Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 952 Who is the domestic slave?
In Jinyang City, there are nearly twenty Bingzhou merchant clans, large and small, with a total of more than two thousand slaves. Now they are all standing on the ice of the thick moat, holding tools such as copper inserts and iron chisels. Chisel the ice.

They first started chiseling from the center of the river. When a crack was created, they retreated toward both banks and continued chiseling until the cracks on the ice expanded. Then they hammered hard to break the ice and break it into ice cubes of different sizes.

Once the ice cracks, it will be much easier to cut through the ice later. You only need to continue digging at the edge of the crack and retreat to the shore while cutting, and the entire river will be cut open.

The moat of Jinyang City is very wide, more than ten feet long, and the water level of Fenshui River connected to it is very high. When it is not freezing, it is difficult for the siege sergeants to cross the river and reach the city. This is why Yuan Xi's army chose to besiege the city. .

In fact, the moat does not freeze every year. However, the weather has turned cold in the past two years and the ice on the moat has become thicker. That is why the Southern Huns are so worried about Yuan Xijun's winter attack. Although most people think that this time it is just a feint attack. But no one can guarantee that if the water in the river freezes, what will be done with it.

Nowadays, the wide ice surface is full of broken ice cubes of different sizes, rising and falling with the river water, just like the ice news of the coming spring.

However, because there is still a large section of the river that has not been dug, the broken ice cannot flow, so it is currently blocked in the river. This scene made several business owners in Bingzhou see this, and they became even more worried. Jinyang The city is so big, can this really be done in one day and one night?
Moreover, the thousands of private soldiers who came out to clean up this time were the only domestic slaves left by the Bingzhou Shang clan in the city to protect themselves. If there was another problem with this group of people, wouldn't my family be the prey of the Huns?
Previously, because of the war to defend the city, under the instruction of King Guli, Bingzhou merchants and residents elected several family heads as leaders. At first, these people also wanted to use this method to strengthen their own voice, so I happily accepted this assignment.

But over the past few months, they have discovered that this is not the case at all!

As the commander of these domestic slaves, he is actually equivalent to a general who is marching and fighting. When there is no war, everyone returns to his home. But when there is a war, no matter how the servants are mobilized to go to the city to defend the city, whether it is weapons, armor, or food, grass and baggage, they are all needed. The person in charge is meticulous about every detail and does everything personally. If there are casualties after the war, they have to do the work of providing compensation and aftermath.

This made them complain endlessly. These people wanted to recruit other key members of the family to help with the work, but no one was stupid, and they all used various reasons to shirk it, so the few principals could only bite the bullet and get on with it.

Several bosses urged the servants who had almost no morale to use tools to break the ice, but the laughter of the Southern Huns soldiers on the top of the city could be heard in their ears. They couldn't help but feel more and more angry. Someone said angrily: "These Southern Huns barbarians are really rude. A hundred years ago, their clan leaders were respectful to us ordinary merchants, but now they treat us like pigs and dogs!"

The man in front was unwilling to shut up and muttered in a low voice: "Look at what we have become like now, we are no different from the slaves of the Southern Huns!"

The others quickly looked at the city, and they all whispered advice: "Don't say this nonsense, be careful if it reaches the ears of the two kings, you will definitely not get any favors."

The sounds of the slaves chipping away at the ice came one after another, reaching everyone's ears, making them even more agitated. Suddenly someone said, "You said we should leave now and surrender to the fierce tiger."

Someone asked: "Then what should we do now? Are we just waiting to die in the city?"

Everyone was silent. They didn't really care about humiliating themselves by compromising. Whether they had a way to survive in the future, that was the most important thing.

The man gritted his teeth and said, "But if this continues, when the city is destroyed, won't we still have to die together with our family members?"

"I think it's just that the Southern Huns took a fancy to their property and took the opportunity to lure people into a trap and make a fortune!"

Someone sighed quietly: "Who made us unable to see the situation clearly at that time and choose the side of the Southern Huns?"

Someone said angrily: "It's not because those families who are secretly causing trouble have implicated us!"

But they can do business, but they are amateurs in marching and fighting. During this period, Jinyang experienced several wars, and once the Southern Huns took the initiative to attack, but they were ambushed by Yuan Xi's army. The battles were fought, and the Bingzhou Shang family was initially The number of slaves, nearly 10,000, has been reduced by more than half, and they have fallen to the current bleak situation.

Someone was startled and said hurriedly: "Your family members in the city don't want it anymore?"

"I think there's something fishy about the whole thing!"

"How long do you think this city can last?"

Someone sighed: "Who knows, it is said that the fierce tiger has always been invincible, how can it have fought such a long siege battle? I'm afraid it has already hated us to the bone, right?"

"I just don't understand. They actually want to plot to assassinate the leader of the Southern Xiongnu tribe. I don't know what they think!"

"Then the Ma family and the Wang family are all closely related to the Southern Xiongnu. How could they rebel at this time?"

The sound of cutting ice continued, making everyone even more upset. It seemed that Jinyang City was in a dead end now. What should they do to save their lives?

Some people are skeptical about this, "Probably not, doesn't the fierce tiger not slaughter the city?"

What he was talking about was that some families in Jinyang City secretly colluded and wanted to surrender in Kaicheng. As a result, the matter was leaked and many families were implicated.

Someone else sneered: "Do you really believe it?"

Several people looked at the plain outside Jinyang City. The continuous black line on the horizon in the distance was Yuan Xijun's camp. Every time they saw it, they were frightened, fearing that a cavalry army would rush out and attack. Come, when the time comes, the southern Xiongnu garrison in the city will definitely refuse to save them, and they will watch their own people die under the city!
Thinking of this, these people became more and more entangled in their hearts, and some couldn't help but said: "If I had known this, why would I have taken refuge with the Southern Xiongnu in the first place? Wouldn't it be better to take refuge with the fierce tiger like I did in Qubei?"

Everyone's thoughts were really wrong, and the atmosphere gradually fell into silence, leaving only the dense and monotonous sound of chipping ice.

As the sun rose at noon, several principals received a report from spies, saying that they had discovered that Yuan Xijun's military camp was starting to send out cavalry!

The hearts of several of them suddenly became tense. If Yuan Xijun launched a surprise attack at this time, these servants with tools in their hands would be powerless to resist. Wouldn't they become living targets?
Facts have proved that their worries are not unreasonable. Dense black spots soon appeared on the distant horizon, bringing up clouds like white mist and sweeping towards this direction rapidly! Several principals stood at a high place and watched from a distance, and found that the black spots were the cavalry, and the white mist was the ice and snow raised by the hoofs of the war horses. The Youzhou cavalry was really out!
When everyone saw this, they panicked and quickly ordered their slaves to return to the city. At the same time, they asked the defenders in the city to open the city gate.

When the city guard saw it, he opened the city gate, but other guards said: "How long will it take for thousands of people to enter the city? What if there is no time to enter the city, and the other side takes the opportunity to rush into the city?"

Everyone was hesitant and had no choice but to send someone to inform King Guli. However, the servants of the Bingzhou Shang clan rushed under the city gate and found that the city gate had not been opened. They couldn't help but scream.

Because the scolding was extremely unpleasant, the defenders at the top of the city were not to be outdone and retorted. The two sides immediately became more and more noisy. Some of the defenders at the top of the city even peed down. The city was completely erupted and they began to beat the city with their tools. Door.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, the city guard yelled, "Why, do you still want to rebel?"

"Breaking on the door again will be deemed as surrendering to the enemy, and we will shoot you all to death!"

Someone in the city immediately yelled angrily: "Fuck you Hun dogs, you are rebelling!"

"I have lived in Jinyang City for many generations. You guys have only stayed here for a few years. Who is the rebel?"

Someone immediately responded and said: "That's right, we slaves can tolerate it. Now even the Huns are riding on our heads to shit and urinate. Why!"

"Bingzhou has been owned by the Han for hundreds of years, why should the Huns control us!"

“If we can’t fight, we will fight back.”

Before he finished speaking, more than a dozen arrows were shot from the top of the city, killing the speaker on the ground. Several people around him did not escape, either dead or alive, and fell to the ground one after another. The crowd dispersed in fright, and some people yelled and cursed. Said: "Damn it, quit, let's join the Youzhou Army!"

The guard at the head of the city shouted: "Whoever dares to cross the moat will be shot to death!"

"All the family members in the city will be executed!"

He gave the order, and the defenders at the top of the city raised their bows and arrows and aimed them at everyone.

The people who had just taken steps had to stop and curse. After all, escaping might not be successful and would involve the death of their family members, but the anger in their hearts was already about to explode.

In the distance, Zhang He and Zhao Yun were running side by side towards the city gate. Zhang He saw the scene below the city and said, "What now, kill all those people below the city?"

Zhao Yun shook his head and said: "Looking at the attire, they should be Han slaves who come out to cut soldiers. My lord has warned that these people have many uses."

"What's more, even if we defeat them, hundreds of our vanguard cavalry will not be able to enter the city. There are tens of thousands of defenders in the southern Xiongnu city. It cannot be captured in a single raid."

Zhang He was a little confused, "Then what's the point of our offensive?"

Zhao Yun said: "First pretend to be afraid of an ambush in the city and see how they respond."

Seeing the Youzhou cavalry getting closer and closer, the slaves under the city couldn't help but become more commotion. The guard at the top of the city shouted: "You obey the order and guard the city gate!"

When the slaves heard the order, they yelled and cursed one after another, telling them to use shovels to deal with the Youzhou cavalry?

The faces of the few Shang people who were walking away were even more gloomy. They said to the city guard: "We are guests of the Guli throne, how dare you do this!"

"We want to see Lord Guli!"

The guard at the head of the city shouted: "If the city is destroyed, who cares whether you are a guest or not!"

"Hurry up and form a formation to defend against the enemy!"

The principals couldn't bear it anymore and cursed: "Where are the weapons?"

"Are we going to die if we go up like this?"

Seeing the Youzhou cavalry getting closer and closer, they originally thought that they would die this time, but when hundreds of cavalry on the opposite side were still within a shot of the city wall, they suddenly turned around and circled.

When the principals saw this, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They thought it was because the other party was cautious and feared that there was an ambush on their side, so they temporarily escaped the disaster?
But how long can this good luck last?
At this time, Yuan Xi, who was in the Chinese Army, had received a report from the spies. After understanding the situation, he said to Tian Yu beside him: "This is an unexpected surprise."

"It seems that the Bingzhou Shang clan and the Southern Xiongnu are about to break up. They will directly kill all the slaves. This will easily lead to conflicts on us. How can we take advantage of this situation?"

(End of this chapter)