Chapter 2365 People in the city


    The gates of the city are open!


    The drums of war outside Nanzheng City resounded.


    After discovering the abnormality at the city gate, Zhang Liao meant to wait and take a look because the inside and outside of the city couldn’t communicate effectively, while Wei Yan thought he could give it a try...


    Zhu Ling?


    Zhu Ling kept his duty and led the cavalry to guard and cruise around the periphery of Nanzheng.


    Wei Yan is not a crazy person who wants to insert needles whenever he sees a seam, and needs to study hard when he is diligent. He just discovered that Zhang''s soldiers are actually not strong in fighting at this stage in Hanzhong, nor do they have tenacious fighting spirit. It might be a trap, but it doesn''t hurt to try it out first.


    The two of them just had a little argument, and then they quickly agreed. Wei Yan led a small number of soldiers and charged at the city gate, while Zhang Liao led another group of people to attack the city wall and acted as a cover for Wei Yan.


    The first one to move out was naturally Zhang Liao as a cover, with a scale of about 2,000, pushing dozens of bridges and ladders, and the momentum was huge. Wei Yan set off one step at a time, and rushed towards the city gate shrouded in smoke and dust with his vigorous pawns.


    Wei Yan''s vanguard column passed the dilapidated stone bridge smoothly, and crashed into the dark smoke and dust. Zhang''s soldiers were shouting in a panic on the city wall. It seemed that a few arrows had been shot down, but it was almost useless. .


    There are some corpses lying under the opened city gate, and several soldiers of the Zhang family are struggling to close the opened city gate...


    Zhang Liao and Wei Yan also once asked the craftsmen in the engineering camp if they could use a catapult to directly smash through the city gate or something, but in fact, after trying a few times, they all gave up this unrealistic idea.


    Whether the stone bombs or kerosene bombs thrown by the catapult can only determine a rough range, of course there is no problem with a target as large as the city wall, but there is a probability of accurately hitting the city gate, but It is indeed too wasteful to let the catapult bet on this probability.


    With this skill, so many times, the city wall is smashed, so is it still necessary to smash the city gate?


    So the city gate of Nanzheng is generally relatively complete, but now I don’t know why it was suddenly opened...


    The team led by Wei Yan was the first to rush to the city gate, and hacked to death a soldier of the Zhang family who was trying to close the city gate. In the doorway.


    As soon as the first few soldiers rushed out of the doorway, sharp weapons came oncoming.


    One of Wei Yan''s soldiers was accidentally stabbed in the vitals and fell to the ground to die. Several other soldiers used their blades or shields to block and counterattack. Immediately, several Zhang''s soldiers in the Wengcheng also fell down. Some soldiers from Zhang''s family filled in from the city, and the two sides fought in the small space inside the urn city.


    The team looked around, quickly judged the situation, and immediately dispatched soldiers to join the battle. The subsequent hussars rushed in. Although Zhang''s soldiers occupied a certain position, they could not withstand the fierce attack of the vigorous hussars. As Zhang''s soldiers continued to be injured and died, the defense in the urn city The system also gradually collapsed and collapsed.


    In the end, the first hussar **** broke through the second city gate, and just rushed out, facing the attack of seven or eight Zhang''s pawns lined up, after parrying for a while, he was killed, but he However, his death bought time for the follow-up hussars. When more hussars rushed out of the second city gate, Zhang''s soldiers who were defending at the city gate on the street were quickly forced to retreat.


    Then more hussars rushed in, and Wei Yan also followed among these soldiers and rushed out of the second city gate.


    Unable to resist, the soldiers of the Zhang family turned their heads and ran away, and even the line of Zhang''s soldiers on the other side collapsed, revealing a group of people who were besieged...


    Li Yuan, Li Cong and the others didn''t have enough armor, and at the same time, not all the servants were strong and strong. They got the upper hand during the surprise attack, but they suffered a bit in the subsequent hand-to-hand combat and were surrounded. If Wei Yan hadn''t led If the soldiers arrive, maybe Li Yuan and Li Cong will encounter certain dangers.


    Li Yuan also stayed in Hanzhong for a while before. He had a little impression of Wei Yan, and saw Wei Yan''s recognition flag. After a little thought, he recognized him. He quickly took out his own seal and stepped forward to show his identity.


    At this time, the smoke has slowly dissipated.


    Soon another group of Zhang''s soldiers rushed out from the street, and there were quite a few of them. Obviously, when the city gate was in chaos before, I don''t know who went to the city to summon it, but it was only now that they rushed to the scene.


    Wei Yan''s subordinates also listed the formation. Seeing these Zhang''s soldiers rushing in disorderly, the leader in the front shouted something loudly, and stretched out five or six crossbows from the gaps in the formation.


    Zhang''s soldiers didn''t know whether they hadn''t found it, or they couldn''t stop their feet, and they still ran forward.


    When these Zhang''s soldiers had approached a distance of thirty or forty steps, the team leader gave an order, and the infantry crossbow was fired, and five or six crossbow bolts whizzed into the Zhang''s soldiers. Shi fell to the ground almost at the same time, rolling and screaming on the ground.


    On the one hand, the soldiers of the Zhang family who rushed from behind wanted to avoid the wounded soldiers rolling on the ground. Howled in fright, the queue broke down.


    The pawns who fired the crossbow arrows bowed back, and a row of pawns who had already mounted the crossbow bolted in behind added them in, and another round of lasing shot immediately caused several Zhang''s pawns to fall down again, and then the rest Zhang''s soldiers uttered a cry, broke up on the spot and fled to the alleys on both sides...


    The loss of the Wengcheng caused Zhang''s soldiers to lose the defensive support of the city wall. Zhang Liao outside the city also quickly adjusted the direction of attack.


    Under the tide-like attack of the hussars, Zhang''s soldiers above and below the city, as well as the civilian husbands who were temporarily captured, fled into the streets and alleys of the city to avoid the damage of knives, guns and crossbows. As Wei Yan occupied a vast area at the gate of the city with heavy armor, more and more hussars poured into Nanzheng City, and Zhang''s defeat became a foregone conclusion.


    Wei Yan probably still has some impressions of the layout of Nanzheng city, and when he arrived at the cross street, he wanted to lead people straight to Nanzheng''s government office, but was stopped by Li Yuan.


    『General! General Shu! Thief Zhang is not in the government office! Not there! Li Yuan pointed in another direction, "The old thief is hiding in his house!" Not in the government office! 』


    "what? 』Wei Yan was stunned, almost unable to believe it, but after thinking about it, he felt that this was normal, and immediately let Li Yuan lead the way, and went straight to Zhang''s residence.


    Turn north at the intersection of the street, and then turn east. On both sides of the street, there are some soldiers of the Zhang family kneeling down, and some strong men who were captured by the Zhang family before, crying loudly and begging for mercy.


    As long as these people don''t have weapons in their hands and don''t resist, Wei Yan and the soldiers around him won''t pay attention to them. There are a few fools who are still holding their weapons when begging for mercy, or standing around blankly and running around. The one who hit it was hacked and killed by the soldiers, and he really became a fool.


    Wei Yan originally thought that it would take some effort to attack Zhang''s mansion, and even on the way to Zhang''s mansion, he even asked his soldiers to go down and search for some wooden beams or wooden ladders for knocking on the door, but he What he didn''t expect was that when he arrived near Zhang''s mansion, he found that the door of Zhang''s mansion was wide open...


    Near the gate of the mansion, there are many corpses, and there are also many messy items scattered on the ground.


    Several soldiers who didn’t know if they were fleeing soldiers, or refugees from the city, were lying on the corpses, searching for belongings, picking at their clothes, and when they saw Wei Yan and others coming, they fled like wild dogs...


    The flagpole in front of Zhang’s mansion was broken, and Zhang’s flag was in tatters and lay on the ground.


    『…』Wei Yan glanced over, without saying a word, and waved the soldiers to come in to check.


    As soon as he entered the door and stepped into the front yard, there was a chirping sound.


    Wei Yan lowered his head, and saw that the ground was covered with half-frozen blood.


    Looking up again, there are corpses all over the place.


    Judging from the clothes and clothing, most of these corpses are servants and servants of the Zhang family...


    『Old thief... What is this old thief doing? Li Yuan stood on one side, holding a saber in his hand, also a little dazed, "Could it be that he escaped?" 』


    Wei Yan frowned slightly, and waved his hand to make the soldiers continue to move inward.


    The Zhang Mansion is not too small. After passing through the front yard and entering the atrium, there are more corpses and blood. Even in the side rooms on both sides, there are obviously blood flowing out along the cracks in the door...


    The soldier kept walking, walked through the corridor, and went straight into the backyard.


    The sound of crying and howling came out...


    『Father...I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die...Mom, save me, save me...』


    『I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die...』


    『Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...''


    Zhang was sitting in the hall of the backyard, holding a long sword in his hand, his face was ashen. After hearing the movement, he raised his head suddenly and looked at Wei Yan who came in from the gate of the backyard.


    In front of Zhang Ze, several women and some young people fell to their knees, and beside these women and young children were some guards whose bodies were almost stained with blood.


    Seeing Wei Yan and others walking into the backyard, a young half-grown child''s eyes moved, and without knowing what to think, he broke free from the guard''s hand and was about to run out of the hall, but was caught by Zhang Ze. He took a step forward, and directly pierced the sword from the back to the chest!


    "My child..." A woman rushed forward and was also assassinated by Zhang Ze.


    Zhang Ze trembled, tears streaming down his face, he put the long sword around his neck, "Move...do it! Let''s do it..."


    Wei stretched his hand forward and raised it halfway, but in the end he still didn''t issue a stop order.


    Guard Zhang Ze looked left and right, and finally heeded Zhang Ze''s order, raised his blood-stained saber at these women and children, and then dropped it...


    Zhang Ze stared at Wei Yan, his beard stained with blood, tears, and snot seemed to move, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn''t say anything, he just gritted his teeth and strangled hard!


    『Master! 』


    The few surviving guards of Zhang Ze let out a mournful cry, then looked at each other, or killed themselves, or slashed and killed each other. In the blink of an eye, all the people in the backyard hall died!


    『…』Wei Yan walked up to Zhang Ze, lowered his head slightly, and looked at Zhang Ze.


    Zhang Ze cut his throat, and blood spurted out from the wound. His eyes like dead fish seemed to be looking at Wei Yan, or at the lintel of his own house, or looking at the sky through the lintel. …


    The chaotic and noisy voices in the city came indistinctly.


    There was a dead silence in Zhang''s mansion.


    Inside and outside the hall are like two worlds.


    Wei Yan turned around, walked out, and then stood at the entrance of the hall.


    "Why bother…"


    …_(:з」∠)_…


    After hearing about Zhang Ze''s suicide, Nanzheng gave up resistance almost immediately.


    Zhang Liao and others entered Nanzheng and took over Nanzheng''s city defense.


    Ordinary people are either surviving after the catastrophe or mourning endlessly, packing up the wreckage of their homes in the city, but in the Nanzheng government office, the sons and daughters of the gentry in Nanzheng have gathered.


    Although Zhang Liao and Wei Yan have not yet arrived, the voices condemning Zhang Ze outside the hall are louder and louder than ever!


    『Old thief Zhang Ze, he deserves his death! 』


    An old man''s beard was trembling, he was slamming his crutches hard, and his face was full of anger, which made people worry that he might faint to death due to too much emotion in the next moment.


    Behind the inner screen in the hall, Li Cong stood behind Zhang Liao and Wei Yan, and said in a low voice, "This person''s surname is Jing Mingke...is married to the Zhang family, and his granddaughter is the wife of Zhang Zecongzi..."


    『The soldiers of the hussars are majestic and upright, and they are as powerful as Zhang Thief can resist...』 Another middle-aged man said loudly, gesticulating, "A certain ten months ago, it was asserted that the hussars would win! Thief Zhang must be defeated! 』


    Li Cong continued in a low voice: "This person is Chen''s name Bin, and at the beginning of the month he sent a thousand shi of grain and grass to Zhang Thief, who greeted him at the main gate of the mansion, and went hand in hand..."


    『The Thief Zhang is corrupt, coercing Zhongliang, poisoning the common people...』


    『This person is named Qing of the Lin family. At the beginning of Zhang Thief’s rebellion, he dedicated 500 soldiers and 50 armor to congratulate him...』


    『The grace of hussars is like a mountain like a mountain, like a river like a sea...』


    『This person is Cheng’s name En, and he once said that Zhang Thief is "destined to return"...』


    『…』


    The voices outside the hall were still rising for a while, but Wei Yan was already a little impatient, and didn''t even bother to cover up a little bit, so he snorted coldly, then cupped his hands at Zhang Liao, "Wen Yuan, here is still Come on...I...I''m worried that I won''t be able to control it, so I will kill all these silverfish in one go...』


    After finishing speaking, Wei Yan turned around and left.


    Zhang Liao froze for a moment, but could only shake his head and smile wryly, then turned out of the screen and walked to the front hall.


    『Ah... see General! 』


    『The general rescued the people of Nanzheng from fire and water...』


    『General…』


    A noisy voice came from behind, Wei Yan frowned tightly, paused for a moment, then continued to move forward, exiting the mansion from the corner gate.


    The order in the city has been gradually restored. On the street, some ordinary people started to get busy, just like tidying up farmland, they started to tidy up these messy and dirty things in Nanzheng City, or they started to get in the way.


    Wei Yan walked slowly with the guards, as if he was patrolling the city, and also seemed to be relaxing, but for some reason, the more he walked, the more he felt blocked.


    Nanzheng City is the same as most cities in the Han Dynasty. There are Lifang where high-ranking officials live, and there are shacks where poor people live. There are children who wear brocade robes and scarves, and there are poor people who don''t even have trousers.


    Those who are responsible for cleaning up the mess in the city and transporting the corpses are of course not the children in brocade robes, but these ragged poor people.


    The saying here that the poor have no pants is not a metaphor, but really no pants. On the one hand, it is because the culture of wearing trousers has not yet been formed in the Han Dynasty. On the other hand, if there is enough cloth for trousers, it is better to make a half-length gown to cover the front and back crotch. After all, there may be only one outer gown at home.


    If they work in the crop fields outside the city, they are basically naked, with a loincloth at most. As for children, they are bare buttocks, rolling in the mud, and the mud shells outside the skin are clothes. Most of them will not be able to get a formal one, which belongs to them, until they are in their teens and on the eve of adulthood. robes...


    Seeing Wei Yan and others coming, these poor people immediately retreated to the side of the road obediently, then lowered their heads and bent over, not daring to look directly. These poor people are very thin, yellow, black and short, as if a few bones support a person.


    These people are the lowest class people in Nanzheng.


    『Zhang’s...』 Wei Yan gritted a few words between his teeth, 『What have you been doing these past few years? 』


    Whether a country is strong or not, or whether a nation is rich or not, does not depend on the living conditions of the top part of the people, because it is very simple, as long as there is a small population base, the surplus value extracted is enough for a family or a family. The family is very rich, just like the tribal leaders of the Di people, the living conditions and standards are no worse than those of ordinary Han people!


    These low-end people reflect the real living standards of the people.


    This is Nan Zheng!


    If it was changed to Sichuan and Shu, Nanzheng''s status would be almost equal to that of Chengdu. Although it may not be as prosperous as Chengdu, it is still one of the best cities in Hanzhong!


    Then these poor Han people in Nanzheng are even worse than the Di people in the mountain villages around Chengdu! General Hussars has new agricultural technology, new farming tools, and new varieties of Zhuanghe, which can be used by the naturalized Di people near Chengdu in Sichuan, Shu, and Sichuan, which can increase their income and change their lives. , and here in Nanzheng, it seems that these poor people still live a few years ago, or more than ten years ago!


    This is the current situation in Nanzheng!


    This is the virtue of the Zhang family in Hanzhong!


    This is what these gentry disciples have been preaching all day, wanting to "govern by doing nothing"!


    If you don’t like being supervised or supervised, then do things well!


    I can’t do it well, and I talk too much...


    Wei Yan looked at the black smoke on the city in the distance, and then looked back at the closed Zhang''s mansion on the other side of the street. After a long time, he shook his head and sneered.


    "Why bother…"


    (end of this chapter)