A few days later, the empress's carriage arrived at Jiangbei City. Jiangbei City was the last city to enter the Sanjiang District. The Wang Estuary was 80 kilometers south of the city, and the Sanjiang District was to the south of the Wang Estuary.
The winged cavalry entered the city first, followed by the empress's carriage.
There were traces of chaos in the city. Not far away, there were charred houses and bloodstains that hadn't been wiped off.
After all the guards and officials left, it was normal for there to be chaos in the city. Those civilians who didn't know much were fearful. A little spark could start a prairie fire. At this time, the evilness of human nature would be revealed. This was unavoidable since ancient times. This was a part of human nature.
When the Xiaoshan Sect arrived at Jiangbei, the city began to show signs of chaos.
Ren Baqian was four days late when he sent his men.
It was said that when the army and the Lingshan Sect arrived, the city was already in chaos. The shops were basically smashed, burned, and looted, especially shops that sold necessities such as food and salt.
Many civilians in the city were killed or injured in the chaos.
Previously, a group of people escaped from the city, and the army killed another group to suppress the riot. This city, which originally had a population of 100,000, was only left with 60,000 when the empress and her men entered the city.
"What are they doing? Who allowed them to be here? " The empress sat in the imperial chariot and looked at the commoners who were standing by the side of the street with their heads bowed and shivering.
"They are welcoming you, just like what you saw in Lan City," Ren Baqian said while holding a wine cup in one hand. Ren Baqian said as he held a wine glass in one hand. As for the person who arranged this, it should be someone from the Lingshan Sect, right?
"The people of Lan City are my people. They sincerely support me and welcome me. And these people … "the empress said faintly.
"These people are also Your Majesty's people," Ren Baqian said faintly as he looked at the civilians who were fearful.
"Your Majesty, if a ruler treats his subjects like his own hands and feet, his subjects will treat him like a confidant. If a ruler treats his subjects like dogs and horses, his subjects will treat him like a fellow countryman. If a ruler treats his subjects like dirt, his subjects will treat him like an enemy. These people are still fearful. As long as they can live and work in peace and contentment in your country, they will sincerely support you like the people of Lan City in the future. "
"Who said this? It makes sense, "the empress praised.
"It was said by the ancients. He said a lot of things, and they were all very reasonable," Ren Baqian replied after thinking for a while.
"In the future, tell me more about him. To be able to say something like that, I'm sure he's not an ordinary person." As the empress spoke, she looked at the commoners.
"I don't really like them."
"Whether they like it or not, they are a part of Dayao. The reason why His Majesty disliked them was because they were restless. However, there was also a reason for this. Among them, there were people who kept instilling certain ideas into them. In fact, as long as they are appeased and mentally dominated, they can do a lot of things.
After a few decades, a new generation of young people would grow up, and they would become His Majesty's true subjects.
Furthermore, these people were not living a good life. They were just trying their best to survive. As long as they can live and work in peace and contentment, I think most of them won't have any other thoughts.
Just like the people on both sides, they had just experienced chaos and pain. Now that the army had pacified the city, they could return to their peaceful lives. Although they seem to be afraid now, that's only because they don't understand His Majesty. How would His Majesty know that some of them aren't rejoicing in their hearts? "
Ren Baqian poured the wine into his mouth, held an empty cup, and praised, "This flower wine is really good. Although it's like a raging fire, it has a sweet and glutinous taste and a hint of floral fragrance."
Qing Yuan and Hong Luan, who were beside him, glared at him and unwillingly poured the wine for him.
The two of them had painstakingly picked many kinds of flowers to brew this wine for Her Majesty, but this guy had drunk so much of it in the past two days.
"What happens to these people is something you need to consider," the empress said faintly. She wasn't good at this kind of thing. Since Ren Baqian could do it well, she would leave it to him.
He also needed some achievements to establish himself in the imperial court.
Although he had done many things before, nothing was more dazzling than pacifying Tianjing Basin.
If he couldn't do it well, he would kill all these people.
The empress was staying at the warlord's residence in Jiangbei. However, it seemed like the warlord's residence had also suffered a calamity. Many places had traces of being burned, and some of the decorations in the residence had also been swept away.
Even though the people from the Lingshan Sect who had arrived earlier had already arranged for people to renovate the residence and made a batch of items to decorate it, the patchwork of things in the residence made it look even more shabby.
It gave people the feeling that everything in the residence was out of place.
For example, the flowers in the courtyard that had just been dug out from an unknown place looked like weeds.
There were also a few chairs and tables in the hall. One of the chairs had some color differences, and its style was different as well. It was obvious that it was patchwork.
As for the inside of the room, there was no need to talk about it. The bright red and green quilts made Ren Baqian wonder if those people had different aesthetic standards.
"Your Majesty, please take a rest here first. I will get someone to send bedding over later." Ren Baqian walked around the room and retreated. After bidding farewell to the empress, he summoned the people from the Lingshan Sect.
"Are there any people from the south in the city these few days? What's the situation in the south? "Ren Baqian asked.
"Sir, dozens of people have arrived in the past few days and are waiting to be summoned. As for the south, the rebel army has arranged for many experts near the Wang Estuary to intercept and kill those who came to seek refuge with you. It is said that the same situation is happening at Mount Dulong, and many people have been killed. "
"Rebel army?" Ren Baqian squinted at him and said, "Your thinking is very dangerous!"
"Sir, it's my fault. It's the rebel army. They are the rebel army, but they call themselves the rebel army. It was a slip of the tongue, and I hope you won't blame me," the man said as he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Remember, we are officials, and they are bandits. You are working for me and Her Majesty. Always remember your identity, "Ren Baqian reminded him again.
"Yes!"
"How many people were sent by the rebel army to intercept them? How strong are they? "Ren Baqian asked slowly.
"There are more than 100 people at the Wang Estuary, mainly from the Bamboo Mountain Sect, Xiaoqing Temple, and the Yueyang Sect. Among them, there are more than 10 Earth Wheel experts. The Mount Dulong should be guarded by people from the Manxing Pavilion and the Yujiang Gang. In addition, there are thousands of soldiers stationed at each place. However, that was news from three days ago. Now that the imperial army is here, they should know about it, and there should be some changes. "
"Got it. You may leave." Ren Baqian waved his hand and pondered for a long time after he left. If the winged cavalry were to directly crush them, the other party might be unaware of something and might suffer some casualties.
Now that the winged cavalry had suffered casualties, not to mention the empress, even he felt distressed.
Furthermore, it was known that there were more than 200,000 rebel soldiers in the south. At present, there were only 6,000 aboriginal soldiers here, including 800 winged cavalry warriors.
Even if the other party were all huskies, 200,000 huskies wouldn't be easy to deal with.
Ren Baqian thought about it and called Zuo Cheng and Qingyun Sword over.
"Sirs, the Wang Estuary and Mount Dulong are currently guarded by the experts sent by the rebel army. Those righteous and chivalrous people are trapped in the three rivers and may be wiped out by the rebel army at any time.
I would like to ask the two of you to select some experts from the city to check out these two places and report back to me. This is an opportunity that I have painstakingly fought for for the two of you. According to Her Majesty's instructions, the army will directly crush them and crush them to pieces.
However, in that case, there will be nothing for you to do. I thought that since you were the first to pledge allegiance to Her Majesty, you will naturally be treated better than others in the future. However, if you don't have any meritorious service, it will be easy for others to gossip about you. As such, I have fought for the task of gathering information for all of you in the city, "Ren Baqian said.
"I have really put a lot of thought into this!"
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