When Yangjiatun held a lively wedding, Dengzhou Mansion was still lifeless and dying, without the slightest change. The autumn wind is constantly whistling, bringing a thick chill. The garbage and fallen leaves on the ground were swept up by the autumn wind and thrown into the air. When the wind stopped, it fell down one after another, continuing to shroud the entire Dengzhou City in fallen leaves and garbage.

"Is this Dengzhou City?"

It was at this time that Ma Yi quietly came to Dengzhou Mansion. After the battle of Aoshanwei, Ma Yi officially left the escort team and became the steward of the Maoyan Division. From then on, most of his time would be lurking in Dengzhou City, lurking in a corner where no one knew, quietly and silently observing everything that happened here.

Dengzhou City, Yanzhou City and Jinan City are the three most important cities in Shandong Province. From a military point of view, Dengzhou City is more important than Yanzhou City and Jinan City. The number of Ming troops stationed in Dengzhou City is quite large. In addition to the infantry army, the Dengzhou Naval Division was also stationed here. There was a time when the imperial court also set up the town of Dengzhou here, which shows the importance of its military status.

Dengzhou has always been an important logistics base against the Tartars. Whether it was the logistics supply of the Ming army in Dongjiang Town, or the logistics supply of the defenders of the Ming army such as Gaizhouwei, Fuzhou Wei, and Jinzhouwei in the past, most of them were issued and shipped from Dengzhou. At that time, Dengzhou City was quite prosperous, and a large number of materials were gathered here. Every day, tens of thousands of goods from all over the country are concentrated in Dengzhou City. On both sides of the street, there are rows of shops. Almost all chambers of commerce in the country have a branch here. The branch of the money bank opened here can also be exchanged for silver tickets of all money banks in the country.

It is a pity that after the fall of Gaizhouwei, Fuzhouwei, Jinzhouwei and other places, the logistics function of Dengzhou City was greatly weakened. At the moment, there is only one Dongjiang town that needs to transport supplies from here. After Mao Wenlong was killed, the number of officers and soldiers in Dongjiang Town was also greatly reduced. The strength of the Dengzhou Water Division has also shrunk on a large scale. Without the needs of the market, there will naturally be no active merchants. As a result, a large number of chambers of commerce began to withdraw from Dengzhou City, and the shops on both sides of the street closed one after another. Dengzhou City will inevitably be deserted.

However, the fatal blow to Dengzhou City still came from Kong Youde. At the end of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Kong Youde launched a rebellion and occupied Dengzhou City. Because there is not enough food, they eat people. The rebellion lasted for a long time, and the ordinary people in Dengju City were said to have been eaten in half. After Kong Youde took refuge in the Tartars, Dengzhou City was basically destroyed by him.

Since Kong Youde's rebellion, Dengzhou Mansion has been lifeless and dying, with no life in sight. On the empty streets, there were only soldiers patrolling back and forth, and pedestrians were rarely visible. Occasionally, one or two pedestrians walked by, also holding their heads, avoiding the autumn wind. The shop in Dengzhou City, the business of the medicinal herb shop is the best, and the business of the coffin shop is also good.

"So many refugees ......"

Ma Yi's eyes looked around, and he continued to sigh in his heart.

A large number of refugees from Liaodong huddled in every corner of Dengzhou City. As long as there is a place where people can hide, they are all occupied. They have no food, no clothing, and in order to survive, they have to rob their homes and take risks. They had to do everything they could to find food and clothing for themselves. Otherwise, they will be starved to death, or frozen to death.

In late autumn, there is already a strong coolness at night. The autumn wind constantly takes away the lives of refugees. Some people huddle quietly in the corner, never waking up the next day. When encountering such a person, the old man and the old lady who were responsible for cleaning up the dead bodies in the city lifted the corpse expressionlessly, put it on the cart, and then pulled it away with a grunt. As for where to deal with it and how to deal with it, there is no need to care.

In addition to the refugees from Liaodong, there are also locally generated refugees, who also poured into Dengzhou City in large numbers. In particular, the Tartars of Tianheng Island went ashore to loot and burn the city of Laiyang, causing a large number of refugees to pour into the city. Because of the number of refugees, there are so many that the government cannot provide relief at all. If they want to survive, they can only find food by themselves, no matter what kind of food it is, as long as it can quench their hunger, they will not hesitate to eat it.

It is said that on some street corners, leftover children's bones are often found. Others identified the bones, which were usually from little girls. As for who ate them and how they were eaten, no one wanted to find out. In this year, not to mention children, even adults, if they accidentally fall into the hands of hungry people, they will suffer the same fate.

Even a soldier like Ma Yi, who has experienced a lot of bloody scenes, can't help but be vigilant in the face of the indifferent eyes of the refugees around him. In order to avoid revealing his identity, he only had a dagger to turn over in his arms. This is what Zhang Zhun equipped for each of the guards soldiers, and the quality is not bad. But if the starving refugees around him pounced on him desperately, he would definitely be torn apart. Thankfully, this scene did not happen.

"You're here."

According to the information he had memorized in advance, Ma Yi turned east and west, and finally came to his destination. Soon, someone inside opened the door, looked at Ma Yi vigilantly, and looked around. The surrounding streets were deserted, as if it were a dead city.

"Hoe He said that afternoon."

"Qingming Riverside Map."

After the code, Ma Yi dodged in.

The gate was quickly closed, and Ma Yi's figure completely disappeared into Dengzhou City.

In fact, not only Ma Yi, but every official in Dengzhou Mansion can deeply feel this dying atmosphere. Under the influence of this atmosphere, there is only despair, frustration, numbness, and soreness every day. The most thing they usually do is to figure out how to transfer out of Dengzhou, a ghost place. The second is to think of how to collect money. The situation is becoming more and more dangerous, and the Dengzhou capital is becoming more and more unsafe. If you continue to stay in Dengzhou City as an official, you may lose your life. Even if you earn countless family wealth, you have to have a life to use it. If there is no life, what is the use of more money?

The Tartars in the north are getting stronger and stronger. Everyone in Dengzhou City could feel the heavy pressure brought by the Tartars. The large number of refugees who fled from Liaodong brought with them the myth of the invincibility of the Tartars, which caused all kinds of gossip in the city. Among these refugees, there are many Tartars. Their task is to constantly spread rumors and undermine the morale of the Ming people.

Driven by well-intentioned people, gossip can easily cause panic, which can lead to the outbreak of group name confusion. Even if troops are constantly sent to suppress it, it is still impossible to stop the spread of rumors, and the disturbance will happen once every three to five days. Every time there is a disturbance, it will cause a large number of casualties and property damage. Every time there is chaos, it is necessary to deepen the degree of confrontation between the military and the people.

In particular, the entry of the Tartars in July once again dealt a heavy blow to everyone's confidence. The Ming army in Datong, Xuanfu, and Jingshi, with no less than 300,000 people, was defeated by 30,000 or 40,000 Tartars. Datong, Xuanfu, and Jingshi can't resist the attack of the Tartars, and if the Tartars come in again in the future, won't it be like entering a no-man's land? If the Tartars could go south from the west, could they also go south from the east?

Originally, Dengzhou City also had Dongjiang Town as its northern barrier. When Mao Wenlong was still there, the defense of Dongjiang Town was quite down-to-earth. However, after Mao Wenlong was killed, Dongjiang Town was getting worse day by day. In the past, Mao Wenlong could also send troops ashore from time to time to attack the rear of the Tartars, so that the Tartars could not attack Liaoxi with all their might. However, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong and relieved the Tartars' worries, and from then on, the Tartars could go west with all their might.

It can be said that if Mao Wenlong had not died, it would have been impossible for the Tartars to enter the Kou in the second year of Chongzhen -- its backyard could catch fire at any time. The number of Tartars is not very large, and the number of Tartars who are dispatched to the fortress and stay in Shenyang and other places is very limited. As long as the Ming army sent troops from Dongjiang Town, it could directly attack Huanglong and attack Shenyang. From this point of view, it is no exaggeration to say that Yuan Chonghuan was broken into thousands of pieces. It was Yuan Chonghuan himself who created the conditions for the entry of the Tartars. Later generations suspected that he and Huang Taiji had reached some secret agreement, not without reason.

After Mao Wenlong died, he was succeeded by the deputy general Chen Jisheng. Chen Jisheng is a figure who does nothing, and in the face of the Tartars' offensive, he can only defend passively. The Tartars took the opportunity to continuously attack the defense area of Dongjiang Town, and the Ming army could only retreat one after another. By the seventh year of Chongzhen, the land of Liaodong had been completely lost. Dongjiang Town only controls a few islands on the shore, and its strength has plummeted compared to before. The Tartars, who controlled Jinzhouwei, already had the conditions to cross the sea and go south.

Regardless of whether the Tartars will cross the sea and go south, for the Ming officers and soldiers in Dengzhou Mansion, it is always a sword hanging above their heads, and it may be cut down at any time. After all, the distance from Dengzhou City to Jinzhouwei is too short. Even if the Tartars are not good at water warfare, crossing the sea and heading south will not have much trouble. If the Tartars really crossed the sea and headed south, the first to bear the brunt would be Dengzhou Mansion. You say, under such circumstances, who wants to stay in Dengzhou City and wait for death?

(To be continued)