Cheng Dalei brought a thousand soldiers with him, and only two people, Xu Shenji and Liu Facai, came with him. Today they just came to see the situation in Shuofang City.
Riding a black bull into the city, Cheng Dalei stood at the city gate and looked around, and couldn't help but curse.
"Song Bokang deceived me!"
All you can see are dilapidated houses, and none of the shops on both sides of the street are open. That's fine. Cheng Dalei would not imagine that Song Bokang would give him a prosperous city. However, Shuofang City is really in a ridiculous state of dilapidation.
The key point is that there is no popularity in the city at all, which does not mean that there is no one in the city. Cheng Dalei did see a few beggars sitting in the corner basking in the sun, making heavy coughing sounds from time to time, making the whole city look lifeless.
"Master..." Xu Shenji noticed that Cheng Dalei's face became obviously unsightly.
Cheng Dalei came back to his senses: "Let's go and continue looking."
The three of them wandered around the city. In terms of city area, Shuofang City was much larger than Toad City, but the city walls had collapsed in many places. The city was also in ruins. The three of them walked around and arrived at Shuofang City.
The city lord's palace.
Just as Cheng Dalei had imagined, there was no one in the city lord's mansion. Cups, bowls and tea saucers were scattered all over the floor. You can imagine how hastily they left.
Cheng Dalei sat with his feet crossed behind the handsome desk in the hall. The excitement when he set out had completely dissipated. The situation in Shuofang City was really worse than he imagined.
"Liu Facai, go to the city for a walk, catch your breath and ask what is going on in the city and why it is like this."
Liu Facai agreed and left. Cheng Dalei sighed and dragged Xu Shenji to the accounting room of the City Lord's Mansion.
In fact, there is no use in checking the accounts. The current Shuofang City is completely empty. Song Bokang moved all the grain, grass and weapons away with the intention of leaving no grass and enemy farming. The so-called ledger is also empty, but
More or less, you can still see something from it.
Cheng Dalei looked up the population directory of Shuofang City and found out that Shuofang originally had a population of 50,000 households, which meant there should be 200,000 to 300,000 people. But Cheng Dalei was surprised that all these people had gone there.
A city can be broken, a wall can collapse, but the key is people. Without people, there is nothing.
Cheng Dalei planned to ask He Shen to come over and take a look. He didn't have the ability to manage internal affairs, and he couldn't tell much from these accounts, let alone Xu Shenji.
Not long after, Liu Facai came back from outside and found the accounting room along the way.
"Master, I found an old man and asked him, and I found out everything."
"Oh, what's the specific situation?" Cheng Dalei asked.
"The original city lord here was named Sun Boshan, who was sent by Song Bokang. He was not a very authentic person. In the past few years as the city lord, he had plundered all the people in the city, and many civilians in the city fled to death. This time Song Bokang took Shuofang City
Leave it to us. We have transported everything that can be transported out of the city. The order issued is to leave no trace of weapons behind."
"I already know this." Cheng Dalei looked at the empty City Lord's Mansion and wondered what else he could think of: "Where are the people? I'm asking about people. Where have all the people in the city gone?"
"Before, Sun Boshan gave a lot of trouble, and many people in the city left. This time, everyone heard that the big boss took over Shuofang City. The people in the city heard the news, and everyone who could move left. The only ones left behind were old, weak, women and children.
, and those who are not afraid of death.”
Cheng Dalei was speechless for a while. Although Liu Facai didn't make it clear, Cheng Dalei also understood the meaning of his words. After all, his reputation was not very good. The original people knew that it was him, a man-eating demon king, who could still stay here.
"Master, there is one more thing. There are still some old and weak people in the city. Most of them are people who cannot survive. Their families have long been out of food. If we don't care about them, they will all starve to death. This matter..."
Cheng Dalei patted his head and felt a little headache. Sure enough, a pie falling from the sky is not so easy to eat. If you don't expect it, your teeth will be knocked out by the stones hidden in the pie.
"Thank you for making another trip. Go back to Toad City and invite He Shen over to see how to improve this city." Cheng Dalei said.
Cheng Dalei sat behind the table, thinking about what he should do next. Every time he thought of something, he wrote it down on the paper.
First of all, the city wall must be repaired, and the collapsed houses in the city must also be repaired. This is secondary, the key is people. Only with people can the agricultural, commercial and handicraft industries in the city develop, and a dying city can be revived.
.
But each of these things is a huge waste. Even if refugees move into Shuofang City, they will have to be self-sufficient until at least autumn, and during these days, Cheng Dalei is completely responsible for their food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Cheng Dalei has worked hard over the years and has managed to save some money. However, an incident in Shuofang City is likely to wipe out all the money Cheng Dalei has saved.
At present, Cheng Dalei is not aware that this is Song Bokang's plan, but he already understands the difficulty of this matter. But he can't give up the city he got for free for the time being.
Perhaps what Song Bokang was betting on was Cheng Dalei's greed.
Of course, Shuofang City is not without its advantages. The city is built along the river, with countless fertile fields on the riverbank, and its geographical location is also relatively important. Toad City has indeed reached a bottleneck period in its development. If he wants to expand his power, Cheng Dalei needs to open a new base.
Tonight, Cheng Dalei and Xu Shenji rested in Shuofang City. Cheng Dalei guarded an oil lamp and sighed.
"Master, if we are really in this difficult situation, we might as well abandon Shuofang City and return to Toad City tomorrow."
"Wouldn't it be a pity to give it up in vain? Besides, what He Shen said may not be unreasonable. If you want to protect yourself, you need to have the strength to protect yourself. With the little wealth in Toad City, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive this troubled world." Facing Xu
Damn it, Cheng Dalei can still say a few words from his heart.
"Military advisor, let me ask you a question?" Cheng Dalei suddenly said: "Do you think our group of people will be able to take over the world in the future, sealing off each territory and splitting the land, and become a prince?"
It's not that Cheng Dalei doesn't have ambition at all, he just hasn't made up his mind yet.
Xu Shenji frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "In my opinion, no one can say for sure what happened to take over the world. It's impossible to say that a good thing will happen to our brothers that day. Having said that, if the boss is really in such a difficult situation, he might as well give up.
After losing this family business, we brothers will still be the kings of the mountain, and we won't be able to live in freedom for the rest of our lives."
Cheng Dalei felt warm in his heart, lowered his head and continued to flip through the account book in front of him. If he really gave up Toad City, he, Xu Shenji and the others would wander around the world, and to be honest, they would be much more carefree than they are now. But the family has a big business, and Cheng Dalei can't be like that.
So comfortable before.
Always think of a way to have the strength to survive this troubled world.