Jizhou, Xindu.
The screams were endless.
The city gate was wide open, and many carriages were seen crowded at the city gate. There were people inside and outside the city.
Some people are carrying packages, some are holding children, and some are carrying parents on their backs.
The coachman roared angrily and kept waving the riding crop in his hand.
The city gate was completely blocked and there was no way to get through, or the driver was impatient and whipped the horse pulling the cart hard. The horse hit it with its hooves, and the crowd in front was immediately knocked away. The carriage ran over something unknown.
Just like that, he struggled to open his way through the crowd.
A man roared in grief and anger, took off the ax from his arms, and jumped into the car. The driver raised his hand, and the ax got stuck directly in his arm.
"ah!!"
"How dare you?!"
"Someone is coming!"
There were no soldiers guarding order inside or outside the city gate. After all, they were the first to escape.
This incident directly triggered a chaos. One by one, men were seen besieging the surrounding carriages and horses. Regardless of whether they had collided with them or not, they were all besieged and beaten. People wearing luxurious clothes were dragged out of the carriages. The men
Holding a stone, he hit the man on the head.
There was a lot of wailing.
"Stop! Stop!"
Someone led his servants to stop him, but was quickly overwhelmed by the sea of ​​people. The man shouted: "You don't have to run!! The general will not massacre the city! He will not massacre the city!!"
But his words were drowned in the shouts.
On the distant slope, the knights slowly emerged.
Hu Changcan rode a big horse and looked coldly at the chaotic situation in the distance, frowning.
"There is really no innocent person in this gang of traitors."
"It's okay for them to run away, but they still want to spread rumors about the general massacre of the city, which has made people in Hebei panic. People from all over the country have fled. I really don't know how many things are going to happen."
"Spring planting has been delayed, and now we are suffering from such turmoil. This winter will not be easy."
Kou Liu didn't speak to him, just looked at the officers on the side, "Quickly surround a few city gates and let the people return to the city!"
"If anyone attacks, kill them directly and let them retreat into the city!"
Hu Changcan's face looked a little unbearable, but he did not reprimand him.
The people they have to deal with have absolute authority in public opinion among the people. It is still not easy for the people who are instigated and intimidated by these people to calm down the sages, eminent monks and officials.
In order not to cause more casualties, it was a helpless move to shoot the leader of the attackers.
The officers took the order and quickly led the cavalry to charge away.
Kou Liu then looked at Hu Changcan, and he said quietly: "There is no perfect truth."
"If you want to kill these people, you will naturally have to pay a price."
"Local order is gone, thieves are everywhere, cultivated land and residential buildings are destroyed, and people flee, which disrupts reconstruction, so we will naturally have to go through these things, but the speed of reconstruction should be very fast."
"Don't worry too much, Duke Hu. Grandfather has thought of these things a long time ago, and all the officials he sent know how to deal with these situations."
"As for these common people, Mr. Hu comes from a rich family. Maybe they don't know people like us. They can easily become frightened, but it is also very simple to appease them. As long as they can control the army under their command, not to mention that there will be no mistakes, as long as they can maintain
Military discipline dictates that if you don't come out at will to cause harm to the people, they will go back and do their own thing."
"Hu Gong, please go to the city and appease the people in the city."
"I'm going to appease the fleeing people."
Hu Changcan was a little shocked, "The people in this city are easy to deal with. I can issue reports and distribute food, and rectify military discipline so that they will no longer be frightened. But how are you going to appease the people who have fled?"
"Are we going to bring them back by force?"
Kou Liu laughed, "It's very simple. I will lead the army, catch up with them, and then don't kill them."
"ah?"
"Just do your own thing, Mr. Hu. Believe me, it will definitely work."
Kou Liu smiled and led his troops away from here, while Hu Changcan led the rest of the army towards the city.
When the officers led the troops outside the city gate, the people who had been fleeing just now began to run crazily towards the city again. The scene became even more chaotic, but the officers were not in a hurry to contain or organize them.
, because rash contact would only make them stressed and make them more afraid. The knights just stood outside the city, just watching them retreat, and showed no desire to attack.
The officer looked at the military officer on the side. The military officer understood and rode forward alone, shouting: "The general has an order not to invade the people of the state and county, and return in an orderly manner! Don't violate the law!"
The military officials shouted everywhere, and the crowded crowd finally slowed down slightly.
Even if they didn't believe what the military officials said, they didn't dare to charge and kill those who stood in front of them.
Hu Changcan then arrived here. When he saw the corpses and dropped packages on the road, Hu Changcan sighed again.
Break and then stand.
It really requires a lot of courage.
Not to mention anything else, anyway, the general's reputation is completely bad. This "killing officials and killing virtuous people" along the way has pushed almost all the elites in the world to the opposite side. It's fine under his own rule, but outside, public opinion will definitely turn him into a villain.
The image of the general turned into a demon who went around slaughtering cities and killing people.
This will have a very bad impact on the general's future attacks on cities and territories.
How to capture the south in the future?
Hu Changcan was thinking hard when he suddenly realized, attack the city and seize the territory? That's not right! Naigong is a minister of Qi!!
He shook his head violently, expelling the rebellious thoughts from his mind.
After watching the people return to the city one by one, he led his troops into the city.
The city was in a mess and the damage was extremely serious.
After the order was lost, demons and ghosts appeared at the same time, and they were even worse than before. Hu Changcan went straight to the government office.
The government office is like a city. The door is open and there is no one inside.
It felt like it had been robbed several times, and even the tiles on the ground wanted to be dug up.
As for relevant documents and the like, don't even think about it, there is nothing left for them.
The soldiers searched everywhere and finally caught an old man.
The old man was limping and couldn't get away at all, so he was forcibly brought to Hu Changcan.
"Spare your life! Your Majesty, spare your life!!"
The old official knelt down and bowed. Looking at his age, Hu Changcan stood up and did not accept this courtesy.
"Who are you?"
"Wu Xing, the gatekeeper of the state government office."
Hu Changcan looked around, "Where are the people from the government office?"
The old man trembled and said: "A few days ago, there were rumors from all over the city that the general was massacring the city in Cangzhou and Yingzhou, using people as food for the army and killing all ten houses. The people in the city were the first to flee, and they couldn't control it at all.
Then comes the thorn
When Gao Jishi heard the news that Cangzhou had been captured, he was about to run away. No one could stop him. After he ran away, the rest of the people followed him. Before escaping, they looted everywhere and took away many things.
"
"After they left, someone else broke into the government office and robbed it again."
"I am forced to stay here to die because I have limited legs and feet and have no relatives."
"Please have mercy, please don't kill me!"
Hu Changcan had some disbelief in his eyes, "Gao Jishi actually ran away??"
The governor of Jizhou is Gao Ning, the king of Huashan who just took office not long ago.
Just by looking at his name, you can tell that he is different from distant clan members like Gao Yun. He is one of the fourteen members of the Gao family.
In addition, he also has an identity, he is the half-brother of Pengcheng King Gao Jun.
Hu Changcan couldn't understand. Even if Gao Yun wants to run away, why do you want to run too?
We are here on the orders of your brother!
Hu Changcan sighed and looked at the old man, "I won't kill you, just go back."
"Some of those who said the general massacred the city were criminal villains who were afraid of being implicated, and some were thieves under Wei Xiaokuan's command who were eager for civil strife in the Qi Dynasty."
"Come here, bring him some food and send him out of the office."
Hu Changcan gave the order, and two soldiers stepped forward, handed the old man a package, and then pushed him out. The old man held the package in disbelief and walked a few steps. He suddenly stopped and turned around to look.
Hu Changcan.
"This noble man, after the governor escaped, the long history asked the junior officials to burn all the relevant documents. The junior officials felt it was troublesome, so they hid in the dry well in the south courtyard and blocked it with stones and debris. If it is demolished now
If you open it, you might be able to find a lot of things."
Hu Changcan was stunned for a moment, then said to the soldier beside him: "Give him more food."
Kou Liu was leading the cavalry at this moment and was galloping quickly on the official road.
Along the way, almost all of them were fleeing victims.
When the knights suddenly appeared in the rear and approached them, they were so frightened that they fled in all directions.
Kou Liu just pretended not to see it.
Even when he saw the wealthy families riding in luxurious carriages, he did not take action and just led the cavalry to move forward.
Along the road, you can see thieves blocking the road and looting, so Kou Liu doesn't need to be polite. These new thieves have no experience in dealing with the government's cavalry and are easily killed.
The bandits divided their troops and ran back and forth on various roads, only killing the thieves and not harassing the refugees along the way.
Sure enough, just as Kou Liu said in the past, when they discovered that the knights did not embarrass themselves and did not even look at themselves, some of the escapees immediately stopped and prepared to wait and see the situation.
This road is not a way of survival for them.
Those who are officials can continue to be officials if they leave Jizhou and go to Yecheng. Those who are rich can still live a good life after leaving Jizhou and go to Yecheng.
They were the only ones, and they didn't know how many days they could last with the food they brought. They had to improvise for future rations. The reason why they left Yecheng was entirely because of the terrifying rumors of massacre. They chose between certain death and possible death.
The latter, but now, death has become possible, so they have to choose the easier one between the two ways of death.
Dying on the road is one of the most horrific ways to die. If you die at home and have neighbors and friends help bury you, even if you don't have any burial objects, you can at least be buried.
But if you die outside, you don’t know where the body will go in the end.
There are many people under Liu Taozi who come from the lower class. They understand the logic of the lower class people. Kou Liu's running back and forth has actually played a good role.
Some younger people secretly ran back to the city to watch and found that there was no massacre in the city, so many people who escaped began to go back.
Hu Changcan in the city was digging out the hidden documents and materials.
When Kou Liu returned to Xindu with the recovered officials, what he saw was an extremely irritable Hu Changcan.
Hu Changcan spread these documents flat on the ground, his face turned red and his teeth were trembling.
"The King of Ping Qin rebelled, and King Pengcheng distributed food for disaster relief. These materials were used by the government for 'city construction', but not a grain of rice fell into the hands of the people!!"
"And this, look, the cost of the Jizhou Buddhist Dharma Conference last year was actually two million stone grains!"
"What kind of puja did they do? Did they burn food puja?!"
Kou Liu leaned against the door, watching Hu Changcan walking among the documents, looking around at the contents, and he became more and more irritable.
The situation in Daqi is deteriorating rapidly. In the past, although there were evil people in the area, there were also many good officials, and a balance could barely be achieved.
But in these days, fewer and fewer people are working, and corrupt and bribery officials have become the higher moral standards among Daqi officials. After all, the rest of the people have committed more evil deeds. Compared with these people who are desperate to have their families destroyed, just click on it.
Money has already destroyed 70% of Qi’s officials!
The officialdom has experienced an unprecedented collapse and has become shameless.
Who are the governors today?
Among so many governors, there is no one who is qualified. Looking at many current governors, the most outstanding one is Dugu Yongye, who took back the cultivated land for corruption.
After all, he can really fight against the Puppet Zhou and will not surrender at the first meeting.
Hu Changcan was holding a fire in his heart. He wanted to vent it. He pointed angrily at the documents on the ground and opened his mouth. The anger was stuck in his throat and he couldn't spit it out. Finally, he staggered and sat on the ground.
.
"It's completely hopeless."
He slowly raised his head and looked at Kou Liu.
"When shall we go to Yecheng?"
"Don't worry, there is another place called Dingzhou."
Kou Liu sat in front of him and said seriously: "Mr. Hu, there is a big trouble here in Dingzhou."
"Dingzhou is the old place of the general. Many local officials are close to the general, and the people have not fled. How can there be trouble?"
"Gaoji."
"The governor of Dingzhou, Gao Ji, King of Boling."
Kou Liu said solemnly: "This man belongs to the clan, and he is also the clan born to Empress Dowager Lou. All the relatives of Empress Dowager Lou have a very good relationship with him, but unfortunately, this man has no morals."
"At the beginning, he abandoned his army and fled in Sizhou, which led to Jinyang being besieged. After taking over the position of governor of Dingzhou, this man did not know how to restrain himself and acted absurdly."
"How to solve this trouble?"
Hu Changcan replied calmly: "Everyone should be treated equally. The other governors will be arrested if they make mistakes. How can the governor of Dingzhou be an exception? Before I arrived, King Pengcheng said that both the King of Huashan and the King of Boling would be captured and sent to the court.
.”
Kou Liu laughed, "But before I left, Zu Jue told me that it would be best not to let this guy return to Pingcheng alive."
Hu Changcan was stunned for a moment, "Why?"
"Let this guy go back to Pingcheng. If King Pengcheng doesn't kill him, my brother will kill him too."
"Let him die in the hands of his brother, it will ruin everything."
"Therefore, it is better to let him die on the road or in Dingzhou than to send him to Pingcheng."
"Even if I die in your hands, they will think that the general is suggesting that you kill someone. It won't make any difference."
"There is a difference. There is a big difference between dying in Dingzhou and dying in Pingcheng, dying in my brother's hands and dying in my hands."
Kou Liu said calmly: "When the time comes, if Duan Shao and others are questioned, I will take the blame."
"How can the general let you take the blame?"
"But I will die for my brother."
"If I want to commit suicide to apologize, can my brother stop me?"
Hu Changcan shook his head, "It doesn't have to be so troublesome."
He raised his head and commented seriously: "Zu Jue is very talented."
"But he is a villain."
"A complete villain. He has the talent to be a prime minister, but he doesn't have the style to be a prime minister."
Hu Changcan said seriously: "I'm not talking about his personal ethics, I'm just talking about his character and conduct. He always likes to use some shady means to do things and is never upright."
"I have always felt that many things that happened in the previous government were related to Zu Jue."
"He is a good counselor, but he is not suitable to run a big country."
"Now that King Pingcheng has regained Hebei, he is using his troops of benevolence and righteousness to attack the traitors in the area, to kill the tyrants who bully and harm the people, and to defeat the arrogant and lawless obscene priests!"
"This is in line with justice. No one killed is innocent."
"The same should be true when facing Gao Ji now. If he has made a mistake, he must be arrested and sent to Pingcheng to be tried. If he is guilty and deserves to die, then execute him. If he deserves to be exiled, then exile him.
he."
"According to the law and being upright, the so-called benevolent person is invincible!"
"But Zu Jue insists on using these villain's methods and secretly poisoning her. This is not what a gentleman should do, and the general would not even bother to do it."
"You have been a confidant of the General for many years. I see that your nature is not bad, so I will remind you that what the General wants to do is not something that a bandit would do to usurp the country. He wants to do something earth-shaking.
!”
"Don't believe Zu Jue's words easily, and don't get too close to this person."
"You can't poison Gao Ji. We have to send him back to Pingcheng and let him receive the punishment he deserves."
Hu Changcan said, looking at Kou Liu with particularly bright eyes, and said: "You said that I come from a wealthy family and don't understand the hardships of you people. It's true that generations of officials in my family really don't know."
"But it's not that I have endured hardships. My father was an upright man and often wrote letters to remonstrate. He was exiled, dismissed, and even put into a prison van several times in the past. I followed him around the world. At that time, I longed to be able to
There is a place where the laws are sound and everyone can do things according to the rules."
"Now, the general is about to do such a big thing, and we have to be the pioneers for the king."
"Young man, if everything goes well, you will go to the temple to receive tribute. Don't be led astray by villains like Zu Jue."
"Everything must be done in an upright and upright manner."
Kou Liu seemed to have met Hu Changcan in front of him for the first time, and was shocked and confused.
Chapter completed!