With the sound of horses' hooves, dozens of horsemen on war horses and red cloaks roared from behind, either armed with crossbows or sabers, and were half-crouched on their horses.

I saw that their sabers were tilting downward at an angle of thirty degrees, and they quickly swept past the side of those hungry people, and in the flash of their swords, it was just a charge, and these hungry people, who had just shown their ferocity, fell in a pool of blood like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, and there was no room for them to fight back.

"Appeal ......"

After killing all these hungry people, these cavalry stopped fighting, dozens of pairs of eyes were all focused on the remaining three young men and more than a dozen women and children, and some timid children were frightened and cried on the spot.

The middle-aged man led by the middle-aged man swept the cavalry around him several times, although he was unarmed at this time, he still used his body to protect the women and children behind him intentionally or unintentionally, and asked with some hesitation: "Dare to ask the military masters, but the soldiers and horses of the imperial court?" ”

"Exactly!"

One of the cavalrymen at the head nodded slightly, "We are the Jiangning Army under the command of the Duke of Daming Xinguo, who are you, and why are you besieged by these mobs?" ”

"It's the imperial army...... It was the imperial army that rescued us. ”

The middle-aged man's heart finally fell, and he knelt on the ground with a pop and cried bitterly, he cried so heartbreakingly, so heartbroken.

The only remaining two young men who could still stand behind them and the children, women and children in the cart also cried, because too many relatives had fallen on the road along the way these days, and the only thing they could do was to dig a shallow pit and bury their relatives with a straw mat, and then pile up a simple small mound without a tombstone, maybe after a while even they could not remember the exact location.

This is the troubled times, famine, disease, starvation, wanderers, can take people's lives at any time, everyone feels precarious, no one can describe the panic and despair in their hearts, and now the appearance of these court soldiers and horses is tantamount to a glimmer of hope in the dark sky.

Looking at these people who were crying heartbreakingly, the expression of the cavalry led by him softened a little: "Who are you and why are you here?" ”

The middle-aged man said sadly: "So that this military master can know that we are all from Lujiang County, Luzhou Prefecture." Last month, the Liukou suddenly broke into the territory of Luzhou Prefecture, and Hefei County, Shucheng County, Lujiang County, Chao County and other places under Luzhou Prefecture fell one after another. The grass people and others rushed to Luzhou City for refuge, but at that time, Luzhou City had already closed the city gates and did not allow anyone to enter or leave.

The grass people had no choice, so they had to unite several neighbors and relatives who knew each other to flee together, thinking that they could flee to Hangzhou Mansion to join relatives and friends, but they didn't think that they had only been gone for more than ten days, and there were only so many people left in the team of seventy or eighty people. ”

The cavalry officer at the head asked, "Since the road is so difficult, won't you first find a prefecture or county along the way to settle down first, and then look for an opportunity to go to Hangzhou?" ”

"The grass people naturally know this truth, but the county towns along the way have either fallen into the hands of the rogues, or they have already closed the city gate in fright, and the grass people can't enter at all."

"I see." The officer pondered for a moment, and then suddenly asked: "I remember that those rogues shouted the slogan 'eat his mother and wear his mother, and the king will not pay for food when he comes', calling on everyone to defect to him, and making it clear that they will not harm innocent people, why do you want to flee again, or why don't you simply take refuge in the rogues?" At least you can still survive if you take refuge in the Rogue. ”

"Seek refuge with thieves?"

The middle-aged man laughed miserably, "Master Jun, although the grass people don't read much, they also know the truth of serving the country with loyalty." Besides, what kind of slogan did the thief shout? King Chuang came and did not pay food, these words can only deceive fools and foolish women, which court in the past dynasties did not pay food, what did they eat if they did not pay food? You can't just drink water, can you? What is the difference between this and the White Lotus Sect in the past, which tricked the people into drinking talismans and water stickers, and thought they were invulnerable?"

"You're a sensible person!"

The officer nodded approvingly, then looked at them again, and seeing that these people were all with dishes on their faces, he called out to a cavalryman to give a few orders, and after a while a cavalryman carried a burden and handed it to the middle-aged man.

"Take these dry foods, remember that the biscuits in them are enough for adults to eat one piece at a time, and half for children. You can't eat more, otherwise it will be broken, I estimate that these dry foods should be able to make you to Hangzhou Mansion. ”

The middle-aged man took the burden, suddenly knelt down and cried: "Thank you for the grace of the military master for saving your life, the grass people are unforgettable." ”

"That's it, let's go!" The officer waved his hand and shouted, and the cavalry mounted one after another, and soon a group of cavalry disappeared from their sight.

On the street of Runing Mansion, Yang Feng, dressed in military uniform, walked slowly on the street surrounded by dozens of family members, and Gou Xingma, Chen Tian and several military officers also followed behind him, and everyone was silent when they looked at the empty street.

After walking for a while, Yang Feng sighed and said, "I didn't expect the situation in Jiangnan to be worse than my father expected, how long has it been?" In the whole of Jiangnan, several state capitals were poisoned by the tea poison of thieves, and the local government had no choice but to cry and ask the imperial court to send reinforcements. ”

"Who's to say it isn't."

Gou Xingma also smiled bitterly: "Originally, the last general also thought that in such a big place as Jiangnan, it should be possible to draw out a few soldiers and horses that could fight and deal with the thieves, but he never expected that these soldiers in Jiangnan were simply made of tofu scum." No...... The tofu scum is stronger than them, at least the tofu scum will not even dare to defend the city wall. ”

Chen Tian also shook his head and said: "Jiangnan is no longer the Jiangnan of the past, but now most of the fertile land has been planted with mulberry trees, dug into fish ponds or planted with various fruit trees, so that the grain of the former land of fish and rice still needs to be transported from other places, which is really sad and lamentable."

Judging from the various information sent from the front these days, there has been a serious food shortage in Jiangnan today, and the phenomenon of cannibalism has even appeared among the people. ”

Hearing this, Gou Xingma asked with some concern: "Grandpa Guo, the degree of erosion in Jiangnan has exceeded our expectations, and now we still have to act according to the original plan?" ”

"Why not." Yang Feng sneered: "Whose fault is it that Jiangnan is so erosive? Now it's time for those people to taste the bitter fruits, and you immediately pass on the orders of your father, let the ministries act according to the original plan, and if anyone disobeys the military order, they will be severely punished! ”

"Yes!"