"All, all dead?"
The news of the massacre of the people in that city spread very quickly, and it reached Bozhou City early the next morning.
The person guarding the city today was Wang Shizhong. He had just learned the news and felt as if he had lost his soul. He had to fall three times with every step he took. If it weren't for the support of his own soldiers and just relying on himself, he might have to climb to Li. In front of Joan.
The city of Bozhou is still as lively as usual. This is because the soldiers and generals of Bozhou have protected the place well and kept the smell of blood away from everyone. It is also because at this time today, the official of Bozhou, Li Qiongli, The marshal didn't feel panic at all. Not only did he not panic, he even felt relaxed and came to visit the school in Bozhou.
The main backbone was like this, and others were even less anxious. The sound of reading came from the school, and for a while, bursts of laughter could be heard. The atmosphere here was so harmonious that no one seemed to know that Bozhou was already approaching the city. .
Of course, Li Qiong knew this, otherwise, he would not have abandoned the city father and returned to Bozhou City.
When Wang Shizhong stumbled into the school gate, he immediately saw Marshal Li standing in the courtyard. He was still wearing a white robe... A warrior should not like white, because it cannot withstand dirt. It's stained with blood, and it's not that easy to wash it off.
But this man has always been different from others. Everyone can't understand that he turned from a student to a warrior, and from a righteous man who followed Grandpa Zong to a traitor. It's like they can't understand why a traitor looks so polite. , even polite.
A traitor, of course, has to look like a traitor, but Li Qiong really doesn't look like him from the outside.
He turned around and looked at Wang Shizhong, who was a little frightened and sad. He made a silent gesture towards him, indicating not to disturb the students' studies. Then he took him out of the school gate and asked softly:
"Why are you so panicked?"
Wang Shizhong stuttered a little: "The city father has been lost."
Li Qiong laughed out loud and gently patted the dirt off Wang Shizhong:
"There are no defenders in the first place. How can an empty city still block a million troops?"
The million-strong army was mentioned by Liu Bang himself. Anyway, he dared to call 500,000 for 30,000 people. He did not say that the hundreds of thousands of people were an army of tens of millions, which was already a sign of his humility.
Wang Shizhong wiped his sweat: "It's not that there are no defenders... there are more than a hundred households in the Ernudui next to Chengfu..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Qiong suddenly changed his appearance:
"Didn't you say that you would move all the people into the city? Didn't you say that no one would be allowed to participate in the war?"
"How do you do that?!"
He asked three questions in a row, which made the deputy general who had been with him for many years extremely panicked and immediately knelt down:
"Marshal...it's not that the general is slacking off, it's just that the fellow villagers of the two women don't want to come!"
"They said that Ernüdui was still about ten miles away from Chengfu. When the Southern Dynasty army came, they could just hide in the mountains... This was originally the season for planting rice, but everyone didn't want to. The general didn't think clearly for a while. So I agreed to them.”
"But I didn't want to, but I didn't expect that they actually went to defend the city father... Marshal, I will accept my punishment, but all those villagers were slaughtered, and no one survived. Zhao Guan's family is here to collect debts from us. They are here to collect debts, Marshal!"
He was already crying when he spoke. The matter had reached this point and people could not be resurrected. Even if he chopped Wang Shizhong down, he could not restore the lives of those people.
I just thought that these people were so loyal. I just reduced their taxes and asked them to send their children to the city to study. They actually repaid them with their lives.
After a pause, he asked again:
"The Zhao Guan family...really killed everyone?"
Wang Shizhong did not dare to hide it: "The scouts came to report early in the morning, saying that they were all dead, and the bodies were placed outside the camp of the Song Army's vanguard. This, this is clearly a demonstration!"
I don't know if it was an illusion, but Wang Shizhong clearly saw a hint of... surprise in Li Qiong's eyes. It was just surprise, but there was clearly excitement and even joy.
When he blinked and looked up again, he could only see endless sorrow.
He only said that he was blinded, and it was his own people who died, so there was no reason for the marshal to be happy.
Li Qiong's sigh confirmed Wang Shizhong's thoughts. He looked in the distance. The food shops on the street were filled with white air. The people walking around held their heads high, and above his head, There happened to be swallows making their nests in the beams above the gate of Bozhou College.
"Spring is coming."
Li Qiong murmured to himself, "Spring has finally come."
Seeing that he was starting to behave like a scholar again, Wang Shizhong gritted his teeth and said:
"Marshal, the Southern Dynasty is no different this time than usual. They came with the purpose of liquidating us. If Bozhou City is destroyed, the people in this city will definitely end up with the same fate as those innocent people!"
"If you are brave, please don't slack off, Marshal. You must work hard to strengthen the city's defenses!"
"And on the side of the fourth prince... the marshal had better send someone to ask for help in time. The opposite side claims to have a million-strong army. Even if there are not a million, there will still be a hundred thousand. The marshal must not rely on the power, let alone..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Li Qiong:
"innocent?"
Wang Shizhong didn't know what was wrong with these two words, so he repeated doubtfully:
"innocent?"
Holding his shoulders with both hands, Li Qiong helped Wang Shizhong up:
"This matter must not be known to the people in the city, so as not to disturb the people's hearts and cause other unnecessary troubles."
"Brothers, let's work hard. It's been so hard these days, don't let them take advantage of us."
"Let's ask those people we captured before. Bozhou is like an iron barrel. How can anyone get in? Maybe Zhao Guan's family hasn't been able to contact them yet. If there is really no evidence, let them go first. Let's go back."
The people Li Qiong was talking about were the people brought by Yu Yunwen and whom the big families in Suzhou City were going to contact. Wang Shizhong knew he couldn't be in a hurry. Just when he was about to say something else, the door of the college creaked. 'With a sound, someone pulled him away from the inside.
The two of them looked at each other, and a smile appeared on Li Qiong's face:
"Thank you three gentlemen for your hard work."
The ones who came were none other than Liu Zhan, Xin Zan and Yu Yunwen. They raised their hands towards Li Qiong and said:
"The marshal is able to come to this academy despite his busy schedule. He really cares about these students. It's really their blessing."
Liu Zhan first complimented, and then quickly made his request.
A request that has been discussed for a long time.
"Bozhou is a land of outstanding people and an ancient capital of an old dynasty. The most important thing it has always lacked is a heritage."
"Today I was taught how to compose poems and lyrics, and the old Taoist suddenly remembered that this is also where Li Gongchui's ancestral home was. It is said that he had close contacts with Yuan Weizhi and Bai Letian back then, and he also had twenty Yuefu poems, but unfortunately they have been lost. .”
"So the old Taoist would like to ask the marshal for a convenience, allowing the old Taoist to take the students to Li Gongchui's ancestral home to see if they can find some clues, which can not only gain more knowledge, but also avoid falling into the stories of the predecessors."
Li Gongchui was Li Shen, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty and the man who wrote "Compassion for the Farmers". He was not only a native of Bozhou, but also served as an observer in Bozhou.
His ancestral home happened to be in Liyuan, seven or eight miles outside the city gate.
Li Qiong stared at the three people in front of him with a look of great interest, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but raise.
(End of chapter)
