Chapter 737 It seems that I am on the wrong side
"The enemy is coming!"
When the martial law was issued, the number of pedestrians on the street dropped by 70% in an instant, and the remaining 30% were mostly busy shopping.
Food seemed most precious at this time, and several grain merchants took the opportunity to raise prices. The people queuing to buy food immediately complained. One woman counted the money in her purse and cried, saying that it was not enough and asked if they could give her more in the evening.
"Go back!" The grain merchant said coldly, "In this business, you pay for the goods and they are delivered. No credit!"
The woman squatted down and said, "There is only five days of food left at home, and I am afraid the war will last a long time. Please."
The businessman looked at the woman coldly, as if he was looking at an ant, "Get lost!"
The woman choked with sobs. The sound of horse hooves was heard and a group of cavalry approached and reined in their horses.
The warhorse snorted, and the cavalry on the horse was neatly armored, with quivers and swords at their waists. Their eyes were cold, "Why are you still lingering on the street?"
The woman was panicked, "I don't have enough food at home, so I want to buy some back."
The sergeant glanced at the empty cloth bag in her hand, "Hmm?"
"Slave, I can't afford it." The woman shed tears, "I'll go back now!"
"Why?" asked the sergeant.
The woman said, “The price has gone up.”
"How much has it increased?" The sergeant's tone softened.
"More than double." The woman squatted down, "Thank you for your forgiveness, General. I will go back now!"
"More than double?" The soldier looked at the grain merchant.
The woman noticed that there was sweat on the grain merchant's forehead.
The weather is getting colder!
Not to mention sweat, it’s good enough if I don’t shiver.
What's wrong with this guy?
The grain merchant moved his lips, "I didn't raise the price!"
At this time, someone in the queue shouted, "It has increased, more than doubled."
The sergeant dismounted.
Walk over slowly.
The grain merchant trembled, "I...I am willing to lower the price."
The sergeant put his hand on the hilt of his knife and asked solemnly, "What did the master say?"
“You are not allowed to… you are not allowed to hoard goods, and you are not allowed to… raise prices.” The grain merchant trembled all over, “You are a villain… you are a villain…”
"He is indeed a profiteer!"
"Damn it, it's more than doubled!"
"Shameless thing, you dare to say that the price has not increased."
The sergeant walked up to the grain merchant and asked, "Anything else?"
The grain merchant knelt down and said, "I am willing to donate..."
Choking!
The long sword was unsheathed, and the blade light flashed like a silk thread.
A head fell to the ground, and the face still had panic and cunning...
Everyone was frightened and stepped back.
The sergeant stepped back and glanced at the crowd, "There is still a quarter of an hour. Anyone who stays on the street after a quarter of an hour will be treated as a spy."
The clerk in the store knelt there, afraid that he would be the next to be unlucky, and hurriedly tried to excuse himself.
The sergeant pointed at the civilians and said, "Keep going!"
"Thank you, Master Jun!"
Da da da!
Amid the sound of horse hooves, dozens of riders came galloping over. Someone approached and shouted, "What happened?"
The sergeant saluted and said, "There are grain merchants here who have raised the price without authorization. According to the rules ordered by the Lord, during this extraordinary period, anyone who hoards grain and raises the price without authorization will be killed!"
"here you go!"
A clear voice came, and everyone looked over and saluted, "Greetings, Master!"
Jiang Qingzhi nodded, pointed at the soldier and said, "This guy is not bad."
The soldier was overjoyed, "I, Li Yancheng, greet you, Master!"
"What were you doing originally?" Jiang Qingzhi found that the soldier was quite clever, so he asked another question.
"I was originally a postman. Later, the postmaster withheld money and food. I was furious and reported it, but was kicked out..."
Postman?
The soldier raised his head and looked at Jiang Qingzhi with passionate eyes.
But Jiang Qingzhi looked a little strange. He looked at the sergeant and said, "Do your best! Remember, being a postman is also a career!"
What career?
Postman, I am a soldier now!
The sergeant bowed his head and said, "Yes."
Jiang Qingzhi rode his horse to the top of the city wall, muttering all the way.
"Li Yancheng."
"Postman."
"unemployment……"
"Change the character 彦 to 自..."
Sun Chonglou said: "Master, isn't that Li Zicheng?"
"Yes! Li Zicheng!"
Jiang Qingzhi looked up at the city wall not far away.
This is a turbulent era, and countless people are forced to move forward involuntarily in the tide of the times.
When troubled times come, those humble peddlers and hawkers in the past suddenly become local leaders, and can even capture cities and villages, or even destroy countries...
The postman had not been born yet, and Jiang Qingzhi felt that the post station should be reorganized.
"Hello, uncle!"
The defender on the city wall saluted.
Jiang Qingzhi nodded and looked up.
Thousands of cavalry were seen galloping towards Datong City in the distance, and from afar, smoke and dust were billowing.
"The enemy has several thousand cavalry." Du He's eyes were enthusiastic. "My Lord, do you want to attack?"
"This is a provocation." Jiang Qingzhi shook his head, "Let's see what Altan can do first."
"The Prime Minister is here."
Yan Song hurried to the foot of the city. When he climbed the stairs, he felt as light as a swallow. He couldn't help but recall the difficulty he had in climbing up the city walls in the capital.
Am I regaining my youth?
The old minister was in high spirits, but when he reached the top of the city and saw the thousands of enemy cavalry approaching, his expression turned serious, "Long Wei, is this going to start?"
Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "It's not easy for Altan to transport food and grass, he can't afford to delay. I thought he would take action yesterday, but I didn't expect it to be delayed until today."
"There are our scouts!" Someone pointed to the right and said. Jiang Qingzhi saw dozens of Ming scouts galloping towards Datong City, and behind them, hundreds of enemy cavalry were chasing them closely.
The thousands of enemy troops in front also discovered the Ming army scouts. The general pointed at the scouts, and more than two hundred cavalry rushed out, apparently preparing to encircle them.
"Long Wei Bo!" Yan Song saw that the two sides were getting closer and closer, and he couldn't help but clench his fists, "Do you want to help?"
"Look again."
"What are you looking at?"
"Look at Alda!"
Jiang Qingzhi squinted and looked into the distance.
There are white clouds and faint smoke in the distance.
Most of the dozens of Ming scouts managed to escape before the enemy troops could encircle them.
But the lagging few riders were intercepted and overwhelmed in an instant.
The Ming army officers and soldiers on the top of the city wall were furious, and some even shouted: "Get out of the city and beat them!"
Yan Song looked at those angry soldiers and suddenly something came to his mind.
"Morale seems to be rising?"
The enemy army was approaching, and the soldiers seemed a little nervous at first, but just like that, they stood up.
"We share the same hatred and the same enemy." Jiang Qingzhi said.
"Good trick." Yan Song praised, secretly sighing in his heart that he was really not good at commanding troops.
He can use external objects to boost the morale of his subordinates anytime and anywhere. This acumen makes him worthy of being a famous general... There was a hint of sadness in Huang Mao's eyes.
After Huang Mao arrived in Datong and took office as the governor, he separated himself from Zhang Da and kept trying to trip him up. These moves won praise from scholars, who all said that Huang Mao was the pillar of the country.
It is our duty to suppress the Mohist school... Huang Mao took advantage of this favorable situation and established some connections in the capital, preparing to seek a position.
As for Jiang Qingzhi's reaction, Huang Mao thought that Jiang Qingzhi was too busy with his own affairs to care about Datong's affairs. Besides, he was just secretly making trouble for Zhang Mao, which was common in the officialdom.
Jiang Qingzhi is not a nanny, so naturally she would not stand up for Zhang Da.
But what Huang Mao didn't expect was that Altan went south. Huang Mao was a little nervous at that time, worried about being retaliated by Jiang Qingzhi. After some inquiries, he learned that Jiang was a vindictive person, so Huang Mao quickly asked for help...
But the capital was too far away to reach Huang Mao, and he found himself in a difficult situation.
As the commander-in-chief of an army, if Jiang Qingzhi found a handle to attack him, who would dare to say anything?
Since I can't rely on the capital, I will save myself... Huang Mao simply threw away his reputation and took the initiative to join the Yan Party, which he had once denounced as treacherous.
When Yan Song arrived in Datong, Jiang Qingzhi withdrew his hand as expected.
This old man is wise!
Jiang Qingzhi then made continuous attacks and defenses with Altan. Every move and every decision made the old prime minister pale in comparison.
One is young, the other is old.
One is like the rising sun, the other is like the setting sun...
Huang Mao suddenly realized that he seemed to have chosen the wrong direction.
"Fantai." The confidant beside him whispered, "The Prime Minister is calling you."
Huang Mao hurried over, and Yan Song asked, "Has everything been arranged in the city?"
Huang Mao collected his thoughts and said, "Everything has been arranged properly. The officials are on standby and ready to obey orders at any time."
"Okay!" Yan Song coughed dryly and wiped his lips with his hand. His big bags under his eyes were full of fatigue.
"Stone!" Jiang Qingzhi suddenly spoke.
"Master!"
"Mo Zhan!"
"Uncle!"
"You two will each lead two hundred cavalrymen to fight and support the scouts!"
"Leader!"
Jiang Qingzhi's voice was clear, but his brows were filled with majesty and confidence.
That young face was full of calmness and vigor. Huang Mao looked at Yan Song again. The old prime minister's face was covered with wrinkles. Even though his skin was fair, it was dotted with old age spots, which made people feel decadent.
What if I had chosen Jiang Qingzhi?
Huang Mao looked at Jiang Qingzhi and suddenly felt regretful.
As for the grudge, he was just making things difficult for Zhang Da. Look at Du He... He was a sworn enemy of Jiang Qingzhi in the past, but now he is standing beside Jiang Qingzhi... His eyes are full of admiration.
Huang Mao recalled what his teacher said before he entered officialdom: The most important thing in officialdom is to stand on the right side. If you follow the right person, you will have a bright future and smooth sailing.
Yan Song and his party are notorious, and Huang Mao was forced to attach himself to them in order to protect himself. Recently, the scholars in Datong City have been quite dissatisfied with him, and public opinion believes that he is a traitor.
Those Confucian disciples who followed Jiang Qingzhi were also denounced as traitors.
But those so-called traitors lived a very comfortable life and had a good reputation... Traitors were traitors, but those people all surrendered to Jiang Qingzhi under tremendous pressure.
According to public opinion, the Confucian disciples who joined the Mohist School and Jiang Qingzhi were on the wrong path.
It’s just a different path!
However, joining Yan Song and Yan's party is not a different path.
Instead.
"Shameless traitor!" An official looked at Huang Mao with contempt.
The city gate opens.
Two cavalry units rushed forward, one on the left and one on the right.
On the left is Mo Zhan, who led two hundred cavalrymen to fight against the outflanking enemy cavalry.
On the right was Sun Chonglou, who led his cavalry and charged directly forward to meet up with their own scouts.
"go!"
The general flag-leader of the Ming army scouts turned around and shouted.
Sun Chonglou waved his hand and reined in his horse. "You guys go back first!"
"What else does he want to do?" someone asked.
The enemy rushed forward.
Sun Chonglou raised his heavy sword and said, "Kill!"
One man and one horse rushed into the middle of the enemy cavalry.
The subsequent cavalry followed behind and rushed to both sides through the opening.
"It's Ashura!"
Someone in the enemy army recognized Sun Chonglou and exclaimed in surprise, and their morale was instantly gone.
Three hundred cavalry against two hundred cavalry, and the enemy retreated as soon as they came into contact.
The general flag-taker looked back as he ran away, "This damn thing...it really is Asura!"
On the other side, the enemy's cavalry was about to capture Sun Chonglou...
But Mo Zhan appeared in time to intercept.
The knife flashed, blood gushed out, screams were heard, and war horses neighed...
(End of this chapter)
