Metasequoia City's current situation is somewhat awkward. People from the outside can't get in, and people from the inside can't get out.

Since the withdrawal of the Turkic horse bandit alliance in Duolun, several small units of the Iron Pigeon Army and the Ghost Alliance have lurked in all directions outside the city, roaming around Metasequoia City all day long. Whenever someone left the city, they would raid and harass them, causing casualties to many caravans.

After several serious lootings, no merchant traveler dared to travel to and from Metasequoia City.

In a sense, Metasequoia was invisibly blocked by them.

In this regard, Lin Feng and Du Jian both led their own teams out of the city to clear these small groups of enemies, but with little success.

Don't look at the poor performance in the attack on Metasequoia City, but when it comes to guerrilla tactics, the Iron Pigeon Army and the Ghost Alliance Horse Bandits are both masters. Their style of coming and going, and their strategy from a distance, made the Pegasus Scout Battalion, which was also good at patrolling, feel a headache.

Although Metasequoia is an important town on the Western Xinjiang Trade Road and has always been rich in materials, it is impossible to sit and eat all the time because of the large population here. In the past, heavy snow closures were just a matter of a month. After that, a large number of caravans began to trade back and forth, so that the various goods in the city were always in a state of abundance.

Today, however, the situation is very different. For almost three or four months from the first time the horse bandits of Golhan came to attack the city, Metasequoia City basically did not carry out normal business and trade.

This is an extremely dangerous sign for a city of size.

Li Jiangyao had always thought that according to the statistics of the city guard, the food in the city was enough for the people to eat for more than a year. However, what he failed to realize was that the grain on the books was not equal to the actual grain, and those rice, white flour, grains and beans were not actually in his hands, nor did they belong to every city resident.

Except for a small amount of official and military rations stored in the government treasury, most of the grain reserves were in the market and in the hands of merchants.

With the current tense situation, the ghost desert and metasequoia city in western Xinjiang are also full of rumors and extreme panic, and grain merchants are often reluctant to sell their products easily.

This is not entirely for the purpose of hoarding and profiteering. The most important reason for this is that no one can say how far the situation will deteriorate in the future and how long it will last. Therefore, no one dares to throw out the things that may save their lives in the future and now throw them out for money.

There is less and less food available for trading on the market, and the price of food has naturally soared.

In recent days, Ma Mu couldn't help but worry about this matter. On the one hand, the common people are boiling because they can't buy food, and on the other hand, the merchants are worried that the mob will suddenly grab food, and constantly ask the government to send troops to protect it.

The contradictions between the two sides are intensifying day by day, making the whole city nervous.

He really had no choice, so he had to run to Li Jiangyao to get an idea.

Li Jiangyao was asking Situ Wushou about the customs and customs of Western Xinjiang at this time, and by the way, he inquired about the news of Tieshi Mountain, and after listening to Ma Mu pouring the bitter water, he turned his head to Situ Wushou and said: "Didn't you use the official city bureau before, do you have any good ideas?" ”

Situ Wushou smiled bitterly: "I'm chasing ducks to the shelves, and I don't count." However, Lord Mamu, can we use the treasury silver of the government to purchase some grain from the merchants, and then sell it to the people at a low price? ”

Ma Mu sighed: "Alas, it's not a matter of who pays for it, those grain merchants don't want to sell it at all." Don't tell you two, I almost wanted to lead the troops and force them to open a warehouse and release grain! ”

Situ Wushou hurriedly said: "Lord Ma Mu, this is absolutely impossible!" Whether they want to sell or not, that is the freedom of the merchants, they have not done anything wrong, or violated any law. If we force them to buy and sell, it will not only be unfair to the merchants, but will also damage the good reputation of the institutions of the city. No one wants to deal with us anymore. ”

Ma Mu said depressedly: "Then what should I do?" You can't just watch the whole city go hungry, right? ”

"Lord Captain, the battlefield has the rules of the battlefield, and the shopping mall has the rules of the shopping mall." Situ Wushou turned to Li Jiangyao and said, "In my opinion, the current crisis is caused by the inability of commodities to circulate smoothly. Metasequoia City and the outside world cannot flow goods normally, which will cause panic among merchants, and they will naturally not dare to ship goods easily, so as to wait and see what happens. However, if we can bring some grain from outside to make the market a little more comfortable, then merchants will be worried about falling prices because of the gradual increase in goods, but will be in a hurry to sell the goods, so that the price can further fall and stabilize. ”

Of course, Li Jiangyao understood the truth of the market economy, and when he heard this, he bowed slightly, and Ma Mu also nodded again and again: "This is indeed a good way." As long as the adults give us a little soldiers and horses, organize a grain escort team, and then use the treasury money to purchase some food from other places, at least we can solve a lot of trouble. But the question now is, where do you go to buy food? According to Zaire's confession, Western Xinjiang is now a mess everywhere, and no one is better than the other. ”

Situ Wushou muttered: "I can only find a way to go east, and if I can't do it, I will go to Liangzhou Mansion." ”

For some reason, when he mentioned the word Liangzhou, Li Jiangyao's heart suddenly became inexplicably disturbed, and he only felt restless and uncomfortable.

He held his breath and stared, gradually suppressing the uncomfortable feeling, but he couldn't help but think of the appearance of the teacher He Jingming in his mind.

Alas, Shen Lie had been away for more than ten days, and he didn't know if Commander He had received his reminder.

"I'm afraid it's not going to work." Ma Mu interrupted Li Jiangyao's thoughts: "To go to Liangzhou, it is a long way to come, and it is difficult to go back and forth without a month. Second, if the Turks want to disrupt the western frontier, they will definitely focus on blocking the road to the east, and the possibility of being attacked will be higher. ”

What he said was reasonable, and Situ Wushou couldn't help but be speechless for a while.

At this moment, the guards suddenly came in and reported that Old Samour was out asking to see him.

Li Jiangyao was quite surprised, and hurriedly ordered him to come in.

After a while, Samar walked quickly into the inner hall, followed by the little prince of the Shenhua family, Kuliban.

"My lords," Samour said, with bandages on his arms, and laboriously saluted the three people in the room, "My Royal Highness, Little Prince, I have something to say to my adults. ”

Curiban took two steps forward, saluted Li Jiangyao, and said, "My lord, now that there is a shortage of food in the city, we hope that we can do our best." ”

Li Jiangyao and the three of them looked at each other when they heard this, and said at the same time: It's so coincidental?

Mamu quickly got up and asked Kuliban and Samore to sit down and talk in detail. It turned out that Kuliban, as the heir of the Shenhua family, had the contact information of the family's various branches in Western Xinjiang. Although there is no black jade holy stone now, it is not possible to lead them justifiably, but in the name of the little prince of the family, it is not a problem to borrow some food from various tribes.

There are many branches of the Shenhua family that are far away from the towns and have their own systems in the countryside. In the short term, it should not have entered the field of vision of the Turks and rebels, so there is an opportunity to supply the current needs of Metasequoia.

Samore added on the side that the previous prince of the Shenhua family had also set up a large secret vault in the Yarumqi Mountains to hoard grain and grass materials for the family's unexpected needs. Although it had been untended for a long time, much of the food might be edible due to the dryness and coolness of the vault.

The Yarumqi Mountains are in the territory of Chechi Country, not too far from Metasequoia City, as long as there are enough vehicles and guards, the transfer can be implemented.

Li Jiangyao and the three of them were in high spirits when they heard this, and they all felt that this matter was feasible.

They hurriedly discussed the details of the grain shipment with Kuliban and Samor. In the end, everyone determined that Ma Mu was responsible for organizing the people and vehicles, and Du Jian led a grain protection team of 500 people to accompany Samore to the Yarumqi Mountains.

Kuliban personally went to the Shenhua tribe near Metasequoia City to borrow food, and in addition to his own personal guards, Li Jiangyao sent another fifty Pegasus scouts to accompany him.

While waiting for the life-saving grain to be delivered, the city guard government first took out some of the grain stored in the warehouse and sold it at a fair price, temporarily alleviating the conflict and stabilizing the people's minds.

-

"Kill!"

With an angry roar, Li Jiangyao flew out, and the Starfall Knife instantly slashed down the Turkic cavalry running at the front.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds of Metasequoia defenders rushed up from the ambush and surrounded the army of more than eighty iron pigeons.

All of a sudden, the two sides exchanged spears and swords, and Li Jiangyao's starfall knife was like a shining silver angry dragon, extremely agile and ferocious, flying and flashing in the group of enemies, bringing up a fluffy blood light.

In just a few moments, this small group of Turkic cavalry was completely annihilated.

Since Du Jian's grain escort team set off, Li Jiangyao personally led his soldiers and horses out of the city to suppress bandits, and today is the ninth day. Counting the battle just now, a total of five battles and five victories, killing nearly 600 people from the Iron Pigeon Army and the Ghost Alliance horse bandits.

Li Jiangyao's actions were mainly to clear the obstacles for Du Jian and them, and the life-saving food would definitely not allow for the slightest mistake.

When the soldiers under his command finished cleaning up the battlefield, it was already completely dark, and the leading officer asked Li Jiangyao where to camp at night.

Li Jiangyao spread out the map, brought the torch closer to take a closer look, and after a while, he pointed to a place on the map: "I think I'll be here tonight." ”

After speaking, he was still waiting for the officer to answer the order, but suddenly found that the guy did not respond as usual, but stared into the distance in a daze, as if he had not heard what he had just said.

Li Jiangyao followed his gaze, and he was immediately startled.

I saw that on the horizon in the distance, a large piece of torch light appeared in Mu Ran, zigzag and meandering, looking like it was three or four miles long, moving slowly towards them.

At this time, a guard whispered, "Is that the enemy?" ”

Li Jiangyao shook his head lightly when he heard this.

Although there were a large number of torches, if you pay close attention, you can see that the procession is scattered and very slow, and it definitely does not look like an army.

Could it be Du Jian's grain transportation team?

Li Jiangyao was full of doubts: But it's right. Judging by the size of the torches, there were thousands of people there, far more than the strength of the grain caravanserais.

He couldn't help but be alert, and hurriedly ordered his men to hide for the time being, and at the same time sent a few scouts to investigate.

After a while, the scouts hurriedly returned, followed by Du Jian, who had been ordered to carry grain.

As soon as Du Jian saw Li Jiangyao, he said happily: "Boss, are you here to pick us up?" ”

"Lao Du?" Li Jiangyao was curious: "What's going on?" What about the grain? ”

"The food is in the back!" Du Jian replied excitedly: "There are a hundred carts, and they haven't finished yet." My God, the Shenhua family is really rich! ”

Hearing this, the stone in Li Jiangyao's heart finally landed: "That's good." What's going on with so many people? ”

Du Jian explained: "Those were met on the road. Several small countries in the surrounding area were wiped out by the Loulan people, and a large number of refugees fleeing the disaster ran around. They heard that Metasequoia City was safe, so they all followed us back. ”

"How many are there?"

Du Jian scratched his head: "I haven't counted it carefully, at least more than 10,000." ”

Li Jiangyao's heart sank. It was the first time he had seen such a large group of refugees with his own eyes. And more importantly, this is just a small country in the surrounding area, and I don't know what it will be exaggerated into when the whole of Western Xinjiang is calculated.

He glared at Du Jian: "You guy is really bold, if you are intercepted halfway by the Turks or the Loulan rebels, you will be completely stupid." ”

Du Jian replied with a big grin: "No, boss." The Turkic ghosts and the Loulan people are no longer in this area. According to the refugees, they are all heading north. ”