Boom, boom, boom.
A knock on the door sounded at a village house outside the county town.
There was no loud shouting and scolding like before, and there was no impatient threat to kick in the door.
Although the owner of the house did not react for a while because of fear, the people outside the house did not forcefully break in.
Just a loud male voice sounded outside the door: "Fellow, open the door, we are bringing you food."
Although the voice was loud, it didn't sound as menacing as the soldiers in the past.
An old man in the room hesitated for a long time and finally opened the door a crack.
He actually wanted to run away, but all three sons were dead, and now there were only the old couple, his eldest daughter-in-law, and his youngest grandson at home.
Staying here, I still have a few acres of thin farmland and an old hen at home.
They could still scrape out food in the fields, and although they were all very thin, they did not starve to death.
If he ran away and was penniless, where could he go? Once the stored grain is used up and there is no place to take care of it, won't we just have to wait for death?
"A few good men...are here to collect black dogs and agates?"
The old man looked at the burly soldier in front of the door with a murderous aura, and seemed to shrink a little.
He has lived to this age where loess is buried around his neck, and he still has some eyesight in seeing people.
Looking at the aura of the man leading the door, he was obviously a ruthless character who had committed many acts of murder. He was much higher than the ruffians who usually came to collect food.
Killing their whole family would not be more difficult than killing chickens and cows.
The orphans and widows hiding in the back room didn't even dare to breathe.
But the burly man was stunned at first: "What kind of black dog and white dog?"
Then he forced out a kind smile and said: "Prince Liu Chan ordered us to help the poor. I have inquired and found that your family is the poorest in your village. I will send you food now."
It was Prince Liu Chan again. This was the second time he heard this name.
The old man was stunned on the spot for a moment, not knowing what to say.
He had interacted with soldiers all his life, but this was the first time he had seen one speak so kindly.
I can understand every word in those words, but the combined meaning is unbelievable.
I have never heard of the people who paid food to the king. Where have I heard of the king giving food to the people?
The old man hesitated for a long time, his face was red and his neck was thick, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.
Just repeating: "It can't be done... How can this be done..."
In order to keep his smile and even his cheeks sore, the soldier had to put down the expression on his face and wave his hand.
The other three soldiers behind him strode into the old man's shabby house carrying sacks, piled the full sacks in the corner, turned around and left.
When the old man saw that they were really just here to deliver food and were about to leave, he finally said: "Guys, wait a minute!"
One of the ordinary soldiers who had been carrying the food for a long time became impatient and glared: "You old man, you don't know how to appreciate me, I'll wait..."
Before he finished speaking, he immediately shut up.
The chief of the Red Star Army in front of him was glaring at him coldly.
This feeling is too terrifying, I always feel that the other party can chop off my head with a knife at the next moment...
"The prince has an order, instructing us to do good to the people. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed. ... Do you want to disobey the prince?" The chief said coldly.
The soldier immediately knelt down on one knee and said repeatedly: "I don't dare, I know I was wrong!"
As the focus of this southern expedition, Liu Chan attached great importance to the work of popular support.
Every team that came out to "do fellow work" was led by a member of the Red Star regular army, out of fear that the ordinary soldiers would not understand Liu Chan's intentions and ruin the good thing.
The commander raised his chin towards the old man. The soldier was not stupid and understood immediately. He stood up and clasped his fists at the old man: "Old man, my words are very offensive. Please forgive me."
"Oh... How dare you, little old man? I'm so embarrassed." The old man was almost frightened. He quickly helped the soldier up, and then gave him a big salute.
The soldier was afraid of disobeying the order, so he had no choice but to bend down lower than the old man. It was a strange sight to see.
"I want to say that a few heroes came here a long way and gave me rice grains..." The old man looked a little hesitant, "My family is poor and I can't repay... I only have a family heirloom jade pendant, so I asked you to give it to me. Prince."
He was afraid that a few people would be concerned about face, so he specifically said that it was handed over to the prince.
The old man was about to go to the back room - the jade ornament was hanging around his grandson's neck. It was the only valuable item left when his ancestor fled south.
Even though the family has been through a lot of hardships over the years, they have never sold it.
"No need. If there's nothing else, I'll go back and get back to you." Na Shichang didn't hesitate at all. He stepped out of the house first, followed by the others. "Prince Liu Chan's subordinates have done nothing wrong with Min Qiu. They can only disobey orders." To be beheaded."
After saying that, he stopped staying, ignored the old man's repeated calls to the door, and walked away quickly.
The old man turned his head and looked at the three bags in the corner. He felt that he was still in a dream and everything that happened was too unreal.
Shivering, he walked over and opened it. He saw that they were all intact corn and rice.
He picked up a handful with trembling hands and put it to his nose to smell it. The aroma of grain came through, but there was no sign of mold...
The old man put it back carefully, not wanting to let a single particle fall out.
Then, the heart that had been hanging around since Liu Chan captured Cunjian County finally settled into his stomach, and his knees went soft and he knelt on the ground, sobbing loudly.
The old woman in the back room hurriedly came out to persuade: "Now that the prince has sent people to deliver rice, you no longer have to worry about food before harvest. Why are you crying?"
"I...I cry that the children died unjustly...ahhh!" The old man beat his chest and smashed it on the ground, crying out in grief.
Of his three sons, except for the younger son who died young, the eldest and second son all died in the previous sneak attack on Deng Fang...
"The prince is so kind, and the soldiers under his command are still polite to me, an old man who is about to die. How could he be like that...like what the Yong family dog thief said!"
"Hush! Hush!" The old woman slapped him anxiously, "Keep your voice down!"
"What are you afraid of! What did they say? Prince Liu Chan does not kill good people. He punishes rape and eradicates evil, and helps farmers and mulberry trees..." The old man felt sad and couldn't help crying, "It's a pity that my son can't see... "
The old woman also cried silently when she heard this, and then burst into tears. In addition to sadness, she also felt hatred for the Yong family and Meng Huo.
If they hadn't deceived themselves, how could their sons have died in vain? ! Now only the orphans and widows are left, struggling to support themselves with the two old guys who are about to die...
Similar things happened in various villages over the past few days.
Liu Chan used the most practical and sincere method to dispel the rumors between Yong Kai and Meng Huo.
Liu Chan did not send troops to stop the villagers who fled with their families in the villages around Cunjian County, and even ordered the army not to embarrass them.
These people are different from the big merchants in the city. They have little knowledge and don't know what a thunder cannon is.
Liu Chan just wanted to seal up the details of the process of taking Cunxiang City, but he didn't want to hide the fact that he won Cunxiang City.
In order to achieve the first step of his strategic goal, he did not want to rely on unexpected sneak attacks to capture Yizhou County this time.
Instead, they need to rely on more than 10,000 people to crush the Yong family and Meng Huo with hard power.
Let the various ministries in Nanzhong keep their eyes on this place and never dare to feel rebellious again!
After the initial fear, the people in nearby villages and small households in the county settled down and were extremely grateful to Prince Liu Chan.
As for the big households in the city who were not directly involved in the rebellion, they had no other losses other than their livestock being "bought away".
They thought they would encounter a wave of looting, how could they dare to ask for money?
Seeing that Liu Chan had no intention of taking advantage of the situation, they all cried and shouted to donate their livestock. Even the tortoises raised in the pond in the courtyard were taken out and bled, and they were sent to the soldiers to replenish their health...
For them, Liu Chan did not give a death order. When the soldiers saw that they would not accept money, they naturally gave up.
But when they saw that the prince was willing to accept the livestock, they felt a lot more at ease and felt that it was really a "win-win" situation.
Liu Chan was waiting for two things at this time. The first was the result of the interrogation of Yong Jie and other officials.
Since he came here, he had not heard about Meng Huo's movements, which made him feel a little uneasy.
Wang Meng was very effective in infiltrating and bribing the Yong family's forces. However, due to the inherent wariness of foreigners towards the Han people, he failed to place people around Meng Huo. Liu Chan still needed to master more information.
As for the second thing...it was Li Hui who was sent out to carry out the mission alone.
I don't know if he is going well now.
(End of chapter)
