Chapter 728: The wind rises and the clouds gather, Zezhou in the world (7)
The moon crossed the sky in the quiet night. In the city above the earth, the lights gradually went out. After passing through the deepest night, the white fish belly slightly emerged from the winter sky.
The rooster crowed three times, and the city of Zezhou became lively again. The vendors who got up early hurriedly entered the city, but today they were no longer in the mood to shout loudly. Most of them looked panicked and uneasy. The patrolling government officials and arresters were
As a long queue passed through the streets of the city, You Hongzhuo had already gotten up and watched a small group of soldiers passing by in horror on the street, followed by a group of soldiers escorting the bandits.
Most of the gangsters being escorted by the soldiers entering the city had wounds on their bodies, and some were even covered in blood. Unlike the prisoners we saw yesterday who shouted that they would be good men again after eighteen years, the group in front of them occasionally spoke with a trace of
The breath of despair and chilling. If those who were sunburned to death yesterday wanted to show that "grandpa is a good man", today's group of bandits are more like ghosts crawling out of a miserable and desperate situation, angry,
And it makes people feel desolate.
"You guys are watching - there will be retribution -" A man covered in blood was tied with a rope and was walking in a prison car dying. Suddenly he shouted outside, and the soldier next to him waved the handle of his knife and violently
It hit him right in the mouth. The man fell down, his mouth full of blood, and probably half of his teeth were knocked out.
Discussions arose in the crowd, and they were anxious: "Hungry ghosts... are hungry ghosts..."
"Hundreds of thousands of people were scattered along the banks of the Yellow River...those who arrived this morning..."
"If we can't reach the south... they will come to eat us..."
"Doing evil..."
This morning, thousands of hungry ghosts have come from the south. As everyone said, if they can't cross the Yellow River, they will come back to eat people. Zezhou is at the cusp of the storm.
Amid the discussion, You Hongzhuo watched the group of people pass by. Suddenly, something happened in front of him. An officer and soldier shouted. You Hongzhuo turned around and saw a man stretching out his arm above a prison car.
He raised a piece of black cloth. When the officer next to him saw it, he shouted loudly, and a soldier rushed up and swung a steel knife, cutting off the arm with one blow.
Blood was flying, and in the noisy voice, the injured shouted: "I can't live. Those who want to go south have done something wrong, done something wrong - you are going to starve them to death..."
His violent shouting, mixed with the pain of his broken hand, was mixed with the exclamations of the crowd, which was particularly sad. The soldiers and officers around him were also shouting violently, and one man swung a long knife and stabbed him in the mouth.
At that time, some people in the crowd reacted and thought of another thing. They only heard someone whisper: "Black flag, black flag..." This voice spread like ripples in the crowd. You Hongzhuo was a little farther away,
He couldn't see clearly, but he already understood at this time that what the man was holding was probably a flag of the Black Flag Army.
The crowd murmured for a while, and then someone yelled: "So what about the black flag!"
But it was the officer leading the team. He got off his horse, grabbed the black cloth on the ground, and held it high.
"No matter what other people say, we, the people of Zezhou, live and work in peace and contentment and never compete with others. Hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts went south and massacred several cities, destroying all lives. Only then did our army go out to do justice for heaven! Now we are just waiting to kill King Shi Tong.
The evil leader of the party has not affected others, so what else can he say? Brothers and sisters, we and other soldiers are here to protect our homeland and protect everyone. Today, those who came from Zezhou, whether they are hungry ghosts or black flags, will cause trouble.
, we will definitely risk our lives to defend Zezhou, no ambiguity! As long as you live a good life, as usual, abide by the law, then Zezhou will be peaceful, and no one can touch it——"
The general's words were impassioned and impactful. When he finished speaking, he pulled out his steel knife and chopped the black flag into pieces with a few blows. There was a sudden burst of shouts from the crowd: "Okay -"
Someone shouted: "That's right——"
"I, the Zezhou people, have never messed with you—"
"You are going to starve to death, so you come to cause trouble. What about the people you kill -"
"Bah - you beasts, if you really dare to come, I will kill you -",
"dross!"
Everyone's emotions came out. Amidst the shouts and curses, some people picked up stones and threw them at the prison car. For a while, the sound of beatings and curses filled the streets, sounding like raindrops.
Outside Zezhou City, the army moved towards the south of the city like a long dragon, guarding the main road outside the city, waiting for the arrival of the crowd of hungry ghosts who were still dozens of miles away. Even in this situation, the city gate of Zezhou remained open.
On the one hand, the army calmed the people's hearts, and on the other hand, it strengthened defenses in various parts of the city. General Sun Qi led his guards to the state capital and began to truly take charge.
The wealthy gentry and wealthy households in the city were even more panicked. They had just visited Lu Anmin, who was relatively easy to talk to, last night. Looking at the posture of the army today, it was obvious that they did not want to be forced to close the city by the refugees. Each family strengthened their defense, and they were worried again.
They contacted each other to discuss whether they should raise money and materials to ask the general to take him seriously, or to strengthen the soldiers to guard everyone's homes.
When the Wu Dynasty was prosperous before, there were occasional waves of refugees and hungry people in winter. At that time, it was considered whether to close the major cities. Even if the city gates were not closed, disaster relief and appeasement would not lead to great chaos. But now the situation is different.
These hungry people have also gone to the battlefield and killed people and even massacred cities. If they take desperate risks, even if the army can suppress them, they will be buried with them if they are not stingy.
Amid everyone's anxiety, the local civilians in the cities have become turbulent and unfriendly to outsiders. On this afternoon, in the south of the city, chaotic begging and migrating teams approached the soldiers' blockade in twos and threes, and then
, saw the corpses and heads stuck on the flagpole in front of them. These were the corpses of Gu Dahao, Tang Side and others, as well as the corpse of Li Guifang, who was blackened and tattered by the bombing - no one could recognize him, but more or less.
I can recognize one or two of the others.
The crowd gradually gathered. They were dressed in tatters, with thin bodies and shaggy hair. Some were pushing wheelbarrows, and some were carrying baggage of one kind or another on their backs. Most of them had a look of despair in their eyes - many of them.
They are not beggars. Some of them were even well-off when they set out to go south. However, by now, they have become almost the same.
The crowd began to feel helpless in front of the army and the corpses. After a long time, a white-haired old man led a large group of people to kneel in front of the army, kowtow and pray, and the crowd burst into tears. The human wall formed by the army
Unmoved, in the evening, the military official who led the team waved, and the carts containing porridge, steamed buns and other items were pushed out, and the hungry people began to line up to receive food.
With food in hand, large swaths of hungry people began to obey the army's orders. The officers at the front looked at all this with a proud look on their faces - in fact, without their leader, most of them were just civilians who could not do much harm.
.
Threats, incitement, attacks, divisions... That night, what the army did outside the city was reported to the city of Zezhou. People in the city were excited and talked about what Sun Qi had done. Without those thousands
Tens of thousands of refugees, even if there are bad guys, can no longer make waves. The people who originally thought that Sun Qi's army should not disperse the hungry ghosts by the Yellow River and cause trouble to the north suddenly felt that General Sun was really Wu Hou
Reincarnation, divine plan.
On this day, even in the temple of the Great Guangming Sect, You Hongzhuo could clearly feel the restless mood among the crowd. People cursed the hungry ghosts, the Black Flag Army, the world, and also cursed in a low voice.
Looking at the Jurchens, they balanced their minds in this way. Several groups of criminals were found out from the city by the army, and various small-scale fighting took place. One of them was near the Daguangming Temple. You Hongzhuo also quietly went over to take a look.
It was so lively that the bandits who were fighting against the officers and soldiers were blocked in the room and let the army shoot them all to death with bows and arrows.
You Hongzhuo couldn't help but worry in his heart. In such a situation, an individual is powerless. The old Jianghu who have been in the world for a long time have many hiding methods, and there are also various ways to interact with underground and green forest forces, but You Hongzhuo is not familiar with these at this time.
He was in a small mountain village, and his family was forced to death by the Great Light Sect. He could crawl out of the pile of dead people and kill all the men and women in a small temple.
Take a chance to win.
However, there is no point in fighting these armies, the only outcome is death.
When he entered Zezhou City, Mr. Zhao had obtained a road guide for him, but at this time, You Hongzhuo didn't know whether the road guide was really useful. If it was a fake and it was found out -
Maybe he should leave here early.
He considered this matter and felt that this emotion was too cowardly. Before he could decide, the army came to Liang'an Inn that night and began to inspect each room. You Hongzhuo was prepared to risk his life, but
Fortunately, the road guide worked, and the other party finally left after asking a few questions.
After this little episode, he felt that there was no need to leave immediately.
This day was the twenty-seventh day of June in the eighth year of Jian Shuo, four days before Wang Shitong was to be beheaded. During the day, You Hongzhuo continued to Daguangming Temple, waiting for Tan Zheng and others to appear. He
Listening to the news in the crowd, he learned that someone had been robbed and arrested last night, and there were several waves of chaos. Some people even died in the east end of the city. By the afternoon, Tan Zheng and others had not yet appeared. He looked at
As the day progressed, I knew there might be no results today, so I left the temple.
After walking a few streets, he found that he was being stared at.
There were not many pedestrians on the street in the evening. When a man with a knife from the opposite side approached him, two people from behind also surrounded him and forced You Hongzhuo into the alley next to him. These three people seemed to be very skilled in martial arts. You Hongzhuo took a deep breath.
Taking a sip, thinking about how to speak, a figure came into view at the other end of the lane.
"...Fourth Brother." You Hongzhuo murmured softly. Opposite him was his former "Fourth Brother" Kuang Wenbai. He was wearing white clothes and carrying a single whip. He looked at You Hongzhuo with a faint look of pride in his eyes.
You Hongzhuo calmed down and smiled: "Fourth brother, how did you find me?"
"Fifth brother taught me a truth, you can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days. If I do something like that and run away from you again, I can't just drink wine and look for fans without any worries now.
Therefore, I have worked hard to wait for you."
I'll do something like that... Hearing these words, You Hongzhuo sighed in his heart.
"Then... fourth brother..." His heart was heavy, and it was difficult to speak at this time, "Are the brothers and sisters still alive?"
Kuang Wenbo looked at him, was silent for a long time, and then suddenly smiled: "How do you think it is possible?" He stretched out his hand to touch the single whip, "I am really relieved that you left today."
"But... why is this?" You Hongzhuo said loudly: "We have sworn sworn friends!" (To be continued.)