Sixty miles west of Yongning Prefecture, there is a Yellow River crossing, called the Mokou Ferry, which is the junction of Shanxi and Shanxi, and has been an important ferry port for business travelers and armies to pass through the Yellow River since ancient times.

The Shaanxi boundary of Hexi is Wubao County, Wubao City is an ancient stone city, is also a military fort, made of stone, the tiger stands on the top of the mountain, overlooks the canyon, guards the Jin-Shaanxi traffic point, is the military town of the past dynasties, because it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is known as the copper Wubao in ancient times.

There is a Ming army stationed in the fort all the year round, sometimes there are more than 1,000 people, and only one or two hundred at the beginning.

Jian Guoning, the magistrate of Wubao, is a rare honest and capable official, in the third year of Chongzhen, when the rice fat Liukou broke out, Jian Guoning "clothed and vegged for food, spared no money, and asked for light, and gathered in many ways", leading the squires and people in the city to prepare properly, so that Wubao was able to escape a catastrophe.

After most of the Liukou entered Shanxi, the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, strengthened the defense of Wubao, and now there is a garrison officer and 800 Ming troops stationed in the city.

After the exile, Wu Bao couldn't calm down.

Jian Guoning's reputation for petitioning for the reduction of forced labor taxes, opening warehouses for disaster relief, and asking the squires in the city to set up porridge shacks to relieve the hungry has long spread far and wide, and many hungry people in nearby prefectures and counties have flocked to Wubao County after hearing about it.

A small Wu Fort naturally could not accommodate tens of thousands of hungry people, and there were still countless people who died of starvation, and last year's heavy snowfall froze to death thousands of hungry people, and there were corpses everywhere outside the city, and there were also hungry people who cut meat from the corpses to eat, it was like a hell on earth.

Even so, there was still a steady stream of hungry people pouring into Wubao County, and some of them crossed the Yellow River into Shanxi after Wubao could not get food, or died directly in the river.

The other part of the people who could not walk, or who were lucky, continued to stay at Fort Wu.

Wubao City has long been overcrowded, and the gentry and clan of the township have been complaining about the county government every day, and Jian Guoning has sent several letters a month to submit them to the Beijing Division, begging, and he has aged more than ten years in just one year.

Finally, Wu Fu, the emperor of relief, brought 300,000 silver into Shaanxi and allocated silver to various state capitals for disaster relief, but after being exploited by the state capitals above, Wubao County finally only received 800 taels of silver.

This little silver tael is tantamount to a drop in the bucket for tens of thousands of hungry people, and now that the war is in chaos, it is difficult to buy food.

Jian Guoning turned gray overnight.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen, in the early morning of April 18, Jian Guoning ascended to the east gate as usual, and looked numbly at the corpses and villagers who were burying the corpses outside the city, as well as those hungry people who wandered around like ghosts.

In the distance, twenty or thirty boats had gathered on the other side of the river, including the ferry boat of the Mokou Ferry and the nearby fishing boats, and there were many figures on the shore loading something into the boats.

Seeing this situation, Jian Guoning frowned for a moment, and asked the narrator, "Why don't you report any changes on the other side of the river?" Have you checked the origins of those people on the other side? ”

A city defender next to him replied with a huffed waist: "Lord Hui, I sent someone to cross the river at dawn and asked, saying that it was the Shanxi merchant gang who wanted to transport some things to us." ”

"The Shang Gang?" Jian Guoning frowned again, "Now that the war is in chaos, there are still merchants helping merchants to sell goods?" ”

"I don't know if it's small."

"Go and inform Deng Garrison, let him close the city gate and strengthen the city defense."

"Yes."

When the defenders of Wubao City were nervously strengthening the city defenses, the dozens of ships on the opposite bank moved, and they sailed off the shore one after another, struggling slowly towards the Wubao ferry on the river.

Each ship had a deep draft, and it must have been loaded with a lot of things, and you could vaguely see the heads and horses moving on board.

Not only is there a lot of goods loaded, but there are also a lot of people.

The hungry people outside the city also spotted the fleet, and like a herd of walking corpses, slowly rushed towards the ferry.

When the hungry people in the city heard that a fleet of boats had crossed the river, they also became agitated, and there must have been food for those on board.

However, the gates were long closed, and no one was allowed to enter or leave, and countless hungry people had to crowd around the gates and plead.

Not long after, the fleet docked, and before the sampan was set, a group of people jumped down with swords and guns, and formed a formation on the shore, waiting for the ghostly hungry people.

The hungry people saw clearly that the ship was filled with countless bags of hemp, and nine times out of ten it was grain. -->>

Suddenly, thousands of hungry people rushed towards the ferry, as if they had gone mad.

However, on the dozens of ships, more and more people with knives and guns jumped down, and there were four or five hundred, and there were many knives and guns guarding the shore.

A dozen hungry people rushed over without hesitation, and the people on the shore did not hesitate to raise their knives and guns.

After more than a dozen screams sounded, those hungry people without exception all fell in a pool of blood, and the hungry people behind were awakened by the bloody scene, and they stopped one after another, not daring to move even an inch forward.

At this time, a little old man jumped down from the boat, grinned with big yellow teeth, and shouted loudly: "Fellow villagers, we are here to give porridge, please step back and help us collect some firewood, we want to make a fire to make food." ”

"The villagers just have to line up, there will be porridge to eat in a while, no robbery, no crowding, everyone has a share, there are tricks, or those who take advantage of the chaos to rob, they will all be killed."

Hearing this, the hungry people present seemed to be silent, and then suddenly there was a strange burst of crying or laughing, and then rushed towards the boats on the shore.

The little old man with yellow teeth suddenly pulled out a long knife, copied it in his hand, and shouted: "Fellow villagers, let me say it again, if you want to eat porridge, hurry up to collect firewood, and those who dare to make trouble will be killed!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the little old man with yellow teeth took a step forward, and the long knife in his hand slashed like a half-moon, and the head of a hungry man who rushed to the forefront fell to the ground.

The four or five hundred men armed with knives and guns beside him also took a few steps forward, and the hungry people in the front row fell in a row in the blink of an eye.

The hungry people in the back were once again suppressed, and they retreated tremblingly, and soon dispersed again and ran to collect firewood.

The little old man with yellow teeth was Lao Huang, and after wiping the blood stains from the corpse with the long knife in his hand, he sighed helplessly and said, "Unload all the grain", and the five hundred Guan Emperor soldiers behind him stepped on the sampan back to the boat and began to unload the grain.

It didn't take long for several sheds to be erected next to the ferry on the shore, and dozens of cauldrons were erected in the sheds, burning with raging flames and boiling millet porridge water.

Dozens of long queues of hungry people had lined up in front of the porridge shed, some of the Guan Emperor's troops were armed with knives and guns to protect the front of the porridge shed, and the other part was shuttling between the long lines to maintain order.

A Ming army came out of the city, about thirty or fifty people, cautiously approached the porridge shed, and after asking a few words, they ran back.

Soon, the heavy gates creaked open, and the hungry people inside poured out like a flood and rushed to the porridge shed.

At the end of the day, thousands of ghostly hungry people took broken bowls, bamboo tubes, gourd scoops, wooden bowls, and other things, and received porridge one by one in front of the cauldron, and then devoured it into their stomachs, despite the boiling water.

Jian Guoning walked out of the city gate under the escort of dozens of Ming troops and officials, and walked briskly towards the porridge shed with excitement.

After seeing this group of people, Lao Huang greeted him.

"Old gentleman is gracious to Wubao, Jane is a person who respects Mr. for the people."

From afar, Jian Guoning made a compilation with both hands and bowed to Lao Huang.

"Oh, Lord Jane, please get up quickly, you are tormenting the little old man, the little old man can't afford such a big gift." Lao Huang also hurriedly bowed down.

Jian Guoning got up and asked gratefully, "May I ask the old gentleman's name?" From whose house did the enlightened gentry come from? ”

"Little Lao'er is not surnamed Huang, just call me Lao Huang, I am not an enlightened gentry, I am just a small soldier under the command of the Shanxi guerrilla general Qin Chuan Qin."

Jian Guoning was stunned: "Guerrilla General Qin? ”

"Hehe, my family has just taken office, it's not strange that you didn't say it."

"I see, where is Lord Qin?"

"My family is recuperating in Loufu, and I heard that there are many hungry people in Wubao, so I sent a little old man to help these bitter villagers, and it happens that there are many wastelands in Jingle County and Lan County in Taiyuan Prefecture, so I can bring them back to Loufu and give them farming to feed themselves."

Hearing this, Jian Guoning's face was agitated again, and he bowed in the direction of Luliang Mountain in the east.

"Jian thanked Lord Qin for his kindness."