Chapter 35 Winning the hearts and minds of the people
Zhou Zong led the troops south, and allowed the soldiers to burn, kill and loot along the way, and everywhere they passed, it can be said that there was no grass, chickens and dogs were restless, and everything that was alive was either killed or eaten. The villages where the pen & fun & pavilion www.biquge.info passed were almost burned down, and the gold, silver, and silk were all looted by the soldiers.
The soldiers of the Tang Army got the money and silk, and after venting it, their morale was greatly boosted. When the news of the Tang army's massacre spread, the villages on the road to Hangzhou were suddenly empty, and the people packed their bags, pushed their carts, and rushed towards Hangzhou, hoping that the king would shelter them.
The news spread to Hangzhou, Qian Hongyu and the left and right prime ministers Wu Cheng, Yuan Dezhao and his maternal uncle Zheng Guogong Wu Yanfu and others after some discussion, in view of the experience of Yuezhou, Qian Hongyu did not open the city gate, the people mourned the sky, cried for two days, saw that Hangzhou City did not open the signs, some went to the west, some crossed the Qiantang River, rushed to Yuezhou, and so this group of people arrived in Xiaoshan, only to find that Xiaoshan had changed hands and was occupied by the Tang Dynasty.
When the people crossed the river, Shao Keqian's sailors deployed defenses on the Qiantang River, and for these poor people, Shao Keqian did not prevent them from crossing the river, let alone chase and kill. However, when the people crossed the Qiantang River and found that the situation was not good, Shao Keqian did not allow them to return.
After Yuezhou suffered a loss, Shao Keqian learned a lesson, he would never allow anyone to enter the north bank from the south bank of the Qiantang River, not even a fly. The people who crossed the river suddenly did not know what to do, and they were afraid that the Tang army, which occupied Yuezhou, would slaughter the people everywhere like Zhou Zong.
In just two days, at least 5,000 people gathered on the south bank of the Qiantang River, most of whom were women and children. Due to the hurry, Zhou Zong sent the Tang army to chase and kill behind, and the people discarded a lot of things and food in order to flee for their lives.
Some rangers even organized themselves to collect food and protection fees from the people in the name of protection, and if anyone did not listen, they would be full of old fists, and after killing a few people, the people no longer dared to be enemies with the rangers. The people lived more than ten miles away from Xiao County, although Xiao County was not far away, but the prestige of the Tang Army, they did not dare to approach, for fear of being killed by the Tang Army.
After another four or five days, the people's food was almost exhausted, and the rangers held big sticks in their hands, threatening the people to go to the river to catch fish, catch birds in the forest, catch chickens in the mountains, and at first there was quite a harvest, but soon, the birds and beasts chose to leave, and if they didn't leave, they would be eaten up.
In the wilderness, many women and children lay on the ground, dying, they had not eaten for several days, only drank some water, and it was difficult to satisfy their hunger, and from time to time they were also faced with the obscenity of the rangers, and many women had dyed their faces with black mud, and their hair was messy, hoping to avoid this catastrophe.
People are iron, food is steel, a meal without food is hungry panic, after a few days of not eating, more and more people fall ill, lack of medical treatment and medicine, some people start a high fever, this situation is very bad, if someone dies, and is not dealt with in time, it is very likely that a plague will occur, then more people will die.
Experienced old people are already a little afraid, war has always been the most terrifying, and I don't know when this war will end?
Several rangers wandered around very leisurely, and after eating and drinking, they looked for a beautiful woman among the people, what is that called? Warm and warm and think of spring? It seems to say so.
When several rangers were wandering, suddenly, a common man hurriedly ran over, he rolled and crawled, and shouted: "Oh no, the Tang army is coming!" ”
The rangers looked at each other, and soon made a decision, they would run away, as long as they could escape with their lives.
The Tang army and his party had about two hundred cavalry, all of them fully armed, and in the center was Yang Lian, beside him, Zhang Wenji followed closely, and the cavalry around him had been scattered, looking around vigilantly.
The people had received the news, and they were frightened and helpless, they had not eaten for several days, their strength had exhausted, and they wanted to escape, but it was impossible, and the sound of the iron hooves became clearer and clearer, and the people listened to it, and became more and more panicked.
Finally, the soldiers of the Tang Army appeared, they rode tall horses one by one, the armor on their bodies reflected the light of the sun, many soldiers had scars on their faces, but their eyes were bright, and one of them had a scar on his face, which looked quite scary.
The people slowly gathered together, more than 5,000 people were densely packed, and at a glance, the black pressure was overwhelming, and there was no end in sight.
Yang Lian stood on a high hillside, staring into the distance, what Zhang Wenji said was not wrong, there are too many people here, and I don't know how many people there are?
"Yang Jiedu, does this really have to be the case?" Zhang Wenji asked, he always felt that it was not appropriate to be kind at this time.
Yang Lian nodded vigorously, pacifying Wu Yueguo, it is not just as simple as arresting the Qian family, only by winning the hearts of the people, Wu Yue's old land will be stabilized, and now the Tang Dynasty is in full swing, Chu Di is defeated, and the Southern Han Dynasty is trying to go north to solve the war of Wu Yueguo as soon as possible, so that he can withdraw and deal with other enemies.
Although Yang Lian drove the people of Yuezhou into the city a few days ago, he actually didn't kill much, while Zhou Zong went all the way south, and there was no grass everywhere he passed, and there was an essential difference between the two. Yang Lian slowly rode his horse and galloped down the hillside, and behind him, a group of cavalry followed closely, their iron hooves hitting the ground, and the birds were startled.
This group of people is based on the village as a unit, seeing the Tang army killing, the stronger men are guarding the elders of the clan, standing at the front of the crowd, the patriarch has already made up his mind to protect the clansmen to the death.
The iron hooves were like the wind, and soon they arrived in front of the people, and the knights lined up, looking ahead very vigilantly, Zhang Wenji was beside Yang Lian, and he was even more energetic. The horse snorted and stopped. Yang Lian stepped forward slowly, and the wooden bolt glanced at the people.
A patriarch felt Yang Lian's gaze, a trace of fear rose in his heart, and after thinking about it, he stepped forward with courage, saluted Yang Lian, and said, "General, you are old and polite." ”
Yang Lian looked at him lightly and said, "Who are you?" ”
"Lao Yu is the patriarch of Zhangjiazhuang, named Zhang De." The old man saluted Yang Lian again.
Yang Lian glanced around, the people were all afraid, so many cavalry, to kill the people who had no ability to resist and had been hungry for a few days, it took almost no effort.
Suddenly, in the crowd, a cry came out, a child was hugged by a middle-aged man, the child's body twitched, his body temperature was very low, and he seemed to be sick.
"My son, you can't die, you can't die!" One woman began to cry.
The crowd suddenly stirred, and the child's clansmen all leaned over, holding the child, reaching out and touching it, his forehead was very hot, if he couldn't be treated in time, this life would be lost here.
Yang Lian glanced back at a doctor and said, "You, go and show him." ”
The doctor agreed, turned over and dismounted, several soldiers followed behind him, protecting him, the doctor separated the group, and as he walked, he said, "Get out of the way, I'm the doctor!" ”
The doctor walked to the child, reached out and touched his forehead, opened his eyes again, stretched out his hand to take his pulse, and said, "This child has not eaten for a few days, because he is hungry and suffering from the cold, and his body cannot resist it." If it is not treated in time, I am afraid that this life will be lost. ”
"Doctor, please save my child." When the woman heard this, she fell to her knees and kowtowed.
The doctor hesitated slightly, he was not the person in charge, the patriarch reacted, walked towards Yang Lian tremblingly, knelt on the ground, and said: "General, save the child, the Zhang family will never forget the general's great kindness." ”
"General, save the child! We are willing to be cattle and horses for the general. The people knelt down one after another, and at this time, they had no way out, but could only rely on this fierce-looking but seemingly good-hearted general.
Yang Lian groaned, at this time, several personal soldiers captured the rangers, and these rangers were too eye-catching when they fled.
"The general spares his life!" Several rangers threw themselves to the ground, their bodies shaking.
Yang Lian glanced at them and said, "Who are you, you dare to run away when you see that Ben is coming?" ”
"General, we are all good people, good people." A ranger said.
"Oh? Are you really good citizens? Yang Lian smiled, he could see at a glance that these people were dressed up, just like those rangers in Jinling City, who didn't do good things, and specialized in stealing chickens and dogs, bullying men and women.
"General, they're all bullies!" One of the people couldn't help but say.
With this man's words, more and more people began to accuse them, and their voices grew louder and louder.
The rangers' faces turned red, and one of them couldn't help but retort loudly, but their numbers were too small, and their voices were quickly drowned out by the crusade of the people.
"Stop, stop!" Yang Lian shouted loudly, raised his hand, pressed down, and signaled everyone to be quiet. The soldiers on the side were also shouting loudly, and the people gradually quieted down.
"This general is Yang Lian, the envoy of the Tang Shuntian Festival, maybe you have heard my name, maybe not, but it doesn't matter, from today on, this general will dominate the fate of Wu Yueguo!" Yang Lian said loudly, loudly.
Some of the people don't believe it, but some have heard the name of Yang Lian, who attacked Fuzhou and killed Bao Xiurang, a famous general of Wu Yue, isn't it this person in front of him? I didn't expect him to be so young.
"The ancients said that water can carry a boat and also capsize a boat, and the people are water, so Ben will inevitably treat you well, give you food, give you land, so that you can continue to live." Yang Lian said again.
The people were stunned for a moment, and several patriarchs reacted, bowed deeply to Yang Lian, and said, "General Yang is noble, and the old man should be remembered." ”
Yang Lian's eyes swept over everyone, there were benefits and risks to receiving so many people, and he had to be on guard. (To be continued.) )