Looking at the office low table that she had smashed, Shen Tang, who was already furious, had veins throbbing on her forehead and was heartbroken. This table was made of fine sandalwood, and she had found it from several stores' inventory. It was her favorite table recently.
But I can't say it out loud.
Take a deep breath—
She warned herself to learn to control her temper and to not develop the bad habit of easily scrapping furniture. She was not rich enough to pay for a new table if it was broken.
No matter how much you blame someone, it’s all the fault of the Zheng and Qiao brothers who have done nothing!
Xu Jie didn't know what she was thinking.
Just by looking at the regret and heartache in her eyes, he could guess most of it - Shen Jun must be regretting not controlling his temper, and feeling sorry for the more than 200,000 innocent people who were driven to die - to be honest, he felt sorry too, but he could only keep himself out of it.
This is not twenty thousand!
That’s a full two hundred thousand!
Two hundred thousand common people were forced to become bandits, without homes and homes! They had no land or food, only countless people and hungry stomachs.
Today they are little more than locusts.
Wherever it passes, no grass will grow!
They are nothing if taken individually.
Individual power is limited and cannot make much waves.
Even if they accepted the territory under their rule, they would not have to worry about causing damage. But two hundred thousand starving people gathered together, looting and robbing together, even the twenty-rank Chehou would be terrified and temporarily avoid the sharp edge.
Even his own lord was powerless.
If you are not careful, you will be turned upside down.
The only thing they could do was to manage their own land to prevent bandits from coming to rob and kill people.
Xu Jielai told Shen Tang all this to remind Shen Jun - this year's harvest was not good. While everyone else's harvest was average, Heyin County had a small bumper year.
Every household paid enough land tax to have a year's worth of food left, and the government warehouse still had some...
Who wouldn’t be jealous
Xu Jie was worried that the bandits would flee to Heyin.
It never goes wrong to prepare ahead of time.
Shen Tang naturally understood.
Sympathizing with these common people is one thing, but as the governor of Heyin County, Shen Tang would not be so foolish as to take them in out of sympathy. Does she have so much food to feed people? Does she have enough manpower to restrain more than 200,000 bandits from causing trouble and let them farm peacefully? Does she have so much land for more than 200,000 common people to farm
Shen Tang even had to worry about his own safety.
If you store grain but not guns, your home will become a granary; if you store guns but not grain, everywhere will become a granary.
The previous teasing on Xu Jie backfired on him.
Her family had food, but not enough guns.
Shen Tang secretly took a deep breath to calm his mind: "Does the text tell us where they are?"
"I received news that they have been driven out of Qianzhou."
"How long will it take to get to Ha Yin?"
"It will take more than a month to get there."
Shen Tang murmured: "More than a month..."
A rough map of the surrounding area immediately appeared in my mind.
Geng State and the former Xin State were considered the first tier of the northwest. The two countries had a total of four states, including Lingzhou, Qianzhou, Yanzhou, Kunzhou, which was seized by the two rebellious kings, and two counties seized by destroying small states.
Zheng Qiao's current power can only affect Qianzhou and most of Yanzhou. Lingzhou and the remaining Yanzhou areas are controlled by various forces, and King Zhu is not at peace either. Although the territory is not as large as Zheng Qiao's, they have plenty of food and grass.
Apart from not having the national seal, the two Zhui Kings are quite powerful.
Zheng Qiao's troops drove these rebellious commoners to Kunzhou, the headquarters of the Zhu King's forces, and on the way they were very close to Heyin where Shen Tang was. The autumn harvest had just ended, and the granary was full.
Won’t that group of starving bandits come to rob
Is it possible
Xu Jie sighed: "Are you sure, Mr. Shen?"
Shen Tang smiled bitterly.
"I'm afraid I'll disappoint the author."
More than 200,000...
No matter how hard the head is, it can't be hit.
Xu Jie obviously also knew Shen Tang's difficulties: "... It is not certain that they will rob He Yin, and they may take a detour halfway... But in order to prevent it, Shen Jun should make preparations early. If Shen Jun is in trouble, my master will not refuse."
This was not Xu Jie's own opinion.
His master had made it clear to him personally.
Tianhai is willing to give all his fortune to support him!
The two families have such a good relationship, who would follow whom
Xu Jie naturally wanted to convey this meaning clearly.
Shen Tang could only force a smile and say words of thanks.
There was no ripple in my heart.
Wu Xian is the leader of a faction, and his every move follows the logic of interests rather than "emotions". It's okay to tease the two families' "deep love", but whoever takes it seriously will lose.
Ha Yin is next to Tianhai.
Rather than letting the bandits plunder He Yin and attack Tian Hai, it would be better to put the battlefield in He Yin. How could Wu Xian just sit there and watch Shen Tang's death? For his own sake, he had to send troops to help.
As a rescued person, Shen Tang also had to provide food and supplies.
She said, "I will discuss this matter with Wu Hui and the others."
Xu Jie did not urge him either.
Those refugees and bandits were not fast.
It will take some time for the vanguard to reach He Yin.
Take your time to discuss and prepare thoroughly.
Shen Tang was extremely worried, and the joy brought by the good harvest in autumn was swept away. After seeing Xu Jie off, she turned around and sent a blue bird message to Qi Shan and others. As night fell, the people who were urgently summoned arrived at the government office one after another and held a meeting with lights on.
Admittedly, this is very bad news.
"Including Dayi's troops, there are only 5,000 people at most. 5,000 people against more than 200,000 refugees and bandits..." Not to mention attacking, even defense is very difficult. Allocating manpower for defense means that a series of subsequent plans will be shelved. Shen Tang counted his own assets with his fingers and wanted to shout to the sky...
Why is she so miserable
The people’s livelihood, which had finally improved, is about to come to a standstill again.
"Do you have any good ideas?"
Praying for goodness is indeed an “evil plot”.
He immediately said, "It's not that there isn't one."
Shen Tang hurriedly asked: "Yuanliang, tell me quickly!"
Qi Shan said calmly: "Divert the trouble to the east!"
Wu Xian extended an olive branch upon receiving the news, wasn't it because he used Ha Yin as a buffer line of defense? The driven civilian bandits would pass through various counties, and those counties would not collapse so quickly, so they could take the opportunity to drive them to other directions...
Just avoid Ha Yoon.
“… We have so many people doing this?”
"I think Wu Zhaode will be happy to lend us troops."
Shen Tang: “…”
Of course Wu Zhaode is happy to do so.
Who made the two families so interdependent now
Not only Wu Xian, but also Gu Ren and Zhang He can borrow troops.
When one family suffers, it will be the next family's turn.
If you don't sign up for a group now, you can only buy a group ticket to see the King of Hell, but Shen Tang doesn't want to do this selfishly. Because it's just treating the symptoms and not the root cause, it will only make these 200,000 people cause trouble to other places, and there will be no benefit, and the situation may even get worse.
Shen Tang muttered: "In fact, these more than 200,000 people..."
Qi Shan saw what Shen Tang was thinking at a glance.
"My lord, are you moved?"
"That's more than 200,000 laborers!"
Who wouldn’t be moved!
If she wasn't so poor, with not enough money and small territory, she really wanted to bring more than 200,000 people back to her home.
Qi Shan sneered, "You have to be alive to enjoy it."
Obviously, my lord's life is not that tough.
Shen Tang: “…”
Seeing his mistress's pale face, Kang Shi thought she was hesitant and cowardly because there were too many enemies. He changed his mind and said, "Xu Wenzhu's worry is not unreasonable, but the mistress does not need to worry too much. These refugees and bandits have no discipline and no one to command and dispatch them. It is impossible for them to be united. When they flee to the vicinity of Heyin, there will be at most 30,000 to 50,000 of them."
Some of them may go into the deep mountains and forests and become bandits.
Some of them might occupy counties and appoint themselves as county magistrates.
Some of them simply got lost, starved to death, or died of illness.
They are now like headless flies, not knowing where to fly. If a few ambitious people emerge among them and raise a big banner to work alone, they can also divert some people. There won't be too many common people who can really threaten Ha Yin.
Two hundred thousand people are coming
How can we act so unitedly
If there were, Zheng Qiao would have been kicked off the throne long ago.
But for Shen Tang, who had such a meager family background, thirty or fifty thousand starving common people were enough to make her suffer.
Now that these common people have taken up the butcher knife and turned into bandits, it is difficult for them to put it down. Even if the lord is willing to accept them, other common people under his rule may not be willing to do so - because the cultivated land in Heyin County has almost been distributed.
How can we share it with outsiders
Shen Tang held his chin and sighed.
Chu Yao glanced at Kang Shi out of the corner of his eye.
At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong with what Kang Jishou said, but in fact there is a loophole that is not easy to notice.
These bandits plundered counties and prefectures, and the local people were robbed of their food and money, and faced hunger. The county troops were unable to protect their safety and solve their livelihood problems, so they would continue to join the bandits.
That is to say—
The number of bandits now exceeds 200,000.
If we fail to resist and allow them to expand wildly, their scale will soar and even reach no less than one million.
Kang Shi also noticed his gaze and nodded slightly.
Chu Yao swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
He knew that Kang Shi said this simply to boost his own confidence - if their backbones lost confidence and resisted passively, how could their subordinates still be motivated
Chu Yao took out a simple map and pointed to a few places on it: "Xu Wenzhu said that these refugees were driven to Kunzhou. It is speculated that they will follow this route and pass through these places..."
Shen Tang stretched his neck to look over.
Said: "Previously an ally of the Sibao County Alliance Army."
Chu Yao guessed: "We should be able to receive a request for help in a while."
If they can't hold on, they will certainly ask for help everywhere. As the most dazzling figure in that battle, it is very likely that our lord will receive the help. Then we can join forces with Wu Xian and other families to send troops.
How can you handle this kind of thing on your own
Naturally, you have to drag people into the water.
Try to separate the battlefield from your own territory.
Chu Yao and the others had the same idea as Wu Xian.
Of course, this is the ideal outcome.
They also have to prepare for the worst.
Mobilize the common people in the territory as soon as possible, make preparations for war, hide food at home, and be vigilant. At the same time, recruit soldiers, conduct emergency training, and strengthen your own strength. Send people to several places in Gu Ren to see if they can cooperate again.
The letter for help arrived earlier than expected.
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