Mei Lang and Xiuxiu joined halfway, making the composition of Ren Zhen's young people more complicated.Those who are willing to follow him to transport grain can be roughly divided into these waves: first, it is the old people of Xiling, who think of their classmates, such as Zhao Xianglu, Zhuoer and Fu Junjie; secondly, there is a relationship of interest between the other party's family and Ren Zhen, such as Xue Qingwu, Xiahou Ba and Mu Qingmeng; The third category belongs to Ren Zhen's appreciation, and the other party happens to respect him, such as Fan Dongliu and Muye.Wu Daosi should have been among them, but unfortunately he was half-paralyzed and unable to fight around.The fourth category is the cronies installed by the imperial court.Dark and Mei Lang, respectively, are from Snow Shadow Guard and Langya Pavilion, and they hide the empress's surveillance.Of course, Xiao Tieyu's nephew Xiao Jinsan is also included.Finally, and most specially, is the lurking Southern Jin forces.Mo Ranyi is the beloved son of the eagle's head, and Xiuxiu belongs to the Maopu Hall, and the people from these two halls are accompanying him, and the situation has become very complicated.To sum up, these forces are intertwined and intricate, and if they are controlled by Ren Zhen, this journey is destined to be lively.After assembling at Tiger Hill, early the next morning, Ren Zhen led 30,000 tiger guards to escort grain and grass to set off.This time, the Southern Jin Dynasty invaded on a large scale, and the troops and horses of the three routes marched together, attacking from the direction of Tongcheng, Puyang and Changping.The soldiers came to block, and the three main forces of the Northern Tang Dynasty faced each other.Ren Zhen, as a transshipment envoy, was responsible for transporting grain and grass for the three routes, and needed to select a city in the rear to store grain.The location of the granary was important, it had to be easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it had to be close to the battlefields of all sides, so that supplies could be provided as quickly as possible.After much deliberation, he finally settled on the Black Nest.He has been familiar with the Three Kingdoms since he was a child, and although he knows that this place name is extremely unlucky, Wuchao is indeed the most suitable choice.He believes that since he has learned from the past, he is highly vigilant and will never relax and be paralyzed, and he will not repeat the mistakes of Yuan Shao back then.After leaving Tiger Hill, he followed the established route and escorted the grain and grass to the black nest.All the way through, all are plains, the terrain is flat and vast, and you can see it at a glance.With nowhere to hide, the enemy cannot set up an ambush and raid, and the army carrying grain can advance with confidence.The march was unimpeded, however, the pace was unusually slow, far exceeding Ren Zhen's expectations.The problem that appeared in front of him was neither the harassment of the enemy army nor the hindrance of the weather and terrain, but the fact that he had neglected one point.Since crossing the river, the enemy army of the Southern Jin Dynasty has been overwhelmed, conquering the city one after another, advancing all the way.Countless people in the Northern Tang Dynasty migrated north, dragging their families and families to escape the war.Originally, as long as they hid farther away and entered the fortified city with high ditches and deep fortifications, they could settle down first, at least for a short time, and they would not have to be displaced and exhausted.But the truth was so cruel that all parts of the rear closed the city gates, refusing to let the refugees into the city, keeping them out of the cold iron gates.On the one hand, local officials are worried that the movement of people will lead to riots in the city, and at the same time, they must beware of spies taking advantage of the chaos.On the other hand, there are also chain problems such as food shortages and epidemics that are closely related to refugees, and they are too busy to take care of themselves, so how can they have the heart to sympathize with others.As the war deepened, the number of refugees snowballed.From the frontline battlefield to the north, the mountains are all over the wilderness, everywhere.Especially in the plains, from a high place, countless black dots are moving, densely packed, and the scene is extremely tragic.They didn't know when the war would subside, and where was their home ahead, so they could only go on until the imperial court was willing to open the city to accept them.To Ren Zhen's disbelief, they had only traveled 500 miles south before they had already encountered refugees who had been exiled here along the river.This means that the poor people who are sleeping in the open in front of him, in order to stay away from the war, have walked thousands of miles on foot, although he has long known that the Northern Tang Dynasty is now full of mourning, and even refugees are gathered outside Chang'an City, but when he walked on the plain and witnessed this shocking tragedy, his heart was completely touched.He was keenly aware of what a terrible disaster war was.The more realistic problem is that these poor refugees, hindering their march.If it is just a simple way, it is better to say that the sky and the earth are big, and the plains are also big, and with the sharp blade, it is enough to make the refugees take the initiative to retreat and make way for them.Unfortunately, it's not just about arguing.In Ren Zhen's army, there are the most urgently needed materials and food for refugees.They fled in a hurry, with no food to speak of, and until now, they have been starving and destitute, and they have not eaten for many days, and many of them are on the verge of collapse.There are countless refugees who starved to death on the way.At this moment, they suddenly saw the white flowers and grains on the grain cart, just as they saw the light in the night, how not to make their eyes warm.Death by starvation is death, being killed by officers and soldiers is also death, anyway, the horizontal and vertical are the same fate, why not go out and fight, be a full ghost Since the encounter with the grain transport army, many refugees have come up with this kind of fanatical idea, especially adult croppers, relying on their strength, are eager to try.As soon as someone dared to take the lead, countless refugees immediately flocked to the front and began to desperately grab food.In various parts of the food brigade that stretched for dozens of miles, more than a dozen refugee riots broke out at the same time.At first, the generals in charge of the escort were so pitiful that they could not bear to fight each other, slaughtered the ragged refugees, and tried to persuade them.But everyone is hungry and crazy, and in the face of life and death, there is no reason to talk about it, and they can't stop it at all.The sergeants were very annoyed and drew their swords to slash and kill several of the leading men, hoping to set an example and deter the remaining refugees.However, they underestimated the power of hunger and misjudged the dire situation.The mountains are all over the country, and the most important thing is the refugees.As long as the sergeant kills, the refugees, as a vulnerable group, will instinctively huddle together and form a strong cohesion.Originally, they were the first to grab food, but after some people shed blood and died, the refugees were indignant, and they took it for granted that the officers and men were bullying the weak and bullying them.Soon, like a volcanic eruption, larger riots erupted.The refugees were outnumbered, and the Tiger Guard was severely tested.For the fledgling Ren Zhen, this is also a dilemma.After all, the refugee is innocent, and if he carries out a bloody killing, it can only temporarily crush the rioting crowd.But in this way, the people's hearts were lost, and he was really afraid that hundreds of thousands of refugees in front of him would rise up and rob his military rations on the spot.The consequences of impulsiveness are too serious for him to bear, so he can only compromise in the face of public opinion.However, the 600,000 stone military rations must not be lost.Otherwise, it will be the front-line soldiers who will starve, and then the army will be defeated like a mountain, and the Northern Tang Dynasty will be completely finished.In the final analysis, the reason for the current predicament was because of the shortage of food, and the Northern Tang Dynasty court only thought about calming the external troubles, and did not consider the relief of refugees at all, ignoring the lives of the people.As a result, on Ren Zhen's grain transportation road, sharp contradictions between the government and the people broke out.Whether the officials forced the people to rebel, or released grain for disaster relief, at this time, he needed to make a decision immediately and give the most correct order
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