Chapter 1224 People’s hearts are fickle

Chapter 1224 People’s hearts are fickle

Chapter 1224 People’s hearts are fickle
As the truth cannot be hidden, some news finally reached the vicinity of Jianye, such as the Liang people's advance into Xuancheng and the rebellion of the Shen family in Wukang.

At first, the news was only spread in a small range, but by early March, it had spread so widely that even the military knew about it, including Zhao Yin's troops who were besieging Jincheng.

As the confidant of Prime Minister Wang Dao, Zhao Yin worked hard, but no matter how hard he tried, it was useless because the soldiers under him were clumsy, had low morale, and their fighting ability was very questionable.

But who is to blame? Everyone is responsible.

Officials in charge of daily training often left their military duties behind to travel and enjoy the scenery.

The officials in charge of food and equipment didn't know how many military supplies they had to prepare. Some bastards who occupied official positions but were not seen for years didn't even know which department they were in charge of.

It's not that one person is bad, but that the vast majority of people are doing bad things. Even if a few serious, responsible and capable officials want to revive the situation, it will be as difficult as climbing to the sky.

This is what the army, which has been trained for more than ten years, is like. They even claimed that they had fought several battles in Huainan and Xuzhou and seen blood, but the result is just this little bit of combat effectiveness.

Tired! Zhao Yin was really tired, mentally tired.

On the sixth day of March, the second batch of reinforcements originally scheduled to arrive disappeared. It was said that the navy was cruising outside Guangling, while the land army urgently went south to Yongshi and Pingling counties.

Of course, there is still some reinforcement.

On this day, Kuaiji King Sima Yu rushed to the south of Jincheng and took over the team of nearly 3,000 people from Wang Xizhi.

To be fair, these people were not completely without any basics. They had some basic combat skills. The old soldiers from the Northern Palace sent by Liu Kun served as low-level officers, and the middle-level officers were mostly children of wealthy families who were engaged in "not very respectable" military professions.

He Xi, the lieutenant commander and general of the upper army, was a descendant of a general family of the Eastern Wu, and had some military heritage.

Overall they do not look bad, but the army has been formed for less than half a month, they are not familiar with each other, their combat effectiveness is extremely limited, and they can only serve as siege cannon fodder.

But Sima Yu looked very excited. The 14-year-old boy had forgotten the humiliation on the night of the ninth day of the first lunar month and showed an inappropriate interest in the war. It was unique.

"Nearly half of the 4,500 Left Guards were lost. We'd be lucky to have 2,500 of them."

"We have recruited servants from wealthy families and men from counties and towns to supplement our manpower twice, and the total number of casualties is no less than 5,000."

"More than a thousand of the five thousand Northern Army were killed."

"About 2,000 new reinforcements were killed in the battle."

"Over 10,000 dead or wounded?" Sima Yu asked in surprise, "How many casualties did the Liang bandits have?"

"The Liang bandits came to our rescue twice, and were also aided by the young men in the city, Qian Feng's bandits, and Tangyi's rebels. The total number of casualties should be no less than fifteen thousand." He Xi said the news he had heard.

"It takes seven people to exchange for one Liang thief." Sima Yu felt that his past cognition was overturned. Is siege warfare so cruel?
"Still fighting?" he asked.

He Xi nodded and said, "Even though we can't fight anymore and the morale of the camps is low, Piling is still selecting strong men and preparing to send them here to continue the siege."

"When will it arrive?"

"Within ten days." He Xi said, "The battle of Jincheng has become a battle of wills. We have to fight to a conclusion."

"Why not call in Su Jun's troops?"

"The situation in Jiangbei is also critical. Su Jun is sitting on his hands again and is obviously waiting and watching. We can't count on him."

"I heard that food and fodder are the most important thing for an army to fight. How much food do you have now?"

Speaking of this, He Xi was also a little solemn: "It is enough now, but most of them are sent by the Jiangdong nobles, and the overseas Chinese are reluctant to do so."

Sima Yu opened his mouth wide and said, "How can the country last long if this is the case?"

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words." He Xi said.

Sima Yu nodded with a heavy face.

******
Sima Yu did not stay in Jincheng for too long. The reason was that the environment was too harsh and he could not stand eating and living in the muddy fields. So he handed over the troops to He Xi and took Wang Shu and Wang Xizhi to Huaide County, which was not far away.

When he met the county magistrate Wang Xia who was on patrol, he tilted his head and looked left and right.

Wang Xia pretended not to know, got off the ox cart and walked straight towards a manor.

Someone was already waiting to greet us in front of the manor.

"Wan'an, I haven't seen you for a long time. What are you busy with?" Wang Xia strode forward and asked with a smile.

Liu Sui rubbed his face and said, "With the current situation like this, what else can I do but drink and enjoy myself?"

Wang Xia was displeased and said, "Drinking is harmful to your health, so it's better to drink less."

"It would be better to get drunk to death." Liu Sui sighed and said, "I was on good terms with Yang Zuyan in the past. He advised me to stay in the north, but I followed my parents to the south. Alas, it's really hard to put it into words."

Wang Xia became even more unhappy, his face drooped, and he stopped talking to him about the past. He said directly: "The war in Jincheng is raging, and the consumption of food and grass is huge. Is it possible that your manor can provide food to support the military supplies?"

Liu Sui complained as soon as he heard this, "Huan Zi, you and I have known each other for many years, so I won't hide anything from you. Last year's harvest was not good, and this year we are conscripting soldiers on a large scale. Last time, 200 soldiers were sent out, and they have not returned yet. The spring ploughing has been greatly affected, and I don't know how many bushels of millet we can harvest in the fall."

Wang Xia got a headache after hearing this because this wasn’t the first one.

Huaide has only two towns, but it is home to many wealthy immigrant families. Since yesterday, I have been asking for food, but everyone has been complaining and unwilling to do so. Today, when I went to Liu Sui's house, it was like this again. I was so angry that I couldn't hold it back.

"May you be safe!" Wang Xia emphasized, "Your uncle was once the Minister of the Jin Dynasty, and you are also a Cavalry Officer. You are from a noble family and are highly respected. The country is in a difficult situation now, why don't you send out grain?"

Liu Sui saw his expression and knew that he was really angry. After thinking for a while, he said, "Well, how about giving him a thousand hu of grain?"

"One thousand five hundred hu." Wang Xia said.

Liu Sui looked at him, and Wang Xia also glared at him. Finally, Liu Sui gave in and said, "One thousand five hundred is one thousand five hundred."

After saying this, he called an old servant and asked him to take people to prepare food immediately.

Wang Xia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Sima Yu and others whispering something in the distance, he wanted to pull Liu Sui over to greet them, but Liu Sui just left. It seemed that he didn't want to have more contact with the King of Kuaiji.

He probably knew the reason.

Ever since the news of the Liang army's sudden invasion of Xuancheng and the rebellion of the Shen clan and other tribes came, although it was not known about other places, the attitudes of the overseas Chinese in Danyang became subtle.

To put it bluntly, they began to wait and see because they felt that the Jin Dynasty seemed to be unable to hold on.

But it is not easy to touch them, because these people are often related to each other, and one move can affect the whole body, so it is not that simple.

Wang Xia waited for a while and saw a number of ox carts driving out of the corner gate.

He also returned to the ox cart and invited Sima Yu and others to ride in the same cart.

After everyone sat down, they chatted casually for a while.

Before the cart had gone three miles, a county official came in and reported, "My Lord, I just checked the millet sent by Liu Sanqi's family, and found that most of it was red and rotten."

"What?" Wang Xia was shocked when he heard this. After apologizing to Sima Yu, he jumped out of the car and ran to the back holding up his robe.

The county official pointed to an open sack and said, "Please look, my lord."

Wang Xia took a closer look and found that it was indeed some rotten and smelly millet. He didn't know whether it was due to moisture or had been stored for too long.

His face darkened.

The county official stood by and did not dare to say much.

Wang Xia stood in silence for a long time, sighed, and said, "That's it."

The county official was a little surprised and hesitated to speak.

"If we don't eat it, what's the use of keeping it? Send it all to Jincheng." Wang Xia waved his hand and said.

The fact that Liu Sui gave them red-rotten millet showed that they had enough food, so much so that they couldn't finish it all, but he just refused to give them any.

The first grain collection in the first month of the year was not like this! Although there were complaints at that time, in the end, the amount required by the court was fully paid, without any arrears, and the rotten millet was not used to make up the number.

But in March, as the situation changed, these people's faces suddenly changed.

Wang Xia knew that these people were disappointed with the Jin Dynasty and were not optimistic about it. They thought that the country might be destroyed, so they all cut off their relationship with it. In other words, they gave it some food and grass because of their past friendship. Otherwise, there would be no red rotten millet left.

In the ox cart, Sima Yu, Wang Shu and Wang Xizhi witnessed the whole farce and were all in a heavy mood.

The imperial court treated the overseas Chinese who had migrated south very well.

If the rebellion of Jiangdong local tyrants was excusable, the rebellion of the overseas Chinese who migrated south was completely unreasonable. Take the relatively wealthy Kuaiji County as an example, most of the governors and internal historians were given to the scholars who migrated south, which made the Jiangdong gentry very dissatisfied.

To this day, the Jiangdong gentry are still contributing money and manpower to fight for the Jin Dynasty, but the scholars who have moved south have wavered and even want to surrender and abandon the Jin Dynasty.

How ironic!
Coincidentally, Yang Gu, the Imperial Court Minister who built a house and manor near Jianye, also only gave out 3,000 hu of millet and rice, which was much less than the 10,000 hu given out during the first grain collection in the first month of the year.

Du Yi, the prefect of Danyang, gave 800 hu, which was like giving alms to beggars...

The news gradually reached Taicheng.

Director Wang, who seemed to have aged a lot overnight, was silent.

The clerks worked very carefully to avoid getting into trouble with the prime minister. Looking at their expressions, they all looked pessimistic and disappointed, and the atmosphere in the government office was extremely solemn.

"Wangzhi, please take more care of the affairs of Taicheng. I have to go to Piling." Wang Dao said suddenly.

"Prime Minister - take care." Bian Xu nodded and agreed.

He knew what Director Wang was going to do.

At an old age, having just experienced the pain of losing his son, he still had to run around in person to collect food and grass for the king's army. But this task could only be done by him, because he had a high prestige, and others would give him some face, and it might not be possible for someone else to do it.

"Things haven't gotten to the worst yet." Wang Dao said with a smile, "Xuancheng has only let over a thousand bandits come over, so we can still fight. Shan Yanlin knows military affairs, and he knows what to do. Now is the time to test our patience. As long as we can hold out for this period, in April, when it rains for days in the south of the Yangtze River, the Liang people will not be able to hold out for long."

As he was talking, he stood up, looked around, and said, "A man should have a beginning and an end. If the Shao thief pacifies Jiangnan, your manors, servants, and property will be taken by him, and your accumulations over the years will be destroyed in an instant. There is no point in talking more, just take care of yourself."

After saying this, he walked out of the yamen slowly.

Bian Xu withdrew his gaze and continued to review the memorials.

It was rainy all the time in April, and it was even hot and humid in May and June when the plums were ripe. It was truly a time to test one's patience.

However, Bian Xu still felt something was not real.

The Jin Dynasty still had its main army and fierce fighting was still going on in Jiangbei, but it was forced to this extent. Even if it could survive this year, what about the next time?

Bian Xu thought of his son Bian Xu who went to the north to attend a funeral.

Wang Dao said that to his subordinates, but he was actually hinting at him secretly.

(End of this chapter)