The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Chapter 27 Choice

"I really didn't expect that the government granary was full of stale and rotten grain."

Wang Laoqi, who went to the official granary with Yang Chongwang, looked indignant.

"We went into the warehouse, opened the bags, and were stunned. The millet had turned black; how many years had it been stored there!"

Yang Chongwang, standing nearby, said to Li Chengye with a hint of helplessness:

"That's how it is. When we opened the official granary, we found that apart from about a hundred bags of this year's new rice, the rest of the grain was moldy and inedible."

"However, there are still some weapons in the armory next to the granary, and they look alright."

"We were just about to send someone to inform them when Huai Dao arrived and tried to drive us away. Naturally, I refused, so I drew my knife."

"Later, when things reached a stalemate, Wang Er came and said he would give us half and even find a car to take it away, so I agreed."

"That's how things have been delayed until now."

Li Chengye nodded after hearing this. After all, his strength was still inferior to Wang Er's at present, so he would give in for the time being.

"Brother Yang, you did the right thing. We can't afford to argue with Wang Er now. But the official granaries in Yijun City are empty. Where is the grain?"

"Of course it's in the city, at the master's house," Qin said, walking over with his pipe. "It's just like in the village. We're all starving, but Zhao Shouren's family has so much grain that it's piled up to the roof beams."

That makes sense; since ancient times, government granaries have been empty while private granaries have been full.

To solve the food problem, we still need to turn to those wealthy and powerful families.

However, looking at the endless shouts of battle in the south of the city, Li Chengye fell into deep thought: should he lead his men there?

"If you gentlemen require provisions, I know where to find them."

The sound came from the corner of the room.

Li Chengye, Yang Chongwang, and others were talking in a civilian house, where several wounded soldiers were also housed. The one speaking was a wounded soldier whose head was wrapped in a cloth.

Li Chengye asked in surprise, "How did you know?"

"I am a resident of the city. I was kindly treated by the chief and am willing to serve Your Majesty."

Li Chengye began to understand what was going on, and looked at Master Qin.

Master Qin scratched his head and whispered to the others, "I'm afraid they mixed him up with the new brothers during the treatment. After all, we've only been working together for two days, and we don't know each other's faces yet."

Despite the misunderstanding, Li Chengye did not blame anyone.

If the battle is over and there is still room to help the other side, that is acceptable, but it is important to distinguish between different situations.

I must be more careful in identifying my own people in the future. I'll make a note of that for now; there are more important things to do.

"Where is the grain you mentioned?"

Li Chengye asked the man directly.

"The leader is standing nearby."

Ok?

The man then explained, "This gap in the north wall hadn't been repaired for three years, so the Liu family used it for smuggling and built a warehouse nearby. Later, after the county magistrate blocked the gap with a wooden fence, the warehouse became their storehouse for rent grain."

How did you know?

Yang Chongwang had doubts. These private warehouses were secretive matters; how could a poor city dweller like him know about them?

"I used to work for their family."

That makes sense.

"Then take us to see it."

Li Chengye made the final decision and decided to go and take a look.

The Liu family's warehouse was hidden deep in the slums of the north of the city. From the outside, it looked no different from an ordinary house, but you could only tell the difference when you got closer.

The courtyard must have been guarded, but it's deserted now, probably because the guards fled after the city fell.

Upon seeing the main gate of the house, Li Chengye knew that the man was right.

The gate was made of solid wood as thick as a palm, with cast iron hinges and a large lock on it.

Unless it's a wealthy family's warehouse, who would build a door with such solid materials?

The lock was broken, and the door was opened. The entire warehouse was filled with all sorts of things, including not only sacks of grain, but also bundles of furs, swords, and salt bags lined with straw mats.

"This is really good stuff."

Master Qin opened a small white cloth bag by the door, which contained some tuberous plants. He pointed them out to Li Chengye and said, "This is Panax notoginseng, a top-grade medicinal herb."

There are quite a few similar small white bags, which should also contain medicinal herbs.

Li Chengye instructed Han Sanhu: "Sanhu, take some men and keep watch outside. This is all ours now."

Han Sanhu nodded in agreement and then began to arrange people outside.

Then Li Chengye turned to Master Qin and said, "Take out whatever you need, let's save people first."

Master Qin then began to carefully examine what else was there.

Just as Li Chengye and his entourage were happily moving their belongings, a life-or-death farewell was unfolding in the Yijun County government office.

Only after being carried back to the county government office by his own students did Zhou Dezhao come to his senses and accept the reality of the city's fall.

What should we do next?

Now that the city has fallen, the bandits should arrive at the county government office soon.

Sure enough, soon people in the city began to shout that bandits had entered the city, and at the same time, vagrants took the opportunity to plunder the streets, causing the people to cry out in despair.

Zhou Dezhao felt that he should uphold the integrity of a Ming Dynasty official.

If the city cannot be defended, I shall repay my lord and father with my life.

The only saving grace was that no rain fell at the beginning of spring this year, and he had a feeling that something was wrong with Yijun, so he sent his wife and children back to their hometown in Wuchang in advance.

In retrospect, this turned out to be the wisest thing I did after passing the imperial examination.

Just as Zhou Dezhao was contemplating whether to hang himself, throw himself into a well, or commit suicide, Wei Mingdao burst into the back hall of the county government office.

"Master, the enemy army is in disarray!"

Zhou Dezhao, who was tearing the silk, stopped.

The servants who used to serve the county government had long since scattered and fled, so even making a hanging rope now required Master Zhou to do it himself.

Wei Mingdao burst into the back room and saw Zhou Dezhao tearing a piece of white silk. He immediately understood what Zhou was doing.

But he pretended not to know and continued to tell Zhou Dezhao about his discovery.

"Just now, I was in Zhongjie Street and saw that the main band of bandits had broken up into smaller groups and were looting in the city. The bandits were dressed in a mixed style, so if we changed our clothes, we could blend in and escape the city."

"But, but I promised all the people of the city that I would live together with the city."

"Master," Wei Mingdao's tone became earnest, "a true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm. Besides, you also did your best, but unfortunately the enemy was numerous and powerful, and we were weak, which is why we were defeated."

"What can the prefect and governor say? In the end, it's their ineffective bandit suppression that allowed Wang Er to escape to our Yijun and cause this disaster today."

After Wei Mingdao took Zhou Dezhao back to the county government office, he slipped away.

He felt that he had done more than enough for his mentor, who had sacrificed his family's wealth and bloodshed on the city walls. As a student, he had done enough.

Next, he needs to think about himself.

Wei Mingdao changed into his servant's old clothes. As for the goose-feather knife, he was really reluctant to part with it, so he buried it in the stove of the county government's kitchen.

Then he smeared his face with stove ash, went out onto the street, and pretended to be a refugee heading towards the north gate.

He originally thought that since the city had fallen, the rebel army's first target would definitely be the county government office, since it symbolized the majesty and power of the Ming Dynasty.

But when he went out into the streets, he discovered that the bandits were still bandits; they were scattered throughout the city robbing people, and the county government was no longer in charge of them.

Then he thought of Zhou Dezhao, and it seemed that he could escape with his mentor.

After all, he had invested too much in this mentor.

Giving up at first is truly heartbreaking.

So he returned to the back hall of the county government office.

"My esteemed teacher, though you are dead, I can still serve my country by ridding it of traitors!"