Three Kingdoms: Madam, I am a decent person

Chapter 580 Yan Xiang
At dawn on the 20th day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Jian'an.

A military camp five miles away from the west gate of Xia Pi City, the new capital of Xuzhou.

Zhang Sui personally selected the troops and generals at the reviewing platform.

Looking at Tian Feng, Chen Deng, Chen Gong, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Tian Yu, Liu Ye, Zhao Yun, Gan Ning, Zhang Liao, Zang Ba, Lu Su, Chen Jiao, Chen Dao, Zhang Xun, Liu Xie, Sun Guan, Xu Dan, Wei Xu and others standing beside him on the podium, Zhang Sui was also very excited.

After traveling through time to the present, I finally have a solid team of civil and military officials!

These are from Xuzhou and Lujiang.

Thinking of the civil and military officials such as Ju Shou, Xin Pi, Xun Chen, Gao Rou, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and Wang Hao who were still in Hebei, Zhang Sui felt a surge of heat in his chest, making him want to roar in excitement.

Tian Feng stood beside Zhang Sui, watching Zhang Sui calling out the names of civil officials and military officers one by one, watching them stand up one by one to accept the orders, and watching the tens of thousands of soldiers under the reviewing stand, he felt quite emotional.

It has become a big deal, this is it!
Considering Zhang Sui’s current situation, as long as he doesn’t make any mistakes and just maintains the status quo, no one can help him!
After Zhang Sui had selected all the soldiers, he personally escorted all the generals to their war horses.

Finally, Zhang Sui instructed Tian Feng and Zhao Yun to guard Xuzhou and Lujiang respectively. Zhang Sui took Huang Yueying, sat in the chariot, and followed the mighty army from Xia Qiu to Shouchun County, surrounded by his personal soldiers.

Shouchun.

At this time, there were flags flying on the city walls.

Countless soldiers were constantly coming and going.

Outside the city, it was a wasteland.

The skeletons were scattered all over the place and were eaten by wild dogs.

At the gates surrounding the city, ragged and haggard people were coming in and out.

On both sides of the main road inside the city gate and under the eaves of the houses, haggard refugees were lying in all directions.

On the main road, yamen runners were constantly coming and going, keeping a close eye on these dying people.

As the main road continued to extend deeper into the city, the houses on both sides of the main road became taller and taller.

The children of wealthy and powerful families, dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, were constantly coming and going in various shops and markets.

In front of a garment shop, an old man with a frown on his face and wearing a linen gown walked out, supported by a man and a woman.

The old man's name was Yan Xiang, and he was Yuan Shu's former chief clerk.

When Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he was thrown into a dungeon by Yuan Shu because he strongly opposed Yuan Shu and insulted Yuan Shu, saying that he would destroy him.

It was not until yesterday that he was successfully released from prison thanks to the efforts of his former colleague, Yuan Huan, now the Imperial Censor of the Zhong family.

Last night, he chatted with the Imperial Censor Yuan Huan for a long time.

When Yan Xiang learned that Yuan Shu had been continuously shrinking cities under the attack of Cao Cao three years ago, and had seized the people's food and grass, all of which were stored in Shouchun, and that Lujiang had been lost, he almost suffocated.

Yuan Shu, he is the legitimate son of the Yuan family, which has been three generations of nobility for four generations!

Back then, as the rear general, Yuan Shu occupied ten counties and one country including Yangzhou, Yuzhou, and Nanyang!

Definitely the biggest prince.

Now, only a few years have passed?
It became like this!

What made Yan Xiang even more desperate was that he heard from the Imperial Censor Yuan Huan that Zhang Sui of Xuzhou was leading four armies, nearly 30,000 people, and was coming in a mighty force!

Who is Zhang Sui of Xuzhou?
Now, a person who appeared out of nowhere could bring such a great threat to Yuan Shu?

After a night of chatting, Yan Xiang realized that Yuan Shu was at the end of his rope and there was no possibility of salvation.

Yan Xiang could only say goodbye to the Imperial Censor Yuan Huan.

He planned to go to Lujiang to see who Zhang Sui was.

After coming out of the clothing shop, Yan Xiang, accompanied by his youngest son and his wife, carried his luggage and walked towards the city gate.

The closer they got to the city gate, the deeper Yan Xiang’s frown became.

Especially when he reached the city gate, he could no longer move. The city gate and the outside of the city were simply hell on earth.

But deep in Shouchun City, there was a scene of singing and dancing.

Yan Xiang slowly turned around and looked towards the direction of the imperial palace deep in Shouchun.

He looked a little dazed.

Is this still the Yuan Shu that I had followed wholeheartedly and till death?
How could he have managed to run such a large territory into such a state during the three years when he was imprisoned in the dungeon?
Yan Xiang's youngest son looked at Yan Xiang's tearful appearance and said in a low and hoarse voice: "Father, don't be sad."

"The Yuan Shu of today is no longer the Yuan Shu of the past."

"Since he became emperor, he has been arrogant and extravagant, and has treated the people as nothing."

"Now within a hundred miles of Shouchun, there are few civilians to be seen."

"In recent years, we have been hit by severe drought, and people are starving and some are even exchanging their own children for food."

"After we were attacked by Cao Cao, he looted all the people's food and supplies and brought them to Shouchun City!"

"Two years ago, there was a severe drought and eight out of ten people in Pei County starved to death."

"He also asked the people to send all the food to Shouchun City."

"Pei Xiang Shu Shao risked his life to beg him for mercy, but he not only refused to listen, he also beheaded Shu Shao."

"For the next two years, he led the civil and military officials to live a life of drunkenness and debauchery in Shouchun City."

"Now, apart from the surrounding Anfeng, Lu'an, Xiacai and Dangtu, he has no other territory."

"Comparatively speaking, although Xuzhou was massacred by Cao Cao, since Zhang Sui took over as governor of Xuzhou, the military farming system and work point system have been implemented here, and the people can have food and drink as long as they go there."

"The vast majority of our people have already defected."

Looking around at the people lying on the ground, breathing out more than breathing in, Yan Xiang's youngest son said with emotion: "The reason these people are still here is because when there was still food left, they held on to unrealistic fantasies that Yuan Shu would behave like a man and come to his senses, so they stayed."

"But it turns out that jackals have no sympathy for the helplessness of sheep."

"Mud can't hold up a wall."

"These people are using their lives to warn us. If we stay, we will die."

After hearing what his youngest son said, Yan Xiang sighed, wiped the tears from his old face, and with the support of his youngest son and his wife, Yan Xiang staggered out of Shouchun City and slowly walked towards the south of the city.

Just as they walked five miles away, a war horse came galloping towards them.

On the warhorse, a soldier had his back full of arrows.

His entire body was soaked with blood.

The war horses carrying the soldiers galloped past Yan Xiang and his men, and after running nearly two hundred steps, they fell straight off the horses.

Yan Xiang's breathing became a little rapid, so he asked his youngest son to go over and take a look.

The next moment, the ground began to shake slightly.

And the vibration fluctuations are getting bigger and bigger!
The wife of Yan Xiang's youngest son was so frightened that her face turned pale, her legs and feet went weak, and she sat down on the ground.

Yan Xiang's youngest son's lips were also trembling.

When Yan Xiang saw this, a look of fear appeared on his old face.

However, he immediately calmed down and pointed to the ground and said to his youngest son: "Son, lie down on the ground and listen to the noise."

Yan Xiang's youngest son finally came to his senses and quickly lay on the ground with his ear to the ground.

After a while, he raised his head and looked in the east, and said in a trembling voice: "Father, it's right in front of us, all over the mountains and plains, it feels very close to us!"

(End of this chapter)