In the city of Wuping Mansion in Hexi, Dingwu is now in a hurry.

Although the barbarians have stopped attacking in the past few days, the defenders at the head of the city can still see that the barbarians are making siege weapons outside the city with great fanfare in front of the defenders.

The previous Yi barbarian army attacked the city on three sides, it can be said that it was the largest siege after the arrival of the barbarian army, and it was also the most critical siege battle in Wuping Fucheng, if it was not for the Yi barbarian army really couldn't hold on, because the casualties were too heavy and withdrew, Dingwu could not guarantee that Wuping Fucheng was still in his own hands.

When fighting against foreign enemies, the whole city is indeed the same enemy.

The siege weapons made by the barbarians have indeed caused great damage to the city walls, and many places have been smashed out of holes, and even collapsed in many places as a result.

Although Wuping Mansion City is one of the strongest cities in the north, but it can not be compared with the capital, if it is replaced with an ordinary city, with the strength of the barbarians attacking the city at that time, the city has already been breached, although the Wuping Mansion City was finally held, but the city wall was still very seriously damaged, and Dingwu knew that the barbarians were not willing to retreat, they built a lot of construction under the city, and continued to manufacture siege weapons, obviously in order to accumulate strength for the next offensive.

Dingwu really couldn't be sure if the city would be able to hold on to the next attack by the barbarian army.

He had already requisitioned the city's craftsmen to speed up the repair of the destroyed walls, and continued to collect beams and fuel to prepare for the next siege of the barbarian army.

Although the external troubles can be resisted to the end with tenacious will, the internal troubles in the city of Wuping Mansion give Dingwu a headache.

As Mahon had predicted, there had already begun to be serious riots in the city over the food problem.

Ma Hong according to Dingwu's instructions, almost snatched grain from the hands of the giant gentry in the city, and if the grain stores in the city were naturally confiscated by the official army, it was only the imperial court to temporarily receive grain, and when the barbarians were repelled, it would be repaid several times, and various means were used to hoard a batch of military rations because of this, if it was only for the purpose of supporting the defenders, it could barely support it for a period of time.

But there are more than 300,000 people in the city, the food problem has become the most serious problem in Wupingfu City, before the attack launched by the barbarians, a large number of people in the city began to run out of food, the situation has become more and more severe these days, although Dingwu in order to ensure the order of the city, the gods and guards and a few yacha in the city are maintaining order in the city, but still can not prevent some people who are forced by hunger to rush into the rich homes of the gentry to grab food.

The grain store in the city has no grain to sell, and the people are seriously short of food, for most of the people who do not know the true appearance, the grain store is closed, it is nothing more than those giants and gentry will collect the grain, and the buying and selling are voluntary, if it is changed to the past, the grain store closure will certainly cause riots in the city, but it will not let things get out of control, but now Wuping Mansion is besieged, can not enter and exit, can survive the grain, can only be in the hands of those grain merchants, the grain store is closed, it is equivalent to cut off the people's way of life, There were already a series of tragic scenes of people being starved to death in the city, and some of them, unable to bear the torture of hunger any longer, led the people to rush into the mansions of the gentry in the city and loot them on a large scale.

If the people are not controlled, the riots will become bigger and bigger, but if the people are suppressed by force at this time, it can only be counterproductive, and the barbarians are now eyeing the outside of the city, if there is a big turmoil in the city because of the suppression, there is no need for the barbarians to attack it, and the city of Wuping Mansion itself will be destroyed.

In order to temporarily quell the riots in the city, Dingwu could only allocate a part of the military rations and set up a porridge shop to temporarily relieve the people in the city, but the food was drawn from the military rations, which was really a drop in the bucket, even if all the military rations were taken out, they could not last a few days, and what was even more terrible was that once the food was exhausted, once the soldiers defending the city had no food to eat, even if they had the intention to kill the enemy, they could not hold on any longer.

What made Dingwu even more troublesome was that the military rations were allocated to temporarily appease the people in the city, but a large number of gentry in the city found the household yamen one after another and asked the household department to allocate grain.

The grain of these gentry was collected by Ma Hong, and at the very time, the gentry also knew that they were helpless, except for the rations at home, most of the grain was collected, but many gentry were robbed by the people in the city, and even the remaining rations of their own homes were looted.

Hundreds of gentry flocked to the door, and some of the gentry had even brought their few strong men to ask for food, and the situation became more and more critical.

For two days in a row, Ma Hong's office was impassable, the door was closed, and then the gentry couldn't stand it, so they hit the door and over the wall, and rushed into the yamen, Ma Hong was personally leading people to collect grain and grass, everyone knew his name, everyone rushed into the yamen, and now they don't care about anything else, they caught the officials in the yamen, and forced Ma Hong's whereabouts.

When the gentry in the city were furious, Ma Hong had already run to the command office where Dingwu was located, and knelt in front of Dingwu tremblingly, just begging the emperor to come forward to calm down the incident.

Dingwu knew very well in his heart that the people in the city were already in chaos, and if these gentry were in chaos and bewitched again, then no matter how great their ability was, they would not be able to return to the sky.

"Qiqi Sheng, a lot of people have gathered outside, and they say that they want the court to return the grain." After Xuanyuan Shao came in, his expression was grim.

When Ma Hong heard this, he was taken aback, but he didn't want those gentry to come to the emperor.

"Holy Lord, these gentry are selfish and selfish, and they don't know how to share hardships with the country, and at such a time, they even have to cause trouble, so I ask the Holy Lord to arrest the leader and put them in prison, kill the chickens and make an example, so that they don't dare to be so presumptuous." Ma Hong's forehead was already full of cold sweat, he was the head of the household, and now that there was a food shortage in the city, he naturally couldn't get rid of it.

If it weren't for the Northwest Army, Anyi and Xishan Road would have grain transported over to fill the granary in Hexi, but as soon as the northwest came out, the grain road in Hexi was cut off, and Ma Hong knew that something was wrong, and there was no source of food, and he couldn't do anything at all.

Dingwu's expression was cold, he was silent for a moment, and finally asked, "Ma Aiqing, is there no other way?" ”

Ma Hong raised his sleeves to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead, and said with a wry smile: "Holy Lord, there is only so much food in the city, the city is besieged, not to mention that there is no source of food outside, even if there is really food, it can no longer be transported into the city." The minister has said before that the food in the city can only allow the defenders to hold out for a while, and cannot take care of the hundreds of thousands of people in the city, but they also have to eat food to survive, once there is a shortage of food, there will inevitably be an incident, the minister is already powerless, and in the minister's estimation, the situation will only get worse and worse, the saint can transfer out the military food to temporarily stabilize the people in the city, but even if all the military food is taken out, to supply hundreds of thousands of people, it will not last for a few days, at that time, the defenders have no food, they can't fight at all, and the people have no food, The riots will be even worse! ”

"Now that there's a large group of people out there looking for me to get food back, what can you do to get them going?" Dingwu asked lightly.

Ma Hong shook his head and said: "The minister thinks that no matter how much he persuades, they will not give up, and the minister feels that at this point, the only way to do this is to kill a few people and town them." ”

"If I kill someone, I'm afraid things will become more chaotic." Dingwudo.

Ma Hong glanced up at Dingwu and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Dingwu naturally saw it in his eyes and said: "What do you say, although I have said it a long time ago, as long as you are dedicated to national affairs, it is wrong, and I will not blame it." ”

Ma Hong thought for a moment, and seemed to have made up his mind, "Holy Lord, the ministers ask the Holy Lord to break through!" ”

"Breakout?" Dingwu was stunned.

Ma Hong said: "The barbarians have not retreated for a long time, and the minister thinks that they will never withdraw if they do not capture the city of Wuping Mansion." ”

"Do you think I can't hold the city of Wuping Mansion?"

Ma Hong said: "There is a shortage of food in the city, and the barbarian army outside the city is aggressive. But there are some things that cannot be controlled by manpower, and the ministers also want to defend the city, but! ”

The corners of Dingwu's eyes jumped slightly, but he didn't speak.

"Although the brute cavalry is fierce, there are still a thousand war horses in the city." Ma Hong said: "The guards are brave and good at fighting, as long as the Holy Lord leads a thousand cavalry to break through at night, he may not be able to leave safely." If the Holy One stays in the city and waits until the day the city is broken, minister! Speaking of this, he shook his head with a wry smile, but did not say any more.

Dingwu glanced at Xuanyuan Shao on the side, and finally said, "I said that even if the empire really wants to fall, I will hold on to it to the end." I am the Son of Heaven of Great Qin, so naturally I can't let the barbarians flee in fear by leaving their people and the city behind. ”

Dingwu is actually very clear, although the people in the city launched a riot, but before that, the people in the city are the same enemy for resisting the barbarians, the house was demolished, the materials were taken to defend the city, the people in the city not only did not complain, but also braved the rain of arrows to send the city tower, but if at this time with the elite soldiers to break through, it is needless to say whether it can succeed, but as long as he leads the troops away, the city of Wuping Mansion will be broken in an instant, and the people in the city, regardless of asking, will inevitably fall under the butcher's knife of the barbarians.

"Holy Lord, breaking out is not fear." Ma Hong said: "As the saying goes, leave the green mountains without worrying about no firewood, as long as the saint is safe and sound, Daqin will not die, and the saint will break through, and he can make a comeback in the future!" ”

"Needless to say." Dingwu interrupted: "I just want to know, how should these people outside deal with it?" ”

Ma Hong lowered his head, was silent for a long time, and finally raised his head and said with a wry smile: "Chen understands." ”

"You understand?"

"Actually, the minister has long understood." Ma Hong sighed: "At the beginning, the Holy Lord asked the minister to come forward to collect grain and grass, although it was the holy will, but he only gave an oracle, and there was no holy decree, and the minister thought that sooner or later there would be such a day. It was the ministers who came forward to ask for food, and it was also the ministers who promised them to repay the food, and now these people are forced here, or they are coming to the ministers, as long as the saint decrees that the ministers will be executed, they may be able to temporarily dissipate their anger. ”

Dingwu stared at Ma Hong, and after a while, he finally sighed lightly: "Ma Aiqing, are you willing to relieve my worries?" ”

"The minister really doesn't want to die, but now, I'm afraid that the minister won't die if he doesn't die." Ma Hong said: "The king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die, and the minister's head can be taken off by the will of the saint." It's just that the minister still wants to say that the city of Wuping Mansion can no longer be defended, and if the saint wants to make a comeback, he can only break out! ”

He greeted the horse in the officialdom and rose step by step, but now, he knows that he will die, but for some reason, he is not so frightened, since the last time the Dingwu faction came on an errand, Ma Hong has been frightened day and night, knowing that sooner or later it will be difficult to escape death, but when the matter comes, there seems to be a sense of relief in his heart.

He kowtowed a few times towards Dingwu, then got up, glanced at Xuanyuan Shao, hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Commander Xuanyuan, I still ask you to tie me up, so that I can give them an explanation." ”

Xuanyuan Shao looked at Dingwu, Dingwu hesitated, bowed slightly, Xuanyuan Shao finally led people in and tied up Ma Hong.

Ma Hong's face was slightly pale, he turned around with a wry smile and left, Xuanyuan Shao followed behind him, took a few steps, Ma Hong stopped, suddenly turned around, and sighed: "Shengshang, you are a good emperor, it's a pity!" It seemed that he wanted to say something, but he didn't say it after all, and walked out of the door slowly.

Looking at Ma Hong's departing figure, a sense of tiredness swept through Dingwu's body.

He clubbed his forehead with his arm, closed his eyes slightly, and after a long time, Xuanyuan Shao finally came back, thinking that Dingwu had fallen asleep, he walked to the side lightly, and did not disturb, but Dingwu had already asked softly: "Is he dead?" ”

"The minister has already explained to them that it was Ma Hong's edict, who was greedy for ink and grain and could not make up for the warehouse, so he deceived the king and falsely spread the will to forcibly collect money and grain." Xuanyuan Shao said respectfully: "The minister has ordered Ma Hong to be executed, telling them that although Ma Hong is falsely delivering the holy decree, the imperial court will still repay them according to several times the amount of money and grain." ”

"And so they went?"

"The minister told them that the imperial court still has a lot of money and grain, but now that the city is under siege, they can only get money and food by repelling the barbarian army." Xuanyuan Shao said: "The minister let them support it for a few more days, and soon the barbarian army will not be able to support the retreat, and the minister cut off Ma Hong's head in public, but he also suppressed them, and for the time being, they will not be too fierce." ”

Dingwu sighed: "It's hard for you." ”

Xuanyuan Shao said: "The minister is not embarrassed, but Ma Hong is right, the commotion can be suppressed for a while, but after a long time, there will still be chaos." ”

"It's coming!" Dingwu clasped his hands together, "I and Tu Shi, whoever wins and who loses, there will be results soon, and it won't take long!" ”

At this moment, a voice came from outside: "Enlighten the saints, there is a vision in the city." As he spoke, a figure appeared in front of the door like a ghost, although he was dressed in gray clothes, but Xuanyuan Shao saw the waist knife he was wearing at his waist, and knew that it was a god guard.

The four thousand households of the Shenyi Guard are now dead and wounded, and none of them are by Dingwu's side, and the one who is in charge of the Shenyi Guard in the city is now Zhao Zirat.

"What?" Dingwu raised his head and frowned and asked, the matter that can make the Shenyi Guard suddenly come over and report is naturally not a trivial matter-

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