My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 134 Shut Up
Looking at the hundreds of young and middle-aged slaves of the same status as himself, wailing and wailing miserably, saying goodbye to their wives and children, Chen Shu suddenly felt that it was not bad to be a lonely man like himself whose parents died early and who had no wife and children to burden him. At least in this expedition from which it was obvious that there was no return and no life, he did not have to endure the heart-wrenching pain of separation.

After dozens of slaves said goodbye, they wiped their tears, dejectedly, and slowly walked towards Jiangling City under the impatient urging of the escorting soldiers.

In late autumn, approaching winter, the cold air was like a knife, cutting through the flesh and penetrating the marrow, and it was unbearably cold. All the slaves wore only a short, narrow robe made of thin linen, with their arms and legs exposed, and walked on the road with their shoulders hunched, like shivering quails.

The escorting soldiers seemed to be in a hurry to escort them to the destination so as to go about doing other things. They looked impatient and kept shouting and scolding them along the way, urging them to speed up.

To the surprise of Chen Shu and his servants, the escorting soldiers were fully armored, carrying bows and arrows, holding swords and spears, and looked as ferocious as before. The only difference was that they only scolded them harshly instead of beating them severely, nor did they stab them with sharp spears just because they were dissatisfied, regardless of whether they lived or died.

"Cheer up, everyone. Hurry up and go quickly. Don't delay my next mission. And don't act like your parents have died and look so sad. You will enjoy your life when you get to Jiangling City." The escorting soldier cursed impatiently.

Chen Shu had dealt with the soldiers of Jiangling City countless times before, and without exception, they were all lazy, unwilling, and half-hearted in their duties. But now the expressions of these soldiers suddenly changed, and they were so diligent in their duties, and even had a sense of urgency, which made him feel very unfamiliar.

As for the soldier's words "you will enjoy the blessing", I just thought it was nonsense and felt more and more desperate.

They were all slaves of the great general Huang Jizhong, who owned a huge manor in the south of Jiangling. The manor covered thousands of acres, and there were countless slaves and maids. A few days ago, a group of Jiangling soldiers rushed in like wolves and tigers, and hacked all of Huang Jizhong's relatives and loyalists who dared to resist to death and buried them in a pit. Among the slaves who dug the pit was Chen Shu.

Only then did Chen Shu know that the great general Huang Jizhong, the man who stood tall and tall like a mountain, had been killed. All his family's property, land, grain, workshops, including their slaves, had been confiscated and became the property of the Linjiang Kingdom.

Chen Shu and his parents were both coolie slaves at the bottom of the manor, and his parents had died of exhaustion due to heavy labor. Huang Jizhong, the high and mighty master, was just a symbol to Chen Shu, and he did not have much affection for him.

——If he dies, he dies. But if he changes his master, he will still work harder than chickens, dogs and pigs. It is not worth being happy, nor is it worth being sad.

As expected, the new master arrived soon, but to Chen Shu's surprise, the new master was even more cruel than Huang Jizhong.

She was a tall and graceful lady, with a radiant and majestic look in her eyes. When they arrived at Huang Jizhong's manor, the first thing they did was to gather all their slaves, count out their strong men, and send soldiers to escort them to Jiangling City.

I heard that there was a batch of military rations in Jiangling City that needed to be escorted to Gaixia City, a thousand miles away, but they lacked slaves and laborers for transportation.

Since ancient times, doing labor, repairing mausoleums, and transporting military rations were good things for slaves and civilians like them, but it was tantamount to giving up their lives. If ten people went out and one or two could come back alive, it was already a fluke.

Therefore, upon hearing the news, the slaves felt as if they had been sentenced to death, and that the sky was about to collapse. Therefore, the slaves parted with their families, which was so miserable and sad. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, this was the last time they would see their families in this life. For example, they would never see their simple and caring wives, lively and lovely children, and gray-haired parents who were not long for their lives again.

Under the soldiers' impatient urging, the servants had no choice but to quicken their pace, although they were resentful in their hearts.

After entering Jiangling City, the soldiers took them directly to a large granary in the north of the city and handed them over to a skinny official with triangular eyes, a pointed chin and a monkey face. Then they immediately took the receipt and hurried back to the manor.

The inventory of the manor's land, property, workshops, grain, etc., was waiting for them to contribute. And if they contributed, they would gain, so these soldiers were very enthusiastic.

While waiting for the official to hand them over, Chen Shu looked around and found that there were countless ox-mule carts parked in front of the granary. Thousands of young men like them kept shouting deep and powerful slogans, "Hey" and "Ho", and were not afraid of the cold. They all took off their upper clothes, revealing their purple-black bodies, and carried bags of grain from the granary on their shoulders and hands, and piled them on the carts.

The air was cold in late autumn, but these strong men were sweating profusely, like the steam from a hot pot.

This scene completely stunned Chen Shu.

"A bunch of stupid donkeys with strength but nowhere to use it!" It could be seen at a glance that a large number of these strong men were slaves like him, and the rest were obviously civilians in the city. Chen Shu, who obviously could not understand their desperate enthusiasm, cursed them in his heart.

Transporting military rations is tantamount to committing suicide, yet they are so energetic and working so enthusiastically. Aren’t they a bunch of idiots?
"You are the slaves of Huang Jizhong's manor? There are no managers among you, right? Oh, the managers were all killed. Well, we are all suffering slaves." After receiving the information, the minor official sent the soldiers away, coughed, turned to them and began to lecture, "The transportation of military rations is urgent, and time is pressing, so I will make it short. This time, the eldest son of the Great Chu has ordered that you are not sent in vain. Each of you will be given ten acres of land, a piece of thick cloth two tuans long, a set of thick winter clothes, and you will be fed on the way. As for the work along the way, we have ox carts and mule carts, so you don't need to drag them with your bodies as before. It's such a long way and time is so tight, the kingdom has requisitioned all the oxen and mules, and you just need to drive the carts well and protect the food on the road. Damn, you guys are really getting a bargain."

At the end, the official couldn't help but curse angrily.

As soon as the thin official with triangular eyes finished speaking, all the servants started shouting in a chaotic manner, as if a cauldron had exploded:

"Is this true? Giving me clothes and food, and not having to pull a cart? Isn't this true that I can't die?"

"Are you really going to give us ten acres of land? But we are all slaves, and we will eventually fall into the hands of the noble lords, right?"

"Yes, and we are about to deliver military rations. Even if we are given land, how can we receive it?"

……

"Shut up!" Annoyed by the slaves' buzzing noise, the skinny official glared with his triangular eyes, his eyes flashing with ferocity, and cursed the slaves into silence. "The certificates for ten acres of land, thick cloth, and robes are all given to you sons of bitches now. Go and line up to receive them. If you have families, go back and give them to them. The land will be allocated to you according to the certificates. Your former master Huang Jizhong has plenty of land for you to share. As for your status as slaves, after this mission, your whole family will become civilians from now on. If you don't have land, you can rent it from the kingdom. A large number of nobles died this time in the kingdom, and they have recovered an unknown amount of land, waiting for you idiots to plant it. Aren't you strong-willed? You will be put to use next."

There are so many benefits to transporting military supplies, and one can also become a civilian and escape from slavery directly. This is something that one would never dare to imagine in one's dreams.

Despite the jealous insults from the triangular-eyed official, all the servants believed it and were overjoyed and excited.

Following the instructions of the thin officer with triangular eyes, the servants rushed to the pile of military uniforms nearby and scrambled to get the certificates, robes, and thick cloth from the soldiers. Those who received them could not wait to put on the robes, put the certificates in their arms, sandwiched the thick cloth, and ran home.

——I have to run. Time is pressing. If I can’t come back on time, all these benefits must be taken back.

Chen Shu was carrying a robe, thick cloth, and a certificate for ten acres of land - a palm-sized piece of cloth with a line of black characters written on it and stamped with the red seal of the kingdom. He was so happy that he felt dizzy, as if he was in a dream.

After he had run a long way with the servants, he suddenly remembered that he was a bachelor, so why should he run with them?
He took off the robe he had just put on, rolled it up together with the certificate and thick cloth, and tied it tightly around his waist with a hemp rope. Then Chen Shu roared like a tiger and felt as if he had endless energy. He joined the team that transported grain out of the granary, carried a large bag of grain on his shoulder, and trotted towards the ox cart.

His silly attitude attracted the attention of all the strong men around him, but no one scolded him. Instead, they all smiled knowingly.

With the downfall and death of a large number of noble officials headed by Huang Jizhong and the destruction of their families, in addition to abundant food, cloth and money, the kingdom also recovered a large amount of land in one fell swoop.

Adding the original royal family's land - yes, Xiang Chang waved his hand and confiscated all the private land of the royal family, calling it "family and country are one, it should be so" - this number was so large that Xiang Chang was shocked. Even if it was given to meritorious soldiers, there was still nearly half left.

After taking charge of the entire Linjiang Kingdom, Xiang Chang discovered that not only was most of the land controlled by nobles and ministers, but their slaves were also numerous and accounted for a large proportion of the kingdom's population.

Civilians with meritorious service will be directly given ten acres of land, while those without merit can rent it for farming, and the surplus land will be distributed in the shortest possible time.

After all the chores were taken care of, military rations and a large number of military uniforms were loaded and ready, it was time for Xiang Chang to leave Linjiang Kingdom and return to Gaixia.

Bo Pi, to whom Xiang Chang entrusted the power of Linjiang Kingdom, took Gong Yin and all the nobles, big and small, and escorted Xiang Chang straight out of Jiangling City.

In order to help Bo Pi consolidate his power, Xiang Chang only brought 10,000 troops with him and left Hei Shi behind to command the remaining troops.

During this period, Bo Pi felt like he was in the clouds every day and was overjoyed. His daughter became Xiang Chang's concubine and was deeply loved by him. He, the great pillar of the country, was directly promoted to the "Standing King" of the Linjiang Kingdom. He held great power and his former colleagues had to act according to his wishes. The rewards were extremely generous and he was extremely satisfied.

The only regret was that Xiang Chang was about to leave and return to Gaixia. He knew that Xiang Chang's journey back to Gaixia was destined to be troubled, but out of his confidence in Xiang Chang, he forced himself to suppress his worries.

After saying goodbye to Bo Pi, she let Bo Yan put on the embroidered cloak he had sewn himself, and then hugged her tightly. Regardless of the people watching, he kissed her tender face hard and whispered, "Wait for me!"

Bo Yan used all her strength to hold back her tears and said with a smile: "My husband will definitely deliver the military rations to Gaixia safely. I congratulate you again."

Xiang Chang nodded gently, let go of her hand, jumped on his horse, looked around at the nobles and ministers who were surrounding him to see him off, who looked reluctant to leave but actually didn't know what they were feeling in their hearts. He laughed "haha" and waved his hand to order them to set off.

Four thousand able-bodied men skillfully drove ox-mule carts loaded with food and military uniforms, and slowly began their journey under the protection of ten thousand elite soldiers.

The cavalrymen guarding Xiang Chang directly shook out two large black flags with the two big characters "Chu" and "Xiang" written on them. They fluttered vigorously in the wind and walked at the front of the team.

Seeing this scene, all the nobles and ministers looked at each other with strange expressions.

"This Young Master Xiang Chang actually returned to Gaixia City without hiding anything and with such a clear banner? Oh, he is really brave!"

"It can only be said that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger! To be so reckless and arrogant, he really does not take the Han camp seriously."

"It's a long journey. I hope he can transport this batch of military rations to Gaixia City safely."

"I'm afraid a fierce battle is inevitable. Facing the siege and interception by the big man, can this young master still continue to make changes?"

"Hehe, it's indeed not that easy. The Han camp is no pushover!"

"Doesn't that mean that this batch of military rations is difficult to transport to Gaixia? Isn't that a pity?"

……

It has to be said that almost no one among the nobles and ministers of Linjiang Kingdom was optimistic about Xiang Chang's escort of military grain back to Gaixia. During this period, they were deeply tortured and ravaged by Xiang Chang, and their fragile hearts were greatly traumatized. Although they were forced to board the pirate ship, they still hated him secretly and hoped that Xiang Chang would suffer a great defeat. Now, watching the grain transport team moving farther and farther away with the neighing of oxen and mules and the rolling of dust, they felt that the big stone pressing on their hearts was gradually loosening, and their spirits were greatly relaxed. Even if they did not dare to curse openly, they still couldn't help but speak in a sarcastic tone.

Holding a big club, can they still turn the world upside down? Bo Pi was not polite either, and gestured to Hei Shi: "General, have you written down the names of those weird colleagues just now? Why not go to the mansion later and sit down and greet them warmly? Don't dare to let them make mistakes right after Master Xiang Chang left, or even something unbearable will happen in the future. It is for the good of all the adults to punish the past and prevent the future, and cure the disease and save people."

Heishi sneered and nodded in agreement.

All the nobles and ministers were horrified, their hair stood on end, and they shut their mouths tightly, not daring to say a word.

(End of this chapter)