Steel Dynasty - Chapter 346

[Chapter 346 The Meat Grinder Begins]

PS: Later there will be a chapter

where smoke is rising outside Yunzhou City.

The more than 100,000 people who surrendered were separated by Yunzhou troops to prevent them from gathering again to cause chaos.

At the same time, hundreds of large pots were set up on the land outside the city, and rice porridge was boiling in the pots. The faint fragrance of rice made the victims swallow their saliva.

Qi Guangyi kept patrolling here on horseback. The victims were already waiting in front of the cauldron to give porridge. Now the rumors that Yunzhou City is gathering the victims have become a reality.

The rice porridge in front of them also made these people feel at ease.

Who wants to fight for a mouthful of food when there is food to eat?

It’s just that it is indeed dangerous for hundreds of thousands of people to gather. They have already received orders to send these victims in batches to the feudal states for resettlement.

Moreover, the order is not to force these victims to relocate, but to seek their own consent.

“Everyone, the victims in the city have also told you, His Highness Renyi, he said that as long as people are willing to move to Qingzhou, Cangzhou and other states, they can get their own land. From now on, they can live in peace in these places. After finishing this meal tonight Those who are willing to follow us will gather at the north gate. Then someone will naturally enthrone you and assign you to different places.”

After a pause, Qi Guangyi continued: “Of course, if you don’t want to, we will. I won’t force you. If you give each person three kilograms of rice, you can go where you want.”

The victims listened carefully to Qi Guangyi’s words.

As soon as he finished speaking, there were whispers among the victims.

Qi Guangyi observed these people. According to these people, they were all people who had just followed the Qinglong King. Some of them were even dragged into the Qinglong King’s army by their fellow villagers.

Moreover, there were many people who were originally preparing to take refuge in Yunzhou, but when they encountered the Qinglong King’s army, they had no choice but to come with them. However, they did not expect that the Qinglong King would choose to attack the city.

They used to be ordinary people who did not want to fight at all. Most of them just wanted to escape.

“My lord, are you telling the truth? Is there any land share here?” said a bold man.

Qi Guangyi said: “This is still false. Some victims in the city have been allocated land in Yunzhou. You can go and ask the people who are cooking porridge in front of you who have escaped from the disaster.”

The man did not lie and went directly to the front. After asking a few questions he came back.

When other victims saw him coming back, they asked: “Is it true or false?”

“Really, he said that he was allocated twenty acres of land, and the Yunzhou government also gave him rations, saying that he would wait until the cultivated land was harvested. Return it to the government, and not pay for it for three years.”

“What a good thing!” The victims around were surprised. This was like a dream to them.

Qi Guangyi smiled and went to other places to convey the policy on migration to the victims.

With a mouthful of hot porridge and generous policies, the victims gradually let down their guard. Under the strict discipline of the Yunzhou Army and the Qingzhou Army, no soldiers bullied the victims.

This makes the victims yearn for that different world even more. Many victims gather together as a family at night to discuss whether to migrate.

The next day, the north gate was occupied by people who wanted to migrate to the six states.

Xiao Ming and Zhan Xingchang were very pleased to see this scene. As long as the policies were good and they were not afraid of attracting these victims, the choice between hell and heaven would be easy.

Of course, there were some victims who were unwilling to leave their hometown. As promised, Xiao Ming gave them rations for the road and asked them to go to their relatives elsewhere.

Xiao Ming’s kind deeds quickly established his prestige among the victims. After all, there are many people in Dayu Congress talking big words, but not many people can actually fulfill their promises.

Because of this, Xiao Ming’s seemingly insignificant donation made the victims from Jizhou feel grateful.

And his good deeds further spread with the victims in all directions.

To Xiao Ming’s surprise, many of the victims who escaped from the last battle came back voluntarily and accepted the arrangements of the Yunzhou government office to settle in the six states.

In just ten days, Yunzhou counted 200,000 displaced victims, and this number is still increasing.

“Your Highness, the affairs of the victims are finally settled. It’s just a pity for those people who died in the battle. This Qinglong King is really hateful. The barbarian enemy is facing us. He doesn’t want to serve the country. Instead, he has the idea of attacking the city and seizing the food and grass. “

Zhan Xingchang said angrily.

Xiao Ming nodded, “The hearts of the people are weak, but this Qinglong King is probably not an easy person to deal with, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to easily capture several states and counties.”

“Your Highness is absolutely right.” Zhan Xingchang After pondering for a while, “The surprise of the artillery and flintlock rifles caused the rebel army to disperse so quickly. If it had been ordinary weapons, it would have been a deadly battle.”

As the two were talking, suddenly there was a noise outside, and then the defenders were Zhao Long and Zhao Hu who were outside the door helped a scout covered in blood and walked in.

Xiao Ming and Zhan Xingchang changed their expressions one after another.

Seeing Xiao Ming, the scout said weakly: “Your Highness, the barbarian reinforcements have arrived. The Qingzhou army led by Governor Niu was besieged by 80,000 barbarians in Fencheng. The Shanzi camp collapsed without a fight with the grain and grass. It was transported on the way back. The food and grass were robbed by the Qinglong King again.”

After saying this, the scout fainted.

“Pa!” Xiao Ming slapped his hand on the table hard, his chest heaving violently, “King Qinglong, shameless gangster, don’t you have national justice in your eyes?”

Zhan Xingchang also blushed, and attacked Yunzhou first. , and now he is robbing the grain road. This Qinglong King ignores the Qingzhou Army and the Forbidden Army who are resisting the barbarians on the front line. This is not a rebel army, it is simply a bandit!

“This Shanzi Camp is also a waste.” Zhan Xingchang stamped his feet angrily.

When Niuben set off, part of the Shanzi Battalion followed the Qingzhou Army to Jizhou with grain and grass.

After arriving at Fencheng in Jizhou, Niu Ben ordered to wait for the rendezvous with the imperial army, while looking for opportunities to break through Chagatai’s blockade of Jizhou.

Because Niu Ben judged that this battle might take a long time, he asked the Shanzi Battalion to continuously transport food back and forth to reserve military rations for a month.

After all, he was worried that he would also be besieged. If there was no food and grass, the morale of the army would be in chaos.

Now that the food and grass have been robbed, the Qingzhou Army’s food reserves are insufficient, which makes Xiao Ming not anxious.

“Your Highness, Fencheng is a small city even worse than Yunzhou City, and the city wall is nothing more than a soil wall. The most urgent task is to lift the siege of Fencheng.” Zhan Xingchang calmed down and reminded.

Xiao Ming sighed, he didn’t expect a war to be so difficult. Now that Beishan’s reinforcements have arrived, Jizhou City may become a meat grinder.

He said to Zhan Xingchang: “I ordered Qi Guangyi to lead five thousand cavalry and three thousand musketeers to rush to Fencheng quickly. If this battle is defeated, there will no longer be a royal foothold in the northern country.”

(End of this chapter)