knife

Chapter 300 Chaos
An elderly farmer with graying hair stood barefoot in the field, looking dejected. The old woman standing beside him kept wiping away tears.

The vast fields of wheat that were originally growing very well were basically ruined after the army passed through.

Not to mention the livestock that ate and grazed indiscriminately, the sheer number of thousands of soldiers trampling through these wheat fields, which had grown to knee-high, without any mercy, caused the crops to be almost completely destroyed.

At this time of year, there's no chance to replant.

Spring sowing, summer weeding, autumn harvesting, winter storage
Now that everything has been uprooted, how are we going to get through this year?

The two elderly people, supporting each other, staggered into the distance.

Li Dachui and Fang Xiaomao led their horses slowly along the official road.

When I arrived, the water was rolling with blue waves, and seeing the crops growing so well, I could imagine the golden waves of wheat during the autumn harvest. But now, by autumn, I guess only some of the most resilient weeds will be able to grow.

“Young Master, this year has been tough for the area around Luoyang!” Fang Xiaomao shook his head and said, “Along the way, the farmland has been basically ruined. It’s either been trampled into roads or simply cut down to be used as fodder for livestock. Don’t these people have brains?”

“It’s not that they’re brainless, it’s just that some people don’t care, and some people do it intentionally.” Li Dachui said, “Do Yang Lixin’s Green Forest Army care about the harvest from the farmland? They’re the kind of guys who will rob when there’s nothing left. As for people like He Zudao, in order to make the north more chaotic and poorer, they will naturally destroy this year’s harvest. Haven’t you noticed what he’s been doing the most along the way?”

"He Zudao is really wicked!" Fang Xiaomao said angrily.

"He's heading south. Once he regroups the army of the eight southern garrisons and controls these areas, it's equivalent to controlling these grain-producing regions. He can then sell the grain at high prices, making a fortune and using it to control more people. You know, during famines, grain is more precious than gold and silver!" Li Dachui said. "From his perspective, he'll naturally seize every opportunity to weaken the enemy and strengthen himself. And when it comes to attacking the enemy, he's always ruthless. Little Cat, aren't we the same?"

Fang Xiaomao also fell silent.

When they were outside the Great Wall, they seemed to show no mercy to the people of the Yuan Kingdom.

Most recently, they burned down the houses and destroyed the crops of tens of thousands of ordinary Yuan people near Qingtongxia, leaving them homeless and forced to flee.

The reason for doing this was simply to increase the burden on the enemy in Qingtongxia.

"Young master, those are Yuan people!"

“But we’re all human, right?” Li Dachui said, “Little Cat, I never want to make excuses for myself, nor do I want to put on a moral cloak. I just want to say that we don’t really have the right to criticize He Zudao, because in essence, we are the same kind of people!”

"We are not!" Fang Xiaomao shouted. "We are outside the pass, where countless lives have been saved and countless lives have been improved because of us. Look at Helan Plain, look at Baoping Prefecture now, and those so-called Black Domains that have been brought under our control. And He Zudao? We only see him destroying, we never see him building."

“Once he has his own territory, he’ll work hard to build it! Only what belongs to you will be cherished; who cares about someone else’s things? Don’t you think so?” Li Dachui looked up at the sky, which was gloomy, with dark clouds like a heavy curtain, seemingly about to press down. “It’s going to rain!”

"It's going to rain!" Fang Xiaomao said. "The leaders in Luoyang are probably having an even harder time."

He Zudao, Zhang Quanyi, and Feng Congwen, along with three other groups and various forces, totaling over 100,000 troops, are currently engaged in fierce fighting in Luoyang.

Regardless of who wins or loses, Luoyang is doomed.

"With Luoyang destroyed, Chang'an was the most affected," Li Dachui said. "As the capital of both the Dayong and Qin dynasties, Chang'an developed for nearly a thousand years. Although its population experienced a sharp decline during the Qin dynasty's replacement of Yong, it has experienced explosive growth in the last three hundred years. Nearly a million people! Do you know how much grain, vegetables, and meat they consume every day?"

Fang Xiaomao shook her head.

“More than 60% of Chang’an’s grain supply comes from Luoyang, from the Grand Canal system!” Li Dachui continued, “When this lifeline is cut off, Chang’an will fall into chaos.”

"Therefore, Kou Zhong will come to defend Luoyang."

"Everyone knows the importance of Luoyang to Chang'an, so Kou Zhong must die, and Luoyang must collapse!" Li Dachui said. "Even if Zhang Quanyi eventually recaptures Luoyang, what will be left of a Luoyang ravaged by He Zudao? Just ruins and countless hungry mouths." "Young Master, what do you think Linghu Ye will do next?"

Li Dachui laughed and said, "Of course he won't let this opportunity pass. He will definitely use the pretext of quelling the rebellion to lead his troops straight to Luoyang, seize this key point, and then further threaten Chang'an."

"But a destroyed Luoyang?"

“Linghuye will be carrying out a large-scale migration of the surplus population from Luoyang to Hedong,” Li Dachui said. “Linghuye is building his base in Hedong and Hexi. Hexi already has a small population, and Hedong has also suffered a drastic reduction in population due to He Zudao’s indiscriminate killings. Linghuye will be transferring a large number of people to these two places. Both Hedong and the Hetao region in Hexi have a lot of fertile land! Linghuye has been farming outside the Great Wall for decades, and now he’s going to farm there again!”

"If he manages these two places well, controls Luoyang, and then conquers Chang'an, he might really have the makings of an emperor," Fang Xiaomao whispered.

Li Dachui laughed loudly: "Of course, this is just his wishful thinking. It might not go as he wishes, but that's hard to say. Didn't Feng Congwen tell us that the Yang family of Hongnong invested in three companies, and Linghuye was just one of them? Do you think the other two companies would just stand by and watch Linghuye get his wish?"

"so what?"

"Of course we're going to seize Luoyang and Chang'an!" Li Dachui spread his hands and said, "Luoyang is in chaos, what a great opportunity this is! We should immediately raise an army and rush to Luoyang and Chang'an to defend the emperor and quell the rebellion. Little Cat, just you wait and see, by the time we get to Chang'an, several forces will have already started to move."

Fang Xiaomao suddenly realized: "In this way, Chang'an, Luoyang, and even the entire Guanzhong region will be plunged into chaos and fighting. It will be a battle of wits between various parties, and we'll see who has the last laugh!"

“Yes, based on past experience, whoever wins this contest will basically win the world in the end! But if it happens only once, then it’s hard to say!” Li Dachui said.

“Of course, with you here, young master!” Fang Xiaomao said, “We’ll just watch them fight to the death outside the pass, and when they’re exhausted, we’ll come and deal with them.”

“He Zudao went south, and I imagine he’ll establish a power base there as well,” Li Dachui said thoughtfully. “This man is very clear-headed; he’s not just a fierce tiger, he’s also a cunning fox!”

“Haven’t we already planted Ke Wuji as a spies around him? Young master, I don’t think He Zudao’s ideas align with Ke Wuji’s. On the contrary, I think what you’re doing outside the Great Wall is somewhat similar to what Ke Wuji is saying!”

"Ke Wuji's ideas are exactly the same as my mother's back then, which is the legacy left by their founder, Qingfeng. However, the development of anything must follow certain rules. They wanted to impose something too advanced on this era, and failure was inevitable."

Fang Xiaomao wholeheartedly agreed.

“What is suitable is the best. Society must develop step by step. You can’t ask a toddler who is just learning to crawl on the ground to participate in the 100-meter sprint when he can barely stand up.” Li Dachui laughed. “But these things cannot be reasoned with Ke Wuji and the others. Only by making them keep hitting walls and failing, and then letting them see our success, will they wake up.”

“He Zudao is clearly using Ke Wuji and the others, but they just can’t see it!” Fang Xiaomao shook his head and said, “I guess after He Zudao went to the south and reunited the eight towns in the south, his next step is to unite with those powerful families in the south. And those powerful families in the south don’t really have much of a choice after He Zudao returned. Once they are united, Ke Wuji and the others will get in the way again.”

"He Zudao will use Ke Wuji and his group in the early stages to coerce those powerful families in the south. Only after forcing them to submit will he abandon Ke Wuji and his group. Therefore, Ke Wuji and his group should still have a good year or two!"

“Young Master, we have to help them! After all, you are the son of the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect, and you even mastered their Qi of Heaven and Earth. In a way, these people are all your disciples and grand-disciples!” Fang Xiaomao said.

"Let Zhang Bing handle these matters. He is the chief intelligence officer within the pass, and I cannot overstep my bounds."

"Zhang Bing?" Fang Xiaomao didn't react for a moment, then blinked before realizing, "You mean Miss Qingyun?"

“Zhang Qingyun is more satisfied with the name Zhang Bing,” Li Dachui laughed. “Let’s go, let’s go to Chang’an.”

Qian Jia, Zhou Yi, Zhang Bing.

Currently, the three leaders of Zhi Qiu Yuan are: Qian Jia, who is in charge of planning at headquarters; Zhou Yi, who is now wholeheartedly promoting the infighting among the three princes in Bei Yuan; and Zhang Bing and Zhang Qingyun, who are exerting their efforts in Guannei. Zhi Qiu Yuan's intelligence network is expanding at an extremely rapid pace.

Judging from the current situation, the status of Guannei is becoming increasingly important, and Zhang Qingyun's importance in Zhi Qiu Yuan will naturally rise accordingly.

(End of this chapter)