Although the two ministers who came to surrender from Kaicheng were burdened with infamy, they also gained glory and wealth in exchange.
In the end, it was just the people in the city who suffered from it without benefiting from it.
If they don't surrender, they will be trapped in the city and starve to death. Hundreds of people died.
Surrender, the calamity of weapons. Thousands of people still died.
And there is no wealth.
In the round after round of purges and slaughter by these reapers who came to the stage after you sang and I appeared, in the end, all that was left was just a group of impoverished people.
Therefore, the county magistrate like Guo Shizhang, who protected both the people in the outer city and the people in the inner city, became a popular figure in people's minds.
He is even more respected than the county magistrate who refused to surrender because of the Soul King's rebellion and struggled to support him. In the end, his city was destroyed and his family committed suicide.
After all, the county magistrate kept his promise to the court and was loyal to the emperor.
But because of his confinement, the cruelty below cannot be seen from above.
In order to defend the city, all the food was first supplied to the defenders in the city, while the civilians below ate moldy rice mixed with sand and gravel. Even so, the female businessmen in the city only raised the price. Very high, but he didn't care about these things at all. The most important thing is that they have to do heavy corvee every day.
If it was just that, that would be fine. After all, everyone thought that Master Wang would come to help at that time. They all thought that as long as they tightened their belts and went hungry for a while, and Master Wang came, their lives would return to normal.
However, they waited day after day, but did not wait for Master Wang's rescue. They repeated hard labor day after day, and all they waited for was news of a food shortage in the city.
Eventually, the common people couldn't even eat moldy rice. Without rice, people ate leaves, bark, Guanyin soil, and almost anything they could chew.
But they were still hungry, their stomachs were obviously bulging from the Guanyin soil. But they still want to eat something.
In the end, some people starved to death, and some were supported to death by Guanyin soil.
Even in the later period, the butchers in the market also opened their business, but what they slaughtered was no longer pigs, dogs, cattle and sheep, but living people.
At that time, the top of the city still looked strong, but who would have thought that the city was already full of people dying of hunger.
By the time the defenders finally reached the end of their strength, the city was already a living hell without any human ethics.
So when the city gate was breached, the dying people even thought that all the suffering was over.
The light shone on the siege soldiers, and some of them even mistakenly thought that it was the king's division coming for reinforcements.
Of course, the county magistrate was cruel, but the attackers were not necessarily more merciful. They spent more than half a month in Leiyang.
Now that the city has finally been captured, whether it is to reward the soldiers, to retaliate against the defenders, or to frighten the city behind, the attackers cannot make the people here happy.
Even the people here are like withered wood and diesel. But death still didn't let them go.
In the one-day massacre, the last wave of living people were slaughtered. Even if there were occasional survivors, no one dared to come out at this time.
And the whole city finally became a dead city.
This was the experience of the people at the bottom during the Soul King Rebellion.
They just want a way to survive.
However, no matter whether it was the people guarding the city or the people who wanted to capture the city, they did not give them a way to survive in the end.
No one even considered their feelings.
By the time the Spirit King was defeated and the King's Master recovered the lost territory, this place was already a dead city.
Even though the imperial court later arranged for people from other places to move to this dead city.
Even after decades, this war-torn dead city has only regained its vitality.
But after all, those who have passed away are no longer here, and those who are alive can only feel miserable in their hearts.
Even more than foreign enemies, they would hate the county magistrate who let more than half of their own people starve to death.
But today's Guo Shizhang is obviously different from them. Not only is he kind-hearted, he is also capable.
It is completely different from those who are seeking fame and reputation.
No one knew that Guo Shizhang's reputation in Leiyang City would soar after this battle.
He rode his big horse forward and saw that the hostages could not get food, so he only said to his subordinates, "Pass this message and let them treat both soldiers and civilians equally. They should have the food that the soldiers have." .”
After hearing Guo Shizhang's words, the messengers under his command naturally received the instructions, and they quickly told the people below about Guo Shizhang's request.
Those who finally understood the situation immediately changed direction. Although they did not have a frontier army, they actually won.
So it’s not an exaggeration to celebrate.
Soon the crowd was jubilant again.
After all, 300 people faced off against 2,000 people, and they were defeated and fled. No matter how you look at it, this is a beautiful victory that can be recorded in the record.
Then not only the common people, but also the wealthy businessmen began to provide wine and food to everyone.
But amid the carnival in the city, Guo Shizhang was obviously deeply troubled by another matter.
Now that all these people have been saved by himself, someone has to take care of the food, drink, and urination of so many people.
If he was in charge, he wouldn't be able to support so many people with his little money, and he didn't know when the Yunzhou border troops would come and whether these bandits would come back.
So if in such a situation, he can only keep these people by his side.
And just when he was worried about this, several wealthy businessmen next to him had already come in his direction.
They slaughtered chickens and sheep to celebrate.
Seeing the sheep and chickens they brought, Guo Shizhang immediately had some thoughts.
"What do you plan to do with it, killing chickens and cows?"
Seeing Guo Shizhang taking the initiative to ask, a businessman immediately said happily, "Of course we are celebrating our victory! Your Excellency is indeed wise and powerful. Now you have scared away the bandits and saved the people in both places. With you like this The county magistrate is really a blessing to our people, and I have nothing else but to send a few cattle and sheep to express my gratitude for your efforts."
Hearing what the businessman said, Guo Shizhang couldn't help but twirling his beard, and then he said expressionlessly, "There is no need to give this gift of killing chickens and cows to me. I won't accept it or tell you." And this thing can easily get into trouble. If you really want to do something for me, just promise me something, okay?"
Facing Guo Shizhang's inquiry, everyone naturally just followed his inquiry.
"I wonder what your lord wants us to do?" the wealthy businessman immediately asked loudly.
Guo Shizhang looked at the group of people in front of him, and then he whispered, "I want to commandeer those shops you have in Leiyang City."
Hearing what Guo Shizhang said, the wealthy businessman was frightened. He immediately said, "What do you want with that shop?"
Guo Shizhang only looked at the people in front and said, "We have rescued them, but we can't let them fall into the streets like this, so I want to use your shop to arrange accommodation for them for a few days. When the Yunzhou border army really comes, If I send them away again, wouldn't it be a great achievement?"
However, after hearing Guo Shizhang's arrangement, it was obvious that the wealthy businessmen did not think so.
"Sir, you are indeed kind. Even at this moment, you have not forgotten to protect the safety of others. But please forgive me for not agreeing to your request."
"After all, our store is now full of valuables, and these people are so mischievous that we are also afraid of valuables being stolen."
Although the wealthy businessman spoke so tactfully, Guo Shizhang still sensed rejection in his tact.
Once he heard what they said, he said no more.
On the contrary, when Guo Shizhang didn't know what to do, a Leiyang citizen took the initiative to come out and said to Guo Shizhang, "Master Guo! I am willing to take them in."
I heard that someone actually took charge
Guo Shizhang was moved to stand up and accept this matter. At the same time, he only said to the other party, "It's a good thing that you are willing to take them in, but do you have so many places for them to live?"
Facing Guo Shizhang's question, the common man only whispered, "Of course I don't have one. I can only take in one or two families at most."
Upon hearing this, Guo Shizhang couldn't help but feel sad. People who are unable to help others are willing to use their abilities to help others, while those who are able do not take any money from them.
You must know that such help is just a drop in the bucket.
But he was sad, and Guo Shizhang didn't blame him. He just said to the little brother, "I accept your offer, but it's obviously not enough to accept one or two people."
Upon hearing this, the man immediately smiled and said, "Sir, I can only take in one person, but there are so many people here. Each of us takes in one or two families. How can we still let these people sleep in the open?" On the street?"
Hearing that man's words, Guo Shizhang's eyes also lit up.
Yes, why didn't he think of this just now? He can mobilize the power of others to take them in.
After hearing what the other party said, Guo Shizhang couldn't help but praise, "You are quite clever."
Then Guo Shizhang felt that he could not mistreat the person who stepped forward at this time, so he just said, "What is your name? What do you do for a living?"
Facing Guo Shizhang's inquiry, the man was very polite and said, "The villain Hu Zhaoquan used to just run errands for Yunzhou Inn."
After hearing this, Guo Shizhang saw that this boy was indeed tall and mighty, so he couldn't help but praise, "What a boy!"
He really wanted to bring this kid to his side.
But at this time, after all, it was in public, if he showed too obvious. I'm afraid it won't end well if I don't talk about it later, and it will easily attract gossip from others.
Because of this, Guo Shizhang stopped asking him any more questions.
He then just turned around and looked at the crowd, "Today the villagers in the outer city were bullied by bandits. Now they have nowhere else to go. I wonder if anyone here is willing to take them in?"
