In the Elm Garden.
Zhang Qi said to Ren Qi with a mysterious look on his face: "To be honest, Fan Ciwu and Wang Jun have a few of my informants. They reported back that when they first returned to Yuyuan, they had two meals a day, and they were full. Now they can only eat one meal a day, which is barely enough to fill their stomachs."
"Many people left because they didn't have enough food to eat."
"Fan Ciwu and Wang Jun are very distressed about this matter."
Ren Qi thought about it and asked with some concern: "Is the informant reliable?"
"They are all my closest relatives and are absolutely reliable."
"It seems... the time is ripe." Ren Qi's mouth began to rise, "I just don't know whether the court has already known about this."
"How about..." Zhang Qi looked up in the direction of Puzhou City, "Should we send someone to inform the Imperial Envoy Wang and General Li?"
"No hurry," Ren Qi said cautiously, "After dinner, I will go to Fan Ciwu's place. I will ask for food on the surface, but in reality I want to find out their background to avoid fraud."
"Okay." Zhang Qi nodded, then launched a general attack on the pancake in his hand.
With a clanging sound, countless pancakes were destroyed by the soldiers of the Yuyuan Army.
......
North of Yuyuan.
As noon was approaching, Fan Ciwu, the leader of the Yuyuan Army, was worried about food.
When he separated from Ren Qi, he didn't have much food, but if he ate according to the plan, it would be enough to survive the winter.
Ren Qi's sudden opening of a porridge factory disrupted all his plans.
The people affected by the disaster only knew that the Yuyuan Army opened a porridge factory, but they could not tell which leader opened the porridge factory.
Some people joined Ren Qi, and some joined him and Wang Jun.
At first, he and Wang Jun did not accept these refugees, fearing that there might be spies from the imperial court among them who would take the opportunity to infiltrate their ranks.
but...
This behavior quickly caused divisions within the Yuyuan Army.
The Yuyuan Army called themselves the rebel army.
What is a righteous army?
An army rises up to fight for justice and eliminate violence and protect the good.
Refusing refugees to join completely goes against the original intention of the rebels.
Many soldiers were very dissatisfied with this, and some even left them and joined Ren Qi.
In order to retain the rebels' members and morale, Fan Ciwu had to open a porridge factory like Ren Qi to provide relief to the victims.
As the population grew, the food reserves became less and less.
To do this he had to cut the amount of food supplied daily.
Because they could not even get enough food, many people complained and chose to leave.
Although a lot of people had left, the stored food had been almost eaten up.
If they can't get food, he and his more than 10,000 Yuyuan troops will not be able to survive the winter.
"Report," the voice of a soldier from the Yuyuan Army interrupted Fan Ciwu's thoughts, "Ren Qi wants to see you."
"Ren Qi?" Fan Ciwu narrowed his eyes and smiled coldly: "Why did he come to see me?"
"He didn't say." The Yuyuan Army soldier replied.
"Bring him to see me." Fan Ciwu said coldly.
A moment later, Ren Qi walked through the dense elm forest and came to Fan Ciwu.
"It's been a while since we last met. I hope you are doing well, Brother Fan!" Ren Qi bowed with a smile on his face.
"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't try to get familiar with me." Fan Ciwu answered with a cold face while sitting on a tree stump.
Ren Qi, who had been frustrated, did not show any displeasure, but continued to say politely: "Don't be so angry, it's not good for your health."
"Do you have something to do? If you have something to say, please say it. If not, please leave quickly. We don't provide food here!" Fan Ciwu stood up with his fists clenched.
"Something's up, something's up." Ren Qi's smile faded. "Since so many people have come to me, the army has very little food left. So I want to borrow some food from you and return it to you when I have more."
"No," Fan Ciwu was very angry and refused without hesitation, "If you hadn't opened a porridge factory to attract the people to come and seek refuge, the food stored in Yuyuan would be enough to survive the winter. Now, let alone the people, even the soldiers in the army don't have enough food to eat."
"If you don't want to lend it, just say so. What excuses are you making?" Ren Qi said unhappily.
The Yuyuan Army was well-known for its righteousness. When Fan Ciwu saw that Ren Qi misunderstood him, he immediately explained for himself: "You can eat up all the food, but I don't have much food left. So if there is no food, there is no excuse."
"Well... well," Ren Qi said with some regret, "Do you know the situation over there with Wang Jun?"
"Do you want to borrow food from him?" Fan Ciwu asked back.
"Yes." Ren Qi replied.
"Give up on that idea," Fan Ciwu said with a hint of sarcasm in his laughter, "Wang Jun's situation is no better than yours and mine. It's good enough that he didn't ask you and me to borrow food."
"Ah!" Ren Qi sighed, "In that case, I won't stay any longer. Goodbye."
"No."
As soon as Fan Ciwu finished speaking, a soldier from the Yuyuan Army hurried over from a distance.
He originally wanted to report directly to Fan Ciwu, but when he saw Ren Qi was present, he shut up again.
"Come over and talk," Fan Ciwu waved to the man.
The soldier of Yuyuan Army walked up to Fan Ciwu and whispered in his ear: "It is said that the imperial court has a batch of tax silver being transported from Jiangnan to the capital, and it will arrive in Yuyuan area soon."
"Oh?" Fan Ciwu suddenly became alert. "Is the news reliable?"
"I'm not sure. I've already asked someone to verify it."
"Okay," Fan Ciwu patted the man on the shoulder, "Send more people to verify it, the sooner the better."
"Yes." The soldiers of the Yuyuan Army ran away.
Fan Ciwu had no intention of telling Ren Qi about this, but then he thought that Ren Qi also had channels to obtain information.
This kind of thing can't be hidden from him.
"Ren Qi," Fan Ciwu thought for a moment and said, "It is rumored that the imperial court has a batch of tax silver being transported from Jiangnan to the capital. If nothing goes wrong, it will pass by Yuyuan."
"That's great!" Ren Qi pretended to jump up happily, "We are short of food now. If we can get these tax silvers, we can use the money to buy food."
Fan Ciwu stared at Ren Qi's face for a long time, and when he was sure that he had not found any clues, he said, "To be honest, I don't trust you."
"Don't you trust me?" Ren Qi pretended to be surprised.
"Yes, I don't believe you have rebelled against the court again. I think you are a spy sent by the court to disintegrate the Yuyuan Army from within."
Ren Qi felt a little guilty after hearing what Fan Ciwu said. He pretended to be calm and said, "Believe it or not, I, Ren Qi, have a clear conscience."
Fan Ciwu was stunned by the words "clear conscience".
He remembered the oath they made when they got together and started the uprising.
"You go back first. The issue of taxes and silver has yet to be verified. Besides, it is not my decision alone to decide whether to rob or not. I need to discuss it with Wang Jun." Fan Ciwu issued an order to expel the guest.
"Goodbye." Ren Qi walked away quickly with a guilty conscience.
After simply drinking a bowl of porridge, Fan Ciwu got up and went to Liangshanji area in the east of Yuyuan.
It was not only the territory of Wang Jun, the leader of the Yuyuan Army, but also the only way to transport tax silver.
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