Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 71, Dong Chen's Sorrow

Another memorial was sent by an official from Shanxi.

He impeached Dong Chen for embezzling money in Shanxi by replacing the court's disaster relief grain with bran and even mixing it with sawdust in order to reap huge profits.

A large number of people complained about not having enough food, and some even slandered the imperial court. Dong Chen not only had no love for the people, but instead forced these victims to do labor service and build city walls, which angered the people of Shanxi. If this continued, the scale of the rebellion would probably increase instead of decrease.

The impeachment memorial was written with such conviction that it sounded as if the author had experienced the incident personally; a small bag of food provided by Dong Chen for disaster relief was also presented as evidence.

Emperor Longqing did not dare to take it lightly, so he asked Dai Quan to bring the evidence.

It was a small bag of grain.

When Emperor Longqing opened it, he even thought he was seeing things, as he did not see any trace of grain inside.

Just as some city dwellers in Fang Yong's previous life could not tell the difference between rice and wheat, Emperor Longqing was even worse.

The only food that Emperor Longqing had ever come into contact with in his life was the grains used in sacrifices, so he had no idea what was in the bag?
“Is this some kind of grass?”

Emperor Longqing asked while holding a piece of bran

Dai Quan explained: "Your Majesty, this is bran for livestock, not for humans."

Emperor Longqing's expression became increasingly gloomy.

He asked Dai Quan to cook it so that he could taste it himself.

Dai Quan took the order, and soon brought over a bowl of cooked bran.

In fact, it is not entirely bran. Dong Chen also added some cheap old rice and broken rice to the bran. It is not very nutritious, but at least it is enough to sustain the lives of the victims.

Emperor Longqing took a little with a jade spoon, put it in his mouth, chewed it gently, and then spit it out instantly.

How can this thing be eaten?
"Call Dong Chen back to Beijing immediately!"

Emperor Longqing said angrily.

Shanxi.

Pingding ancient city.

Under the sunshine, workers were sweating profusely as they repaired the devastated city walls.

Not long ago, King Wu Sheng of Jin organized a siege.

It ended in failure.

Under Dong Chen's leadership, the imperial court began to provide disaster relief. As long as people chose to turn from evil to good, they could eat two meals of relief porridge every day, and their previous mistakes would not be held accountable.

Although the porridge is not very good, at least it can keep me alive.

As a result, a large number of disaster victims and rebels gave up their rebellion and chose to join Dong Chen.

Wu Sheng was extremely anxious about this. He realized that if this continued, the rebels around him would all run away.

But he didn't have much food, so he couldn't stop the situation.

So Wu Sheng directly chose to launch a strong attack on the Pingding Ancient City where Dong Chen was located.

Wu Sheng’s idea was very simple. As long as he could eliminate his opponent physically, there would naturally be less trouble.

Relying on his military advantage, Wu Sheng was about to capture the city.

At the critical moment, Dong Chen changed his strategy and called on the victims to assist the government troops in defending the city.

Dong Chen claimed that if the city could not be defended, Wu Sheng would take away all the food after he captured Pingding Ancient City. This statement made many people believe it, after all, Wu Sheng's rebels had done this before.

When the emotions of a large number of people were mobilized, Dong Chen announced that as long as they participated in helping to defend the city, they could eat the same food as the army.

The food in the army is much better, and sometimes there is meat.

Dong Chen used both public opinion and inducement, and soon convinced a large number of people to help defend the city.

With the help of a large number of civilians, Wu Sheng's army still made no progress after twenty days of attack, and its morale became low.

Dong Chen seized the opportunity and ordered Marquis Zhongjing to lead his troops to raid the enemy camp at night, successfully defeating the rebels.

After the victory, Dong Chen did not relax his vigilance, but quickly mobilized the people to build the city wall to prevent Wu Sheng from making a comeback.

Dong Chen believed that as long as he held on here and continued to provide disaster relief, Wu Sheng's rebel group would only get smaller and smaller.

As long as the people have food to eat, they will never choose to rebel with Wu Sheng.

When Wu Sheng becomes weak and powerless, he will destroy him in one fell swoop.

Under the setting sun, Dong Chen stood on the city wall with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance with a confident smile on his face.

In worldly affairs, the unity of knowledge and action is nothing more than this.

Just as he was thinking about it, suddenly, a messenger in a yellow robe came riding on a horse from a distance.

"Your Majesty has issued an edict: Shanxi Governor Dong Chen is involved in a serious case and must return to the capital immediately without delay."

……

Huaizhou.

In the afternoon, Xiangling squatted beside the rice field, staring at the two little ducks in the paddy field with great interest.

Two little ducks were playing in the water, catching some insects to eat from time to time.

The weather was still hot, Xiangling was not wearing much, and when she squatted, her slim waist and round hips set off her gourd-shaped figure. Fang Yong saw this scene from behind and couldn't help but move closer.

"Silly girl!"

"Ah, Master!"

Xiangling was startled and spoke in a tender voice.

"Go to your yard."

Fang Yong leaned close to Xiangling's ear and said.

Xiangling was also promoted to a concubine, and Fang Yong prepared a small courtyard for her alone.

Xiangling nodded with a red face, and was about to take a step when her legs suddenly went weak.

"Master!"

Xiangling looked at Fang Yong's hand aggrievedly.

Although he didn't say anything, he seemed to be complaining: You are doing weird again.

Fang Yong smiled, reached out his hand, and picked him up.

"go!"

After a long time, Xiangling lay in Fang Yong's arms without any strength left.

"Master, Xiangling has no strength left. Not even a bit of strength left."

Fang Yong kissed Xiang Ling on the cheek and said, "Then I will hold you in my arms while sleeping today."

Then he said, "Qiaoyan, go get some new bedding for the bed!"

Xiao Qiaoyan ran in, took a look and said, "Brother, you're really something. It's like this every time." As she spoke, Qiaoyan took the wet bedding away, and after a while brought in a new bedding.

the other side,
Xue San set out again with a new caravan.

This caravan was much larger than the last one, carrying large amounts of salt and tea, and had nearly two thousand people.

After all, with the successful experience last time, they naturally increased the investment in the caravan this time.

Among them, 1,500 soldiers were responsible for protecting the safety of the caravan, while the rest of the men and horsemen were experienced veterans who could respond to any emergency at any time.

In addition, there was a young figure among the caravan members.

Xue Ke.

Xue Dacui actually doesn't have a good impression of the Xue family.

When Xue Daquzi was framed by the imperial court, the Xue family immediately abandoned the enemy and chose to expel Xue Daquzi from the family. Although Xue Daquzi knew that this was a common method used by large families to survive, such a ruthless approach still made Xue Daquzi very disappointed.

But now that the Xue family has been destroyed, Xue the Cripple is too lazy to pursue the past.

After all, they are connected by blood, and even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. Now, the only remaining males in the Xue family are Xue Dacuizi and Xue Ke. Xue Dacuizi himself has no offspring, so Xue Ke becomes the only choice.

In terms of seniority, Xue Da Quezi was the seventh oldest and was Xue Ke's seventh uncle. Xue Ke was humble and polite, and was very respectful to Xue Da Quezi. After a while, Xue Da Quezi softened his heart and agreed to let Xue Ke join the caravan for training.

In fact, there is another reason, which is Xue Ke’s sister...

The caravan followed the same route as last time in an orderly manner.

When they arrived at Changshan, Zhili, the caravan was passing by the foot of the mountain normally. Suddenly, a group of ragged people rushed down the mountain.

There were probably about two to three thousand of these people, each holding a pickaxe, a shovel, a stick, and they were dressed in rags, with skin and bones covering their bodies.

The leader was a man with his shirt open. He was very tall but very thin, like a bamboo pole.

The man held a large knife with a notch on it and said:
"This road is mine! This tree..."

Whoosh! An arrow shot into the opponent's chest.

The man fell down stiffly.

The soldiers in the caravan took out their hidden swords, guns, bows and arrows and started the massacre.

What bandits? They are just a group of hungry people who can't survive.

Soon, the ground was covered with blood. Some of these people died, some escaped, and hundreds of them were so scared that they knelt on the ground and trembled.

Both Xue San and Xue Ke were accustomed to this kind of scene. Xue San waved his hand expressionlessly and was about to lead the caravan forward. Suddenly, he saw an old man who was so hungry that his bones were visible in the crowd. He looked very familiar.

"This is?"

Xue San got out of the car and walked over.

Sure enough, it was that old man.

Xue San called the other party to get up.

The old man stood up with some fear, and then saw Xue San.

"Benefactor, it's you!" the old man said excitedly.

Xue San nodded and asked:

"It's me. I remember you went to Shanxi. Why are you living here? Where's your grandson?"

(End of this chapter)