"Captain Wang~" A soldier held a bronze sword with one hand, kept jumping up and waving his right hand, shouting towards Wang Ye through the crowd.
The soldier's hood was a little tilted due to the violent movement. He kept straightening it with his hands and didn't even have time to stop and retie the laces.
Sweat was flowing down his face, and there was still some foam on his mouth from shouting for a long time.
Wang Ye turned around after hearing the call and found the big hands jumping up and waving.
"Hey, here it is!" After saying that, he started to push past.
At this time, Wang Ye was shocked. The people who originally thought they had fled were like bees. The men were carrying poles, with their dolls and all their belongings sitting in the baskets on both sides, trying their best to hold their feet. The view is still squeezed in from time to time.
Today is March 17th. It has only been a little more than a day since Guan Chengfang said there was food available here, but the number of people who showed up has exceeded 5,000.
The mountains of food and grass in the camp were reduced at a speed visible to the naked eye. The temporary soldiers on duty struggled to gather the chaotic crowd together, and the long and twisted queue stretched outside the camp.
The soldiers handed a bag full of fine grain to the man in front of them and said with a smile: "Carry it, this is the kindness of His Highness King Jin!"
The man burst into tears of gratitude, knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times, and kept chanting: The common people thank His Highness the King of Jin, and wish him long life.
The soldiers were obviously used to this kind of situation, and they couldn't help but laugh when they thought of their Royal Highness. For the sake of power and selfish desires, the princes could not wait to take away the last grain of food from the hands of the common people, let alone a general like the King of Jin. The food was distributed to the people free of charge.
The simplicity of ordinary people lies in the fact that they don’t care whether you have extra things before giving them to you. They only know that this is life-saving food. The passing of the army destroyed everything for them, and the arrival of the golden soldiers made their already poor life even worse.
Now looking at the bags in their hands, which are always filled with refined grains that can only be seen but not eaten, many men and women cried with excitement.
The hungry children were also cheering on the sidelines. Being able to have a full stomach was their only dream, and the dream had never been as within reach as it was now.
People kept kneeling on the ground and shouting about Guan Cheng's gift, and the elderly woman even trembled and said that she must set up an immortal tablet for His Highness Prince Jin.
The common people, who were as humble as ants in the eyes of the prince, could only express their feelings in such a direct and simple way.
Wang Ye squeezed through the crowd and asked, "What's the matter?"
The soldier wiped the sweat off his face and the stains on his hands immediately turned discolored, but his smile could not be concealed, "Captain Wang, here we come again!"
Wang Ye was startled and asked quickly: "Come again? How many people are here?"
"The exact number of people is unclear, but there are at least 2,000 people. Niu Yousi asked me to come back and report, and Niu Yousi also said that there may be more people coming today, and the number is likely to exceed 5,000 people."
Hiss, Wang Ye took a breath. He was not denying that more than 10,000 people could gather here in two days, but during wars, ordinary people were often the first ones to run away. They would have their own escape and hiding skills. , if they don’t know the basics or have someone to lead the way, even an army of tens of thousands of people searching for two days will not be able to find a few hundred people. But now, just a word from Guan Cheng has so many people flocking in, even if Guan Cheng repeatedly told him to To ensure that every common person can receive food so that everyone can return home with a full load, Wang Ye still feels overwhelmed even if almost all the young and strong soldiers are mobilized to maintain order and distribute food.
Wang Yeyi gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, I know it here. Please report this to His Highness quickly."
Guan Cheng is now high up on the watchtower, looking at the excited crowd with a somewhat intoxicated expression.
Wu Chengju was adjusting his breathing from time to time. His chest was rising and falling, obviously he was very uneasy.
"Your Highness, are there too many people here?"
Guan Cheng asked: "Is it much?"
Wu Chengju looked at the crowd in the distance that was still rushing past. Under the guidance of the soldiers, they slowly dispersed into thin streams and slowly wriggled forward.
"This area was looted by rebels, but so many people were able to gather in just one day. It seems that the civilians have their own channels, and nothing can deliver the news faster than them."
Guan Cheng said with a smile: "General Wu is very pleased to have this insight."
"But Your Highness, I have something unclear."
Guan Cheng didn't take it seriously and said: "Speak, I hope you can speak freely. After all, if you listen only, you will be in the dark and you will understand."
Wu Chengju thought for a while and said: "Your Highness's move is certainly benevolent, but if so much food is given to these people, how can we get this gratitude even if they are grateful but we are thousands of miles away?"
"Didn't you just say that the people have their own channels to convey the news? Just do everything well. There is no need to worry. Someone will naturally promote it for us."
Wu Chengju was thoughtful and asked: "Ordinary people can't leave a place with a radius of a hundred miles in their lifetime. How can you ensure that your highnesses, with thousands of people in front of you, have done useless work?"
Guan Cheng turned around and looked at Wu Chengju and asked: "You know that Gu has the ambition of the world, but have you ever thought about what the ambition of the world depends on?"
"Of course he is a fierce warrior in a hundred battles!" Wu Chengju replied without thinking.
"How many hundreds of warriors are there?"
This is a highly professional problem. Although Wu Chengju is only a Sima commanding more than 2,000 troops, there are maps in Guanze's dormitory and Guan Cheng has them. Wu Chengju has really come into contact with a lot of things following Guan Cheng.
Just like the entire Datong, there are fifty-four vassal states, more than six hundred commanderies, and more than five thousand counties.
"It may take more than half a million elite soldiers to dominate the world."
Wu Chengju stated his reasonable ideal number.
"Half a million soldiers! On average, there are only a hundred people in a county, just two li."
Guan Cheng looked down again with a smile and asked: "There are thousands of people here. How many people does General Wu think can become armored soldiers?"
Then he continued without waiting for Wu Chengju's answer: "The large counties in Datong's five thousand counties have 70,000 to 80,000 households and more than 300,000 people, while the small ones only have a few thousand households. Even the smallest county wants to pick out a hundred young people. There is no problem with being strong, but how much good land, cattle, and horses are needed to support a hundred young men? If you add officials at all levels, as well as soldiers' armor, swords, and swords, how many people are needed to support them, as well as horses, equipment, and food and grass? , craftsman, doctor, etc.”
"Not to mention natural disasters and man-made disasters, how many people are willing to serve as soldiers? Why should the people sacrifice their lives for you?"
"All they want is to have enough food for one day. A few snacks during the New Year and energy saving are a happy occasion. If they still have spare money to make some cloth, it will be a prosperous time."
"Families of scholar-bureaucrats do not have these worries and scruples, so what they want is not just a bowl of rice, but gold, silver, jewelry, and fertile land."
"What about the princes? They already have fiefdoms. They are small counties and prefectures. Giant princes like Zhao Chu even sit on the land of nearly a hundred counties and thousands of counties. What do they have?"
"That is authority, and that is the world."
"These are not things that Gu can give to me at all. I can't afford them. And even if I can afford them, I can't give them. The disaster caused by the late emperor can no longer be repaired. Now that Gu has decided to jump out of the siege, he is determined not to go back to the old path, so Gu can rely on You are the only ones who still have these, and what you see now are all the living beings that the princes regard as ants."
Wu Chengju looked in the direction of Guan Cheng's finger. In the distance, there were already people eagerly setting up pots and starting to wash and cook rice. Patrolling soldiers passed by from time to time and stopped many people who wanted to do evil.
The smell of fireworks floated up in Wu Chengju's eyes.
