Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

As a result, the already meager food supply in Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's city would soon be cut off, leaving them with only two options.

Or we could kill those powerful families and gentry, and seize their grain to supply the army.

They could either lead their troops out of the city at great risk, hoping to defeat the Xia army and seize the food supplies within the city to replenish their own needs.

Either of these paths would be of great benefit to him.

The former can use others to do their dirty work, eliminating the gentry forces of the former six kingdoms, clearing obstacles for the county system of the Great Xia, and further intensifying the conflict between them.

When those local gentry were desperate and filled with hatred for Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, they would certainly try to secretly contact Xia Jun and then work together from within to quell Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's rebellion.

The latter is exactly what Bai Su has always wanted.

After all, the troops he led were the elite forces of the Great Xia Dynasty, who had fought in the north and south. To deal with a rabble that had lost the protection of a city, he didn't need any tactics; he only needed to charge them head-on.

Soon, at Bai Su's command.

The Great Xia, a war machine that had been dormant for many years, quickly began to turn again, revealing its powerful mobilization potential.

In a short time, the price of grain in the surrounding area began to rise rapidly from less than ten coins.

......

......

at this time.

Within the city walls.

The once magnificent prefectural governor's mansion has now become the residence of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.

Inside the side room.

A dancer is performing here, while someone is playing a musical instrument nearby.

Chen Sheng, dressed in a magnificent silk robe, lay languidly on a soft couch, with several maids beside him pouring wine and feeding him plums.

For a time, the air was filled with the sounds of birds singing and dancing, a truly delightful scene.

He looked at the magnificent mansion in front of him, a smug look on his face.

Clearly, he was quite satisfied with this extravagant lifestyle.

Just as he was enjoying himself, a man strode in: "Boss, something bad has happened."

The speaker was a young man dressed in plain clothes. He looked at the hall, which reeked of alcohol, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Chen Sheng smiled and said, "Isn't this Wu Guang? We can talk about this later. Come, come, let's have a drink together."

Wu Guang slammed his wine cup on the ground and said angrily, "Hey, what time is it? You still have the mind to drink? Do you know that something terrible has happened outside?"

Chen Sheng was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "The Chu Kingdom sent an envoy, making us feel like a thorn in their side. If the Xia army tries to remove us, the Chu army will march north and join forces with us. Even the Xia army won't be able to do anything to us then. What could be causing you to panic like this?"

Wu Guang sighed and said, "Our troubles aren't outside, but inside the city. We're running out of food."

As he finished speaking, the wine cup in Chen Sheng's hand fell to the ground with a soft "clink," and he instantly sobered up a bit.

He grabbed Wu Guang by the collar and asked, "This... how is this possible? Langya County is so wealthy, with convenient transportation and abundant grain supplies, how could it suddenly be short of food?"

The originally cheerful atmosphere in the hall instantly became oppressive.

Chapter 338 Our Young Master Can't Be That Terrifying

Looking at Chen Sheng's incredulous expression, Wu Guang felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

He sighed helplessly and took out a letter from his pocket: "This is an urgent report that has been sent back. You should take a look at it yourself."

Chen Sheng snatched the secret letter, quickly tore it open, and looked down at it.

After reading the letter, he clenched his teeth tightly, his voice barely audible as he exclaimed, "How...how could this be?!"

Xia Jun spread the word that a snow disaster had occurred in the north, leading to food shortages in the near future and potentially causing a large-scale exodus of people.

In order to provide disaster relief, the Xia army began to purchase grain in large quantities in the surrounding areas, which caused the price of grain to rise continuously, from the original ten coins per catty to nearly two hundred coins, and there was no sign of it stopping.

This sudden news had already caused panic among many people, and Xia Jun's major move triggered a series of chain reactions.

Merchants who were supposed to transport grain into the city began to find various excuses to delay the delivery of grain, hoping to sell it at a higher price.

In order to make a profit from the national crisis, the gentry and merchants in the city began to hoard grain. The grain that was originally plentiful in the city suddenly became scarce.

In this situation, his subordinates did not think about quickly opening the granaries to release grain, stabilize prices, quell the unrest, or appease the people.

Instead, they all panicked.

There were even instances of petty leaders leading their troops to plunder grain from granaries, resulting in them fighting amongst themselves.

After all, they were just a group of convicts and prisoners who couldn't read a single word. They were good at robbing and plundering, but when it came to governing a country, they were completely ignorant. If you asked them to raise their heads, you would probably see a group of them with eyes full of wisdom.

Although the situation was quickly brought under control, allowing it to continue will only make things worse.

At that time, Xia Jun won't even need to lift a finger; they will naturally turn into a fighting frenzy due to internal strife.

Chen Sheng frowned and couldn't help but ask, "How long will the grain in our granary last?"

Wu Guang replied, "There is no grain left to collect in the market, and the grain merchants in the vicinity are all waiting for higher prices and have stopped trading with us. The grain stored in the local granaries of Langya County is simply not enough to feed an army of 80,000. We can only hold out for a month at most."

Chen Sheng's face immediately fell with worry: "A month won't do. If this continues, there will be a mutiny. Where else can we collect grain besides the granaries?"

After pondering for a while, Wu Guang said, "There are still two places with grain. One is Qi County, where the Xia army is stationed. Bai Su has ordered the collection of grain from various places and it is all stockpiled here. If we can capture it, we can solve our food problem."

Chen Sheng decisively refused, saying, "No, Bai Su is a ruthless man. He drove out the Xiongnu in the north and conquered the Western Regions in the west. Even Xiang Yu suffered a lot at his hands. Our army's morale is low right now. It would be too risky and unwise to fight him head-on at this time. What is the second place?"

Wu Guang continued, "The second place is the powerful families in the city, as well as the local gentry..."

Although he didn't finish his sentence, the meaning was clear: he was going to rob a wealthy person...

As the saying goes, "If my neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns; my neighbor is my granary."

Chen Sheng felt as if he had been enlightened in an instant, and said, "Good, quickly send people to collect grain from our doorstep."

Wu Guang frowned and couldn't help but ask, "But if we do this, we might offend those powerful families."

These powerful families paid prices far exceeding the market value for the grain they purchased, and now they want to forcibly requisition it. No one would be willing to do that.

Chen Sheng snorted coldly: "It would be best if they were willing to hand over the grain. If not, then we'll just rob them. Anyway, they look down on us, so killing them will be a clean affair."

Wu Guang opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he held back the words.

There is no other way at the moment.

As for getting them to voluntarily hand over the money they had so painstakingly seized, and then use it to buy grain from the powerful families and distribute it to others.

Let alone Chen Sheng, even he himself was unwilling.

After all, it's easy to take meat from someone else's bowl, but few people in the world would willingly give meat from their own bowl to someone else.

As the saying goes, "It's better to die for your friend than for yourself," so in order to collect grain, we have no choice but to raise our swords against the powerful clans.

Chen Sheng addressed the guards at the door, saying, "Men, gather the troops and collect grain."

Upon seeing this, Wu Guang couldn't help but sigh.

......

......

Meanwhile, in the Xia army camp.

Cao Shen, Fan Kuai, and others were waiting there early. When Bai Su walked in, one of them was reading a book with a map, and the other was sitting around the stove drinking tea.

Upon seeing Bai Su enter, they all stood up, cupped their hands, and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

"No need for such formalities."

Bai Su said with a smile.

It was still early, and only the two of them were waiting there, making the entire tent seem deserted.

Bai Su walked straight to the main seat, sat down slowly, and asked with a smile, "Do you know why I suddenly called you here?"

The two looked at each other and shook their heads.

Cao Can blinked his clear, bright eyes, stepped forward, and tentatively asked, "The lord has ordered us to purchase grain, saying that it will be used for disaster relief and helping the people after we enter the city. Could it be... that the time is ripe now?"

Bai Su picked up a cup of hot tea, gently blew on it to cool it, and said, "That's right. According to the reports from our scouts, Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, and others, in their anxiety, began to send people to forcibly requisition grain from powerful clans."

Cao Shen's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly: "But those powerful families and local gentry probably won't hand over the grain so easily."

Bai Su took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "That's right. It's acceptable to symbolically hand over a small portion of the grain, but how could they easily let it go when Chen Sheng sent people to take it all away? This caused quite a conflict between the two sides."

"So Chen Sheng, in a fit of anger, sent men to forcibly confiscate their property. Anyone who tried to stop him was killed. In just one day, more than 700 people were beheaded."

"hiss!"

Cao Can and Fan Kuai gasped in shock; this Chen Sheng really dared to make a move.

It should be noted that even His Majesty the present is unwilling to take action without a suitable pretext, lest it damage his image.

Chen Sheng did something else, killing over seven hundred people right off the bat. Wouldn't that cause an uproar among the powerful clans?

Regardless of Chen Sheng's victories or defeats on the battlefield, he lost the hearts of the powerful families and clans of the land, and suffered the loss of a large number of talented individuals.

As expected, he was ultimately just an ordinary man, incapable of achieving great things.

Bai Su blew on the hot air and said with a smile, "If my guess is correct, distinguished guests will arrive before tonight to welcome us into the city."

"Distinguished guest?"

Fan Kuai was taken aback, before she could even ask a question.

A series of hurried footsteps approached, followed by a middle-aged man who walked in looking disheveled.

His hair was disheveled and his body was covered in mud, clearly indicating that he had suffered a lot along the way.

"Where is the Grand Master of Ceremonies? Where is the Grand Master of Ceremonies...?"

Seeing this, Bai Su put down her teacup and said, "I am Bai Su. What do you want with me?"

The middle-aged man looked at Bai Su, who was dressed in white and had an elegant demeanor, and felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.

He knelt down with a thud and said pitifully, "Great Minister, I am from the Gao family of Qi. You must do me justice!"

Bai Su deliberately feigned confusion and reached out to help him up: "So you are from the Gao family, one of the three great families of Qi. What happened to make you look so disheveled?"

The middle-aged man was deeply moved and heartbroken when he saw that Bai Su held the high-ranking official position of Grand Master of Ceremonies in Xianyang and was still so sincere to him.