National color raw owl

In the city of Wuping Mansion in Hexi, Dingwu is already in a state of desperation.

Although the barbarian soldiers have stopped attacking these days, the defenders at the top of the city can still see that the barbarians are manufacturing siege weapons with great fanfare outside the city in front of the defenders.

The former Fanyi army attacked the city from three sides. It can be said that it was the largest siege battle after the arrival of the barbarian army, and it was also the most critical siege battle for Wuping Prefecture. With the withdrawal of troops, Dingwu could not guarantee that Wuping Fucheng was still in his own hands.

When fighting against foreign enemies, the whole city is indeed fighting against the same enemy.

The siege weapons made by the barbarians did indeed cause great damage to the city wall. Many places have been smashed out of holes, and many places have even collapsed because of this.

Although Wuping Fucheng is one of the strongest cities in the north, it cannot be compared with the capital. If it were an ordinary city, the city would have already been breached with the strength of the barbarians attacking the city at that time. Although Wuping Fucheng was finally defended, the city wall However, it was still severely damaged, and Dingwu knew that the barbarians were not willing to retreat. They built a lot of construction work under the city and continued to manufacture siege weapons, obviously to accumulate strength for the next offensive.

Dingwu was really not sure whether the city would be able to hold the next time the barbarians attacked the city.

He has recruited craftsmen in the city to speed up the repair of the destroyed city walls, and continue to collect crossbars and fuel to prepare for the next siege of the barbarian army.

Although the external troubles can be resisted to the end with tenacious will, the internal troubles in Wuping Prefecture make Ding Wu a headache.

As Mahon had expected, there had been serious riots in the city because of the food problem.

According to Dingwu's instructions, Ma Hong almost snatched grain from the wealthy businessmen and gentry in the city. Naturally, all the grain stores in Ruocheng were confiscated by the officers and soldiers. The euphemistic name was that the imperial court received grain temporarily, waiting to repel the barbarians. The barbarians will pay back several times, using various means, and indeed hoarded a batch of military rations because of this. If it is only used to support the defenders, they can barely support it for a while.

However, there are more than 30 Li people in the city, and the food problem has become the most serious problem in Wuping Prefecture. Before the attack launched by the barbarians, a large number of people in the city began to run out of food. It looks grim. Although Dingwu, in order to ensure the order in the city, the Shenyiwei and the few yamen in the city are maintaining order in the city, but they still can't stop some people who are forced by hunger from rushing into the homes of the gentry and the rich to snatch food. .

The grain stores in the city have run out of grain to sell, but the people are seriously short of food. For most of the people who don't know the truth, the grain stores are closed because the wealthy businessmen and gentry have collected the grain, and the buying and selling are all voluntary. If it were the past, the closure of the grain store would certainly cause riots in the city, but it would not cause things to get out of control, but now that Wuping Mansion is under siege and cannot enter or leave, the food that can survive can only be in the hands of those grain merchants If the grain store is closed, it means that if the people's way of life is cut off, there have been horrific scenes of people being starved to death in the city. The mansion was looted wantonly.

Although Dingwu dispatched manpower to maintain order as much as possible, this situation is really embarrassing. If the people are not controlled, the riots will become bigger and bigger. But if force is used to suppress the people at this time, only It could be just the opposite, the barbarians are now watching outside the city, if there is a big turmoil in the city due to the suppression, without the barbarians attacking, Wuping Prefecture will be destroyed by itself.

The situation is critical, and there is not much left in the army rations. In order to temporarily quell the riots in the city, Dingwu can only allocate part of the army rations and set up porridge shops to temporarily relieve the people in the city. It was a drop in the bucket, even if all the rations were taken out, they would not be able to last for a few days. What was even more frightening was that once the rations ran out and the soldiers defending the city had no food to eat, even if they wanted to kill the enemy, they would not be able to persist.

What made Dingwu even more troublesome was that the military rations were allotted to temporarily appease the people in the city, but a large number of urban gentry found the yamen of the Ministry of Households and asked the Ministry of Households to allocate rations.

These gentry's food reserves were confiscated by Ma Hong. At an extraordinary time, the gentry also knew that there was nothing they could do. Except for the rations left at home, most of the food was collected away. They were all looted. With the current situation in the city, of course they dare not go to find the people to get the food back, so they can only take people to the household department to ask for food.

There was a crowd of people in front of the yamen of the household department, hundreds of gentry flocked here, and some gentry had even brought their own few young guards to beg for food, and the situation became more and more critical.

For two consecutive days, Ma Hong's office was blocked and the door was closed tightly. Later, the gentry couldn't stand it anymore, they broke into the door and over the wall, and rushed into the yamen. Ma Hong personally led people to collect food and grass, everyone knew His name, everyone rushed into the yamen, and now they didn't care about other things, they grabbed the officials in the yamen and asked Ma Hong's whereabouts.

When the gentry in the city were furious, Ma Hong had already run to the command office where Dingwu was, and knelt in front of Dingwu tremblingly, begging the emperor to calm down the incident.

Ding Wu knew very well that the people in the city were already in chaos, if these gentry became chaotic again and wantonly bewitched, then no matter how powerful he was, he would be powerless to recover.

"Report to Your Majesty, many people have gathered outside, and they said they want the court to return the food." Xuanyuan Shao came in with a stern look on his face.

Ma Hong was surprised when he heard the words, but he didn't expect those gentry to find the emperor.

"Your Majesty, these gentry are selfish and don't know how to share the country's troubles. At this time, there are still troubles. I ask you to take the lead and put them in prison, and kill them as an example, so that they don't dare to be so presumptuous." Ma Hong His forehead was covered with cold sweat, he was the Minister of the Household Department, and now there was a food shortage in the city, he was naturally inseparable.

It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. Ma Hong is not a god, and he can't produce food. If it weren't for the Northwest Army, Anyi and Xishan Road would have grain delivered to fill the granary in Hexi. At that time, Ma Hong knew that something was wrong, and there was nothing he could do without a source of food.

Dingwu looked stern, silent for a moment, and finally asked: "Ma Aiqing, is there no other way?"

Ma Hong raised his sleeves to wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead, and said with a wry smile, "My lord, there is only so much food in the city, and the city is besieged, not to mention that there is no source of food outside, even if there is food, it can no longer be transported into the city." The minister has said before that the food in the city can only keep the defenders going for a while, and cannot take care of the hundreds of thousands of people in the city, but they also have to eat food to survive. Once there is a shortage of food, troubles will inevitably arise... ..., the minister is already powerless, and... and according to the estimation of the minister, the situation will only get worse and worse. The Holy Majesty can transfer the military rations to temporarily stabilize the people in the city, but even if all the military rations are taken out, they need to be supplied A few 10 people will not be able to last for a few days. At that time, the defenders will have no food and will not be able to fight at all, and the people will have no food, and the riots will become more serious...!"

"Now there is a large group of people outside who are looking for food from me, what can you do to make them disperse?" Ding Wu asked lightly.

Ma Hong shook his head and said: "I think that no matter how much I persuade them, they...they won't give up. I... I feel that for the sake of the present, I can only... kill a few people and suppress them." Town them all."

"If I kill someone, I'm afraid things will become more chaotic." Ding Wu said.

Ma Hong looked up at Ding Wu, opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Ding Wu naturally saw it, and said: "What do you have to say, just say it, I said it a long time ago, as long as you are dedicated to national affairs, even if you say something wrong, I will not blame you."

Ma Hong thought for a while, and seemed to have made up his mind, "My lord, my lord... Your lord, please break through!"

"Breakthrough?" Ding Wu was startled.

Ma Hong said: "The barbarians have been attacking for a long time and will not retreat. I think they will never retreat until they capture Wuping Prefecture."

"Do you think I can't defend Wuping Prefecture?"

Ma Hongdao: "There is a shortage of food in the city, and the barbarian army outside the city is aggressive. I thought I could defend the city until now, and the Holy One is already a master of martial arts. But there are some things that cannot be controlled by manpower. I... I also want to defend the city. but......!"

Dingwu's eyes twitched slightly, but he didn't speak.

"Although the wild cavalry are fierce, there are still thousands of war horses in the city." Ma Hong said: "The guards are brave and good at fighting. As long as the holy majesty leads the thousand cavalry to break through at night, they may not be able to leave safely. If the holy majesty stays in the city and waits until the day the city is broken, Minister...!" At this point, he smiled wryly and shook his head, but did not continue.

Dingwu glanced at Xuanyuan Shao next to him, and finally said: "I said, even if the empire is really going to be destroyed, I will persevere until the end. I am the emperor of the Great Qin, so naturally I can't let the mere barbarians scare me away and leave my people and people behind." The city escapes."

Dingwu is actually very clear that although the people in the city started a riot, before that, the people in the city were united in their hatred against the barbarians. The houses were demolished and the materials were used to defend the city. Instead of complaining, the people in the city braved the rain of arrows It goes without saying whether it will be successful if you lead the elite soldiers to break through at this time, but as long as you lead the troops away, the Wuping Prefecture City will be destroyed in an instant, and the people in the city will surely fall under the butcher's knife of the barbarians. under.

"Your Majesty, breaking out is not out of fear." Ma Hong said: "As the saying goes, if you keep the green hills alive, you won't have to worry about firewood. As long as you are safe and sound, Daqin will not perish. If you break out from the siege, you can make a comeback in the future... ...!"

"Needless to say." Ding Wu interrupted: "I just want to know how to deal with these people outside?"

Ma Hong lowered his head, remained silent for a long time, finally raised his head, and said with a wry smile: "I understand."

"You understand that?"

"In fact, I have long understood." Ma Hong sighed: "At the beginning, the Holy Majesty asked the minister to come forward to collect food and grass. Although it was a holy will, he only gave a verbal order, not an imperial edict.... At that time, the minister thought that sooner or later there would be such a situation. One day, it was the minister who came forward to requisition the food, and it was the minister who promised to pay them back the food. Now that these people are forced here, they are still targeting the minister. As long as the emperor orders the minister to be executed, it may be able to temporarily dispel their resentment."

Ding Wu stared at Ma Hong, and after a while, finally sighed softly: "Ma Aiqing, are you willing to relieve my worries?"

"I really don't want to die, but now, if I don't die, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it." Ma Hongdao: "The king wants the minister to die, and the minister has to die. The minister's head can be taken off with a decree from the sage. But the minister still wants to die." I want to say that Wuping Prefecture can no longer be defended, if the Holy Majesty wants to make a comeback, he can only break out...!"

He flattered and flattered horses in the officialdom, and rose step by step, but now, he knew that he would die, and for some reason, he was not terrified. Since the last time Dingwu sent an errand, Ma Hong had been terrified day and night, knowing that sooner or later he would not escape. Once he died, but when the matter came to an end, he seemed to feel a sense of relief in his heart.

He kowtowed to Dingwu a few times, then got up, glanced at Xuanyuan Shao, hesitated for a while, and finally said: "Commander Xuanyuan, please tie me out, so I can give them an explanation."

Xuanyuan Shao looked at Ding Wu, Ding Wu hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly, Xuanyuan Shao finally led people in and tied Ma Hong up.

Ma Hong's face was slightly pale, he turned around with a wry smile and walked away, Xuanyuan Shao followed behind, walked a few steps, Ma Hong stopped, turned around suddenly, and sighed: "My lord, you are a good emperor, it's a pity... !" He seemed to want to say something, but he didn't say it after all, and walked out of the door slowly.

Looking at Ma Hong's leaving figure, a sense of fatigue hit Dingwu's whole body.

He put his arm on his forehead and closed his eyes slightly. After a long time, Xuanyuan Shao finally came back. He only thought that Dingwu had fallen asleep, and walked lightly to the side without disturbing him, but Dingwu had already asked softly: "Is he dead?" ?”

"I have already explained to them that it was Ma Hong's coercive edict. He was greedy for ink and food and was unable to make up for the warehouse. That's why he deceived the king and passed on the false decree to forcefully expropriate money and food." Xuanyuanshao said respectfully: "The minister has ordered Ma Hong to be executed. , Tell them that although Ma Hong falsely preached the imperial decree, the imperial court will still repay them with several times the amount of money and food."

"They just left?"

"I told them that the imperial court still has a lot of money and food, but now that the city is besieged, the money and food can only be obtained by repelling the barbarian army." Xuanyuan Shao said: "I asked them to support it for a few more days, and soon the barbarian army will support it." The soldiers couldn't stop retreating..., the minister chopped off Ma Hong's head in public, but he also restrained them, so they won't make too much noise for the time being."

Ding Wu sighed, "It's hard for you."

Xuanyuan Shao said: "I am not embarrassed, but... what Ma Hong said is true, the turmoil can be suppressed for a while, but after a long time, there will still be troubles."

"Soon...!" Ding Wu clasped his hands together, "Zhen and Tu Shi, whoever wins will have a result soon, and it won't take long...!"

At this moment, a voice came from outside: "Report to Your Majesty, there is a vision in the city." Amidst the words, a figure appeared in front of the door like a ghost. Although he was wearing a gray skirt, Xuanyuan Shao saw his waist You can tell it's Shenyiwei if you look at the waist knife you wear.

None of the four thousand households of Shenyiwei died or were injured by Dingwu's side, and the person in charge of Shenyiwei in the city is now Zhao Zishu, a hundred households of Shenyi.

"What's the matter?" Ding Wu raised his head and frowned and asked, the matter that Shen Yiwei suddenly came to report was naturally not a trivial matter.

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