Ming Yirou, who was awakened by the conversation between her father and her master, stood up sleepily to see what happened.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw his father looking at him with uneasiness.
"Yirou, you and your mother should quickly pack up and go south to Liuzhou City with Master."
Ming Yirou rubbed her eyes and woke up after realizing that her father didn't look right.
"Dad, are bandits attacking?"
"No, the bandits don't dare to come to the county. They only dare to rob the surrounding villages."
Ming Yirou trembled violently and covered her mouth in shock.
"Dad, could it be that the Northern Barbarians have invaded?"
Ming Dechang nodded and took Ming Yirou to join his wife.
At this moment, the leaderless Forbidden Army guarding the city came to the door with Ye Busuo who reported the news.
Now that these forbidden troops also learned about their commander's escape before the battle, their morale was naturally low.
These forbidden troops did not run away because they were stationed forbidden troops, which were different from ordinary forbidden troops.
Ordinary Imperial Guards live in military camps, usually separated from their families.
And the families of these garrisoned imperial troops lived with them.
Wherever they go to defend themselves, their families will follow.
This was one of the restrictive measures used by the imperial court to prevent the imperial troops stationed in the city from abandoning the city and escaping.
Ming Dechang glanced at his outstanding daughter and quickly stuffed her into the bedroom, fearing that this group of stragglers would have evil thoughts.
"Sir, what should we do now?"
After hearing the questions from the imperial guards, Ming Dechang knew that he could no longer send his family out.
If he sends his family out, he is afraid that these stragglers will break out on the spot, and he must make a gesture of coexisting with the county.
"Li Dutou is originally under the control of his own officials."
"Now that Li Dutou has escaped from the battlefield, neither this official nor the court will spare him!"
"I know that this person is a native of Cao County, and his relatives and friends are all in Cao County."
"I know that your family members are also in the city. Now we are in the same boat. If the wind and waves capsize the boat, I will not be able to survive alone."
"Brother Ye Bushou said that there are about two to three thousand people in the Northern Barbarians."
"It's not enough to just rely on us to defend the city."
"Where is Master?"
The master of the Ming family knew that it was impossible to leave now, and he could only survive by holding on to the city with all his strength, so he immediately cheered up.
"Master, the little one is here!"
Ming Dechang immediately ordered the master of the Ming family to summon the yamen's policemen and yamen servants and ask them to inform the people in the city.
"Captain Zhao!"
Ming Dechang subconsciously gave orders to Capt. Zhao, but found that his right-hand man was not around.
"You all go and guard the city gate first. The county will mobilize the people, select strong men, and open the county arsenal to let the people help defend the city."
The imperial guards knew that the county magistrate wanted to arm the people to defend the city, and they were prepared to live or die with the county.
So they felt a lot more at ease and returned to their posts to guard the city gate.
After watching the imperial guards leave, Ming Dechang immediately told his wife, Ming Yirou, to put on coarse clothes and stop dressing up.
Then he and his master began to act separately.
...
Huangshan, who was sleeping soundly in the prison, was gently awakened by the guards.
"Huang Yingxiong, it's bad, the Northern Barbarians have invaded."
After hearing this, Huang Shan yawned and turned over to continue sleeping.
Huang Shan, who suddenly reacted, stood up and looked at the jailer.
"The Northern Barbarians invaded!?"
broken! Ruyan and the village chief are in danger!
"Quick, quick, take me to see the county magistrate."
The jailer shook his head in embarrassment.
"Huang Yingxiong, we can't take you to see the county magistrate."
"We must guard the prison and prevent prisoners from taking advantage of the chaos to cause trouble."
Huang Shan looked at the prisoners around him and understood the burden the jailer was carrying.
He took a deep breath to calm down, and then asked for specific information about the Northern Barbarians' invasion.
"How many troops are there in the Northern Barbarians this time? Why did they suddenly invade?"
The jailer glanced at the resting prisoners around him and whispered in Huang Shan's ear: "I heard there are two to three thousand people."
Two to three thousand people! This is not a small amount.
As the saying goes, if there are more than a hundred people, all kinds of things will appear; if there are more than a thousand people, the clouds will cover the sky.
In the memory of his original owner, the Northern Barbarians had lived on horseback since childhood. They were skilled in bow and horse and came and went like the wind. They had always been the biggest threat to the northern border of the Daqian Dynasty.
More than ten years ago, Daqian and the Northern Barbarians fought a bloody battle on the border. Daqian's army won first and then lost. Hundreds of thousands of troops were defeated, and only tens of thousands of people escaped in the end.
After that, Daqian and Beiman fought several battles one after another, but Daqian always won less and lost more.
Every time they lose a battle, tens of thousands of Daqian soldiers will be killed or captured. After several major defeats, the population structure of Daqian will also begin to collapse. Therefore, the government will only give the right age to the situation when there are many boys and girls. Young men were assigned daughters-in-law to restore the population.
However, in recent years, the imperial court and the Northern Barbarians have negotiated peace, and the relationship between the two parties has been relatively harmonious.
"I heard that the imperial court sent an envoy to the Northern Barbarians half a month ago. Could it be that the envoy and the Northern Barbarians broke down?"
Hearing the jailer's whisper, Huang Shan understood instantly that this was the Northern Barbarians deliberately putting pressure on the Daqian court.
I think the envoys sent by the imperial court to the Northern Barbarians had a difficult time.
"Yellow Hero!"
Huang Shan heard Zhao's voice before he saw him.
"Captain Zhao, what's the situation in the city? Are there really two to three thousand Northern Barbarians outside the city?"
Capt. Zhao found Huang Shan anxiously, waved his hand and said to the jailer: "According to the order of the magistrate, take away the prisoner Huang Shan."
"This is the warrant, keep it!"
Huang Shan was pulled directly out of the cell by Capt. Zhao and taken straight out of the prison.
"Yingxiong Huang, the news that you defeated the bandits has been known to the whole city."
"Now that the Northern Barbarians have invaded, the magistrate wants you to encourage the people to actively cooperate with the imperial army to defend the city."
Just as Capt. Zhao was explaining to Huang Shan why he should be let out, Ming Dechang, who had an arrow in his shoulder, was helped to come to Huang Shan.
Huang Shan was stunned for a moment when he saw Ming Dechang was injured.
Ming Dechang gritted his teeth and pretended to be calm and said: "That Northern Barbarian boy's shooting skills are too bad. He only shot me in the shoulder."
"If everyone in the Northern Barbarians is at this level, why should we worry about not being able to defend the city!"
"Nephew Huang Xian, I need you to encourage the people to actively assist the Imperial Army in defending the city."
"According to the intelligence that Ye Bu collected, they spread out to report the news. I believe that the imperial court will soon send a large army to wipe out these northern barbarians."
After speaking, Ming Dechang gave orders to Capt. Zhao again.
"The Northern Barbarians have no siege equipment, so they can only besiege the city."
"As long as they guard the city gate, there is nothing they can do."
At this moment, the doctor who was dragged over by the government officials hurriedly walked to Ming Dechang to treat his wound.
Huang Shan glanced at Ming Dechang solemnly, and then walked out of the county government office with Capt. Zhao.
