you come? If you die, how can I live alone?"
A woman hurried over and knelt on the ground crying loudly.
There were cries everywhere. The women and children who had just stopped the military rations ran to their families. Due to the majesty of the Huo family army, they did not dare to get close and could only kneel on the ground and cry.
More and more family members came over, and when they saw the corpses on the ground, they cried and fainted.
Huo Xiao felt as if he was in purgatory. Even though he had seen many corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield, it was for the sake of defending their country, and they died with honor.
But these people don't have to die. There is plenty of water now. As long as they hold on for a while longer, the gods' food will arrive.
Huo Xiao drew the sword from his waist. The sword was made of black iron and could cut iron like mud. He chopped off a man's right hand with the sword and said coldly, "Who sent you to incite the people to grab military rations?"
The man wailed continuously. He was not a tough guy. His nose and tears were flying and he couldn't even speak clearly.
"I... I don't know! I didn't... I didn't see it clearly... Please spare me! General, please spare me..."
Huo Xiao didn't get any useful information. He pointed his sword at another leader who was jumping around happily. Before he could speak, the man peed himself in fear and cried:
"General, spare my life! I only accepted a piece of pickled meat from that man. If I hadn't, my family would have starved to death!"
"He was hiding in the dark, so we couldn't see his face clearly. From the sound of his voice, he was a middle-aged man. He said that the Huo family army was going to abandon the city and flee to the State of Lu, so he asked us to spread the news."
"Last night, he said that there was food in the general's mansion and asked me to encourage more people to come and grab the food. Regardless of whether I succeeded or not, he would give me another piece of meat. I had no choice but to agree!"
Others said the same thing. After General Huo's death, rumors spread throughout the city. It turned out that someone deliberately spread rumors, causing people to become unstable, which led to today's chaos!
Huo Xiao had some vague guesses in his mind. This person must be of a high status since he knew the situation so well.
"Pingyang City is an important pass for the Wei State. The city is governed by military discipline. Stealing military rations is a capital crime! Cut off the heads of these people and hang them at the entrance of the downtown area to warn the people in the city."
"The rest will be sent to the army as laborers. Since you are so strong, you should fight against the Northern Rong Envoy!"
There is a difference between being exiled and joining the army. In Wei State, only those who committed serious crimes would be exiled, which was almost the same as the death penalty.
Not only did the exiles not receive any pay, they also had to do hard labor such as repairing walls and digging mud on a daily basis. During wars, they were sent to the most dangerous places to serve as cannon fodder, and basically had a life-and-death experience.
If it were in a place like Pingyang City, there would be no chance of survival!
However, Huo Xiao has always cherished the lives of his soldiers, especially now that there are only 20,000 Huo family soldiers left. Even if they are hard laborers, they must be used wisely and not die easily.
When the food from the gods arrives, these people will be able to eat rice and grain. If they train well, they will definitely be useful.
There was another sound of crying at the scene. A tall man was forced to kneel on the ground. Looking at his wife who was crying across from him, his eyes also became red.
"I am willing to go into exile. I know I have committed a capital crime. It is not a pity to die, but I cannot rest in peace because I failed to give you a full meal."
"Boss, don't say that. Pingyang City will be destroyed and everyone will die. Let's die together and be husband and wife in the next life. Woooooo..."
Huo Xiao knew that the people had reached their limit, and if they were not given some hope, even greater unrest would break out.
He said in a deep voice: "Zhao Shan and Zhao Hai, you guys deliver the military rations to the barracks. If you are stopped again, tell them to go to the back alley of the general's mansion to get porridge. If they insist on snatching the military rations, kill them without mercy!"
"Peng Haichang, pass the order down. Cook porridge in the back alley of the general's mansion. Everyone can get a bowl. Lead the soldiers to maintain order and let the people line up to get the porridge. Anyone who causes trouble will be killed without mercy!"
"The General's Mansion does have food, all of which was given to the Huo family army by the gods. I will build a temple for the gods next to the General's Mansion and accept offerings from the people. If you are sincere in defending your country, the gods will give you more food, and there will be no more famine in Pingyang City!"
Under the combination of kindness and force, the rioting people were left with nothing but gratitude.
"As long as my family can have a bite of hot porridge, we are willing to go into exile!"
"We are all Pingyang people, and we swear to defend Pingyang City to the death!"
"If the Northern Rong bandits come one day, I will be the first to fight them!"
The old, the weak, women and children supported each other and walked to the back alley of the general's mansion. The young and strong men who were sent into exile were taken away by the Huo family army.
Zhao Shan organized the troops. Some soldiers were injured and even two died. Stones and bricks could kill people.
Zhao Shan was in a very heavy mood. The city was already in chaos before the fight with the Northern Rong started. The person behind this was really despicable!
He hammered the wall hard and said angrily, "If I find out who is behind this, I will cut him into pieces!"
"Major General, there isn't much food to begin with. If we give porridge to the people, I'm afraid it won't last long."
Huo Xiao sighed and said, "Give the dead soldiers a good burial. If we can return victorious in the future, we will reward them according to their merits and provide good care to their families."
"The gods have promised me that they will send enough food for the whole city. For now, we can only pray that the gods will hurry up. The Beirong may attack the city at any time, so we must prepare early."
After everyone left, a few people walked out of a dilapidated house across the narrow alley.
The leader was big and strong, with a ruddy face and greedy eyes. "The general's mansion has more food than we thought. After shipping out so much, there is still food in the mansion!"
"It's a pity that we failed to rob the grain. Otherwise, we would have been able to get this batch of grain after the Huo family army and the mob were both defeated."
There was a short man next to him, who looked like a child, but had the voice of an adult man, "Boss, the general's mansion is going to give out porridge, do we still have to go and grab it?"
The man slapped him and cursed, "You are so short-sighted! There is famine outside now. I just saw it. The white rice is better than Shandong rice. If we grab this batch of food and sell it, we can guarantee our wealth and prosperity for the rest of our lives!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
