The natural disasters in the two states of Xu and Yang will naturally not have any impact on the general trend of the world. The disaster in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Zhao army was also a good thing for the southern princes. After all, the more internal conditions Zhao Jun has, the more Zhao Jun will not go south easily. Especially the king of Luoyang, the mood is the happiest at the moment, there is a natural disaster in Zhao Jun's governance, and Zhao Jun will definitely turn part of his energy to Xuzhou. And the occurrence of natural disasters in Yangzhou also prevented the Qi army from reaching out to Jingzhou at this moment.

What surprised the king of Luoyang the most was that the refugees who suffered from natural disasters in the eastern part of Yangzhou actually rebelled and captured Qiantang County. At the same time, people throughout the eastern prefectures and counties of Yangzhou began to preach how the northern Zhao State governed the local area, how to help the refugees, and how to quickly solve the disaster caused by the natural disaster.

Most of these people are natives in eastern Yangzhou, and most of them are scholars, and some are merchants. These people encountered natural disasters for various reasons this time, and they had entered the boundary of Xuzhou in the north, and saw with their own eyes how the officials of Zhao State in Xuzhou solved the natural disaster. The comparison between Xu and Yang made them dissatisfied with the inaction of officials in the eastern part of Yangzhou.

The propaganda of these people in the disaster-stricken areas in the east and their questioning and appeals to the government immediately angered the local government and made them arrest these people. As a result, it suddenly aroused the dissatisfaction of the refugees in the east, and as a result, the entire eastern prefectures and counties of Yangzhou were full of refugees who rebelled, attacking the government and the notorious clans.

As a result, in less than a month, more than ten counties in the eastern provinces of Yangzhou were occupied by the rebel army, or the chaotic army, which was huge and shook the princes of the world.

"Haha...... This is a good thing, the refugees in the Qi army are in turmoil, and for us, the resistance in the south has been reduced a lot! "Luoyang City, after several town army generals heard the news that the Yangzhou rebel army occupied the city, played the banner, and opposed the Qi army, they couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Not only that, but don't forget, the reason why some refugees formed the rebel army to fight against the Qi army was because the local government of the Qi army was unfavorable for disaster relief, coupled with the propaganda of some businessmen and scholars who had been to Xuzhou, so that these refugees flocked out. In the future, when we go south, the areas occupied by these refugees will be the easiest to absorb. ”

Liu Wenqi admonished in a deep voice: "Great King, although the momentum of these refugees is huge, and there are also many big businessmen, big landlords and some big clans who are dissatisfied with the exploitation of the local government, but I am afraid that it will be difficult to last long to confront the Qi army. Even those big clans in Yangzhou and Jiangzhou are not optimistic about these refugee rebels, even if many of them support the views of these rebels. Therefore, if we want to make these rebels use us, we still have to send people to win them over, contact them, and turn them into our own people, or even our own forces. ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "What do you mean, we now send people into these rebels and incorporate them into our people?" I'm afraid that these rebel leaders are unwilling to let people take over the power in their hands. ”

Liu Wenqi said with a smile: "They are naturally unwilling, but they not only need to be responsible for the clothing, food, housing and transportation of the soldiers under their command, but also run a local government affairs." In addition, the encirclement and suppression of the Qi army is also what they need to face. Although these rebels are supported by many people, there are not many who are optimistic about them. Therefore, these already want to sit on one side, which is simply wishful thinking. Even though most people can't see this clearly, there are always some leaders who understand the difficulty. If there is no support, they will be defeated. ”

"Besides, aren't they going around preaching how good my Zhao State is, and now that the envoy of Zhao State is here and the aid is coming, aren't they willing to accept it? Aren't they thinking about these refugees? We could have created the rhetoric we wanted among these rebels, forced them to bow to us, and then co-opted them. ”

"Among the rebels in dozens of counties in the east of Yangzhou, there must be some people who are willing to be used by us, and we can completely incorporate them, transport grain, grass, materials and armor and equipment through naval warships, and send people to train them, which is enough to train them into true elite soldiers. Even if we are defeated, we can get them out through our ships. ”

Situ Liang also said in a deep voice: "King, the minister thinks it is feasible. Although this move will allow the Qi army to increase its conquest of the east, it will also contain a considerable part of the Qi army's strength. Coupled with the suppression of our army in Xuzhou and the containment of Jiaozhou in the south, we can completely open up a new front in the eastern part of Qi State. ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said, "It's okay!" Let the Shadowguard's men reach out to them first, and see how many are willing to use us. As long as we have a foothold, we can play the banner, think of it, as long as there is the banner of my Zhao Army, in Yangzhou and Jiangzhou, there will definitely be many people who are willing to fall to us. ”

"By the way, how is the matter of contacting the king of Hanzhong for trade?"

Yang Wangqing, who was in charge of this matter, said in a deep voice: "Returning to the king, the merchant sent to contact has sent someone to reply, and the king of Hanzhong has agreed to our request for trade. However, in addition to the need for armor and equipment, the king of Hanzhong also wanted to trade grain with us. ”

"Grain?" Zhao Xun couldn't help frowning slightly, "Lin Aiqing, is there a surplus of grain in my Yongzhou land?" ”

Lin Shucheng pondered for a moment and said: "Because the grain and grass materials needed by the army in Yongzhou are basically transported from the rear, the responsibility we bear is not great. However, because we are exempt from the Yongzhou field tax, we have no food income. In addition, because of the construction of the project, we also need to spend a lot of money to buy food supplements. However, now that the fields have a bumper harvest of grain, if you pay for it, you can buy a lot. The minister thought that it was better not to add grain to trade with the king of Hanzhong, at least, not to add too much grain share. ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Even if you refuse the Han army's request to trade grain, even if you want to buy and sell grain, you must wait until the Han army's grain and grass materials are unsustainable." Even if the Han army and the Shu army were to consume, they could not let the Han army hoard enough grain and grass materials. What we need is heavy losses on both sides. ”

Yang Wangqing nodded and said, "The minister understands, the minister will let people give an order to Hanzhong." ”

…………

The appearance of a chaotic army in Yangzhou is absolutely intolerable for Murong Cheng, especially since the other party still has a relationship with Zhao State. Although through the investigation of the secret guards, these chaotic troops were not deliberately arranged by the Zhao army, but the local government was unfavorable in treating the victims, and the crowd was excited and rose up to resist. However, no matter what, the existence of these rebel armies has had an extremely bad impact on the Qi country. Of course, the most important thing is that Murong Cheng is worried that Zhao Guoguo will intervene in it.

Murong Cheng immediately ordered the Yangzhou army to march east and encircle and suppress the eastern rebel army. A rebel army is a rebel army after all, even if they are under the banner of a righteous army. However, how can they compare with the regular army of the Qi State? Therefore, in just a few days, the army of the Qi army launched several major battles with these incompletely organized rebel armies. The result is self-evident, the rebel army was defeated and lost.

Soon, the rebel army in the eastern part of Yangzhou was either exterminated or automatically combined, forming ten larger forces in the eastern part of Yangzhou, each of which occupied at least one county or more to confront the Qi army in the west. In the course of these few days of operation, these rebels also gained a lot of experience, and attracted some capable and ambitious people, and gradually began to stabilize their territory, train soldiers, build armor and equipment, and raid the gentry of the great clans in various places to deal with the attack of the Qi army.

Huating County, under the rule of Yangzhou Songjiang Prefecture, is located in the northeast of Yangzhou. Below it are Yuhang and Huiji, all of which are in the eastern part of Yangzhou, and they are also the areas most affected by the disaster. Now, these three places are basically in chaos. In Huating County, it has been occupied by the rebels. The leader of this rebel army was none other than Jiang Ming, a scholar who had returned from Xuzhou with the merchant Cheng Jiang a month earlier.

Jiang Ming has read poetry and books since he was a child, and originally thought that he would be an official in the future, but later because of the chaotic situation and the importance of martial affairs, Jiang Ming also dabbled in the art of war. In this Yangzhou rebellion, Jiang Ming was the main planner and upstarter. Therefore, Jiang Ming now occupies the three counties of Huating, Loucheng and Fengxian under the rule of Songjiang Prefecture, and his strength ranks among the top ten rebel armies. In addition, because he had traveled a lot in the Zhao Kingdom, his management of the three counties he occupied was also the best among the rebels. Therefore, under his rule, the people who sought to survive were also the most.

Because most of these people are refugees, and Songjiang Prefecture is also the hardest-hit area, the huge number of people has also brought a heavy burden to him, and food is already stretched. However, because he was relatively low-key and had strict control over his subordinates, he did not show his face too much in the first attack of the Qi army. Of course, this is also related to the fact that his territory is relatively close to the eastern sea, which is the main disaster area.

The problem of food has always been a top priority on Jiang Ming's mind, but he has seen with his own eyes the scenes of those refugees starving to death because of lack of food.

"Big brother, it can't go on like this, we are seriously short of food. Why don't we be like the rebels in the south, and raid all the squires in our territory. Presumably, we can hold out for a while. When we repel the attack of the Qi army, we can completely advance westward and attack other prefectures and counties in Yangzhou, and at that time, we will no longer worry about food. ”

Jiang Ming didn't need to look at it to know that this was his own brother and Jiang Yun, the deputy general of the Righteous Army. There were also four partial generals who entered the house with Jiang Yun, they were all neighbors of Qinglin Town in the past, and they were all twenty-five or sixteen years old.

Jiang Ming shook his head and said, "No!" These squires are not all bad guys in the township. If we do the same, how will we differ from the officials of Qiantang County in the past? ”

"But ......"

"Don't forget, in the past, our Jiang family was also a squire and landlord. If we don't have our homes ruined, do you want us to be raided? Jiang Ming interrupted what his younger brother Jiang Yun wanted to say, and asked lightly.

Jiang Yun was speechless for a moment, naturally he was not dissatisfied with or had hatred for these squires, but now he was also worried about the food problem. However, Jiang Ming's words also made him swallow the words he wanted to say again.

Jiang Ming saw that his younger brother didn't continue to speak, and said with a smile: "You five sit down, what are we doing here?" It's not to dominate one side, and of course, we don't have the ability to do that either. Our purpose is to ask for explanations for those people who did not die in natural disasters but died in man-made disasters, and we want to let the Qi government know that even the ordinary people below, the untouchables in their eyes, once they get angry, they will also turn the world upside down. ”

"Chief, if we don't attack them, we won't be able to support the food for long. Not to mention the relief of the flood victims, even the daily consumption of the rebels in the barracks will also become a problem. Now that the Qi army is pressing forward step by step, if it continues like this, I am afraid that it will ......," one of the four partial generals said with a wry smile.

"If we don't close the borders and don't let these people continue to enter the country, if the number of people doesn't increase, we may be able to sustain ourselves for a while longer." The other spoke up.

Jiang Ming said in a deep voice: "Lin Changkong, don't forget how our neighbors died, don't forget how your uncle died. They starved to death not because of natural disasters, but because they had no food, because they were beaten to death by the private soldiers of the great clan in order to get a little food. Why, now you also want to be the one who forces the victims to starve to death? ”

Lin Changkong smiled bitterly: "Chief, you still don't know what kind of person I am?" If it weren't for the impossible, how would I have come up with this suggestion? If you don't want to find a way to get new food, let alone help those who are about to die, even the people in and outside the city don't know if they can hold on. ”

Jiang Ming pondered for a moment, and said in a loud voice: "It's not that there is no way, I have an idea, if it succeeds, we will no longer worry about the food problem, or even the problem of the Qi army's attack." However, even if you don't know that the other party is not willing to help! Will you accept us. ”

"What did the eldest brother say?" "What did the chief say?" Jiang Ming and the four generals asked in unison.

Jiang Ming said in a deep voice: "Zhao Jun! ”

"Zhao Jun?" Jiang Yun frowned and said, "Big brother, but we have nothing to do with Zhao Guo at all, how can we contact them?" Besides, whether they want to say it or not. In addition, when Zhao Jun is here, wouldn't we have to bow down to him. Everything here is something we have worked so hard to take. ”

Jiang Ming couldn't help but shake his head secretly, seeing the other four partial generals, although he didn't say much, the thoughts in his heart were similar to Jiang Yun. Not only did they not pay attention to this, but they also seemed to be a little unhappy.

Jiang Ming said lightly: "This is the territory we have beaten down, and then what?" Qi can only gather hundreds of thousands of troops in three months, can we? Don't say that the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Qi army, even if the 10,000 army acts against us alone, we will definitely be defeated. Previously, we were able to take the city here because of surprise, because the people here were so disappointed in the government, and it was their help. ”

"The Qi army has already broken more than dozens of righteous armies by using the local garrisons stationed in various prefectures alone, if the Qi army is attacking, can you resist it?"

"You are not willing to take refuge in Zhao Guo, so which side are you willing to take refuge into? The princes of the world have decided, the Tang army and the Chu army occupy the land of a state, and the power that has been operating for several years has now collapsed, do you think that with these ordinary people in our hands, even the weapons are captured from the local treasury, and even the righteous army that cannot be satisfied with food can resist the attack of these great princes? ”

"Do you think it's up to you to decide where you knock down? From the end of the Great Yan period to the present day, the princes are side by side, and I don't know how many of them have tens of thousands of troops, and the big forces that occupy dozens of prefectures and counties have disappeared, do you think that you occupy the small land of the three counties, and you think that you can stand on your own? ”

"If nothing else, we can't even solve the most basic food problem at the moment, what else do you want to do?"

Jiang Ming's rhetorical question made Jiang Yun and the other five young people speechless for a moment. They don't have a big picture, they just feel that their things are for others to take, and they are unwilling.

"Also, I said to contact Zhao Jun and ask Zhao Jun for help, but people don't necessarily help us? In Zhao Jun's eyes, we are all chaotic troops, some inconspicuous small characters, and we will not be looked at by him at all. Now, it's not that you don't want to surrender to each other, it's that the other side looks down on us at all. ”

After a while, Fang Yun said in a low voice: "Then do it with the meaning of the eldest brother!" The younger brother will never object. But how do we contact Zhao Jun now? Boat trip to the north? But since then, after our uprising in the east, there are no merchants in the east who want to stay here. Therefore, we are afraid that we will not be able to go to sea to reach the territory of Zhao State. ”

Jiang Ming said in a deep voice: "We don't need to go to the jurisdiction of the Northern Zhao State, we just need to find a big businessman on our territory who has gone to the Zhao State to do business." ”

"They? What's the use of looking for them? If you go to the north, you don't need them, we can do it ourselves. ”

"The secret guard system of Zhao State is all over the world, and there must be a secret guard of Zhao Jun in this place of Yangzhou. And among these businessmen, there must be some people who are connected to Zhao Jun's secret guard system. If you find them, you will naturally be able to find Zhao Jun's people. Jiang Ming said lightly.

After Jiang Ming occupied the land of these three counties, he found that some big businessmen who could have left easily and escaped the war did not leave here. In addition, these people were very cooperative with their demands for food and money as taxes. Jiang Ming guessed at that time that these people must be related to the meticulous work of Qi Jun, Luo Jun and Zhao Jun. Jiang Ming believed that now that such a big thing was happening in the east of Yangzhou, whether it was Luo Jun or Zhao Jun, he would definitely pay attention to it.

"Jiang Ming, after finding out, we will arrange for people to go to the homes of these big businessmen and tell them that we need support, and even, as long as the support is effective, we can also work."

When he found them and said that he had the intention of surrendering, Zhao Jun would definitely not ignore them. In any case, his incident in the east of Yangzhou is still very beneficial to Zhao Jun.