Longevity begins with a dog

Chapter 133 Why is it so necessary to kill someone?

August.

The harvest season, which was supposed to be golden, was devastated in Yongzhou.

And starting half a month ago, the limited power of the county government was completely insufficient to maintain order outside the city.

Some people have already fled to other places regardless of the threat of the epidemic.

As if as long as they can go far enough, they can get enough food.

Those who chose to stay began to search for food all over the mountains and plains.

The first to be eaten up were all kinds of living creatures other than humans.

Rabbits, snakes, deer, birds, mice...

Then there are various insects.

Dead bodies of spiders, centipedes, leeches, locusts...

Finally, the rhizomes, epidermis, leaves of various plants...

Don't care about the smell, don't care about whether it is poisonous or not.

People who are extremely hungry don't care about this.

They only care about one thing—whether they can swallow it.

Swallowing it, whatever it was, would dispel that maddening hunger.

The west corner of the city.

A simple low shed built with branches leaning against boulders.

The women's group sat inside, facing the corner.

With her skirts open, she was feeding a baby in swaddling clothes.

The baby kept crying, not cooperating at all.

A half-grown child leaned on the side weakly, his eyes were blank, and he turned a blind eye to the baby's distress and the woman's coaxing.

"Big boy, bring the water."

The woman said weakly.

The boy moved slowly, climbed out of the shed, and dragged in a broken earthen jar.

It wasn't that he wanted to be so slow, but that he really didn't have the extra strength to support him to go up a little faster.

He hasn't eaten anything for three days.

The woman turned slightly and took the crock pot, first took a sip by herself, and then took another sip in her mouth.

When the water is warm, lower your body and feed the baby drop by drop.

The crying of the baby subsided a little.

It's just a slight frown, indicating that he doesn't like this kind of 'food' very much.

"Mother."

After a long while, the boy leaning aside called out with an extremely hoarse voice.

"Ok?"

The woman tilted her head slightly.

"Can Daddy get something to eat?"

the boy asked.

In the godless eyes, a little bit of hope emerged.

"..."

The woman's back froze slightly.

Natural disasters are imminent, if only relying on her as a weak woman, there is no way to bring two children, one big and one small, to live till now.

She really relied on the man who was the head of the family.

However, the head of the family who used to go out to look for food, no matter whether he found it or not, would return within the same day, but this time he did not return for two full days.

two days...

Are you still alive?
The woman wishes to be alive.

But hope is just hope.

If nothing else, the head of the family is dead.

Either starved to death outside, or fought with others for food and was beaten to death.

This is the greatest possibility.

Therefore, the woman didn't know how to answer the eldest son's question.

"Will Daddy...will...not come back..."

The boy spoke again, his voice getting weaker and weaker.

"……Will not."

The woman's voice was a little trembling, "Your father... Your father is the head of the family. In order to find food for us, he went to a farther place. When he comes back, he will definitely bring a lot of food."

The boy barely pulled himself together.

"Do you have pancakes?"

"some."

"Is there any steamed buns?"

"some."

"That's fine, that's fine..."

The boy slowly raised the corners of his mouth, "If there are steamed buns and pancakes, my mother will be full, and if my mother is full, my younger brother will be full... It's... so good..."

The woman bit her lips tightly, dripping crystals, the baby in her arms pursed her lips, and her frowning brows relaxed a little.

Outside the shed, the man gritted his teeth fiercely, as if he had made some decision, and quietly left for a distance.

Not long after, a muffled hum, which was extremely suppressed and lasted for a whole stick of incense, sounded.

After another half an hour, the man limped back.

"I am back."

"..."

The woman turned her head suddenly, and her eyes were red in an instant: "It's good to be back, it's good to be back..."

"Here, look what I got."

The man's face was a little pale, but he raised his hand with a smile.

"This is... meat?!"

The woman couldn't believe it.

"The buffalo I found thirty miles away, I spent a lot of effort to snatch such a small amount."

The man sat down panting.

"Okay, okay...you hold the baby, and I'll go make a fire."

The woman gave the man the swaddle and took the flesh from the man's hand.

When he was about to get up, he suddenly saw a lot of blood stains on the man's trouser legs.

"... Are you injured?!"

The woman trembled, and reached out to open her trouser legs.

The man waved away the woman's hand and said indifferently: "I fell while grabbing meat, it's no big deal."

"Really?"

The woman is a little suspicious.

"Don't worry, if the injury is really serious, how can I run past them and bring the meat back?"

The man's eyes were steady. Although his complexion was a little pale, it was normal after all that he hadn't eaten for a long time.

So the woman didn't ask any more questions, and walked out of the shed with a bent body.

Not far away, two people stood expressionlessly.

Jiang Zhihong and Xu Chong.

The two witnessed the man, using a rusty knife hidden in his waist, cut off the calf meat bit by bit, tore off a stained sleeve, and bandaged the calf bit by bit. .

This process took a stick of incense to complete.

And back to the shed, only a few tens of feet away, also used a stick of incense.

Although it was cruel, this was already the most heartwarming scene they had seen today.

After all, in the face of death, there are always only a very few who can hold on to the last insistence.

More people have gradually let go of morality and ethics.

For a leaf, the son can knock the old father to the ground.

For a piece of bark, a wife can push her husband into a ditch.

"It turns out we were all wrong."

Jiang Zhihong sighed faintly, "Back then, Lou Youzhi was not a political enemy at all... but the imperial court, or the first emperor."

Just relying on one person in the building alone will definitely not be able to suppress the public opinion of the government and the public and sit back and watch the tragedy of Yongzhou.

In other words, no matter who it is, no one can achieve this level.

Except the royal family, except Your Majesty.

The same reason can be proved, the drought in Bingzhou that year was also the same thing.

"In a few days, when there is no food at all, there will be cannibalism."

Xu Chong said blankly, "And as long as it happens once, it will cause a chain reaction... At that time, the morality in everyone's hearts will be completely lost."

"No, it has already happened, in other places in Yongzhou."

Jiang Zhihong said dumbly, "I went out yesterday and saw with my own eyes what it means to be cannibalistic."

"Eat the old and the weak first, then the women and children."

"The first time they eat it, they will throw up, but the second time they eat it, they get used to it."

"Even, some people have become obsessed with the smell of human flesh, and they are so focused on killing people for meat..."

Jiang Zhihong remembered what Xu Chong once said, "You are right, the disaster victims are not human at all."

Xu Chong was silent.

What Jiang Zhihong saw, he saw everything, even earlier than Jiang Zhihong.

To be honest, it was far less cruel than the demons he had experienced.

But this is reality after all.

"Someone sent me a message, telling me to hold on for another month. The imperial court is urgently preparing supplies and they will be delivered in a month."

As he said that, Jiang Zhihong showed disdain, "One month? After one month, how many people in Yongzhou will be alive?"

"Looks like I guessed right."

Xu Chong nodded slowly, "The court is controlling the number of deaths."

"I guessed it too, but I still don't understand."

Jiang Zhihong narrowed his eyes, "If you want to kill people, why do you need to use this method? A large army can kill millions of people in one day, and if you put on the label of rebellion, how much effort would it take to slaughter the entire Yongzhou?" ?”

"possible."

Xu Chong shrugged, "Pure massacre will not bring any benefits."

"Do you have to die from a natural disaster... It seems that this is the only explanation."

Jiang Zhihong let out a breath of foul air slowly.

"I will keep those people in Canglong County."

Xu Chong suddenly said, "More, please forgive me for being powerless."

With the background of the Hua family, can the entire Yongzhou be kept?
Xu Chong didn't know.

But even if it can, it will inevitably empty the Hua family.

The Hua family has no reason to do so, nor will they do so at all.

But if there are only ten thousand people in Canglong County, the Hua family should not refuse.

This is Xu Chong's plan.

however.

"No need."

Jiang Zhihong waved his hand, his eyes suddenly turned cold: "Bingzhou, there were buildings and knowledge, but this time, it was me!"

"What do you want to do?"

Xu Chong's complexion changed slightly.

Jiang Zhihong didn't answer, turned around and began to walk, "Yesterday, I have contacted a few people who are still willing to help me. They will secretly transport food to the border of Yongzhou at night... you can take care of Canglong for me these few days , I will receive this batch of grain."

Off-field assistance...

Xu Chong sighed secretly and didn't say any more.

Indeed, Jiang Zhihong had been an official for so many years, and even sat on the position of Zuodu Censor, so he must have had a few friends who died.

Even if there is off-field assistance, how much can there be?

For the population of more than [-] million in Yongzhou, it can only be a drop in the bucket.

Just like that, Jiang Zhihong left.

Xu Chong did not sit in the county office, but climbed to the top of the city and strolled on the city wall.

He didn't have the patience to deal with those rambunctious residents in the city.

Since half a month ago, the gates of Fenggu County have been blocked.

This is what Jiang Zhihong did on purpose.

One is to lock people in the city and prevent them from going out.

The second is to create a false appearance for people outside the city that there is still food in the city, leaving most of them in Fenggu County.

Whether it was crying, begging, or cursing, Jiang Zhihong turned a deaf ear to it.

Because he knew that after leaving Fenggu County, he also had nothing to eat.

The existence of the epidemic made other places much more dangerous than Fenggu County.

So a scene like this was formed.

People inside the city desperately want to get out of the city, and people outside the city desperately want to enter the city.

If it weren't for the city gate being strong enough and the city wall high enough, I'm afraid the sky would have turned upside down long ago.

What Xu Chong needed to do was to keep the inside and outside of the city stable during Jiang Zhihong's absence, preventing large-scale riots from happening.

In this way, three days passed quietly.

In three days, fewer people stayed outside the city.

Some died, some left.

Those who did not leave did not have hope, on the contrary, they were completely desperate.

Only those Canglong people, even if they haven't eaten for several days, are much more stable than others.

Until the evening of the third day, vehicles loaded with goods appeared at the end of the road.

One after another.

Surrounding the convoy was a huge army of refugees.

A dense crowd of people.

Even standing on the top of the city, with Xu Chong's eyesight, he couldn't see the end at a glance.

He only recognized the man at the head of the caravan.

The magistrate of Fenggu County, Jiang Zhihong.

"Food! That's food!"

I don't know who yelled first, and then it triggered a chain reaction.

Those refugees who had stayed outside the city began to rush towards the convoy like crazy,

"--presumptuous!"

An angry shout was like a roar from the sky.

The huge voice reverberated and shook everyone's heart.

"The county magistrate has already brought food, enough food for you to survive!"

"From now on, we will set up a porridge shed, and everyone will be rationed."

"But there are looters, no matter men or women, no matter their status, they will be driven out of the wind drum, and life and death are at the mercy of fate!"

Then, in awe of everyone, Jiang Zhihong spoke again and again.

After a while, the turmoil that was about to erupt was finally suppressed, and the team continued to move forward.

Relief work is in full swing.

When the lid of the first pot of gruel was lifted, hot steam rose up, and the refugees knelt down in pieces.

"Thank you, Master Qingtian! Thank you, Master Qingtian!"

"Little old man doesn't distinguish between right and wrong. If you call an adult a dog official, you deserve death, you deserve death!"

"The grace of saving life will be repaid like a cow and a horse!"

"..."

To the west of the city, a knowing smile finally appeared on the man's face, and he knelt tremblingly, pressing his forehead to the ground.

The woman who was holding the young child beside him, and her half-eldest son, also knelt down.

However, after this kneeling, the man was never able to stand up again.

(End of this chapter)