Chen Yongfu was walking on the street on his way to the governor's office. Although it was noon, the whole city seemed like a dead city. There were no pedestrians walking on the streets at all. Because of the lack of food, many people were spending their last days at home.
I don’t have enough energy to go out on the street anymore.
Chen Yongfu knew that the price of food in the city was already very high, and one big pancake could be exchanged for two or three young ladies. Because his army could still guarantee the food supply, it also eliminated many old bachelors in the army. Chen Yongfu
I have seen those new daughters-in-law who are of really good family backgrounds. They are both ladies and young ladies. But at this time, these women who were formerly noble women no longer care about their sense of shame, and they all shamelessly want to follow them.
I used to look down on Qiu Ba.
A group of newly recruited minzhuangs ran in front of Chen Yongfu's horse. When they saw Chen Yongfu, they all stopped and knelt down to salute. Chen Yongfu waved his hand to them to stand down, so these people immediately stood up without waiting for Chen Yongfu to pass.
He went about his business in a hurry.
"Are you all rushing to reincarnate?" Chen Yongfu's captain cursed angrily.
But Chen Yongfu smiled and raised his hand, telling the captain to stop paying attention to the rude behavior of those Minzhuangs. Chen Yongfu knew that those Minzhuangs did not have a guaranteed food supply like his own troops. They all had to pay for their food in the city.
That is, they break into people's houses to grab food. If they move slower, the food may be taken away by their companions, and they themselves will have no food.
And there is no more smoke from cooking stoves in Kaifeng City. If any common people dare to be so blind and break into a group of people to steal all the food, then it is considered a good thing. Maybe the whole family will be killed when trying to protect the food, so the smoke from cooking stoves has become
It became a reminder of death.
And in the air, there was a pungent smell of corpses. Chen Yongfu knew: it was coming from outside the city.
In order to reduce the pressure on food supply in the city, people in Kaifeng City have been evacuated several times. They drove many people out of the city who could not pay the food and money, and asked them to go to the peasant army outside the city to get food.
At first, the peasant army besieging the city accepted several batches, but later they realized what they were doing and immediately blocked the people and forced them to return to the city to get food.
As a result, the area from the city wall to the trenches of the peasant army became a miserable area. The people's cries and pleas were endless, but both sides were hard-hearted and would not let those people get close. They all watched helplessly as these people
Starving to death in a miserable place.
Corpses are prone to decay and develop diseases during the hot summer, so the peasant army did not care about the corpses dumped in the wilderness. However, Kaifeng City organized a group of civilians to bury them. However, as soon as these civilians left the city, they were immediately abandoned in the miserable area, and finally
They all turned into miserable souls. As a result, no one on either side cared about the corpses anymore, and the smell of corpses permeated the entire city of Kaifeng.
It really looked like a doomsday scene. The number of horses in Chen Yongfu's camp had also been reduced to 2,000. But he also knew that the reason why these horses were still preserved was to use them to break out of the encirclement one day. But by that time, Chen Yongfu's soldiers didn't know either.
How many people can get on the war horses? Those war horses have long been reserved by the royal palaces, government officials and the gentry in the city.
As soon as I turned the corner at the intersection, the smell of food wafted over.
Chen Yongfu knew: that restaurant was the property of the King of Zhou. Since the siege of the city, there had never been a shortage of ingredients in this restaurant. Of course, the price of this restaurant is now staggeringly expensive.
At first, people gathered outside the restaurant. Those people thought it was a pleasure to smell the aroma of fried fruits. However, the owner of the restaurant was afraid of causing trouble, so he sent a notice to the government to drive them away. But this time
They drove them away, beat them to death, and trampled to death more than a dozen people, so that no one dared to approach the restaurant anymore.
At this moment, Chen Yongfu saw an official in his fifties from a distance, holding two ladies on his left and right as he entered the restaurant. Chen Yongfu knew that official, he was from the Henan Chief Envoy's Yamen, and that official
He didn't even try to hide it, he didn't even take off his official robe, and looked like he was in a state of drunkenness and a doomsday carnival.
An aide also saw this scene on the side. He couldn't help but recite a poem in a low voice: "The wine and meat in Zhumen smells bad, and there are frozen bones on the road!"
"There is a tragedy in the city, how can we delay it? Governor Yang suffered a disastrous defeat, and Wu Runing did not hear the news. How many days can Kaifeng City be delayed? Lord Governor! Break out!"
As soon as Chen Yongfu arrived at the front hall of the governor's office, he heard a noise coming from the hall. Being surrounded for a long time without hearing reinforcements had made the soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng City desperate, so some officials could not help but risk their lives.
Considered it.
The "breakout" that this official clamored for was not that the troops gathered together and rushed out of the city. What he meant was: at night, under the cover of the army, the king of Zhou and the officials in the city were allowed to leave the city and rush to the Yellow River dock, and then go up.
A large ship was sent from the other side of the Yellow River, abandoning all the soldiers and civilians in the city and escaping alone.
"Don't bring up this proposal! I want to live and die with the city!" Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, flatly refused.
The reason why Gao Mingheng gritted his teeth and was unwilling to break out was because he had the responsibility to defend his territory. If Kaifeng, the provincial capital of Henan Province, was really lost, the lower-level officials would have nothing to do, but Gao Mingheng and other major officials in Henan could not avoid the attack at Caishikou.
It's nothing more than dying early or dying late, so Gao Mingheng is absolutely unwilling to lose his reputation.
"Procrastinate some more! Procrastinate some more! Maybe the best time will come and reinforcements are already on the way." someone advised.
"Why are you here?" Some officials started to break out hysterically, regardless of their dignity, "Are the official seals and official robes of Governor Yang sent by the thieves fake? Is there no one in the city who has exchanged his son for food? Don't leave! Let's all leave.
No more."
Gao Mingheng, who was sitting in the front seat, also looked embarrassed. He suddenly looked up and saw Chen Yongfu arriving, so he immediately changed the subject and asked Chen Yongfu: "Have you received any response from Mr. Ling's visit to Runing? How come it has been more than half a month, and Wu Runing is still here?"
The future is coming?”
Chen Yongfu quickly bowed his hands and said: "As soon as I hear back, I will report it to you sirs first. However, General Wu has promised to send troops last time, and he will never go back on his promise. It is estimated that the road here is not easy, and he is fighting with the thieves. Governor, please rest assured.
The general will also send out a messenger again, weeping blood for help!"
"Is it useful to beg Wu Runing? If there is an official army, if there is no official army, maybe the thieves will send his head again in two days." That hysterical official couldn't control his emotions today.
