Yingbao was shocked when she heard that and ran out quickly with her brother.
On the way, I met Zhang Xuehua and her two half sisters.
"Yingbao, where are you going?" Zhang Xuehua was just about to find Yingbao to ask about the situation outside the city, but when he saw her running out in a hurry, he couldn't help but ask.
Yingbao said without even turning her head: "I'm going to Jiangkouzi to take a look!" After saying that, she ran out of the Moon Gate.
When I got to the street, I didn't see many pedestrians, but occasionally I would see some wealthy families coming out with a group of servants, holding sticks, machetes and other tools, and running towards the river.
Yingbao was relieved and passed by a wasteland piled with bricks.
I guess these bricks are from someone who is planning to use them for building a house. There are two big piles of them.
Yingbao suddenly stopped, looked around, and seeing that there was no one around, she immediately went forward and collected two large piles of bricks.
After thinking for a while, he threw a five-liang silver ingot on the ground and covered it with a brick.
Jiang Wu didn't understand what was going on, so he ran after his sister and asked, "Why did you make the bricks disappear?"
“It’s very useful!”
Yingbao followed a group of people to the dock and saw many young and strong men gathered around.
The river in the city is actually a tributary of the big river, winding through the entire urban area from northwest to southeast.
This terrain requires people in the city to guard two entrances and exits.
Not only that, there must be people on the city walls to prevent barbarians from climbing up the walls.
Yingbao glanced at the city wall in the distance and sighed inwardly.
The book in my mind said that there were few guards in Jingzhou City, only a few hundred people in total.
These hundreds of people were scattered around for defense, with only three or four people at each post. They posed no threat to the barbarians under the city.
Jiang Wu went into the crowd to take a look, then came back and told Ying Bao: "Sister, those people have been chased away! Let's go find Brother Huzi."
Yingbao glanced at the water, where there were two shabby fishing boats, burning quietly.
There are two or three bodies in Hanoi, and they look like bandits.
Several guards paddled over on a small raft to retrieve the body.
Because this thing will pollute the water source if left in the river, it must be fished out and burned.
Yingbao knew that this was just a test by the barbarians. It would probably take less than two days before they sneaked in one night.
She stretched her neck to look for her gourd boat, but couldn't find it. She also didn't know who had pushed it to where.
Yingbao walked back with her brother reluctantly, and went to the city wall to find Zhang Min and Huzi.
When you arrive at the mountain trail, there are soldiers guarding the area and no outsiders are allowed to climb the city wall.
"We are here to find Zhang Min, the son of Governor Zhang," Jiang Wu explained.
The soldier knew that Magistrate Zhang's youngest son had returned and had come to defend the city the first time. He immediately said, "Well, I'll take you up."
So, the brother and sister climbed up the city wall under the guidance of the soldiers.
Zhang Min and Hu Zi were indeed there. They were looking out at the city with Governor Zhang.
Yingbao also leaned on the parapet and looked down.
On the other side of the hill in the distance, the barbarians’ beast-tooth flags were fluttering in the wind, and many animal-skin tents were lined up one after another, which showed that there were quite a lot of people.
A team of cavalry came galloping, running back and forth at the foot of the city with swords and heads of civilians in their hands, and shouting provocatively.
Governor Zhang was so angry that his teeth were itching, but those people were too far away and his arrows could not reach them at all.
"My lord, the letter for help has been sent out. We can only wait for the reinforcements to arrive." said an aide.
Governor Zhang nodded and said, "I'm just worried that no one will come to help."
If it was going to come, it would have come a long time ago.
He had sent people to ask for help from the military settlement dozens of miles away from Jingzhou City, but there was no news.
This time, there were nearly five thousand barbarians, more than ten times more than the soldiers defending the city. If they were allowed to break into the city, the consequences would be disastrous.
Another staff member said, "My lord, why not gather the servants of the rich families in the city and fight the enemy together."
Governor Zhang nodded and stroked his beard in thought.
Even if the servants came, it would be useless without weapons in their hands.
If you want to repel the barbarians who are attacking the city, you must use bows and arrows, kerosene and other items. If that doesn't work, stones and bricks can also be used as weapons. The only thing to be afraid of is that they will attack you from behind.
Zhang Min saw Yingbao and Jiang Wu, walked over and said, "Hurry up and go down, and bring Huzi back to the mansion with you." Huzi was only eleven years old, and was just as tall as the parapet. He couldn't see below even when he stood on tiptoe. It would be useless for him to stay on the city wall.
Yingbao: "Come down too, I have something to tell you."
Zhang Min had no choice but to go down the wall with his junior sister and the others and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Tell your father to immediately organize people to carry bricks and stones to the city wall, and prepare tung oil." Yingbao actually wanted to say to prepare some feces and urine, but she didn't say it in the end.
Zhang Min: “I understand.”
After a pause, Zhang Min said to his junior sister with guilt: "Yingbao, it's all my fault that you and your sister got into trouble."
Yingbao was speechless.
He and his younger brother Huzi knew how to protect themselves, so they didn't have to worry about being killed after the city was broken, but what about Zhang Min's family
Even if he hid them himself, the imperial court would still take revenge on him later.
Alas, being an official is not easy.
Yingbao suddenly regretted letting her brother take the imperial examination.
Zhang Min hesitated for a while, then said, "Yingbao, if the city cannot be defended, please find a way to take my mother and sister away."
"Okay." Yingbao promised: "If the city is breached, I will definitely let them leave safely."
Zhang Min's eyes turned red, and he immediately turned around, with his back to Ying Bao. "Thank you, Junior Sister."
"What are you thanking me for? We are senior and junior brothers and sisters. I would rather we defend the city together and drive away the barbarians." Ying Bao said.
"Yeah!" Zhang Min walked quickly towards the city wall without looking back.
Hu Zi blinked and said to Ying Bao, "Brother Zhang Min is crying."
Yingbao hummed, turned around and walked back.
Hu Zi and Jiang Wu followed, muttering as they walked: "Let's go eat. I only had a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun in the morning, and now I'm hungry."
"Okay." Yingbao also wanted to see what was available for purchase in the city so that she could buy something for self-defense.
After a round of shopping, I found that many shops were open as usual, but there were fewer small stalls outside.
Yingbao had been to Jingzhou once and was familiar with all the shops here.
I quickly found a noodle shop and ordered three bowls of mutton noodle soup.
The three of them were slowly eating noodles when they heard the shopkeeper muttering to his wife, "Let's take a break tomorrow. We can't even buy mutton, so what's the point of making noodles?"
His wife responded, "Then rest. I heard from the lady next door that a lot of barbarians came from outside the city. It was a mess and scary."
Shopkeeper: "I heard that too. Alas, how did those barbarians come to our place? I really don't understand."
A guest who was sitting nearby eating noodles replied, "It is said that the guards on the border all ran away, so the barbarians fought all the way here without any effort at all."
"The barbarians have come to our doorstep, so why doesn't the court send people to suppress them?" another person asked.
"What are you sending? Look at the military camp outside our city. I have lived for more than 40 years and have never seen those soldiers drill a few times."
"That's true. All those officials are out to make money. Who cares about that?"