After reaching the peace agreement, Hu Yang's troops in Juancheng withdrew first. The king of Wei ordered the surrounding cities to send a large amount of food, grass and baggage to send the Qin army away.
Subsequently, the troops stationed in Huayang, under the guidance of envoys from Han and Wei respectively, took over the cities of the two countries in the Han River Basin.
Bai Qi, the God of Death, was in charge of Xingyang, and the surrounding Han Yi was in charge of food and drink. It was not until Wei Ran sent an envoy to report that the reception work of Shangyong and Nanyang was completed that he withdrew from the Zhuohan Road - by this time, it was already halfway through the first month.
After the Qin army completely retreated, life in Han and Wei returned to normal. South Korea hurriedly sent envoys to inform various countries: King Han passed away and the new king ascended the throne. ——Although the news has been spread for several months and is known to all countries.
The guards who were transferred to the Great Wall can finally go home. They lived on the Great Wall almost throughout the winter, living with the original residents within the Great Wall. Although their lives were difficult, their mood was quite happy. Lord Xinling seems to be very interested in this place. At the time of the appointment in October, he actually sent Mr. Zhong Yue to return to Daliang on Cao Bao's behalf, and he acted as his agent for more than ten days. Mr. Zhongyue also lived in Guancheng during the war last year and knew the people in Guancheng, especially the city lords and elders. In the past ten days, I have gotten to know and get close to many people. I also got to know many farmers who farm their fields and learned a lot about the situation.
With Lord Xinling's endorsement, Putian Shou and Changcheng Lieutenant also took care of him. Cao Bao was also very careful in the city, but there was no trouble. However, after leaving the city, the guardian of Putian told Cao Bao that the grain they had brought into Putian had been consumed, and they still owed some money to Putian! Cao Bao didn't dare to say anything, so he kept muttering.
Zheng Anping's life outside the city was much more miserable than inside the city. He did not dare to leave too much food outside the city. As a result, within a month, the food supply was at the bottom. For the remaining two or three months, he had to eat one meal a day. I got through half the amount of porridge. Fortunately, the grass grows in autumn and winter, and game breeds again. Occasionally, we can hunt game to satisfy our hunger. After the people in charge left the city, Cao Bao told them that the food in the city had been exhausted. In the current lean times, what to eat for hundreds of families has become a big problem.
The surrounding areas had just experienced a military disaster. Don't think there was still food left. They were all in great difficulty, including Zheng He and Daliang. Food prices had soared into the sky. Guanyi is close to the fields, and there is plenty of rice. However, these rice are the private property of the King of Wei, and outsiders have no right to use it.
Due to the war, Zheng Anping could not increase Liang's annual work report to Lord Xinling and receive his annual salary. This had to wait until the people in charge were settled and they could find free time to go back and make up for it.
In this war, the residents of Guanyi did not suffer much losses. Although Guanyi was briefly occupied by the Qin army, all the buildings were not damaged; all the property was transferred to the city, and the Qin army did not cause damage in the city, so the loss of property was not significant. Large; those who had winter clothes put on them, and those who didn’t could gather firewood and grass to light a fire to keep warm. After the army passed by, a lot of cow and horse dung accumulated, and no one cleaned it up. The administrators picked it up and used it as fuel. Although the corpses on the surface have been buried by the Korean people, many corpses can still be found in the ditches and riverside grass. Some of them were not even decapitated. They were only seriously injured at that time and escaped. He went to a secret place, but because of his serious injuries, he never came out. The administrators stripped off their clothes and buried them, thus making a "war fortune." ——As long as we can find food, these three months of drought will be over.
The cows and horses were recovered, but they were terribly thin. The four pairs of mother and son who were working on the lawsuit were all naked from hunger. Their high cheekbones and deep eye sockets told of the pain caused by the war. Unexpectedly, one of them was pregnant, and her belly had become visibly bigger in the past three months. Out. Sister Ba did not come back with Cao Bao, but accompanied Xiao Nu, Gai Nie and Brother Su's family out of the city. Wu Wang and Wu'er took care of them; the dogs and chickens had been raised by Wu Wang's side and came back together. They were all so hungry that they could not recognize their original appearance. Even Sister Ba had only a skeleton left. It took more than ten miles and took most of the day.
Zheng Anping greeted them five miles away, and their situation was not much better. When they met, they hugged each other and cried. The group of people went home first and put down their things. Then all the people in the city, including the four pairs of mother and son, gathered in the post house to express their sincere feelings to each other and express their longing for each other. Zheng Anping cleaned each warehouse and swept out about a bushel of grain. Wash it and put it in the cauldron to cook porridge. He wanted to kill a chicken, but Wu Wang firmly disagreed and almost cried when he was guarding him. Zheng Anping had no choice but to give up. Brother Quan and Xiao Si took advantage of the time they were cooking porridge to go out of the city and shoot a hare. When it was brought back, it was cooked over a fire and peeled off. Everyone passed it around and took a bite. It was considered that they had eaten the meat. The bones were thrown to the puppy. The puppy was so beautiful that it jumped up and down and waggled its tail. A bucket of millet was mixed with a lot of water, and a full pot of gruel was cooked. Everyone, regardless of gender, old or young, drank a big bowl of it hot. Although they are not full, everyone is satisfied: the peaceful days are about to begin again. After everyone chatted for a while, the two coachmen said they were going to feed the cows, and Sister Ba also wanted to feed the horses, so they dispersed.
With food in her belly, Sister Ba returned to the courtyard and started cutting grass. In fact, Cao Bao had already placed the fodder next to the horse pile before, and the horse began to eat it. Now it has almost eaten. When he saw Cao Bao coming in, he ordered him to fetch water for his horse. Cao Bao came out with a bucket, scooped water from the river, and placed them one by one in front of the horse. Only then can we stand by and talk to Sister Ba.
Xiao Nu and Gai Nie returned to the back house. Zheng Anping changed his clothes and went to the back house together. When asked about the situation in the city, Xiao Nu said that almost every day he only had a bowl of gruel, which was very clear. It's been like this every day for three months. Zheng Anping knew in his heart that the food was embezzled by the field guard, but he couldn't explain it and couldn't explain the reason, so he could only admit that he was dumb. He thought that he had cleaned the warehouse today, how would he spend his time tomorrow? While he was talking to Xiaonu and Gai Nie, he was thinking of ways. Finally, Zheng Anping gritted his teeth and thought: He will bring the dealer and the city owner to Daliang tomorrow, and he will use his year's salary to collect food. No matter what, he must survive these few months.
It was getting late, so Zheng Anping asked the two of them to go to bed first and not wait for him. He went out and found the driver and told him that he wanted a hired driver tomorrow. Then he left the city and went straight to Guanyi.
When the city lord saw Zheng Anping, he looked very unhappy and said: "All the food provided by the governor has been paid into the city, and we will have nothing to eat!" Zheng Anping knew that the people in charge of the city were suffering from hunger and disease, and they died of cold and starvation. Instead of blaming the city lord for his rudeness, he pulled him out of the city, came to the bloody land, and said to him: "Under the new soil, they are all human corpses. Most of them are Wei people! If you live outside the city, all He is the leader of the Qin people in battle! Even though he endured hunger and cold when entering the city, he saved his head in the end and gained a lot!"
The city lord is naturally a sensible person, and he just wanted to vent his frustration just now. He asked Zheng Anping: "Guan Ling protects the heads of the people, and the people feel deeply about it! If you can't protect the people's stomach and intestines, it will be the same as abandoning the wilderness."
Zheng Anping said: "I just think about it. Daliang leads to the world's trade. In this battle, although the Wei people killed many people, they were not as good as Daliang. There must be surplus food in Daliang City. I am willing to get the help of the city lord and go to Daliang with my hired car, regardless of food. No matter what the price is, try your best to buy it and get it back. How about it?"
The city lord said: "Although there are many merchants in Guan Yi, they have been repeatedly attacked by wars and have lost their wealth. It may be difficult to live up to the wishes of Guan Yi!"
Zheng Anping said: "I have money in Daliang. I can get a certain amount of gold. How much can I get by buying grain with it?"
The city lord said: "The price of food is only thirty dan. After the war, the price increased, and it is about fifty. One gold and one hundred dan can provide half of the food for ten days! If you don't have ten gold in March, you can't do it."
Zheng Anping said: "It takes one day to get support. If I drive to Daliang in one day, can I get it?"
The city lord said: "It takes three days to go back and forth to Daliang. The cattle and horses have become thin for a long time and cannot be driven anymore, so we can't do it early."
Zheng Anping said: "Sweep the warehouse and eat, forage in the wild, and wait for three days!"
The city lord said: "The former is in the city, and even though he has little food every day, he can still get it. It is difficult to go back home from the city and have nothing to eat!"
Zheng Anping said: "I hope the city lord can give me some encouragement and wait for three days."
There is no other good way than starving for three days. The city lord went back and told the elders that there was no surplus food in the city, so he could only go to Daliang to buy food and come back in three days. In the past three days, everyone will clean up the house and dig some wild vegetables. Let’s deal with it first!
Back home, several postmen had already gone to Xikuoyuan to look for their bridesmaids. Cao Bao and Sister Ba greeted them and took care of the horses in the horse pen. I was very embarrassed to see Zheng Anping coming, so I bowed and quietly slipped into their respective rooms. Zheng Anping saw that Cao Bao and Cao Bao had no intention of coming out, so he said to Cao Bao in the horse pen: "I think Guanyi is short of food and it will be difficult to survive. How about I go to Daliang and get a salary and buy hundreds of stones?" Food to relieve his urgency!"
Before Cao Bao could speak, Sister Ba said first: "What Guan Ling said is true. There used to be surplus grain in the four villages of Guan Yi, and we could buy it. Now that we are under attack, we will have no food, and we will have nothing to buy. If we can go to Daliang, it's even better." good!"
Cao Baodao said: "Guan Ling uses his private life to benefit the public and benefits all the people. I don't know what to say. If there is any need, my salary will be dealt with by Guan Ling."
Zheng Anping said: "Maybe it can be used for other purposes!"
The plan was decided and Zheng Anping returned to the back house. Although Xiao Nu and Gai Nie were extremely sleepy, they still managed to support themselves. When they saw Zheng Anping coming back, they all got up to greet him. Zheng Anping also felt warm and asked Gai Nie to go back to his room. He and his slave went to bed together. At the pillow table, he told Xiaonu that he was going back to Daliang to buy grain, which might take three days. Set off tomorrow and return at dusk the day after tomorrow. The little slave nodded in agreement.
The next day when the rooster crows, Zheng Anping gets up and talks to Brother Su and others about the matter, asking everyone to keep things in order and manage the people and not to cause chaos. He took the coachman and Wu Wang with him, yoked the oxen, and met the city lord outside Guanyi. The city lord took his two sons, also hitched up a carriage, and headed straight for the Great Wall.
Since the grass and fodder were all outside the city, the cattle and horses had enough to eat after leaving the city, so they were in good spirits. But it was still very thin, and no one could bear to whip it any further and allowed it to move forward slowly. When we got to the city gate, the city gate was not yet open, so we untied the cart, let the cattle eat some hay, and drew water for them to drink. When the city gate opened, Niu seemed to be more energetic and followed some merchants into the city.
