Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 77 Accident
One or two hundred thousand dan of grain is certainly extremely important, but for others, they may be more concerned about what Zhu Cilang is going to say.

"Thirty thousand civilians are also living people. If the day comes when food runs out, I will lead the army to make a final stand and will never let the people of Yingtian eat each other!"

When Xiang Rensheng finished speaking this sentence, Yue Qijie felt bitter in his mouth.

Set up the heart for the heaven and the earth, set the destiny for the livelihood and the people, for the sacred and inherited knowledge, and for the peace of the world.

Yue Qijie entered the officialdom as a juren, and he knew what Mr. Hengqu meant by these four sentences.

But his more than 30 years of official career also taught him a truth: there is nothing wrong with using the words of sages to educate people, but it is probably inappropriate to use them to govern the country.

"Please tell His Highness, just say it." Yue Qijie paused for a while, and the words on the tip of his tongue seemed to be pulled back by some thought in his mind, but after a moment he suppressed the thought in his heart.

"Just say minister, I understand."

After saying this, the bitterness in my mouth seemed to subside, but all the strength in my body seemed to be drained by these words.

According to his original intention, he would have spit in Zhu Cilang's face again, but the words "30,000 civilians are also living beings" made the thought linger in his mind and he could not turn it into action no matter what.

However, Yue Qijie was a high-ranking official after all. Even though Zhu Cilang's words had a certain impact on his mind, he returned to his usual self after a while.

Looking at the direction where Xiang Rensheng left, Yue Qijie's thoughts raced and his eyes flickered.

Based on his years of experience, his idea should be correct.

Whenever there is chaos, the people are often seen as a burden. Only when the world is close to being unified will they be regarded as an important means of production?

There are many reasons for this, but food is a major factor.

Take the situation inside and outside Yingtian at this time for example. Zhu Cilang was able to sit quietly in the city and wait for Duoduo to attack. His greatest confidence was the 270,000 shi of grain.

On the other hand, Duoduo had a large number of troops and strong fighting power, but the huge pressure brought by food supply forced him to take risks and disperse his troops to recruit strong men.

Of course, this risk is only theoretical.

Even though Duoduo had hesitated for a long time, he actually didn't think in his heart that the Yingtian defenders really had the courage to leave the city.

However, the most taboo in marching and fighting is to "take things for granted", so after weighing the pros and cons for a long time, Duoduo finally decided to let Tulai lead 20,000 troops to Jintan, which is slightly closer.

Jintan is only a hundred or two hundred miles away from Yingtian. If there is any change, the cavalry can arrive there in just over a day.

It would be the safest option to recruit laborers here.

Although they were very careful along the way, their advance was not slowed down at all.

To put it bluntly, the root cause is that there is someone leading the way.

Logically speaking, Cao Hu was not stationed in Jiangnan before he surrendered, so he should not be familiar with the local conditions and people here. However, he was born a bandit and traveled all over the country, making friends with all kinds of people. It was not surprising to find one or two who could lead the way.

"Commander, we are about twenty miles away from Jintan. I have found a place to set up camp. Why don't we rest first?"

Cao Hu galloped all the way from the front of the team. When he was about three or two feet in front of Tulai, he jumped off the horse and knelt on the ground, as if he regarded himself as a real scout.

At this point he had seen clearly that it was impossible for a mere lieutenant like him to curry favor with a noble person like the prince. After careful consideration, he set his goal to try to cheat.

This is not difficult to understand. From being a bandit to becoming a government army, and then from a government army to the Qing army, his judgment and grasp of the situation is certainly not bad.

In just the past few days, Cao Hu has already gathered a lot of useful information from clues.

From this he also concluded that as long as he could show his worth in front of him, his position in the army would be secure.

Cao Hu's performance could be considered humble, but Tulai did not gain any advantage from it.

The moment he knelt on the ground, he jumped off his horse, and before his head hit the ground, he rushed to Cao Hu and stopped him.

"You are so polite. You are so polite. We are so close to each other. There is no need to be like this." "Sir."

Cao Hu looked up, his eyes filled with tears. He didn't know whether he was moved by the courtesy or because he was really hurt when he got off the horse.

“Report~~~~~~!”

It can be said that this voice came very appropriately.

At this point, the two of them have already been competing to the point of white-hot acting skills. If they continue, someone will inevitably suffer internal injuries.

As powerful men, the two of them knew the situation was like this, and they took advantage of the sound to withdraw their power at the same time. However, the situation reported by the visitor was extremely strange, which made the two masters almost unable to react.

"Sir, Jintan sent someone to ask for help!"

Asking for help?

What help do you want?

Why come here for help?
It can be said that Tu Lai was very experienced. While Cao Hu was still thinking quickly, he had already compared the current situation with his memory.

When they followed the prince into Henan, they encountered this situation many times.

The leaders of one side wanted to surrender, while the other wanted to fight. In the end, a fight broke out and a lot of people were killed.

"But there was internal strife in Jintan?"

"Yes."

The visitor responded with a sound, and then poured out everything he knew.

A few years ago, there was a slave rebellion in this area. A few slaves led 30,000 to 40,000 people and called themselves the "Nose-Cutting Squad", causing chaos in all the counties and prefectures.

But after the arrival of people sent by Yingtian the day before, this group of rioters changed their previous behavior. They neither attacked the county town nor killed the rich.

What's even more outrageous is that they sent people to contact various counties to say that they wanted to help with defense, just like they were an official army.

Oh my God~~The Jintan County Magistrate is not stupid, how could he believe such nonsense!
After several days of persuasion with kind words and giving away a lot of food and wine, the thieves were finally appeased.

But then again, this is not a long-term solution after all.

In the past, it would have been fine. If we delayed for some time, we could still wait for the arrival of the government troops. Even if it would cost a lot of money and food, it would not cost us lives.

But now this is the situation.
Finally, the county magistrate discussed with the wealthy elders in the city and decided to surrender to the Qing Dynasty in order to protect his family business.

This is why the person who was attacked would come to the attacker for help.

After hearing this, Tulai felt that "although it was not expected, it was not far off", while Cao Hu was so shocked by the bloody plot that his mouth opened wide.

Honestly speaking, if the imperial court had not made repeated inappropriate moves, putting the towns in front of them in a situation where they would inevitably lose the war and perish, these brave men would have fought a few battles with the Qing army before considering whether to fight or surrender.

But now they are in the hinterland.
Forget it, why think about these things? After all, we are already under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

What's more, killing a few slaves and bandits is always better than storming a city. Who wants to make a living by hanging their head on the belt?

By the time Cao Hu figured this out, Tulai was already planning how to deal with it.

He blamed himself for being distracted at this moment, but his ears heard everything that was said.

".Lead in front, and the armored men will attack and kill later, let the people of Jintan see how powerful we are!"

(End of this chapter)