These courtiers who followed Liu Xie to escape from Chang'an were actually facing the same predicament as Yang Biao, and they were all on the verge of poverty. Now, they have run away on their own, leaving a large number of old and young, men and women, in Chang'an, without leaving them enough "living expenses". After Liu Xin occupied Chang'an, he gave Yang Biao and them a slu, but he was not so generous as to give a stipend to those courtiers who followed Liu Xie.

The families of those courtiers were under house arrest and couldn't even get out of the door, even if they wanted to work and earn some money. Sitting and eating the mountain is empty, not to mention that the mountain is already empty, and the life of hunger and a full meal has made these family members unable to hold on, so many strange things happened one after another.

Such an incident happened at the home of Wang Fu, the captain of the Yue Cavalry who followed Liu Xie to Luoyang. The official position of the king is not high, and there are naturally not too many Yulu, and the family background is not wealthy, and after coming to Chang'an, life is more difficult than that of other courtiers. As soon as Wang Fu left, he left his wife and young son to stay at home, and he couldn't open the pot for two days.

Although Wang Fu is not wealthy, he is also a court official, and he also has a few slaves and maids at home. If it is an ordinary large family with a poor family background, you can also sell these slaves and maids for a few small dollars in case of emergency. But Wang Fu was a criminal official, and these slaves and maids were also placed under house arrest in the palace together, not only could they not be sold, but they also had a few more mouths to eat.

When these servants and maids saw that the Wang family had arrived in this field, they gradually became bolder, and they no longer took the wife of the king in their eyes, Jiang Shi. Wang Fu's family did not have much food left, and it was soon eaten up, so Jiang had to take some gold and silver jewelry, and ask the soldiers who took the door to the street to exchange some food. These soldiers who guarded the door were all from the regular army and were highly disciplined, and when they saw that Jiang was pitiful, they also helped her with this, and they didn't dare to deduct it at all. However, the Jiang family did not know how to take care of the housework, and relied on those slaves and maids, as a result, all the food she exchanged for jewelry went into the stomachs of these slaves and maids, and the Jiang mother and son continued to starve.

Wang Fu's family has an old servant who carries dung and water in the back garden, who is fifty years old and is a hunchback. The old camel took charge of the back garden, quietly planted some vegetables in a corner of the garden, and exchanged these vegetables with the house slaves in the front yard for two steamed buns, and put them in his arms for a whole day and was not willing to eat, and he was very hungry, so he avoided people to take them out and take two bites.

Seeing that there was no food to be delivered, Jiang Shi only dared to make a noise when the jewelry had been shortened by the soldiers guarding the door, so he had to swallow his anger. Jiang was so hungry that he remembered that he had heard that the bark and grass roots could satisfy his hunger, so he went to the back garden and saw the old camel making steamed buns there. Jiang didn't care about his identity, so he jumped up and grabbed the steamed bun in the old camel's hand.

The old camel finally got these two steamed buns, how to give them, the two of them are there you fight for me. In the midst of the scramble, the old camel accidentally touched Jiang's chest, trembling and soft. The old camel has never touched a woman in his life, which made the old camel feel like floating on the top of the clouds, and couldn't help but say: "Madam, this steamed bun was saved by the old slave with hard work, and if it is given to you, the old slave will only starve to death." Madame really wants to eat, and the old slave gives her one, but Madame, you want, want, let the old slave sleep. ”

Later, the old camel's voice was already a little trembling. Jiang Shi was furious, his face turned red, but when he saw the steamed bun in the old camel's hand, he nodded in a ghostly manner.

When the old camel saw Jiang nodding in agreement, he didn't have a trace of joy in his heart, and he didn't care about daylight, so he dragged Jiang to the bottom of a big tree and started to remove her clothes.

Jiang didn't resist, let the old camel act, just snatched the saliva steamed bun in his hand, and didn't feel dirty, stuffed it into his mouth and gnawed it.

The old camel is an old man in the end, and he didn't do that, he didn't do that thing, and he leaked out after two clicks, and Jiang had just swallowed half a steamed bun. Seeing that he was done so quickly, Jiang wanted to stand up. The old camel felt that he was too much of a loss, and the two quarreled again.

While struggling, Jiang Shi looked at the other steamed bun that the old camel had always pinched in his hand, and said, "If you still want to get it, give me that steamed bun too." ”

The old camel thought that this high-ranking woman was pressed under him just now, gritted his teeth, stuffed the steamed bun to the Jiang family, and bent down to rub it again, but this time it was much longer than just now.

Jiang Shi didn't care about the sour smell on the old camel's body, so he only cared about eating steamed buns by himself, and swallowed a steamed bun without drinking a sip of water. The other steamed bun was clutched tightly in his hand, and he was reluctant to even look at it, which was to be reserved for his son. Suddenly, Jiang Shi felt that the old camel pressing on his body had no movement, and he probed it with his hand, but there was no breath.

When he was panicked, Jiang didn't know where the strength came from, so he pushed the old camel half away, struggled to get up, put his clothes on his body indiscriminately, and let the old camel lie there naked. It wasn't until three days later that the carcass of the old camel was found.

Because the old camel's death was strange, there were many rumors in Wang Fu's house, and Jiang was worried about the incident at the east window, so he was ashamed and embarrassed, so he hung a white silk on the beam of the house.

This incident happened the day before Liu Xin left Chang'an, and it was this incident that prompted him to finally make up his mind to deal with the families of these courtiers, some of whom were openly sold in Chang'an, and some of whom were taken to be used as official slaves.

At noon, Xu Chu returned to Xiangyang from Jiangdong, but it turned out that he was taking the waterway this time. Before Liu Xin returned from Chang'an, Ma Yun used the ships of the navy to transport grain and grass to the three counties of Jiangdong to meet military needs and help the people. Now, these grains and grasses have been distributed to various counties, and after receiving the order to send 800 miles of expedited horses, Xu Chu led 10,000 foot soldiers to Xiangyang directly on the ships of the navy.

As soon as he saw Liu Xin, Xu Chu couldn't wait to clench his fists and said, "Big brother, I should be allowed to go this time!" I will definitely come back with the heads of Meng Shu and Liu Dan. ”

Zhu Rong stood aside, hearing that Xu Chu was going to rush to kill Meng Huo, seeing his black and thick face, except that he was taller, what was no different from a barbarian man, he couldn't help pouting, and was about to speak, but he heard Liu Xin say: "Zhongkang, this time you stay in Xiangyang to assist Gong and He Yuanhao to do a good job in this year's conscription, and I will personally deal with the war of Qi Ke!" ”

Xu Chu heard that there was nothing wrong with him, so he stepped aside in a daze.

Liu Xin's face became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Zhong Kang, as the commander of the Flying Tiger Guard, you must understand your responsibilities and re-establish a powerful Flying Tiger Guard in the shortest possible time, this is the most difficult task I have given you." ”

In the two battles against Dong Zhuo's Flying Bear Army and Cao Cao's Qingzhou Army, the Flying Tiger Guards suffered heavy casualties, and now there are less than a thousand people left. Among the dead Flying Tiger guards, many of them are veterans who have followed Liu Xin since Hejian, and Liu Xin has always been haunted by their sacrifices, and has also regarded the reconstruction of the Flying Tiger Guards as a major event that must be completed this year, in order to comfort the souls of these soldiers in the sky.

Zhu Rong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard that Liu Xin didn't agree to let Xu Chu go to the Central and South Front, and said, "General Xu, did you hear clearly?" Your task is to stay in Xiangyang, and Meng Huo's head can only be cut off by my elder brother!" ”

Xu Chu was with those flying tiger guards almost all day long, and he had an extremely deep relationship with them, and when he received the task of rebuilding the flying tiger guards, he was full of joy, and he was very breathless, and he was determined to do this matter well.

But he has followed Liu Xin for many years, but he knows that although Liu Xin's martial arts are unfathomable, he doesn't like to use force with others, and he disdains Zhu Rong's saying that Liu Xin wants to cut off Meng Huo's head with his own hands, and says: "My eldest brother has a fierce general who can fight habitually, what kind of thing is Meng Huo, killing chickens with a cattle slaughtering knife!" ”

Zhu Rong didn't like to hear this the most, so he suddenly got angry and pouted: "What do you know, that's the rule of our Zhu family!" ”

Xu Chu scratched his head, couldn't figure it out, and muttered: "New sister-in-law, whether my eldest brother kills Meng Shu or not, what is the matter with your family?" ”

Zhu Rong came to Xiangyang three years ago, and there have been rumors inside and outside the State Pastoral Mansion, and Xu Chu naturally knows about it. In addition, she fought to the death outside the gate of Xiangyang City, Xu Chu admired her very much, and she had long been regarded as a sister-in-law.

The three words "new sister-in-law" tickled Zhu Rong's itch, and she was overjoyed when she heard it, and she didn't care about it anymore with Xu Chu. Instead, Liu Xin raised his face and said, "What nonsense, don't hurry back to your barracks!" ”

"Hehe, who is this going to drive away, my lord." Liu Xin followed the sound and looked, but it was Wen Ping who walked in from outside, and arched his hand and said, "Lord Qiqi, the last general will go to Jingnan, and 10,000 barbarian tribes have been recruited, and they are here to pay the order!" ”

On Liu Xin's way back to Xiangyang, he made plans to pacify Zhongnan, and sent Wen Ping to Jingnan to temporarily recruit 10,000 barbarian soldiers. Because Liu Xin knew that almost all the barbarian people were brave and brave, especially suitable for fighting in the mountains and jungles, and conquering the four counties in central and southern China could come in handy.

Knowing that the two groups of people were gathered in Xiangyang, Liu Xin immediately made a decision and said: "Order the three armies, rest for a while, and set off in an hour!" ”

Xu Chu arched his hand and said: "Big brother, there is evil and Zilong here, the battle of Qi Ke is not critical, so there is no need to send troops so soon." ”

Indeed, according to Liu Xin's original plan, there was no need to attack so early. Because according to his estimate, Xu Chu will not arrive until tomorrow at the earliest, but he didn't expect him to take the waterway, and he didn't expect that Wenpin's recruitment of all barbarian tribes would go so smoothly, since things are going so smoothly, of course he has to strike while the iron is hot and start as soon as possible. And Liu Xin knew that the climate in the south of this era was not as hot as in later generations, and it was still possible to snow and freeze in winter. If it drags on to that time, it will be very unfavorable for the march to fight, and it is very likely that a tug-of-war will be formed, which will be very different from his strategy of quick victory.

For Liu Xin's decision, Zhu Rong applauded, she couldn't wait to fly to Qi Ke now, so as to avenge her father, so she hurriedly ran back to the room to prepare for the packing. Although Zhu Rong was arrogant on the surface, she was not stupid, she insisted on going to Qike with Liu Xin, as well as her own Xiao Jiujiu.