Outside the city of Sindu is much different than at the beginning of the year, with seven or eight out of ten people fleeing, and the refugee camps that originally stretched for dozens of miles with no border in sight have shrunk dramatically.

Up to now, there is only a shallow layer of human activity next to the city, and the farther area is only full of devastation, ravines and crypts with dust, human and animal corpses and filth piled up a thick layer, if it is not for the residual snow has not yet melted, I am afraid that it is already stinking, but at the moment, even if there is no strong breath spreading, the picture is really annoying, and I don't want to see it closely.

As for the people who remained, most of them were old, weak and disabled, and no longer had the ability to travel long distances, and even if they escaped, they would mostly die on the way. If you are lucky enough to be hard, you may be able to open your eyes and wait until the moment when you witness the fall of the kingdom.

Zhang Jackal rode out of the south city gate, his face gloomy. Hundreds of soldiers in front of them cleared the way, and it took more than half an hour to drive away the paralyzed refugees in the holes in the city gate and clean up the mess.

"Dog thief, dog thief...... Death is not far off! Harm my fellow villagers, destroy my home, stay in Huangquan, and see you being bitten by fierce ghosts, and your soul will be scattered......"

Most of the refugees lying in front of the city gate were old and sick and dying, and there was nothing more than a faint breath in their throats, but after seeing Zhang Jackal, who was surrounded by the soldiers, these dying people suddenly came to their senses, and they struggled to both sides of the road one by one, pointing at Zhang Jackal in the army and cursing sharply.

Desperate people have long been fearless, they may not know the identity of Zhang Jackal, but the hatred for the country is deep in the bone marrow. The dying body has long been incapable of fighting and killing the enemy thief, and his anger and resentment can only be vented from words

The poignant and hideous tone was like the murderous voice of a dead soul asking for his life. Even though Zhang Jackal had long been accustomed to life and death, when he heard those gnashing curses in his ears, and saw the blood-red eyes of the refugees who looked like ghosts staring at him angrily, his heartstrings still couldn't help but tense suddenly, and even a chill from the bottom of his heart came out.

Zhang Jackal's mood was depressed, his expression was indifferent, and the whole person seemed to turn into a lump of cold ice, and the soldiers in front and behind him scattered to both sides, shouting loudly to stop these untouchables, and at the same time waving their butcher knives to slash the people who were still scolding and vicious.

It's just that when the butcher's knife fell, there was no tragic situation of flesh and blood flying, these people were already endangered, and even the blood flow in their bodies was almost stagnant, even if it was a sword and an open wound, there was no blood rushing, but a dark red oozed from under the skin and flesh that had already shrunk and shrunk, which was shocking!

After leaving the city, Zhang Jackal wandered outside the city under the protection of thousands of soldiers in front and behind. The countryside is devastated as far as the eye can see, and although hundreds of thousands of people gathered here are also chaotic and abnormal, at least they are still full of popularity, but now, the entire Xindu City is like a ghost, even the most vicious people walking there, they feel terrified.

A few miles away from the city, there were no living people in the suburbs, and under the bones of the dead of hunger and cold, there was a new sprout, and there were already tender green weeds piercing the frozen soil, trying to absorb the nutrients left by those bones to stretch the young leaves. There are many jackals and beasts under the ditch, shaving and biting those corpses.

"Bring the bow!"

Zhang Jackal raised his arm, took a riding bow from the hands of his own soldiers, and shot at the hungry wolves who were eating human corpses, and the arrow flew out, directly through the neck of a hungry wolf, shooting the thin wolf body after the cold winter nearly half a zhang away. The rest of the hungry wolves were frightened and sprang out of the four wilds, rushing to what they thought were safe before turning back, hunching their spines and letting out a low, vicious howl.

An arrow killed a hungry wolf, but Zhang Jackal's expression did not change much, but his brows furrowed slightly, and after hanging the bow back on the saddle, he quietly rubbed his arm that was swollen and aching from pulling the string. After all, he is not young anymore, thinking about the time when he was vigorous, it was easy to open three stones, and now this old body, I don't know how long it will last.

There was also a fort set up by the Qiang army in the suburbs outside the city of Xindu, and when it was learned that Zhang Jackal went out of the city to inspect, he sent troops from all sides to greet him.

After the change of power in Huguo Temple, the internal power of the country has undergone a new round of adjustments. The original Inner Sixth Army and the Outer Sixth Army only existed in their form, and they were simply abolished, and only the internal army and the outer army were retained.

The crown prince Shi was in charge of the country, and the former concubine Liu became the queen and the temporary emperor of the Linchao. As for Shi Hu, the owner of the caramel, the external statement is that he has been resurrected from an old illness, his hearing and hearing are blocked, and he needs to recuperate in the garden, but in fact, he has been completely placed under house arrest in the east platform of Huguo Temple.

In this round of struggle, Zhang Jackal fought for himself for the position of the right prime minister, Jizhou Assassin History, and the current Xindu can be said to be second only to the general in charge of internal and external military affairs, Wei Wang Shibao. But Shi Bao is just a puppet, and the general who is in charge of more than half of the elite chariot cavalry is Zhang Jackal's son-in-law, and the foreign army formed by the merger of the six outer armies is Zhang Jackal's minions.

Therefore, today's Zhang Jackal is the first person under the Empress of Xindu and the Crown Prince, and he controls all affairs with one hand, except for Zhang Ju, the captain who is stationed in Fuliu City and has strong troops, and Shi Zun, the rebel king who fled from the country, pretended to be the king of Zhao and created a platform in Zhao County, no one in the country dares to disobey his color.

Although the potential position has reached the extreme, Zhang Jackal is not easy, every time he enters a fort outside the city, the first question must be: "Can you find the enemy of the Jin Kingdom in the wild?" ”

None of the troops found any signs of the Jin army's bullying, which undoubtedly made Zhang Jackal's tense heartstrings a little lighter. Although he is now tyrannical in power, he also has to admit that if it weren't for the lord Shi Hu who forced the people from all sides to gather here earlier, and then the people fled in large numbers, to a certain extent, the pace of the Jin army's advance was stopped, but I am afraid that the letter capital at this moment would have been besieged and attacked by the southern army and was in danger.

The Jin army has not yet sent a letter to Du Cheng is a joy, but Zhang Jackal did not relax for a long time, and then the generals from all walks of life begged for military funds, which made Zhang Jackal completely speechless, and even because the people around Xindu are extinct, and the acres of land are wasted, even these soldiers are ashamed to raise money and food.

Yes, the faith is now at the end of the mountain. Previously, Zhang Ju of Fuliucheng threatened to rebel against Wang Shizun in the west, and extorted a full 200,000 Hu grain and grass from Zhang Jackal's hands, which made the already scarce materials even more severe, and now in Xindu City, the grain storage is still less than 100,000 Hu!

This figure seems to be quite impressive, but there are still many powerful people and their families in Xindu City, as well as a group of powerful tribes that Zhang Jackal gathered into the city in time before the people fled in a big way, and this grain reserve is not even enough to last until the end of March.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jackal couldn't help but grit his teeth with hatred for the traitorous king Shi Zun. After Empress Liu became the country, he sent an edict to all parties under the suggestion of Zhang Jackal, calling on the people on all sides to send grain to help the poor.

Zhang Jackal himself was born as the head of the powerful army in Guangping, so he naturally knew how to better attract those strong Liang murderers who took advantage of the chaos to gather people. The southern country is one thing, but in the troubled times, there is no shortage of fierce people who are lonely and fearful, and they do not realize until death.

Although the kingdom has declined now, after all, it was once the overlord of the northern kingdom of King Jiu, and this brand still has a lot of appeal and temptation. Especially those heroes who crisscross the territory, they are nothing more than crossing counties and counties, they may have also heard of the prosperity of the southern country, but in fact, it is difficult to imagine how strong the southern country is that will fight the country to the end, once these positions are released to lure, it is still very able to attract a group of outlaws to flock to vote.

However, the idea is good, but Zhang Jackal is still one step behind. Shi Zun, a little bastard, didn't know how to steal the lord's deputy seal and made a false edict, and after leaving Xindu, he went all the way west, and the generals and guards were awarded along the way.

Those rural tyrants are trapped in knowledge, and it is even more difficult to know the detailed rules of the power struggle of the country, and they can get high-ranking officials and power by giving up money and food and Ding Zhuang, and they should gather for a while, it is said that the so-called Zhao Wang's residence in Zhao County has gathered more than 100,000 people, and the surrounding Julu, Boling, Zhongshan, Changshan and other counties, the followers are even more flocking, and they are all dreaming of leopard tail marquis and heirs.

Of course, if it was only Shi Zun alone, he would not have caused such a big battle in such a short period of time.

Zhang Jackal knew that in fact, the root cause was still in Xindu, and now the people in power in Xindu were himself and a group of Tu various magnates who were dependent on Liu Hou, which would inevitably make those old people resentful, and these Qianhu generals who lived in the place chose to support Shi Zun to fight against the king of Xindu, and even Sun Fudu, the general who was originally in Xindu, took advantage of the unpreparedness and led thousands of troops to throw Shi Zun west.

Qianhu has been a countryman for a long time, and he is the most trusted force of Shihu, the lord of Qian, and even the Jinren Haoqiang villagers who searched and drove the surrounding counties gathered in Xindu, all in order to make it more convenient for the Qianhu people to control the place.

Now the life and death of the lord of Xindu is unknown, Empress Liu and Zhang Jackal are outsiders in the eyes of these Qianhu, they have power inside and outside, which naturally incurs the dissatisfaction of Qianhu, and Shi Zun's departure has become the only target of their work.

"The tyrant has never cultivated morality, and there are all animals in the court, if he is the national sect, how can he be undefeated!"

Thinking that at this most critical moment of resisting the Jin army, Shi Zun, the prince, disregarded the danger of the country's fortunes, and pretended to be the king of Zhao to confuse the public, which made the already dying national strength of the Jin State collapse again, Zhang Jackal hated his mouth full of bitterness.

Correspondingly, the guilt of holding the monarch hostage and unauthorized power is gone, Shi Hu, a tyrant, can't even control his son to become a tiger and wolf and fight for each other, what qualifications does he have to ask his courtiers to die for his innocence!

However, this offset of guilt was not enough to make Zhang Jackal's mood better, it was precisely because Shi Zun was making waves outside, so that the people of Xindu had to be trapped here and did not dare to leave this realm without permission, and the military threat in the south was becoming more and more severe, making every inch of the void above Xindu full of panic and anxiety.