"Sir...... You don't have good bones, but the doctor said last time, you can't get angry easily! ”

Seeing her husband angry, Mrs. Wang was startled, and hurriedly walked over and patted Wang Jinguo lightly on the back to help him calm down.

"Alas......"

Under the persuasion of his wife, Wang Jinguo's mood slowly regained his calm, he sighed lightly, sat down, picked up the dishes and chopsticks, and began to eat silently.

Although he is a civil official, Wang Jinguo is not slow to eat, which is also related to his poor background.

When Wang Jin was a child, the country was poor, but his parents still gritted their teeth and sent him to the county school to study, in that kind of place with a lot of people, if you are not happy to eat, I am afraid that you will not even be able to eat leftovers, so although he is no longer worried about food and clothing, this habit has not changed.

After eating a bowl of rice, Wang Jinguo wiped his mouth and said to Mrs. Wang: "Madam, I'll go to the city wall to take a look, I may come back later, you can sleep first, you don't have to wait for me." ”

"Old man......"

Madame Wang hesitated, swallowed the rest of the words, and went down after packing up her things.

When his wife left, Wang Jinguo left the prefect's yamen under the escort of the yamen team leader and more than a dozen officials.

When going to the west city wall, the most prosperous street in the past, Wang Jinguo and others saw that there were basically few pedestrians on the entire street, and almost all the houses were closed.

You must know that Anqing Mansion is a wealthy place, and it is very lively at this time on weekdays, whether it is the scholars who come out to travel, the girls in the Qinglou and the small traders who set up stalls on the street, it is definitely very lively, this kind of deserted situation Wang Jinguo has seen for the first time, which shows how much panic the siege of the city brings to the people in the city.

Wang Jinguo went up to the west city wall, looked outside the city wall, and saw the piles of bonfires and faint noises in the distance, and then looked around, and found that most of the soldiers on the city wall were a little depressed, especially those who were temporarily recruited to the city wall to guard the city, many people squatted in the corner and whispered, and some even cried secretly.

Seeing this, Wang Jinguo only felt a burst of irritability in his heart, he strode into the city gate tower, the officers and soldiers guarding the gate stuck to Wang Jinguo did not dare to stop him, when Wang Jinguo walked in, he saw the garrison Wang Quan in military uniform with a stern expression was explaining something to the two officers, and the two officers kept nodding.

After the explanation, Wang Quan saw Wang Jinguo standing at the door, his face showed a hint of surprise, and he hurriedly greeted him: "Lord Wang, why did you come here without resting in the yamen?" ”

"I can't sleep." Wang Jinguo walked in and sat unceremoniously on the main seat on the side, "Lord Wang, the official came all the way and found that the officers and soldiers on the city wall and the young men were demoralized, which is not a good thing."

Although this officer does not know about military affairs, he also knows that if this continues, I am afraid that we will not need thieves to attack the city, and our morale will collapse. ”

Wang Quan is fifty-five years old this year, and at such an age, he may still be able to catch the tail of a middle-aged person in modern times, but in this era, he is an unscrupulous old man.

Wang Quan, the official position of the garrison, is based on seniority, and his own ability to lead troops can only be regarded as average, and now when he heard Wang Jinguo ask, he spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "Lord Prefect, there is no way for the last general." Now that the thieves are besieging the city, but the soldiers have not even repaid the arrears last year, can the soldiers not complain?

What's more, the big war is coming, and if we want to make the soldiers sell their lives, we have to give a reward of silver, but what about the silver? Even if the last general has the ability, he can't conjure up silver out of thin air! ”

"Alas......"

Hearing this, Wang Jinguo sighed and stopped talking.

Of course he knew about it, but that's the way it was now. After the silver allocated by the imperial court has been deducted from time to time, it is already a fluke that the soldiers can have five achievements in the hands of the soldiers, and under normal circumstances, the soldiers can get only three layers, and even those who are officials will deduct a few months of salary from time to time, which is not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing that Wang Jinguo didn't speak, Wang Quan hurriedly said: "Lord Prefect, for today's plan, I can only ask you to take a trip, turn your fortune to the rich gentry in the city, and let them contribute money and food, only in this way can the morale of the soldiers be quickly restored." ”

Wang Jinguo thought for a while and asked, "Wang Shoubei, how much silver do you need?" ”

"One hundred thousand taels of silver."

After Wang Quan finished speaking, he hesitated for a moment and then added: "If there is no 100,000 taels, at least 70,000 taels, otherwise the general will not dare to guarantee the morale of the soldiers defending the city." ”

Wang Jinguo frowned, he has been an official for many years, he knows better than anyone what the virtues of the gentry in Jiangnan are, these people can spend a lot of money on weekdays to buy thin horses or please the women of Qinglou without changing their faces, but if they are asked to take out the silver to reward those big-headed soldiers, I am afraid that few people are happy.

Although he is a prefect, he really can't do anything about these people, let alone forcibly order these people to donate silver.

After a long time, he said: "Okay, this government knows about this, and tomorrow the Japanese government will personally send people to invite these people to come to the mansion to talk about it." ”

"Then thank you, Lord Prefect." The royal power gave his hand to thanks.

At this moment, a ballad apparently sung by a woman wafted from outside the city:

"Over the years, locusts have been suffering frequently, and the seedlings have not been chewed and eaten for many years.

The price of rice has risen several times, and Li Min is struggling to make a living.

The grass roots and leaves are full of power, and the children are crying to each other.

The kettle is dusty and smoky, and it is difficult to find a meal of porridge for several days.

The government levied grain and the tiger was poor, and the wealthy family demanded debts like wolves.

The poor remnants are still breathing, and the soul is buried in the spring first.

Skeletons are piled up everywhere, and the karma is difficult to pass the hunger level. ”

The faint ballad slowly floated over, and Wang Jinguo and Wang Quan's faces became ugly and abnormal after hearing the ballad.

In these days of the siege of the city, these songs spread around the city like a plague, making the people in the city panic, Wang Jinguo was even more sensitive to notice, many people looked at them and their eyes began to change slowly, and the more impoverished the people, the more obvious this change became.

This also made Wang Jinguo very worried, in the case of the pressure of the rogue soldiers, if the people in the city and the officers and soldiers defending the city changed, it would be a fatal thing.

The ballad was sung for about two quarters of an hour before it slowly stopped, and just as Wang Jinguo secretly breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly a fierce voice sounded again, "Eat his mother and wear his mother, King Chuang is here and doesn't accept food, open the door early to welcome him, and discipline everyone is happy......"

"Lawlessness, simply lawlessness......"

Wang Jinguo's face turned blue with anger, he felt that he couldn't go on like this, if he didn't do something, he was afraid that he would really be destroyed with the thieves in this city......