The epidemic in Henan will obviously not only affect Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Hebei and Qingxu. Diseases also followed. A large number of people died in fear, and this year's harvest was also significantly reduced.
Then there was another locust plague, and swarms of white-feathered locusts rose from Hebei and circled across the entire Central Plains. It was like a gust of yellow sky wind blowing, densely covering the fields. Farmers might be holding brooms in the fields.
Running,
Or they gather grass stalks together and light up a big smoke, but it is of no avail. Even the billowing clouds of smoke look small and powerless among the locust swarms, let alone the farmers. They can only watch the locust wind circling for a while.
, and then scraped toward the southeast,
Only the remaining stems and grain crumbs were left on the ground.
In the seventh month of the first year of Huangchu, the Qi and Han Dynasties arrived at the most difficult time in the famine year. The autumn grains were almost eaten by locusts.
Moreover, the official and private reserves of food have been exhausted.
Gengcang's army could only barely survive the day by frequently fishing for fish and shrimp in rivers and the East China Sea.
In desperation, Guan Hai had to send people with heavy money to buy food from Yuan Shao. However, the water from far away could not quench his thirst. Guan Hai ordered Fu Zhu, a member of the army, to lead the surrounding believers to dig wild vegetable roots in the mountains and forests for food. Over time,
, most of the forest trees in Qingzhou have been skinned and cut off by people, but everyone is still hungry, and there is no difference if they are withered.
In mid-August, a meteor fell from the sky and fell into Guishan Mountain. Suddenly there was fire and wolves roared. Everyone in Linzi City saw it, so they spread the rumor: "Could it be that the fate of our country has come to an end? Is it going to perish soon?"
?In this case, it is better to ask for surrender from the west as soon as possible!" Some people said: "That is not necessarily the case. I can't say which noble person died or was born!"
But no matter what,
This incident greatly troubled the Linzi court, and Guan Hai had to summon his assistants.
Discussing how to overcome this difficulty. Tao Qiuxiu thought about it for a long time and suggested to Guan Hai: "Da Sima, a meteor falling to the ground, in my Taoist view, is a sign of the rise of Yin and the decline of Yang, and it is also a time when the two qi are fighting.
I think this is a warning from heaven, and it’s time for Da Sima to make up his mind."
Guan Hai's face was gloomy. He tapped the scabbard of his sword with his hand and said in a deep voice: "You mean, it's time for us to fight to the death? If I don't even obey God's will, then I won't be able to blame others until I die?" Tao Qiuxiu nodded and said: "Yes, the west has already captured Yuzhou. If it weren't for the famine this year and they come with huge troops next year, can we stop them? Although we are suffering now, the west is suffering even more! This is the last good thing.
What a chance! All we have to do is press forward with our entire army and fight to the death.
Only in order to survive a little,
Once the other end has calmed down,
We can only wait to die."
Li Feiyan, who was listening in, took a deep breath, and then asked slowly: "We are just waiting for the weak to attack the strong, what kind of fighting method should we use? If we force the battle, there will be no good ending!"
These words caused everyone to think deeply. Yes, they all know the bravery of the Westerners, and their equipment is far more sophisticated than them. How can they win?
Teng Dan suddenly said: "There is indeed a chance."
Guan Hai looked up at him and asked, "What opportunity?"
"Humph," Teng Dan showed a smile. It was obvious that he had thought it through at this moment and felt that his idea was brilliant. He said to everyone: "You should have heard that the West recently announced in two states that there are 800,000 people.
Stones, grains and grass will be shipped one after another to help the victims. Eight hundred thousand stones! Even in the land of Tianfu in Guanxi, it will not be easy to come up with so much grain and rice. We only need to find the place where they store grain and seize it in one fell swoop.
Next. How can the soldiers in the west fight at that time? Without food, can they fight to fill their stomachs?"
Everyone couldn't help but feel excited when they heard this. Guo Xiaoxian then asked: "Having said that, where is their food and grass? We don't know either!"
Guan Hai waved his hand and said: "This is not difficult. Tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass can probably be hidden. I have never heard of eight hundred thousand stones of grain and grass being lost." After that, he immediately started on the matter.
I secretly sent people to Yan and Henan to inquire about the news. There were still many believers remaining in the two states, and I found out the news.
The relief grains transported were divided into three routes, one was left in Aocang, Henan, the other was transported eastward from the river to Dong'a, and all the way south along the Suishui River, where it ended up in Taiqiu. It is said that Taiqiu had the most grain, estimated to be about 400,000 shi.
After all, Taiqiu had been cooking porridge and giving alms outside the city all day long. There were at least 200,000 victims gathered outside the city. When the grain came down from the Suishui River, many believers saw it. The news was definitely not false.
Although it was different from what was expected, Geng Cang generals still felt that they could take action. Even if they could only capture half of the grain and rice, Liu Bei's army was large and he had a small army. After seizing the grain and relying on the city to defend himself, Liu Bei would definitely be the first to hold on.
Don't go down. After reaching consensus, Guan Hai slowly stood up, held his sword and said to everyone: "Teng Changshi said it well, God's will will not stop my teaching, so at this time of life and death, he gave me the last chance. I hope you will come forward."
After the battlefield, we will move forward with one heart and never stop winning!"
Everyone whispered: "We will move forward with one heart and never stop!" Their eyes gradually lit up, like candles lit in a dark room.
On this day, there were clouds in the sky over Taiqiu. The clouds stretched across the sky, but were as thin as cocoons. The sun broke through the clouds, emitting a pale golden light. The sun shone on the green and dignified wilderness, and the fallen leaves in the mountains and forests were dark and yellow, showing the
People are gathering around to rest.
Although the epidemic is still raging, these refugees do not look worried. After all, the epidemic is very close to them, but hunger is even closer. Every day, new refugees arrive from all over the world. They are all unkempt and crowded in the city.
In the newly built hut outside, there is like a layer of gray fog that will not dissipate. Instinct drives them to wake up at a certain moment, and then numbly fight for a bowl of porridge and water. Only when the stomach is not growling can people have energy.
Think other things.
Fortunately, the grains that arrived could be seen, and the rice and noodles gradually calmed them down. But the victims still lived every day numbly. After all, no one wanted to guess what their life would be like tomorrow when they had nothing. They could drink more today.
A ladle of water is enough.
It was time to give out porridge again, and white smoke from cooking porridge began to float outside the city. The sweet fragrance in the water vapor attracted people to gather. Because some people had died from crowding and trampling before, there were many soldiers on both sides of the porridge shed.
While maintaining order, people were lining up in long queues. But in front of the porridge shed, apart from the porridge being cooked, there was something a little different. It turned out that there were more government officials preaching the New Deal to the victims.<
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Due to the Guanxi accent of the Bafu officials, they were approached by a clerk who could speak Guanxi dialect. The Bafu promised that after this winter, the people would be allocated 30 acres of land to men and 20 acres to women.
Spring seeds and farm tools are all provided by the Bafu, but high taxes will be levied in the first four years, about five public and five civilians. After that, the taxes will be reduced year by year until they return to regular taxes after ten years.
The victims were in an uproar after hearing this, and there was some disbelief in their discussions, but the official seal on the notice was real. The officials pointed to the largest red seal and said that it belonged to General Liu Bei.
The seal will never deceive anyone. After the victims heard about it, they all flocked over to take a look and remember the appearance of the seal.
While everyone was still discussing the matter, a group of birds suddenly appeared in the forest in the distance. They flew up and made "croak" and "croak" sounds in the sky. It turned out to be a group of crows, which made the victims confused.
They felt disgusted for a while. But some sensitive people noticed something was wrong. Why did the crows fly up at this time?
Then the ground began to tremble slightly. Before most people could react, some people who were used to seeing soldiers and horses screamed loudly. They said: "There are horse thieves!" But they spoke too late, and soon,
Just like the undercurrent rises and waves, the trembling also makes a sound, like distant thunder rolling down the ground. The resting crows are awakened by this. In their field of vision, a gray-yellow torrent is rushing in.
Running across the plains, they crashed into Taiqiu City without hesitation.
Under normal circumstances, these tens of thousands of Geng Cang cavalry could not have done any damage to Taiqiu. What's more, after they crossed Mount Tai, the three horses took turns to change their mounts and galloped for nearly 500 miles without sleep. They were extremely exhausted. Not to mention attacking the city.
Even if they had an equal number of infantry, they would not dare to defeat them.
But now the outside of Taiqiu City is full of disaster victims.
The cavalry in the front row fired arrows casually, and the locust-like rain of arrows sprinkled on the crowded crowd. Suddenly there was a scream. The victims trampled on each other and ran away, stepping on the fallen people with a thousand feet, and then walked towards them.
They rushed into the city. Even some soldiers who wanted to resist were trapped by these crowds and could not form a strong resistance at all.
This is what Gengcang's army wanted to see. They walked out of the corpses and, led by local believers, rushed to the east gate of Taiqiu City. The chaos at the east gate was even worse: the soldiers in the city wanted to
The city was defended against the enemy, but the fleeing victims only wanted to squeeze into the city. The power of fear made them defeat the Han army's swords and guns, and completely blocked the city roads, so that the city gates could not be closed.
The Han army could not close the door, so Zhang Fang, who was in the vanguard, used a knife to cut a path. Amidst the wails, the Black Mountain Knights successfully entered the Taiqiu City. Once the east gate was broken, the city could no longer be defended. Now even the Han soldiers could not defend it.
Then it collapsed and fled with the victims, leaving the city full of grain and rice to Guan Hai.
Sun Meng, the chief officer of Taiqiu, was originally the son of Sun Rui, the official who held Jin Wu. This time he joined the army because he wanted to achieve a reputation like Chen Chong, so he asked for this post. Unexpectedly, in one day, Taiqiu was thrown into the army.
Moth thief, when he thought of the rice noodles piled up like hills in the city, he suddenly lost all hope. His servants persuaded him to flee, but he was unmoved. He only said: "How can I face the general?" So he stayed in the city.
, took a knife and went to the street to fight the enemy to the death.
Although Shi Sunmeng was tall, he was not familiar with martial arts. Everyone thought that he would be useless. Unexpectedly, Geng Cang's army was victorious and they did not have much defense. When he came out with a knife, he actually hacked two people to death one after another.
When a dozen knights saw this, they gathered around and shot him. Seven or eight arrows were stuck in his torso, but Shisun Meng was still wielding his knife. At the ninth arrow, a knight finally shot him.
His forehead made Shi Sunmeng startled, and then he froze and died.
The county magistrate is dead, and his remaining followers have fled.