The first day of the siege.

The sound of roosters crowing, and a long line was lined up outside the porridge shed on Kucha Street.

In the team, the singer and dancer wrapped themselves in a thick camel blanket and only exposed their cheeks. The servant, the turtle man, and the guest stood in the team, holding a ceramic bowl in his hands, waiting for the team to move forward little by little.

The soldiers of the border army were not wearing armor, wrapped in gray headscarves, and carried long iron spoons to serve the porridge to the people in line.

They all came back from the porridge shed with a bowl, lifted the cotton curtain, ran up the second floor on the wooden stairs, and knocked on Li Xuan's door.

Li Xuan in the room put on her clothes and opened the door, wonderingly: "Why are you anxious and panic?"

Qi Jingjing handed the pottery bowl to Li Xuan and said angrily: "Brother-in-law, look, the porridge made by Bian Jun is actually as rare as this bird's look. A bowl of only a dozen corns are full. Drinking this thing is like drinking water.

What's the difference?"

Li Xuan looked down at the pottery bowl, and his heart suddenly sank, but he saw that the porridge in the bowl was clear and light, as if it was water for a pot of water.

He held the pottery bowl and hurried out before he could get dressed.

He took him seriously and said, "Brother-in-law, where are you going?"

Li Xuan grabbed his collar and lowered his voice and said, "Let me take someone to buy food later. At all costs, you have to buy food back, even if you have a tael of silver per pound!"

Qi Zhenzhe was stunned: "One or two per pound? This is a hundred times more! Brother-in-law, if we are at this price, the money we bring will not be able to buy much grain, and it will not be enough for Yulin Jun to eat!"

Li Xuan said angrily: "All grain merchants were conscripted by border troops, and those merchants didn't even have the opportunity to hoard goods. Now that the border troops are giving porridge like this, everyone in Guyuan cannot eat, and it is a blessing that they can still buy food!

You and I will be hungry. Now if you let Your Highness go hungry with you, you and I will apologize for death! Spend all the money and save your Highness first!"

He pushed it hard and ran to the third floor, knocking on the door of the prince's house.

The prince opened the door: "Mr. Li, what's wrong?"

Li Xuan said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, look at this porridge. I am afraid that someone will change his son to eat in half a month. If Jingchao army besieged the city for a month... the consequences are unimaginable."

The prince looked at the porridge in his hand and frowned: "Select the soldiers of the Yulin Army to find food quickly. If anyone can buy ten stones of grain, he will reward 100 taels of silver after returning to Beijing. If anyone can buy one hundred stones of grain.

, After returning to Beijing, you will be promoted to the next level! In addition, when you call Lord Chen and the others up, we must immediately discuss new countermeasures!"

Li Xuanfeng left in a hurry.

The prince paced around the room, wondering how to solve the food problem, and wondering who could solve the problem around him.

Chen Liqin? Chen Liqin is not good. This Lord Chen still puts his hopes on the border army and only knows how to do things step by step. He does not have the ability to "extraordinary" in times of crisis.

Li Xuan and Li Xuan are not good either. This great official has the ability to fight a hundred in chaos, but he is not a "capable official".

Consider it together? It’s just a playboy who comes to Qi’s family. He wants to give face to the Qi family on weekdays, but he cannot entrust the important tasks at the moment.

Chen Ji...

The prince thought for a long time, and finally walked to the next door and knocked on the door.

Dongdongdongdongdong.

Dongdongdongdongdong.

The prince knocked for a long time, but no one opened the door.

At this time, Li Xuan led Chen Liqin, Chen Wenzong, and went upstairs together. The prince asked in confusion: "Where did Chen Ji go?"

Chen Wenzong bowed and replied, "Reported to the prince, before the chicken cried, I saw my third brother and the Zhang family's son and Miss Zhang go out together. I asked him where he was going, and he said he would go to get the porridge."

Qi Jingju was stunned for a moment: "I went to get the porridge too, but I didn't see him."

After saying that, he murmured in a low voice: "Will this kid run away alone when we are out of food?"

Everyone looked at each other, and the prince said slowly: "Let's not care about the history for now. Please come into the house to discuss countermeasures."

...

...

Taohuaifang, Zhangji grain and oil shops are all in a mess.

All the shelves in the house were pushed to the ground by the border troops who collected grain last night. Even the earthen walls and the ground were smashed into several holes, and baskets were scattered everywhere.

I think yesterday when Bianjun saw the knock on the door, no one answered, so he flipped in from the courtyard wall and searched. The salt tanks, rapeseed oil, flour, sesame, mung beans, vinegar, and all the food they could eat were taken away, even the roof was dry.

I didn't let go of the dried radish.

At this time, Zhang Zheng, Zhang Xia and Xiaoman were surrounding a stone well, waiting silently.

After a stick of incense, Chen Ji climbed out on the hemp rope at the wellhead. Zhang Zheng stepped forward and stretched out his hand and pulled him up.

Chen Ji slapped the dust on his body and whispered: "The grain is still there. The cellar is very large, and the wall is built with lime inside. There is no need to worry about the grain being damp for a short time. There is corn, corn, rice, and some air-dried bacon and

The pickled vegetables are enough for us to eat.”

After saying that, he took off the cloth bag on his back and handed it to Xiaoman: "Pack it, this is our food ration for the past few days. You can't make a fire here to cook, so as not to attract suspicion from the neighbors."

Nowadays, selling private salt is prohibited. If you catch it, you will be exiled for three thousand miles to serve labor. The small salt vendor will pickle the private salt into meat and vegetables and air-dried it for sale, which is even more hidden. With these things, there is no shortage of salt.

.

Chen Ji sighed: "Along the way, I saw that the porridge in the porridge shed was so thin. It's okay now. In another ten days and half a month, many people will probably starve to death."

Xiaoman hugged the cloth bag tightly in his arms: "Young Master, don't give all the food out of kindness. These two thousand stones of grain seem to be a lot, but if you really send it out, you can't save the people in the whole city."

Chen Ji said helplessly: "Don't worry, you can't count on this little food if you really want to save people. Don't hold the cloth bag so tightly, otherwise everyone else will know there are treasures inside."

Zhang Zheng sat on the edge of the wellhead and sighed: "The Yulin Army and the Prince are also very happy. They could sleep last night. If I were Li Xuan, I would have gone to buy food from house to house. However,

Chen Ji, if you want to get close to the prince, now is the best time.”

Chen Ji's eyes were not wafty: "Let them hungry for a while before talking about it."

Dongdongdongdongdongdong. There is a sound of pounding the door.

The four of them looked at the tightly closed door of the grain and oil shop at the same time, and shouts came from outside: "Shop? Shop! Is there any food in the store?"

Zhang Xia whispered: "It's a sound of deliberation. They are here to buy food."

After a while, he thought that no one responded, so he immediately knocked on the door of the shop next door.

But I heard the guy next door say impatiently: "It's gone. I was searched by the border army last night. I want to buy food and go somewhere else. Don't bother us!"

Qi Jingju said angrily: "If there is no, there is nothing. You can't speak well? Believe it or not, man smash your shop!"

As he spoke, his voice gradually drifted away, as if he had been dragged away by other Yulin soldiers.

In the backyard of the grain and oil shop, Zhang Zheng said disdainfully by the well: "As they buy this way, the daylily is cold. What should I do now is to go to neighbors and spend a lot of money to buy the remaining grain at home, more or less

If you can buy some hidden places, such as grain shops, it has long been plundered by the border troops!"

Xiaoman glanced at him sideways: "Young Master Zhang likes to set off the horse and hinder the fire. I haven't seen you mention buying food before."

Zhang Zheng said happily: "Isn't Xiaoman here? How can I do it?"

Xiaoman was slightly stunned. Zhang Zheng suddenly stopped arguing with him, but instead flattered him, and she was still a little uncomfortable.

Chen Ji patted the white lime powder stained on his clothes: "Let's go, don't care about them."

Several people quietly left the grain and oil shop before dawn.

Thousands of houses along the way were depressed, with bun shops, breakfast shops, and noodle stalls all fitting the door panels. Outside the simple porridge sheds, there were long queues, and the people in the queue seemed to have been sucked away by the ghosts.

lethargy.

The vendors still came out to set up stalls, but no one cared about the stalls.

At this moment, two people passed by them.

After walking a few steps, Zhang Xia suddenly turned around and looked back: "Is from Luocheng?"

Chen Ji frowned and looked at Zhang Xia's gaze. He saw only two strong men wearing single clothes in winter, strideing rapidly.

Zhang Zheng thought for a while: "Are you a businessman or bodyguard who came from Luocheng to do business?"

Zhang Xia closed her eyes and recalled: "Not sure. The last time I saw him was at the Shangyuan Festival Lantern Festival in Luocheng last year. Next to Wenfeng Tower, he was holding a little girl in his arms. The little girl tied two up to the sky with a red head rope.

He holds a colorful windmill in his hand..."

"The other, I have seen him twice, both in Dongshi. The first time, he came out of the satin shop and I was about to enter; the second time, I rode the jujube, and he drove the Liu family's carriage to face him.

And pass..."

Satin, Shangyuan Festival, carriage, Liu family.

Chen Ji always felt something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong for a moment.

Zhang Zheng said curiously: "It may be a businessman who is here to do business? Luocheng is the first stop for silk transfer to the Western Regions. Many merchants stay there and then go to Taiyuan Prefecture."

"No," Chen Ji frowned: "He didn't hold a bowl in his hand. If he went out so early and didn't get the porridge, there must be something more important."

Chen Ji raised his heel and wanted to find out the truth. He subconsciously felt that there was an amazing secret hidden in it.

However, just after turning a corner of the street, Chen Ji suddenly turned around and led Zhang Zheng and others into the Yashang Shop, which had just removed the door panel on the street.

Diagonally opposite the shop, a middle-aged man with scarred face passed by the two men, and seemed to have stuffed something into the palms of the two men.

Zhang Xia turned around and saw that the scarred middle-aged man was Lao Wu, the border general who was suspected of poisoning the 34-member Chen family!

Chen Ji was inexplicably shocked. What is the connection between the 34-member Chen family, the side generals of the border army, and the man from Luocheng?

No, right, there are also the cotton gloves given to the Bian Army by King Jing, and the soldiers of the border army who wanted to avenge King Jing... Guyuan seemed like a huge maze, and this complex maze had only one exit.

In the huge Guyuan City, there are very few people who can reach that exit alive.

He whispered: "You bring the food back first. I will follow Lao Wu to see where he is going. Lao Wu may be the key to maintaining the bonds of all parties and solving the mystery."

After saying that, Chen Ji turned around and went out.

When he passed by the stall outside the door, he picked up a hat and put it on his head. The stall owner was about to shout, but he saw twenty copper coins falling on the stall.
Chapter completed!