Meng Xide's death became the key to the split of the Jiangnan Association. When he heard that his brother was killed by the Jiangnan Association, Meng Haigong was furious and immediately raised the banner of rebellion, proclaimed himself King of Wuyue, and personally led 30,000 troops to Yuhang County. He crossed Zhejiang River in two days. The three thousand defenders in Fuyang County surrendered. Meng Haigong then beheaded more than a dozen children of Jiangnan gentry in the surrendered army and used their heads to sacrifice to his brother.

This move shocked the gentry of Jiangnan and also made Jiangnan extremely panicked, but Chen Faxing had long expected this result. While Meng Haigong raised his army, he sent General Zhang Feng to lead 6,000 troops to Yuhang County and quickly entered the capital of Yuhang County. Qiantang County, which is today's Hangzhou, is the starting point of the Jiangnan Canal. There is a large granary of 500,000 stone and countless armor and weapons in the city, which is a must-fight for military strategists.

Meng Haigong immediately led a large army to Qiantang County and began to attack the county town. The fierce battle broke out in Qiantang County, and the civil strife in Jiangnan kicked off.

Civil strife in Jiangnan had just broken out, but the battle between the Xu army and the Wagang army in Xuzhou had been fought for more than half a year, with the 200,000 troops of the Wagang army against the 60,000 troops. Although the troops were at a disadvantage, the predecessor of the Xu army was the most elite Xiaoguo army in the Sui army. Most of them were children from Guanzhong, well-equipped and extremely strong in combat. They were not at all inferior to the 200,000 troops.

Both sides were red in their eyes, and no one could take a step back. Both sides fought more than fifty battles of all sizes on the lands of Pengcheng County and Xiapi County. The battle was extremely bloody, and neither side left no prisoners of war. All the wounded soldiers and prisoners of war were executed. The bloody battle like meat grinders over half a year caused extremely heavy losses to both sides. Less than 60,000 troops were left in the 60,000 troops, and only more than 70,000 troops were left in the 200,000 Wagang Army.

Not only were the soldiers killed and killed most of the soldiers, but it was also a catastrophe for hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in the two counties. The soldiers on both sides burned and killed **** and plundered food. Hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes and fled to the Jianghuai area to the south and Langya County and Donghai County to the north.

The biggest consequences of the people's escape gradually showed after the beginning of the summer. The originally wealthy Xiapi County and Pengcheng County became a thousand miles of Chiye, with empty cities and grain output sharply reduced by more than 80%. Only Yu Culture and the "capital city" they are located, that is, there is a little wheat field near Pengcheng County, and the land in the other counties is completely deserted.

But the point near Pengcheng is far from enough for Yu Culture and its own squandering, let alone military rations. Yu Culture and He had to order to kill horses and feed on war horses, but this still cannot solve the increasingly urgent problem of military rations and military sources.

In Yu Wenhua and the empty imperial study room, several important officials were debating the direction of robbing grain and recruiting troops. Yu Wen Zhiji said: "Your Majesty, it seems that only Qiao County can solve the urgent problem now. The war horses have been killed, and the military ration can only last for ten days. If you can't find food in ten days, there is no other way except to use people as food."

When Yu Wenhe heard that people were used as food, he couldn't help but feel excited. Due to excessive indulgence, Yu Wenhe's eyelids became very swollen and his eyes were red, just like a toad with albinism. His fierce and red eyes swept towards Yuanmin, "Where is the opinion of Yuan Prime Minister?"

"I agree with General Yuwen's suggestion!"

Yuanmin tried to find excuses to leave Yu Wenzhi several times, but they all failed. Yu Wenzhi had already become suspicious of him. If Yu Wenzhi had not tried his best to protect him, Yu Wenzhi would have killed him as soon as possible. Yuanmin then followed Yu Wenzhi and his horse's lead, and he would agree with whatever Yu Wenzhi said.

Yu Wenhui knew that it was useless to ask him, and his eyes fell on Cui Zhao, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and said in a hoarse voice: "Cui Aiqing is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and it is Cui Aiqing's duty to raise food. I want to hear Cui Aiqing's opinions."

Cui Zhao bowed and said, "Report to Your Majesty, I have sent someone to Qiao County to investigate. Last year, the disaster in the Central Plains was also severe. It has not recovered so far. It has 500 cigarettes of rice. Most of the people who fled to Jianghuai have not returned yet. Now there are more than 100,000 people from Xuzhou who fled to Qiao County. I think it is unlikely that they can get food from Qiao County, but there are still soldiers."

As soon as Cui Zhao finished speaking, Yuwen Zhiji next to him asked fiercely: "Since you said Qiao County is not good, where do you think you can?"

Cui Zhao said slowly: "In fact, there is a place with food, and it is a granary with at least 100,000 stones of grain in it, which is only a hundred miles away from Xiapi County."

Yuwen Zhiji's eyes lit up and then dimmed again. He snorted: "You mean the granary of Qushan County in Donghai County! That's Zhang Xuan's territory, it's useless to say it."

After a Huaihe River intercept, they were extremely afraid of Zhang Xuan. Although they knew that the main force of the Sui army was conquering Goguryeo, they never dared to cross the border, for fear of being retaliated by Zhang Xuan.

Cui Zhao spread his hands, which meant that he had no choice.

Yu Wenji did not say anything, paced back and forth in the room with his hands on his back. He turned around and asked Cui Zhao, "Does Qiao County really have no food?"

Cui Zhao nodded, "Weichen sent people to all counties in Qiao County, and there was no grain in the official warehouse. Along the way, we saw hungry people peeling the bark to feed. If we had food in our hands, we could quickly recruit tens of thousands of troops in Qiao County."

At this time, Yu Wenhua is like a gambler who is so angry that he will never give up as long as he has a hope of making a comeback. Although Zhang Xuan is terrible, under the threat of destruction, he no longer cares about the main force of the Sui army's cavalry in Jiangdu. He then said to Yuwen Zhi and Yuan Min: "The General and the Prime Minister of the Yuan Kingdom can lead the 6,000 troops stationed in Xiapi County to attack Donghai County and seize the granary of Qushan County. There must be no mistakes!"

Yuwen Zhiji and Yuanmin looked at each other, and the two were helpless and bowed to agree, "I obey the order!"

At night, the gate of Pengcheng County was closed. In order to prevent spies from entering the city, Yu Wenji was not allowed to open the city gate a few months ago. Only those holding special pass tokens could enter and exit the city.

Pengcheng County is also a county in Xuzhou that was not affected by military disasters, but the surrounding refugees were not allowed to enter the city to avoid war. Not only that, in order to reduce food consumption, Yu Wenhe also ordered half of the residents to be moved out of the county town, leaving only more than 30,000 residents in the city, only 30% of the previous ones. The city was very empty, and almost all the open spaces were planted with beans and vegetables.

But the harvest is not the same as the residents, all the food is searched, and strict grain rations are implemented in the city. The little bit of porridge that each resident gets every day is only enough to survive. Once he gets sick, it may very likely mean death.

Not only were the residents so hungry that they were as thin as firewood, but even Cui Zhao, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, also had a good face.

Cui Zhao was one of the few ministers who followed Yu Wenji. Although Yu Wenji named him the Prince of Boling and the Grand Tutor, Cui Zhao was not happy at all. On the contrary, he spent all day in panic every day.

Cui Zhao had long been removed from the position of head of the family by the Cui clan of Boling. Not only that, just two months ago, all the elders of the Cui clan agreed to expel Cui Zhao from the family in the ancestral hall, completely breaking the relationship between the Cui clan and the tyrant Yu Wenji. However, Cui Zhao did not know about this, but Cui Zhao himself knew that his fate would be very tragic, and it was a luxury to be able to live in seclusion for a lifetime.

Cui Zhao lived in a mansion covering an area of ​​ten acres, but he had only one follower who had been following him for twenty years. The mansion was empty and covered with dust. All his property was only dozens of books and a thin horse. That was his treatment as a prince, and he could ride a horse for transportation.

The study was very dim under the light as big as beans. Cui Zhao stood by the wall with his hands behind his back, squinting his eyes at a painting on the wall. The picture of fishing alone on the green mountains he painted was like dark green, the river water was like green, the slanting wind and drizzle, and the weeping willows were swaying. An old man wearing a hat and a straw raincoat sat on the big rock fishing with a leisurely expression. Cui Zhao looked blankly at the old man on the painting, which was himself. He longed for his second half of his life to be as calm as the old man in the painting.

But can he do it? Cui Zhao was the same as Yu Wenhua and would not let him go as long as he had a front-line opportunity. As the Minister of Revenue, he did not agree to Yu Wen Zhiji's plan to go to Qiao County to grab grain, but instead suggested Yu Wenhua and grab the big granary of Donghai County. This was his last gambling in life.

Cui Zhao turned around, picked up the token of the city exit on the table and handed it to his entourage and said, "I'll give you a document. You pretended to go to Xia Pi to work, but you were actually going to Huaihe River. There should be Sui army stationed there. Tell them that Yu Wenhua and have decided to send 6,000 troops to attack Donghai County, and ride my horse and leave immediately."
Chapter completed!