Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

After reading the letter from Jia Ping, Li Xu knew that this matter could not be delayed, so he immediately wrote several letters and asked them to send them to Yangzhou Mansion separately. Apart from Wan Chunlin, he also sent them to Qiao An and other people he had met. The officials also sent a letter, obviously worried that Wan Chunlin would violate his letter.

However, the speed of sending letters was far behind that of the pirates. On the evening of the second day, [-] pirates rushed into a small town along the coast of Yuhang County, killing all the officials and servants in the yamen. The speed swept through the entire town.

For a while, people were in panic, but it was too late to escape. These pirates searched from house to house, looting food when they saw it, and they would not let it go if they saw gold and silver. Many beautiful girls' homes were ravaged. The family dared to resist in the slightest, but they were all chopped down by the pirates.

The peaceful town in the past was ablaze with flames and wailing everywhere, like a purgatory.

Wu Yun did not stop his subordinates from doing all kinds of outrageous things. He had just lost two battles and urgently needed to boost his morale. Food, money, and women were the best comforts. This town was originally here to reward everyone.

In the past, the old island was in charge, and he would leave some leeway in doing things. Now that he is leading the army, he can come here as he wants. He even feels that if the old island owner is not timid, he has never dared to let people go ashore. , Their Shelter Island has long been rich beyond compare.

Qiao An only received the news in the afternoon of the next day. The town captured by the pirates belonged to Yuhang. After hearing the news, he was furious, and immediately organized a rescue team of 3000 people to rush to find the pirates. And send people to Yangzhou Mansion to move rescue soldiers as soon as possible.

"My lord, think twice, how can a mere 3000 people beat 3 people, you are going to die!" The master hugged his thigh and begged: "This matter needs to be discussed in the long run, and the pirates are in Yuhang territory , the next target is the county seat, if you leave, what will the people in the city do?"

Qiao An calmed down. He knew that what he did would be useless and useless. Instead of saving people, he would take the lives of these 3000 people. The only feasible way was to wait for the county guard to send troops.

But it will take two days at the fastest to send the letter, and it will take at least five days for the county guard to discuss a plan, gather troops, and then send troops over. Five days is enough for [-] pirates to wipe out the entire Yuhang County.

How many people would die if there was an extra day of delay?Joan sat weakly, and helped the master up, "With the defense of our county, it must be impossible to defend. You immediately arrange people to notify each household and let them take shelter in the west or south. If you land from the east, you won't be able to go far for a while, and the county town is a big target, so let them stay away."

"My lord... what about you?"

Qiao An glanced at him, and said expressionlessly: "I am the magistrate of Yuhang County, so naturally I have to guard the county government, and it is impossible for all the people in the city to escape. Whether it is life or death, each has his own destiny." gone."

Time waits for no one, the master immediately arranged for the servants to beat the gongs and drums to notify the people. After Qiao An returned to the mansion, he arranged for the servants to escort his mother and wife to flee to the south. However, it is very strong, but there are only 1000 soldiers defending the city, which is outnumbered, and no matter how strong the city tower is, it will not work.

The county town was in chaos, and there were people rushing out of the city with their families and their families. When they saw Magistrate Qiao standing on the tower, they all stopped and knelt down, "My lord, do you really want to leave?"

Qiao An replied loudly: "The number of thieves exceeds [-]. Before the county guard's government supports it, this county will definitely not be able to defend it. The folks will leave for a while and tell everyone to come back after the thieves are driven away."

Home is the root, no one will leave their home easily, but they are not willing to leave if there is a chance of survival.

But the pirates are less than a hundred miles away from the county seat, and they can fight here in a day, and if they don't leave, it will be too late.

Qiao An appeased everyone and suggested that they hide in the deep mountains to the south. The chance of survival would definitely be higher than going to other towns.

He watched the villagers leave, and did not come down from the city tower until after sunset. He ordered the guards to close the gate and block it with huge stones. After doing this, he walked into the city and saw a group of young people standing quietly. on the street.

"You..." He didn't realize just now that most of the people who left were old, weak, women and children, and the number of young people was far less than the actual number.

"Master Qiao, we are also citizens of Yuhang, how can we completely abandon this county, not to mention that our home is here, if we don't even resist, it will further fuel the arrogance of the pirates."

"Besides, no one is guarding the city. The pirates will soon find out that this is an empty city. At that time, our family members will not be able to run far, and we will all be dead."

"That's right, our city walls in Yuhang are so strong, maybe we can defend them until reinforcements arrive, and then we can kill a few bandits and make meritorious service."

Everyone laughed while talking, but Joan's eyes were red, his nose was sore, and he almost didn't shed tears. He shouted loudly: "Okay! I will defend the city with you! We will surely get reinforcements!"

Qiao An asked people to count the number of people, and found that there were six to seven thousand young and middle-aged people left behind. He hurriedly opened the equipment warehouse and distributed weapons to them. They were all tattered old things, and in the end, half of the people could only guard the gate of the city with hatchets.

Qiao An went to see the granary. The weather was good all year last year, and there was a lot of food left in Yuhang. When Wan Jun came to ask for food, he refused to hand in the food on the grounds that there were thousands of refugees in the city without land and land. If there hadn't been any trouble with the pirates, Wan Junshou should have sent someone to question him.

He told those who stayed behind: "There is enough food in the granary for us to defend the city for a month, so you don't have to worry about starvation."

Everyone burst into cheers, as if victory was imminent, but Joan knew how difficult it would be to hold this city.

After Li Xu sent the letter, he still felt uneasy. If the pirates really went north, the people along the coast of Yangzhou Prefecture would suffer. The best way is to let Jia Ping lead the troops to continue chasing them, so that they can't take care of themselves. No time to go ashore.

He called the officials of the Sheriff's Mansion for a meeting, and told the pros and cons of sending troops to pursue him, and waited for these people to give him advice.

One person counts the short and the other counts the long, and three cobblers are worth one Zhuge Liang. Li Xu still believes in the wisdom of the ancients.

"My lord, you can't. It's a big taboo for government soldiers to cross the border. If the emperor mistakenly thinks you... that's bad."

"Besides, the Yangzhou government has always regarded Nanyue as a poor neighbor, and has always been too lazy to talk to us. If we send troops, Wan Jun may think that we want to seize power."

Li Xu nodded, with Wan Chunlin's urinating nature, it is really possible to do this kind of thing, this is the handle that came to his door, and he will definitely grasp it firmly.

He looked at Ji Hanyu. The other party knew what he wanted to hear. After thinking about it carefully, he said: "If we have to find a reasonable reason, we can only say that our soldiers are chasing pirates all the way. I am afraid that they will harm the people. Dare to withdraw our troops, and if the other party does not welcome us when the two soldiers hand over, we will withdraw sooner than later."

"But they still have a reason to sue us for crossing the border." Lei Ming reminded, he was very Buddha-nature, and felt that they were the people of Yangzhou Prefecture, so what did they have to do with Nanyue?Nanyue suffered from disasters every year, and Yangzhou government did not see a grain of grain.

"What does the lord mean?" Everyone looked at Li Xu, wanting to know what his position was, but they already had guesses in their minds, Mr. Ji is the confidant of the lord, and he opened his mouth, which must mean that the lord also wanted to send troops.

Li Xu frowned and said, "Everything should be based on the safety of the people. I am also a citizen of the Great Swallow, and I don't want to see anyone die."

Everyone sighed in their hearts: Yes, the prince is the son of the emperor, and his heart is for the people of the world, so how can he be so narrow-minded like them?

Lei Ming even praised bluntly: "The prince's heart is kind, and he cares about the people. We are narrow-minded. If you want to send troops, we will definitely support you with all your strength. At worst, you will just argue with the court afterwards. The original purpose is to chase down pirates."

Zhong Shuiqing was also sitting in the conference room, but he was engaged in agriculture and generally did not participate in such speeches. Hearing this, he couldn't help reminding them: "If the pirates don't come ashore, it's okay for our soldiers to chase after them, but if they It’s inappropriate for us to go ashore once we’ve already landed, unless we receive a distress letter from the other party.”

"Yuhang borders South Vietnam. Yuhang county magistrate Qiao Anben recognized him as a good young man. He asked the fleet to dock on the coast of Yuhang and sent someone to speak to Qiao An and write a distress letter in his name. Write more points to the Yangzhou Sheriff, and when the time comes, he will say that he has no choice but to ask for help from many sources. Unexpectedly, our navy just happens to be chasing the pirates nearby, so he is obliged to help."

Everyone summed it up, although there are many loopholes, but the explanation in the past, if they did not kill but did not rob, and did good deeds without asking for anything in return, a fool would reject their support.

After Jia Ping received the reply, he immediately sailed northward, proceeding cautiously along the way, and sent troops ashore to check for traces wherever he went, and finally he found the pirate's foothold.

But it was too late, the town occupied by pirates for three days was completely unrecognizable and devastated, and all the living people were detained in the square of the town, not given food or drink, and had to bear revenge from time to time, sneaking in and sneaking in again When the scouts who came out reported the situation back, everyone fell silent.

Jia Ping didn't act rashly. The soldiers under him didn't have much chance of winning against the pirates. Kou Xiao gave him the mission to slow down the pirates. If he acted rashly, the winner might be determined in one day.

"It's been three days since I sent a few people to look for Magistrate Qiao. They must know the news, and let the nearby people evacuate first." Jia Ping arranged in an orderly manner, "Also, send a few people to closely guard their movement, Stay far away so that they won't be discovered, as long as they don't intend to leave this small town, they will stay put."

Cao Ji asked anxiously: "What about the people in the town? Just leave it alone?"

"Of course we have to take care of it, but we have to think clearly about how to manage it. We have little chance of winning if we act rashly."

Cao Ji smiled wryly, and looked at the soldiers behind him, "No, one-on-one, we basically have no chance of winning."

Jia Ping patted him on the shoulder and said comfortingly: "Then let's think of a way without fighting. It's best to lure them out."

Cao Ji's heart moved, and he suggested, "It's difficult to kill them all, but it shouldn't be difficult to lure them out. Aren't their ships parked at the front? It is estimated that there are not many people left on board to watch the ships."

Jia Ping hurriedly sent someone to find out the situation. A lonely small wooden boat carried four people and slowly rowed forward. It would not attract attention at all in the sea. They approached the pirate fleet at night and stopped at the big boat. Down below, listening to the movement above, after staying for most of the night, I slowly rowed back.

"General, there really aren't many people left behind on their ship. I heard that they still work in shifts. There will be no more than 1000 people at a time."

Jia Ping looked at the sky. At this time, the dawn was dawning, and the east was already a little bright, but the sea was foggy, and God helped me. He ordered: "Go at full speed, and you must take down the opponent's boat before the sun rises."

Ming Qi followed Jia Ping all the time, they didn't have the face to go back if they didn't complete the task, and immediately asked after hearing this: "Do you want to bring more oil to burn the boat?"

Jia Ping glanced at him and shook his head: "Our purpose is to create turmoil and lure the pirates out. If the ship is destroyed, the pirates who have lost their way back will only become more furious, and the people in the town may be slaughtered .”

Ming Qi was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red, he didn't think too much, "It's because I didn't think carefully."

After Jia Ping knew their identities and missions, he treated these dead men very well. You must know that they came here without hesitation knowing that they were going to die. This is not something everyone can do.

"Although not all of the opponent's ships can be destroyed, it is still possible to burn a few of them. If you want, you can take someone to burn the ship."

Ming Qi touched his nose in embarrassment, "Actually... I don't have to burn the boat."

Jia Ping stared at his face and neck, wondering inwardly, which family cultivated a dead man with such a pure personality, can this kind of character really make him a good dead man?

"Take it as a favor. The people brought by Mr. Ming are the best among us, so please."

Ming Qi, who was called "Master Ming", was a little at a loss, and hurriedly agreed, emphasizing again and again: "The general can call me Ming Qi."

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There are no good-looking women in the town, but a group of men who have been waiting for a long time can even look at the first sow with good features. Almost all the girls of the right age in the town have suffered, and even some beasts will not let go of children under the age of ten.

Seeing that they couldn't escape, many women simply committed suicide. It's better to be a clean ghost than a dirty ghost.

Xiao Ruier is 13 years old this year, exactly the same age as Hua, and her looks are considered outstanding in the town. Originally, her parents had already taken care of her. If there is no accident, she will be married next year. Unexpectedly, the town will encounter The pirate ransacked, and before the thief rushed in, her parents stuffed him into a wooden barrel in the well, hung him in the mid-air of the well, then stuffed her with some water and food, and told her not to make a sound no matter what.

Xiao Rui'er has been huddled in the bucket for three days, the water and food have been eaten, and there are always all kinds of screams and obscene laughter outside, she can almost imagine what will happen after going out, and her parents and only brother Already dead, she heard it, many times she wanted to jump into the well below, and the family went underground to reunite, but she still dreamed of avenging her parents and seeing these beasts cut to pieces.

It was dawn, and the sun was shining from the top of her head, but she couldn't feel any warmth. She shrank for three days, and she felt that her legs were about to break, and she couldn't walk even if she went out.

Forget it, revenge in the next life, jump down now, maybe you can see your parents and elder brothers, a family reunion in the underworld is better than living alone, Xiao Rui'er's beliefs are getting more and more vague, and she wants to die It became more and more intense, she reached out and grabbed the rope on the bucket, trying to stand up, the well in the backyard of her house was very deep, and she would definitely drown if she jumped into it, but the well water was too cold in this season, so it must be very uncomfortable, But now her whole body is numb, and she probably can't feel the temperature anymore.

Just before she was about to jump, she suddenly heard the roar of pirates outside. Although she couldn't hear what happened, it was definitely not a good thing.

She thought to herself: reinforcements must have arrived!

She slowly squatted down again, quietly waiting for the life.