The chaos that is spreading within Stormwind is not because of hunger, but because of fear.

"The lion people are coming, the lion king's army has broken through the fortress in the south, and the next target is Bloodclaw City."

"There is no way, the army of the lion people has cut off the passage, and the food has not been able to be transported. We can still survive on the little food stored in the city, and it will be difficult to say in a few days. I'm afraid I won't even be able to drink porridge at that time. ”

"To go south is to kill yourself. Yellowstone City has long been under martial law, and it is not allowed to enter or leave. What if you run away over there? My cousin is a cavalryman, and he came from Yellowstone last week to deliver a letter. I heard him say that there is also a shortage of food in the city over there, and the situation is worse than ours. ”

Similar rumors have been circulating among the people. In particular, the millions of people crammed into the cramped city like sardines have added to the panic.

Wu Lin ordered the north gate of Mighty Wind City to be opened, and let the panicked refugees make their own choices.

The content of the rumors has also changed.

"While we still have some food in our hands, let's flee to the north! It's too late. ”

"What do you say: the north is the territory of the dragons, and they will kill us? Don't you know that an armistice has been signed? Now it's the lions coming from the south, and the north is the real safe place. ”

"Actually, I think it's good to join the dragon clan. I have a few friends in Ironjaw, and they've now changed their identities to dragons. Everyone was given a set of clothes for free, and they could eat enough every day, including oil, salt, and meat. ”

"Let's go! It's not too cold yet, and it will be hard to walk if it snows in a few days. ”

These rumors were apparently spread on an organized and large-scale scale, directly or indirectly affecting a large number of civilians and triggering a new wave of people fleeing the north.

There are as many as 50,000 Tiger Clan troops stationed in Mighty Wind City. The leader is Hu Yaoxian's henchman. Horrified by this situation, he immediately approached Wulin and demanded that martial law be issued immediately to seal the city, and no one should leave.

Looking at the other party's angry and angry face, Wu Lin smiled indifferently.

"Locking down cities will only make things worse."

Puzzled, the Commander asked, "Why?" ”

"Because there is no food in the city." Wu Lin's face was calm: "I know that you are the eyes and ears arranged by His Majesty to be by my side, but I still have to say that it was Your Majesty who caused all this. ”

"Every letter sent to Bloodpaw must pass your review. As soon as the refugees entered the city, I asked His Majesty to transfer food, but His Majesty ignored it, and in his reply he asked us to "deal with it with confidence". You've read both letters, I didn't make it up, I didn't lie, it's all true. ”

"There are too many refugees. There are as many as 500,000 aborigines in Lifeng City, and more than 800,000 refugees have fled from the abandoned areas in the north. With so many people, in such a small place, I tried my best to accommodate them, but what could I do if I didn't have enough food? Who will take the orders issued by me, the national teacher, seriously? ”

The Commander knew that what Wu Lin said was the truth. His face softened slightly, and he frowned: "But even so, you can't let the refugees out of the city." I have seen that when they left the city, they all went north, and the road to the south was empty. ”

"Wait!" The commander suddenly came to his senses, and a strong vigilance instantly appeared in his heart: "Why did you only order the north gate to be opened, and not the south gate?" ”

Wu Lin looked calm: "To the south is Yellowstone City. You should know better than I do there. Yellowstone City is also short of food, and the city area is much smaller than that of Mighty Wind City. Millions of people fled in this way, and His Majesty insisted on refusing to transport food, and when the time came, it was very likely that a riot would be caused in Yellowstone. ”

The commander was skeptical, and he oscillated between loyalty to the Tiger King and sanity, and shouted, "You...... You're alarmist. Also, what's going on with those rumors in the city? ”

Wu Lin did not argue. He got up from his chair, put his hands behind his back, and walked slowly to the window, looking out at the hazy and gray sky.

"It's winter...... At this time of year, everyone would stay at home to rest, warm themselves around the fire, and cook something delicious. No one goes far because you don't know when it will snow. Once the road is closed by heavy snow, those who remain outside will simply freeze to death. ”

"Do you think I'm encouraging them to leave Windbreaker? Use your brain, those refugees aren't stupid at all. They know that there is danger outside...... Why? There is no fuel, no food, and no one can bear the wind and snow, so what should we do when the time comes? ”

"Even if you go to Yellowstone, you will have no way to survive, and you will compete with local civilians for resources. For a bite to eat, they can do anything. Once the tide of displaced people turns into civil strife, who will bear the responsibility? ”

"Of course, the army does not stab. Your Majesty attaches great importance to the supply of your supplies. Even if all the civilians in the city starve to death, your soldiers and the workers who built the city in front of you will still get rations. ”

Wu Lin's tone was flat, as if he was reciting a piece of prose.

The commander was terrified when he heard this, and cold sweat was dripping on his back.

He couldn't find the right words to refute it, and any of what Wu Lin had just said occupied the moral high ground. Yes, if it weren't for His Majesty's refusal to transfer grain, Lifeng City would definitely not be in the current situation. The mood of the refugees will be much calmer, and with the talents of the national teacher, all potential dangers can be completely eliminated.

"But...... But...... You can't let the people below go unchecked and watch them join the dragon clan just because of this. That's our enemy! The Commander managed to hold back a rebuttal, but even he felt that neither the words nor the content were weak and unconvincing.

Wu Lin turned and looked at the Commander standing opposite, "These refugees are a nuisance to us, and they can have the same effect on the dragons. They had just captured Ironjaw and needed time to digest. If you want to maintain order and gain the approval of the local population, you have to come up with a large amount of food and clothing to keep the civilians through this winter. You probably didn't notice the number of refugees fleeing to the north these days, 120,000, and counting. I know you used to be the leader of the stockade, and you should know what that number means. ”

The Commander gritted his teeth, looking a little nervous. Don't say 120,000, even the daily management of 20,000 people is a headache. It would require support from all sides of the community, and it would cost a huge amount of supplies.

Wu Lin's voice continued, "If I could, I would like to throw all the civilians in this city to the dragons and let them help us solve this problem." ”

The Commander was shocked, and looked at Wu Lin with incredulous eyes: "All? No...... It's absolutely not going to work, it's crazy. ”

Wu Lin didn't give an inch: "Then you can solve their resettlement and food problems." You know very well the situation in the city, there is nothing. How long do you think we'll be able to hold out? On the premise of ensuring the daily ration supply of the army and the siege personnel, how many civilians in the city can survive? This will lead to only two outcomes: either civilians will riot, or they will kill each other and feed on the dead. ”

The Commander felt his heart twitch instantly, and he knew that Wu Lin was not exaggerating, and the actual situation was worse than he imagined. In particular, the "civilian riots" mentioned by Wu Lin completely shook his incomparably persistent loyalty in his heart. The Commander hurriedly changed the subject: "I...... I am writing to Your Majesty asking for the allocation of food as soon as possible. ”

Looking at his back as he trotted out of the room, Wu Lin smiled faintly.

Once rebellion arises in the heart, it is difficult to restore the former loyalty.

The regent of the dragon clan is eloquent, Wu Lin thought about it for a long time, and went through the leaders of all the tribes on the northern continent in his mind, and finally found that no one could match.

If the gods want this era to produce an emperor who will unify the tribes, then he should be the only one.

Wu Lin decided to do something he loved.

This is not a deliberate rebellion, but to help the future Emperor His Majesty clear the way.

……

A few days later, Bloodclaw City.

Tiger King Yaoxian stared at the secret letter he had just received with wide eyes, and his face was full of disbelief.

As many as hundreds of thousands of civilians, they left Mighty Wind City in droves and fled to the north to join the dragons?

The skin rolls are thin, about twice the size of an adult's palm, and are covered with small letters written on them. Looking at the shocking numbers on it, Hu Yaoxian felt chills all over his body, his breathing also became heavy under the uncontrollable expansion of anger, and he completely lost his mind, and his trembling hands grabbed the ends of the animal skin roll and tore it with wild force, turning it into countless light brown fragments.

The messenger who came from afar from the city of Mighty Wind knelt on one knee, his head bowed, and he didn't dare to come out. Even though he was far away from the throne, he could still feel the intense aura of rage unleashed from Hu Yaoxian's body.

“…… Say, when was this a thing? Hu Yao first threw the fragments in his hand on the ground, separated his palms, and wiped his face vigorously. This muscle-loosening practice is effective in controlling emotions and calming you down quickly.

The messenger didn't dare to lie, and this matter was originally one of the contents that the commander asked him to report to the Tiger King: "Your Majesty, when I set out, many civilians had already left Mighty Wind City and fled to Iron Jaw City to the north. ”

The corners of Hu Yaoxian's eyes twitched slightly: "The ration supply in Mighty Wind City is really to the point of exhaustion?" ”

"Yes." The messenger did not dare to conceal it, and hurriedly replied: "When I came, the Lord Commander repeatedly told me to report to Your Majesty truthfully. According to the calculation of 500,000 people, the civilian grain storage in the warehouse can last for a week. But there are more than a million civilians in the city. And there was no peat, no firewood, and there were not enough houses. ”

Hu Yao opened his mouth first, and a trace of exhaustion rose on his face, which had always been full of arrogance and domineering. He leaned sideways in his chair and raised his right hand to wave it at the messenger with a few weak strokes: "...... Let's go down first...... The king wanted to be quiet. ”

Half an hour later, six members of the royal family, including Hu Yaozong, hurriedly walked into the palace under the leadership of the guards and stood in a row at the foot of the throne steps of the main hall.

Tiger King Yao leaned his upper body to the left, his arm was on the arm of the chair, his left hand pressed his forehead, his fingers rubbed gently, and while feeling the hard skull through his skin, he swept over these people with a fierce and cold gaze, as if he could mark them one by one in this way.

He didn't speak, and the royal family looked at each other, not understanding why the Tiger King ordered to summon him into the palace. After a few minutes of tormenting silence, Hu Yaozong, who was standing at the front, cleared his throat and bowed to the throne: "Your Majesty......"

"Let's take a look at this first!" Hu Yao interrupted him in an indifferent tone, and casually pointed to the attendant standing under the side of the throne. The latter bowed knowingly, walked quickly in front of Hu Yaozong, and handed over a crumpled scroll of animal skin.

It was the secret letter that had been sent from Mighty Wind City and torn apart by the Tiger King's anger. It had been repasted onto a larger hide, shattered, with barely legible text. A group of members of the royal family hurriedly gathered around, came to Hu Yaozong's side, and looked at it from different angles.

"Lack of food in Mighty Wind City?"

"How can Wu Lin do this? Open the gates and let the civilians leave at will...... What's the difference between this and rebellion? ”

"I've long said that witchcraft is not a good thing. Now you all get the idea! He didn't take His Majesty seriously at all. ”

The quiet hall instantly became lively, everyone was expressing their opinions, and all the attacking spearheads were aimed at the Tiger Clan's national master Wu Lin who was far away in Mighty Wind City.

"Enough!" Hu Yao roared from his throne first, completely overpowering the noise of chaos under the steps.

He didn't give these people a chance to think, and opened his mouth and said angrily: "Hu Yaozong, a month ago, when you left Lifeng City, how much grain was there in the civilian warehouse? ”

Hu Yaozong's body shook visibly. He quickly flipped through the depths of his mind various memories related to the Tiger King problem.

The plan for the construction of a new defensive line in the north was carried out at a very fast pace from the formulation of the plan to the beginning of its implementation. This is because the dragonds' powerful war machine has been activated. He was shocked by what Hu Yao saw in the Dragons' territory first, and then the news came that the Dragons had declared war on the Eagle Clan. As a last resort, the Tiger Clan can only step up preparations for war and wait for battle.

Of course, the plan to build the pass with the Wind City as the core is formulated by professionals. But this process was inevitably influenced by the aristocracy, as well as a lot of external pressure. For example, the materials required for the project, the use and arrangement of workers' living materials, the recruitment of civilians into the engineering team, and so on...... These things are related to the national defense and security of the Tiger Clan, and they also involve all levels related to the interests of the nobles.

Taking workers as an example, it is very particular about where they are recruited. The nobles were reluctant to send civilians in their own territories, which meant that they would not get anything for nothing, and they might have to dump the grain.