Outside Jixian County, the Yellow Turban Army camp.

Although it is a large camp, there are few tents, and most people still surround the bonfire, taking the earth as a feast and the sky as a quilt.

As the leader of the Guangyang Yellow Turban, Cheng Yuanzhi can still have his own Chinese army tent.

At this moment, the rugged man was frowning and looking at the map in front of him.

According to the original plan, he wanted to take the entire territory of Guangyang County within a month, and then go south to attack Zhuo County with the great sages and good teachers.

But according to the current situation, these peasants who rely on themselves can't capture Jixian.

Now the city is heavily guarded, and there is no shortage of food, and it is more than enough to hold out for a month.

It's all to blame on the bastard who brought people into town a few days ago.

If it weren't for him, he would now be in the lobby of the official mansion with his beautiful concubine in his arms, drinking fine wine, and being happy, which is like sleeping outside now.

He also realized that he had been deceived when there were less than 1,000 people who had entered the city after the scout, and he was so angry that he ordered a strong attack on Jixian on the spot.

Unfortunately, the first attack and retreat exhausted his men, and the defenders were prepared, so they failed.

"Zhang Hao." Cheng Yuanzhi gritted his teeth and said the name.

In the past few days of offense and defense, he already knows the name of this bastard. He vowed that if he could attack the city, he would definitely break Zhang Hao's body into pieces.

But the immediate priority was not to take the city, but to grab enough food, and the army was running out of food.

Although the Yellow Turbans grabbed a lot of food, they also absorbed more displaced people, so that there was still not enough food to eat.

Youzhou is a bitter cold place, although the people of Guangyang County are a little better than the northeastern counties of Youbeiping, Liaoxi, and Liaodong, but they are not much better.

In addition, last year's drought in the Central Plains and Hebei provinces, Youzhou, which is connected to Jizhou, has also been affected, and there is not much surplus grain in the ordinary landlords' homes.

And most of the grain was in the granaries of the government and the estates of the nobles.

If you can't grab the grain from the official warehouses in the city, you can only grab those manors.

It's just that the people he sent out to grab food haven't come back yet, which makes him a little upset.

"There is still one day's food, and if they don't come back the day after tomorrow, I guess these people who have nothing to eat will have to cook me."

The siege was unfavorable and the food was scarce, so he did not fall asleep until dawn.

"Report! Qi Qu Shuai, General Deng is back, and he is unloading food at the gate of the camp at the moment. The guard shouted happily outside the tent.

Cheng Yuanzhi was about to get angry, but his mind quickly came back to his senses and hurriedly ran out of the camp.

At the gate of the camp, a seven-foot man with a stubble on his face was directing his subordinates to move bags of grain on the grain cart down. His name is Deng Mao, and he is Cheng Yuanzhi's lieutenant.

"Oh brother, you can be regarded as back, brother, I'm worried about you. With so much food, it looks like the harvest is not small, hahaha. ”

Cheng Yuanzhi hugged Deng Mao and said happily.

Deng Mao was also overjoyed: "Brother, this time I took my brothers to rob all the nearby Zhuangzi, and grabbed a total of 30,000 stone of grain, which is enough for more than 30,000 of us to eat for two months, and if you save a little, you can barely eat for half a year."

I also grabbed a dozen jars of good wine, wow, hehehe. ”

"Okay, good, brother, you have made a great contribution, let's have a good drink tonight."

……

In the tent, Cheng Yuanzhi and Deng Mao drank all the wine in the bowl.

"Ha, happy, I haven't touched wine for a long time, I've been so aggrieved these days."

As he spoke, Cheng Yuanzhi poured himself another bowl.

"Brother drink slowly, on the way back, I caught a sneaky person a hundred paces away in front of the camp gate, I thought it was a spy.

But I didn't expect him to say that he had something important to find my brother, so I brought him here. Come, bring him up. ”

A person with a big tie was escorted in, and it was Steward Hou.

"I heard that you are going to see Ben Shuai, what can you say?"

"The general is the leader of the Yellow Turban Army?" Steward Hou asked, "Now there are people in the city who call this rebel army that."

"The leader is not counted, but these 30,000 people are indeed led by this commander."

Steward Hou was shocked, there were other leaders? Could it be that this is just part of the rebels?

"The villain came to the general on the order of my lord, and it is a strategy to help the general break the city."

"Huh?" Cheng Yuanzhi's eyes widened, glaring at Steward Hou, as if he was suppressed.

But seeing that he was not afraid, he smiled and looked at himself.

"Someone is coming to untie this brother, what is this brother's name, let's talk while drinking."

"Under the surname Hou, I don't dare to call him a brother and a brother."

After Steward Hou was released, he found a place to sit down, and Deng Mao came over and brought him a bowl of wine.

"I was offended a lot before, and I hope Brother Hou don't be surprised."

"It's okay, the general's approach is reasonable."

Steward Hou was obviously thirsty, so he picked up the wine and drank it.

"Brother Hou is a good drinker, I don't know what your lord wants to say?"

Wiping the wine on his lips, Steward Hou said: "Back to the handsome, my lord is the head of the Zhao family in the city, and he knows that the handsome is powerful, and it is a matter of time before the city is broken, so I want to surrender to the handsome.

The lord wants to make an agreement with the marshal that tonight is ten minutes on the third watch, and the east gate will be on fire. At that time, the marshal will lead the army to attack the east gate, and I, the Zhao family, will open the city gate for the interior, and I will definitely be able to take Jixian County in one fell swoop.

The lord hopes that when the city is broken, the marshal can let the Zhao family go. ”

After listening to this, Cheng Yuanzhi thought about it for a long time, and finally nodded with a smile: "This is very good, Brother Hou went back and told the Zhao family master that after the matter is completed, my Yellow Turban Army and Zhao Jiaqiu have committed no crimes, and the wealth in this Jixian County can also be divided into half of the Zhao family!" ”

"Thank you, Dashuai, so I'll go back to my life."

"Remember, hang a yellow scarf in front of Zhao's house as a sign when the time comes."

"No."

After Steward Hou left, Deng Mao's face showed disdain: "These nobles are really not things, they usually oppress our suffering people. Now in order to save his life, he actually betrayed everyone. ”

Cheng Yuanzhi smiled: "So what the great sage and good teacher said is right, the sky is dead, and the yellow sky should stand." This world is already rotten, and we need to work together to overthrow her and build a prosperous era where all the people can be fed and clothed.

But now for us, it is a good thing to have someone like the head of the Zhao family. ”

"But I don't really believe what he said, those people are insidious and cunning, if this is a trap, let's be cautious."

Cheng Yuanzhi nodded: "Brother Xian is right, let's be cautious." If this is false tonight, then it is better to retreat in time; If that's true, then we'll be able to spend the night in the city tonight, hahaha. ”

"Then do we really want to let this person from the Zhao family go?" Deng Mao asked.

"Why let it go, they are also moths in the world, and they should be cleaned up thoroughly."

"But brother?"

"Hahaha, only you and I know about this matter, and the people below don't know. In the evening, he commanded that if he attacked the city, he could kill anyone who did not wear a yellow scarf. ”

"No, hehe, then I'll go and rest first, I'm tired from rushing all the way."

"Go ahead, let the brothers all have a good rest during the day today."

Cheng Yuanzhi didn't sleep well last night, and now that all his thoughts have been put down, he feels that his eyes can't be opened, and he has to sleep again.

……

At the head of Jixian County, Zhang Hao took Zheng Meng and several guards to inspect the garrison.

It's almost noon now, and it is estimated that the Yellow Turban Army will not come today. Just enough time for the soldiers to repair for the day.

"Look, my lord, there seems to be a person in the city."

Zhang Hao poked his head out and saw that there was indeed a person waving and shouting below, it was the Hou steward who had returned from the Yellow Turban barracks. It's just that now he has made himself into tatters, and he looks like he has fled.

"Put down the basket and pull him up."

Steward Hou was pulled up to the city and knelt down in front of Zhang Hao: "Thank you for saving your life." ”

Zhang Hao looked at him, his eyes full of sympathy.

The imperial court was corrupt, the eunuchs were dictatorial, the relatives were 3 dictatorship, the scholars were busy with land annexation, and there were constant wars on the frontier. And the great drought and natural disasters, the people did not collect the grains, the court taxes did not decrease, although the people rebelled, but in vain, and in the end it was they who suffered.

"No need to be polite, where did you run for your life?"

Zhang Hao helped him up, but Steward Hou lowered his head and didn't dare to look at him.

"I am a tenant of Lijiazhuang outside the city, and yesterday a group of thieves wearing yellow scarves broke into the manor, killed everyone, and robbed all the food and property in the village. I escaped by lying down and pretending to be dead. ”

After saying that, Steward Hou cried, Zhang Hao sighed and patted the dust on his shoulder: "If you don't die in a catastrophe, there will be a blessing in the future, and all this will pass." You shouldn't have eaten in a long time? ”

"In order to avoid the thief, the villain hasn't eaten for a day."

"Come on, take him downstairs to eat a few steamed buns."

There was a lot of wheat in the official warehouses in the city, although only the poor families still used it for disaster relief when they were affected, but this was also one of the grains that the imperial court repeatedly asked for to be promoted.

Zhang Hao asked people to grind it into flour, and then handed it over to everyone how to make steamed buns and noodles, so that the people of Jixian County fell in love with this food that is usually difficult to swallow.

When he arrived at the bottom of the city tower, his subordinates brought two buns and a bowl of water from a bowl and handed them to the steward Hou.

When he finished eating, Zhang Hao walked down after his inspection, held his hand and said to him: "Wait a minute, I will ask you to take you to Zhang's Mansion to get a bag of rice, change your clothes, and remember to live well in the future." ”

After speaking, Zhang Hao took people away.

Later, while people were not paying attention, Steward Hou slipped into Zhao's mansion at once.

Zhao Kun was already waiting impatiently: "Why did you come back, has the matter been done?" ”

"It's done, and the leader of the yellow turban agreed on the east gate of the third watch, and the fire will be raised, and when they come in, as long as a yellow scarf is hung in front of the Zhao Mansion, they will be safe and sound."

"Good, good, you're doing well."

Zhao Kun approached Steward Hou, suddenly took out a dagger from his wide sleeve, stabbed Steward Hou directly in the stomach, and stabbed him several times in a row.

Steward Hou's eyes widened, and he grabbed Zhao Kun with both hands: "For... Miscellaneous... Why..."

"In this way, I didn't know about it before the appointed time in the evening, and it can be regarded as a life for a life, and I have repaid my life-saving grace."

After speaking, Zhao Kun kicked Steward Hou's stomach and turned to leave.

Steward Hou, who fell to the ground, soon died of anger, his eyes staring at the direction Zhao Kun left, and he didn't bat at a glance.