Chapter 158 Evil
When Chen Lie and Sang Luo were discussing leaving the valley and going out to see if Manager Xu had left a letter, outside Qiyang County, a group of remnants of the army were fleeing towards Qiyang County in a panic.
In a large mansion with four courtyards donated by a wealthy family in Qiyang County, the small leader of the remaining soldiers was led by the city guards into the temporary command residence where the commander-in-chief lived in the city.
The atmosphere in the night was extremely depressing. The person leading the way and the people behind him who were in a bad shape and injured were afraid to even breathe.
…
There was a sound of broken porcelain in the study room. The young general named Chen looked livid and stared at his half-kneeling subordinate with a sinister look: "Say it again, where are the food and fodder?"
The man did not dare to raise his head, and the helmet tassel that had been cut off halfway trembled as he spoke: "We were robbed by bandits on the way."
"Then how did you come back alive?"
"Waste!" Along with this scolding, there was another muffled sound. It was the sound of the kneeling man being kicked to the ground, but the man did not dare to even make a sound.
"Come here! Select 500 elite soldiers to follow me out of the city!"
The night in Qiyang County was turbulent. At nightfall, a large number of soldiers rushed out with torches. Soon, they returned empty-handed and exhausted.
In the backyard of the county government office, County Magistrate Wei received the news handed over by the city gate guard and his face looked extremely grim.
"The food and fodder were sent before the troops moved, how could the food and fodder be robbed at the last moment?"
Thinking of the decree again, he couldn't continue. It was a large-scale emergency dispatch, and it wasn't just his county that had no time to prepare.
Thinking about the two granaries in the county government, he was about to ask someone to find the county magistrate to discuss the matter. Before he could open his mouth, the doorman hurried in and whispered, "General Chen is here."
County Magistrate Wei gritted his teeth. Sure enough, they had set their sights on him.
He was so angry that his face twitched, but he had to put on a smile and go out.
…
No one knew what the two county officials talked about in the middle of the night, or who compromised and who gave in.
The next morning, just after daybreak, the area where wealthy families were concentrated in Qiyang County became bustling. The guard named Chen, dressed in armor, led his guards to visit each wealthy household one by one to raise food.
The house where Manager Xu lived was very small, but its location was excellent, right in this area. When he heard the noise outside, he went out to see what was going on, and he kept looking for more than an hour.
The army is looking for wealthy families to donate grain.
As long as they are willing to donate honestly and in an amount that satisfies the guarding general, everything will be fine. They will go in with a smile and come out with a smile. Of course, the soldiers following behind will also carry out food.
For those who are ungrateful and make excuses or donate too little, then I'm sorry. We will not only search the mansion, but also knock on the walls and the floor, and search all the secret rooms and holes in the ground, and we will bring out more food for you.
Since the main house could not be searched, soldiers were ordered to search the other houses under the name. The wealthy families who usually lived in glory looked as pale as death and cried bitterly. Some even rolled their eyes and fell down with their heads raised.
Why would the soldiers and bandits care about this?
When Shopkeeper Xu heard that even the walls and floors had been knocked thoroughly, he thought of the tunnel that his eldest son and Uncle Xu had just dug last night and broke out in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, those people only targeted the wealthy families in the county, and those poor families in remote and dilapidated areas where poor people gathered were not within their search scope.
When Manager Xu returned home, breakfast was already ready. Wei Lingzhen kept it warm on the stove for him and only brought it out when he returned.
A bowl of clear porridge, really clear. Except for his poor family background when he was young, Manager Xu had not lived such a life for many years, not to mention Wei Lingzhen. Although she was born a maid, she was also a senior maid and was actually better raised than the girls from small families.
He shook his wife's hand and said, "I'm sorry that you have to suffer with me."
"What are you talking about? What does this world have to do with you? Compared with those people in the shacks outside, we are much better off. Besides, you have done a great job."
The old lady and her children, even her younger brother and nephew, made arrangements to transport grain out several times. Not only did they prepare a lot of grain in Shezhou, but they also transported a lot to the mountains and stored grain outside the county. It was extremely difficult to prepare grain when the price of grain had risen so much and all the grain shops were closed and reluctant to sell.
He was just a shopkeeper who worked for others. He had already spent all his family fortune over the years. How much could he leave in the city? He even exchanged most of it for the house he bought to dig the tunnel.
It's all about living.
Shopkeeper Xu picked up the bowl and started drinking the porridge. After he finished drinking, Wei Lingzhen asked what happened outside.
Shopkeeper Xu gave a general account of the situation and said, "The grain has been collected from the wealthy families. The county government's granary may have been controlled as well. More than a thousand soldiers need to eat and drink, so the grain consumption will not be small. The villagers who have just entered the city may be in trouble. Although County Magistrate Wei did nothing, if the refugees are forced into a corner, he will also drag the wealthy families along and skin the rich families to control the situation first. Now, the grain of the county government and the wealthy families has been exploited by the garrison commander. I don't think the garrison commander is easy to deal with. He only cares about his soldiers and doesn't care about the lives of the people. There are 1,500 soldiers, and the refugees will be suppressed even if they want to make trouble. I'm afraid this county will become chaotic faster than I thought."
Wei Lingzhen's hands trembled. This was such a chaos... Those villagers who had nothing to eat or drink didn't dare to confront the soldiers defending the city, but the homes of ordinary county residents were not safe.
She was a little panicked: "Can we get out?"
Shopkeeper Xu nodded and said, "Sure. I'll go over tonight to help and bring some food with me. You and Wenhong can come with me."
Given the current situation in the county, he couldn't feel at ease without his wife and children under his care.
No matter what, he had to take his wife and children out of Qiyang County before the chaos broke out.
…
In Yun Valley, Sang Luo prepared some dry food for Chen Lie. In addition to Chen Lie and Chen Dashan, Wei Qinghe also asked to go with them.
Wei Qinghe, who was afraid to go out hunting, heard that Chen Lie and Chen Dashan were going to the cave where he had agreed to deliver the letter to his brother-in-law, and took the initiative to ask to go with them.
It was because his parents, sister, brother-in-law and two nephews were still out there, and everyone in the family was worried about him. Shen Lie and Chen Dashan were illiterate, so Wei Qinghe volunteered to go with them: "If my brother-in-law left a letter, you don't have to run back and forth twice to read it."
This is also the reason why Shen Lie and Chen Dashan are willing to bring Wei Qinghe with them.
Sang Luo made a book for Chen Lie. Chen Lie treasured the book very much since he received it. He spent more time reading and practicing calligraphy every day. Sang Luo was in the cave most of the time, giving him guidance from time to time. Chen Lie was not stupid, so he learned smoothly.
But the time was too short, and the literacy he learned in half a month was not enough for him to understand a letter by himself.
The news that the three men were leaving spread to every household, and everyone came to see them off.
They all lived well in the valley, but deep down, none of them did not worry about the situation outside. Those who had relatives worried about their relatives, and those who had no relatives also worried about their homes, to which they could not return at all.
Lu Erlang and Shi Dalang asked if they were needed to go with them. Chen Lie shook his head and said, "Uncle Lu and Uncle Shi, please stay in the valley and stand guard halfway up the mountain every day. Don't leave the valley until we come back. I will use some not-so-big rocks to block the outside, mainly to prevent anyone from entering the inner area. If you want to push your way in from the inside, you can do so."
Zhou Cunzheng listened carefully: "Will you be gone for a long time this time?"
Chen Lie shook his head, "I don't know. Normally it would take about ten days to go back and forth, but now there are more refugees in the mountains, so we will take a detour to avoid trouble. I'm afraid it won't be as convenient as before. And according to the letter Manager Xu gave me last time, I don't know if the refugees coming from the north to the south will arrive soon, so the time is hard to calculate. If I come back late, don't worry too much. Dashan and I have been living like this for the past few years, and we can handle it if anything happens."
When he said the last sentence, he looked at Sang Luo.
Sang Luo nodded.
This time, Old Lady Xu still asked Chen Lie to take a letter with her, which was written by Xu Wenbo. It was very short, saying only that if there was chaos outside, he should not just stay in Dongfulou blindly, as nothing was more important than people, and that he should return to Shezhou early to reunite with his wife and children.
Chen Lie and the other two left Yun Valley and camouflaged the entrance halfway up the mountain before setting out on the road out of the mountain.
…
In Qiyang County, confiscation of wealthy households was still in progress. Less than ten miles outside the county, a team of nearly a thousand people carrying food and supplies was heading towards Qiyang County.
Whenever they passed a village, they would go inside to look for it. One man with a messy beard looked around and started to curse loudly: "The gang of thieves from the imperial court have cleared every village. Not only have all the people left, but they didn't leave us anything! The wealthy families have also fled."
Another person laughed, "We are afraid that the people will all join us. What are we afraid of? They are just hiding in the county. We can just fight our way to the county town. It will save us the trouble of going from village to village. What do you think, Third Master?"
The man called the Third Chief was riding on the newly captured horse yesterday and said, "Why rush? Anyway, the military rations are enough for us to eat for a long time. If they want to stay in the county, then let them stay. Everyone is in the county. When the First Chief and the Second Chief arrive with their men in the afternoon, we will surround the front and back gates. Can they still escape? Won't they fall into our hands anyway? It will save trouble."
He laughed and said, "After this mission, I would say you shouldn't leave in a hurry. As we found out yesterday, there are 1,500 soldiers stationed here. Let's get their armor and weapons, kill the corrupt officials, rob the wealthy, and occupy several nearby counties. Then we can learn from others and let our boss call us a king. At least we will be a general or a marquis, right?"
This made the four, five, six, and seven other bosses laugh. One of them rubbed his hands and laughed, "Hey, you have to move faster this time. I don't care about you. I have to go straight to the rich families when I enter the city. Don't just rob them one by one like last time. If you move too slowly, all the tender and beautiful women in the rich families will be hanged to death. It's really unlucky."
He swallowed again and said, "Come to think of it, that fair girl, I've never had such a good one in my life."
Some people laughed when they heard this: "You were just a digger in the field before, you were lucky to get married, how can you expect to play with a nice girl? The one with delicate skin and tender flesh must have been born in a good family, or if a delicate phoenix was born in a chicken coop, those rich dogs would have targeted her at the age of thirteen or fourteen, how could it be our turn?"
The one rubbing his hands laughed and said, "So it's better to rebel against this damn court. We could have never dreamed of such a life like this."
He turned around and asked the group of people following him in a loud voice: "Brothers, don't you think so?"
Dozens of people standing nearby could hear it clearly and responded with laughter, including some who had just joined.
Those who were far away didn't hear it, so they asked the people in front what they were laughing about. After they knew what they were talking about, they started laughing and also talked about how comfortable and happy they were in the county they had robbed.
Just looking at these people, all of them have weather-beaten faces and calloused hands. Many of them were farmers digging for food in the fields with sad and desperate looks on their faces just a month or even dozens of days ago.
Who can put the two faces together? If someone familiar with the person saw this scene, who would dare to recognize that it was the same person?
This gang of thieves, who rape and plunder, have their heads tied to their belts the wrong way. Wherever they go, what they look forward to most is the final harvest.
Evil thoughts need to be released, pressure needs to be vented. Although they are also people who have experienced hardships, once they pick up the butcher knife, they will not hesitate to inflict ten or a hundred times the things they feared before on people who are also immersed in suffering.
…
On the afternoon of the first day of May, the people who were in the most difficult situation, the small group of people who had only one or two liters of soybean rice bran and some vegetables dug out from the fields to fill their stomachs, had no wild vegetables to dig up, so they gathered in groups at the gate of the county government office, begging the county magistrate to open the granaries and release some relief grain.
Many people from Shili Village were among this group of people. Most of them had indeed reached this situation, but there were also some who were slightly better off, including the Wang family, who had just sold their daughter for more than a bag of grain and soybeans.
Relief food, who doesn’t want it?
As long as a small group of people took the lead, no one wanted to fall behind, so at this moment most of the villagers were flocking to the county government office. The outside of the county government office and several nearby streets were crowded with people.
Shen San and Li were also among this group of people. The third branch of the Shen family was also out of food. If Shen Jin had not hidden a few liters of soybeans, some dried wild vegetables and a bag of dried meat, they would be no different from others.
But even if there is such a small difference, what is the use? There is no wild vegetables to pick, and a family of six mouths can only survive ten days or half a month longer than others, no matter how frugally they eat.
Li now regarded the food as her life. She was afraid that if there was really relief food, she would get one less person if one person went out. She was also afraid that the food would be stolen or robbed if more people went out. The vegetables in the field were difficult to carry, so she asked Shen Jin to take a few children to guard the shack. She and Shen San each wrapped the meat and soybeans in a torn bundle and held them in their arms, not daring to let go for a moment.
Neither of the couple was a very capable person, and the area outside the county government office was so crowded that they couldn't get in at all. Instead, they were forced to stand to the side on the outer streets.
County Magistrate Wei and his officials were blocked in the county government office, unable to enter or leave. They privately scolded the guard named Chen and urged the guards again and again: "General Chen hasn't come yet? He has taken away all the food. He is not responsible for evacuating these people? What should we do if they break into the county government office?"
The yamen runner said with a bitter face: "There are too many people. It's not easy to get in and out. I'm afraid it won't be that fast."
Just as he finished speaking, they suddenly heard the sound of drums in the distance. The people in the yamen were all startled and looked in the direction of the drums. When they heard the rhythm of the drums, their expressions changed.
"Enemy attack!"
"It's an enemy attack!"
At the same time, the same drum sound was heard from the other city gate.
Magistrate Wei's legs went weak and he almost collapsed.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
From inside the yamen to outside the yamen, and from the city gate to the city gate, people kept shouting "enemy attack" loudly. The people who had originally occupied a good position to block the county yamen and force the granaries to open for grain also began to panic.
"Where is the drum? Why is it beating?"
"Enemy attack, what enemy attack?"
"The bandits are coming!"
The crowd immediately surged up like a tide, pushing, shoving, and rushing around!
Li and Shen San were pressed against the wall, almost unable to breathe. Shen San shouted, "Don't push! Don't push me! I'm going to die!"
He struggled forward, using the force of the crowd to try to escape the fate of being squeezed.
The bag in his hand was squeezed off. He bent down to pick it up, but the next moment he was pushed forward: "My food! My food fell! Stop squeezing!"
The sound was drowned out by the noise, but it was heard by those who were paying attention.
Everyone carries food with them, what a great opportunity.
The thieves were so bold that they could only wait for a few seconds before someone in the crowd screamed, "What are you doing? Let us go! Someone is stealing food!"
Such screams woke up countless people. Some of them held their bags even tighter, while others became frightened. For a while, the screams and howls of people whose food was being robbed were endless.
Li was pushed against the wall with her face pressed against it. When she heard someone trying to steal food, she pressed the cloth bundle of dried meat in her hand between her body and the wall, but she could not escape the hand that reached out to her bundle.
When Li realized what was happening, she screamed in shock. While holding the bag with her hands, she subconsciously tried to turn back, but a rough hand held her head down tightly, and the bag in her hand was pulled out of her hand the next moment.
She screamed and the hand that was pressing on her head and face finally moved away. She felt the hand behind her loosen, but in the next moment someone else squeezed in. She couldn't turn around or look back. She had no idea who had snatched her flesh. She was squeezed and pressed, and could only cry in despair.
There were dozens of cries like this at once, and no one could even protect themselves. Whether it was Li, Liu, Wang, Qin, or Yang, no one cared.
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