Everyone was selfish, especially when a disaster was coming. The first thing that people would think of was to ensure their own safety, or even their own absolute safety. This was the instinctive behavior of humans.
Therefore, when Dongnu Province was short of food, those who had food would hide their food at home. They would not help those who did not have food, nor would they sell their food easily. This would cause those who did not have food to starve. Some wealthy families even had enough food to last them for a year, but they still felt that they were not safe enough. They would do everything they could to buy food at a high price so that they could last a few more years. This would inevitably cause the price of food to rise even faster. Ordinary people would not be able to afford food at all. Then, it would cause all sorts of chaos within Dongnu Province.
Although the imperial court had a lot of food, the imperial court needed to support the royal family, officials, and a large number of troops. All of these required a lot of food. In the current chaotic situation, for safety reasons, not only could they not dismiss any officials or troops, they even had to recruit additional troops to maintain stability within the country. Under such circumstances, the food supply of the imperial court in Dongnu Province was also in danger. However, if the officials and soldiers did not have food to eat, the result would be disastrous. Therefore, the imperial court in Dongnu Province was very clear that the troops and officials could not be in chaos. No matter what, they had to ensure that the troops and officials could eat.
In order to achieve this goal, Dongnu Province directly sent troops to the border to intercept all the grain traders who tried to enter Dongnu Province. At the border, they directly bought the grain of these merchants and then transported it back to Chang City to ensure the safety of the kingdom.
At present, the small imperial court in Dongnu Province could not obtain much food. It could only barely survive. Due to the soaring price of food, it cost a lot of money to buy food. Therefore, the salaries of the officials and the troops were affected to a certain extent. Without enough money, it would be more difficult for the troops to be mobilized. Especially mobilizing the troops to encircle and suppress the bandits required a lot of extra money. In a situation where there was not enough money, mobilizing the troops to encircle and suppress the bandits naturally became an extravagant hope.
Therefore, when some of the wealthy families were besieged by bandits, the small imperial court in Dongnu Province found it difficult to send troops to support these wealthy families. They really wanted to, but they were powerless. Moreover, the imperial court in Dongnu Province was very dissatisfied that these wealthy families were not willing to take out some food to help the poor. Therefore, they naturally did not care. In this way, the imperial court in Dongnu Province would definitely suffer a huge blow to the prestige of the imperial court in Dongnu Province. However, the current situation was so critical that they could not care less. Anyway, they planned to submit to the Tang dynasty. In the future, the imperial court in Dongnu Province would no longer exist. What was the use of prestige for an imperial court that was about to cease to exist?
Of course, if that was all, the East Woman Kingdom was not too dangerous. What was more dangerous was that some of the higher-ups in the kingdom were colluding with foreign enemies, and even with the bandits. They seemed to be secretly operating, and no one knew what they were up to. Once these troublemakers controlled a large number of people, the small imperial court of the East Woman Kingdom would be in danger.
"What's wrong? Some of your higher-ups don't agree to completely submit to the Tang dynasty?"
Ang Lee looked at Zhao Wu and asked.
Zhao Wu nodded and said, "Yes, some people are worried that after completely submitting to the Tang dynasty, they will lose their status. Naturally, they don't want to."
These people who were not willing to do anything were all people who did not do anything. They relied on the protection of their ancestors to obtain a relatively high status in Dongnu Province. However, once Dongnu Province ceased to exist, the Tang dynasty would send officials to govern it. Although the original officials in Dongnu Province would be retained, they would certainly not retain all of them. Only some of the officials with outstanding abilities would be selected. As for those who were not capable, they would certainly not be retained. Of course, these officials would not sit still and wait for death. They would definitely oppose.
The opposition of one or two people would not change the overall situation. However, if there were many people who opposed it, and they colluded with foreign enemies and the bandits to form a huge force, the situation would be completely different. At the moment when the number of bandits exceeded that of ordinary people, these opposing forces were likely to grow and become stronger. It was not impossible for them to become stronger than the imperial court in Dongnu Province.
In normal times, Dongnu Province only had more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. At this time of crisis, many soldiers were temporarily recruited, but they could only maintain less than 30,000 soldiers. They could not afford to raise more soldiers. However, the number of bandits was naturally much higher than that. Almost all the hungry ordinary people had become bandits. These bandits occupied their own mountains and were not a big threat. At least, they were not a threat to the imperial court in Dongnu Province, which had nearly 30,000 soldiers. However, if these bandits were organized by people with ulterior motives, the situation would be completely different. It would not be difficult to directly overthrow the imperial court in Dongnu Province.
This situation was already happening. In the suburbs of Guichang City in Dongnu Province, a group of people was secretly plotting. These people were high-ranking officials of the imperial court in Dongnu Province, and also high-ranking officials from Nanzhao. There were even a few powerful bandit leaders. The content of their conspiracy was how to overthrow the small imperial court in Dongnu Province.
A middle-aged man sat in the main seat. He was Nanzhao's favorite minister, Duan Jianwei. This fellow's martial arts were excellent, and he was also very good at scheming. He was a terrifying opponent. Behind him stood his brother, Duan Jianqi. This fellow's martial arts were slightly better, but his brain was not very good. He was considered a boor.
Below him, on the left sat a few middle-aged high-ranking officials from Dongnu Province. On the right sat a few strong men, who were bandit leaders.
The first person on the left was a high-ranking official of Dongnu Province named Zhao Changkong. Below him were his brother, Zhao Changtian, and his trusted aide, Bai Yong. On the right were three bandit leaders, namely Li Dahu, Xia Zi, and Pang Gui. These people had already formed an alliance and were preparing to launch an attack on the imperial court in Dongnu Province. They would seize power and then form a new imperial court. They would refuse to completely merge with the Tang dynasty.
However, although their alliance had been established, it was not so easy to overthrow it. Dongnu Province had now expanded its military force. Its total military force was close to thirty thousand, especially the core of Guichang City, which had ten thousand soldiers and horses. Its strength was not to be underestimated.
Duan Jianwei had only brought five hundred soldiers from Nanzhao. Moreover, they were scattered and were not worth mentioning. Among the soldiers under Zhao Changkong's command, only his trusted aide, Bai Yong, and his brother, Zhao Changtian, could be trusted. Both of them were chiliarchs and had a total of two thousand soldiers. Moreover, these two thousand soldiers were not elites. They were just ordinary soldiers stationed in the outskirts of Guichang City. Among them, one thousand five hundred were recently recruited from the starving people. There were only five hundred veterans who could fight, and their strength was not considered strong.
On the other hand, Li Dahu, Xia Zi, and Pang Gui were all bandit leaders. They had more men under their control, but they only had about five thousand men. Moreover, most of them were new bandits. They were all poor people who came to the mountains to join them. Their fighting ability and will to fight were not very good.
Therefore, even if the three forces were to join forces, they would not have much strength. It was not enough to fight against the imperial court of Dongnu Province. Therefore, they needed to accumulate more strength.
"Mr. Duan, the strength we have now is too weak. We need to continue to increase our strength."
Zhao Changkong said.
Duan Jianwei frowned and said, "My brother, Duan Jianhan, hasn't sent back any news for a long time. According to the previous agreement, if he hasn't sent back any news for so long, it means that something has happened to him. With my brother's ability, it must be a very powerful person who can make something happen to him. Before my brother was killed, the last news he sent back confirmed the arrival of the Tang dynasty's troops. Moreover, they are the elite troops from the capital. According to the time, the Tang dynasty's troops should have arrived at the border of Dongnu Province. I'm very anxious!"
Duan Jianqi, who was behind him, added, "My brother's meaning is very clear. If we don't act now, when the Tang dynasty's troops arrive, we may not have another chance. We can't keep delaying. Delaying won't solve any problems."
After saying that, he looked at the bandit leaders with the most men.
Li Dahu was the first to explode. He said, "Why are you looking at me? Do you think I want to delay? We only have those goods and don't have enough food. Our brothers are half-starved. It's okay to let them rob the rich, but to let them attack Yuncheng? Isn't that a joke? "
The blind man said, "Isn't that right? Our brothers never had a full meal. Last time, when we attacked a rich family, we were hoping to get more food. But in the end, the other party was so anxious that they burned all the food that was worth tens of thousands of denarii. I was so angry! Alas! "
Pang Gui sneered and looked at Duan Jianwei. He said, "Since ancient times, the emperor has never starved his soldiers. How can we work without food? Our brothers won't agree! "
Obviously, although they were already in an alliance, they didn't trust each other. They didn't have the same demands for benefits. It was more like an alliance formed for benefits.
This was especially true for the bandits, who valued benefits the most. If they weren't given enough benefits, they wouldn't be obedient. Moreover, Duan Jianwei didn't bring too many resources, and Zhao Changan wasn't particularly wealthy either. The only thing he could give the bandits was a promise, and whether a promise could be fulfilled or not, who could say for sure? If the promise couldn't be fulfilled, then wouldn't they be caught in the dark? The bandits weren't fools. How could they easily believe in some bullshit promise?
Duan Jianwei frowned. He was very clear that these bandits were too difficult to deal with. These guys only cared about benefits. If they didn't give them benefits, then they wouldn't acknowledge anyone. No matter how many promises were given, it was useless. How could he afford to give them such a large amount of food? He simply couldn't get it.
Zhao Changtian looked at the bandit leaders and suddenly said, "It's easy to lack food. Gui Chang City has many granaries with plenty of food. As long as we attack Gui Chang City, won't we have food?"
The blind man angrily said, "Although I'm blind in one eye, my heart isn't blind. There is food in the city, but those ten thousand soldiers aren't to be trifled with. We brothers won't throw away our lives in vain. We can't fight a hopeless battle."
Zhao Changtian said, "Leaders, don't be so agitated. I haven't finished speaking. If we attack directly, of course, we have no chance of winning. However, if we have a spy, then the situation will be very different. This one is familiar with the centurion guarding the west gate. As long as we can successfully instigate this person and make him open the gate at night, we can secretly enter Gui Chang City. The guards in the city won't be able to react in time and will be killed in their sleep. "
"A good plan, a good plan! Brother Changtian, are you confident? "
Duan Jianqi asked.
Zhao Changtian smiled and said, "At least ninety percent. These few days, when I was drinking and chatting with him, I found that he was very dissatisfied with the Queen. As such, as long as we lure him with some benefits, we can convince this person to work for us. This way, taking Gui Chang City will be as easy as flipping my hand. At that time, all the food will be ours."
The bandits seemed to be tempted.
Zhao Dahu said, "This plan is not bad. However, what if he cheats? If that's the case, then we will all die in there. "
Zhao Changtian said, "That's not a problem. As long as he agrees to cooperate, we can send some of our people to infiltrate his troops and monitor his every move. As long as we control the gate, he won't be able to play any tricks."
"Hahaha! Brother Changtian, good plan! I think it will work. It will definitely work. "
Duan Jianwei said with a smile. He looked at the bandit leaders and said, "What do the three leaders think?"
Li Dahu was the first to speak, "No problem. I will send five people in."
"Same for us."
Blind and Pang Gui both agreed to this plan.
Duan Jianqi said, "I will also send five of my trusted subordinates. All of us will send five people. This way, that centurion can forget about playing any tricks."
After discussing the details, everyone split up and went to prepare. Zhao Changkong went to the West Gate and prepared to instigate the centurion there. As long as this centurion was taken care of, they felt that their plan would succeed.
At the border of Dongnu Province, Ang Lee, accompanied by Zhao Wu, inspected the warehouse at the border of Dongnu Province. At this time, there were still a thousand kilos of grain in the warehouse. As the five hundred soldiers in charge of transporting the grain had not returned, the grain could only be stored in the warehouse for now. However, the warehouse was sturdy enough. There was no need to worry about it getting damp or being robbed by bandits. The bandits in the vicinity had not formed a large scale yet. Although there were quite a number of bandits, each group was relatively small. Furthermore, they were all elite soldiers. The five hundred of them were definitely more powerful than the three thousand bandits. Therefore, no bandits dared to come here and steal the grain.
"Not bad, not bad. The building is well built. All the grain is packed in bags. This way, the moisture resistance is better. It is also very convenient to transport. Good, this is really good."
Li An took a look around the warehouse, and he was impressed by what he saw. Even though it was still lacking compared to the granaries of Great Tang, it was still a temporary warehouse. It was already impressive that it was able to achieve this much.
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