Chapter 733 New City

The haze rolled in the clouds, and the sky and the earth were gray. The bitter cold of the Far North passed through the uninhabited snow desert, crossed the devastated three continents of the northern border, and arrived at the inconspicuous border on the northern edge of the capital, and the white snow fell in groups of twos and threes.

It's snowing again.

A middle-aged man with a beard raised his eyes and looked at the damned God, then walked out of the forest slowly, heading towards the plain in front, dragging a few mountain beasts behind him.

There, there stood a not-so-big city.

Huizhou,

a ruined county that was once famous throughout Da Yan - in the form of the place where the prime minister's third son was assassinated.

Of course, the common people in the city who died in the assassination also caused anger in the court, but after the anger was over, it was just passed over.

It's ridiculous and lamentable that the people in the city are not as good as that nobleman.

Recalling these past events that suddenly popped up in his mind, Luo Yuanqi wrapped himself in animal fur and sighed softly unconsciously.

He used to be a court official in the Ministry of War, not a big one. He retired because of the war in the northern border for his superiors. Later, he did not stay in Beijing to wait for reinstatement. He was directly transferred to the northern border with blood and courage, wanting to kill the enemy and serve the country as a martial artist.

But the real battlefield is different from the memorials in the capital after all. The blood accumulated since childhood was directly cold when he really went to the battlefield.

Let alone killing the enemy, he was scared to death by looking at the bloody scene and the mountains of corpses filling the mountains.

He ran away and became a deserter.

This behavior is not an isolated case. In addition to the elite military towns in the northern border, there are a lot of deserters. They fall behind and slip away in the chaos of the charge. The battle formation is chaotic, and the supervisory barracks can't keep up. Then they gather dozens of people and go into the mountains, and they become bandits directly.

Although Luo Yuanqi was afraid of the battle, he was willing to give up his job as a servant in the capital and transfer to the northern border. He still had some backbone and was unwilling to associate with bandits. He took a few soldiers who were similar to him and collected many refugees who were displaced by the blizzard and war along the way. He relied on his salary in Beijing to buy rice, flour and cloth. A few months ago, he came to this mountain forest on the border of the capital to live in seclusion.

The bitter cold from the extreme north has receded a lot. In previous years, the snow on the ground at this time of year would have been a foot. I think this blizzard should be over in a few years, but the war seems to be more serious.

In the past few months, their small village has successively accepted hundreds of refugees who went south. I heard from these poor people that the barbarians of the three continents in the northern border have been killed, and the war that made them flee south was actually caused by an epidemic.

The disease is spread by saliva and blood. Those infected with the disease are crazy and crazy, like hysterics, and they don’t recognize their relatives and are bloodthirsty.

Everyone who said this was still in fear, but Luo Yuanqi didn't care much. As a former military official, he was very clear about the combat power of the major military towns, not to mention the immortal sects scattered across the three continents.

Once the barbarian war ended, it was only a matter of time for the three northern continents to get back on track, so he was more concerned about how his village would survive the winter than the epidemic.

Most of the people in the village were unregistered criminals, so they didn't dare to cultivate new farmland with slash-and-burn farming. They had taken in so many new people, and the rice and flour they bought on the way south were almost gone. If they only relied on the village warriors to hunt, the hundreds of people in the village would probably die this winter.

He discussed this matter with a few close men. They were all soldiers and vagrants, so they thought they wouldn't have any useful suggestions, but the village man from the northernmost part was his confidant who gave him the answer.

"Eat people."

"Start with the elderly over fifty, then girls, boys, and the sick."

". First coax a group of old men out of the village and kill them together. At first, see if they can survive. You can lie and tell others that they left on their own initiative, saying that they hunted deer."

". The snow is heavy and the weather is cold, the meat must be spoiled, and the animals outside can't eat it, but you have to mark it, otherwise it will be buried and you can't find it after burying it."

At that time, Luo Yuanqi and several others looked at them as if they were monsters, but the man said numbly:

". Don't look at me like that. I was the same as you back then, but I was so hungry in winter that I would do it."

"."

"."

The words that day were forcibly suppressed by him. Luo Yuanqi knew that the man was telling the truth. He had read the memorials about cannibalism in the northern border, so he was prepared, but he couldn't do it.

The snowstorm was almost over, and the war was over.

According to his understanding of the prime minister in the court, the Anmin Law has probably passed and disaster relief has probably begun. As long as they survive this winter, these stateless refugees will settle down with the Anmin Law, and everything will be fine, so they must not break this bottom line again.

Biting his dry lips, Luo Yuanqi dragged the frozen mountain beasts and stopped a hundred feet away from the new city.

Almost at the same time,

"Swoosh--"

A black feather arrow shot from the top of the city and accurately inserted a foot in front of him as a warning.

Sure enough

Looking at the trembling tail feathers, Luo Yuanqi was a little dazed, and subconsciously tightened the hemp rope on his shoulders, and his heart was filled with sadness.

All the way south, except for Zhoufu, he did not approach any Dayan city, and the reason why he did not come to this city for protection was because of this.

Under natural disasters, how can eggs be intact?

It’s not that the court didn’t issue disaster relief decrees to the counties in the northern border, nor is it that these officials dared to disobey the court, but that the court only issued decrees and did not allocate silver and grain!

Except for the long-term disaster relief provided by the Zhou Prefecture, the counties and counties below are not having a good time. It is already the limit to be able to take care of the people in the city. When encountering refugees begging for food, the more kind-hearted officials will distribute some porridge and then order people to disperse the refugees. The more hard-hearted officials will kill them directly to prevent the hungry refugees from gathering and roaring in the city, and the displaced people are like wild dogs. They were also kicked back and forth by various counties.

But he walked more than a hundred miles here not to beg for food, he just wanted to exchange mountain animal medicinal materials for some coarse grains that can withstand hunger.

The sky and the earth are vast and the snow is falling heavily.

Luo Yuanqi's throat rolled up and down, and he lost his mind for a moment.

Going back?

Return to the village and spend the winter eating people like the peasant said?

If it can eat people, it will definitely last until next spring?

"Whoosh——"

Another arrow was shot from the top of the city, this time it was inserted directly at his feet. The trembling of the arrow made him subconsciously take a step back.

At this moment, Luo Yuanqi regretted a little.

I regret why I resigned from the official position in the capital, why I came to these fucked up places, why I saw with my own eyes the suffering of common people in this world, but I always feel unable to return.

Taking a deep breath, the white mist on his lips dispersed with the wind.

He can't die here yet.

If he disappears here, the village will be in chaos, and if there is chaos, there will be nothing.

Taking one last look at the towering city wall, Luo Yuanqi was about to go back in a flash, but saw a basket placed on the wall.

Is this letting him enter the city?

After climbing onto the city wall, several soldiers immediately glanced over with vigilance. Luo Yuanqi was a court official who had seen the world. He took off the hemp rope tied with the mountain beast and the medicinal materials in the snakeskin bag, and directly stated his purpose:

"Fellow soldiers, the untouchables have hunted some mountain products and want to come to the city to exchange for some coarse grains to eat for the winter."

After all,

Although his expression remained unchanged, he inevitably became nervous in his heart.

These mountain medicinal materials are not valuable, but if these soldiers want to rob them, no one can hold them accountable if they kill them directly.

The leading soldier glanced at him up and down and didn't reply. He just said:

"Put your things down and come with me. I want you to do something."

"Yes, Master Bing."

Lowering his head, Luo Yuan Qipei replied with a smile, but there was some doubt in his heart.

It’s so hard to pronounce. What dialect is this?

Being a court official requires vision and knowledge.

Luo Yuanqi has been an official in the capital for twenty years, and he understands some dialects from all over the world. Even if the other party speaks Mandarin, he can always tell the general place of origin, but he cannot recognize this soldier.

As he walked around the city wall, he who had worked in the Ministry of War keenly discovered that something was wrong.

The armored soldiers on the city wall seemed to be from the same race.

The skin is too white, as white as death.

At a glance, if these soldiers weren't breathing hot breath like him, they might have suspected that they were in the underworld.

But why is this new city filled with people of the same race?

and,

Although there are many residential buildings in this new city, why does it look more and more like a military fortress?

But not far to the north, aren't there already two important towns, Qinlong Pass and Jingbeifu, guarding the north entrance to the capital?

Which court elder suggested repairing Huizhou before?

Thinking of this, Luo Yuanqi's pupils shrank suddenly, and a cold air rushed directly from the soles of his feet to his spine.

After the war ended, the war was far from over.

This new city is like a thief.

Bang!

"Zhihu——"

The door was pushed open, and the wind and snow drifted in outside.

A woman with shoulder-length clothes in cool clothes walked in through the snow and casually threw a booklet onto the desk indoors.

The fire crackled indoors,

Behind the desk, an unsuitable man with short hair wearing armor was calmly browsing some documents without looking at anyone, and casually asked:

"how?"

Yikui shook her head and asked:

"It's somewhat inappropriate for you to take the initiative to let him enter the city, isn't it?"

Qin Yuan slowly raised his eyes, his dark eyes expressionless:

"Some time ago, the prince borrowed troops to leave the city. There was a lot of noise. There were no refugees gathering in the new city for a hundred miles. This person suddenly appeared here. It was very strange. If he ignored it, he might miss the important matter of the prince. His cultivation level is not high, so we should not let him enter the city and then Button it up.”

Yikui pulled out the chair, sat down, and said softly:

"That's right, he said he was a refugee."

Qin Yuan frowned slightly:

"Refugees can't see the difference between a military town and a civilian city."

Yikui's expression also became slightly solemn, and she didn't show off:

"So after being tortured, he changed his story again. He said that he was a former imperial court official and volunteered to go to the north to participate in the war. He also became a deserter out of fear, so he has some experience."

Speaking of which,

Yikui glanced at the armor on the opponent's body and joked:

"General Qin, how should we deal with this person?"

Qin Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at the military watch, and said casually:

"Kill."

Yikui was already prepared for this, and stood up before her butt got hot from sitting on it.

The construction of this new city has always been carried out in secret. In normal times, such a large-scale construction project cannot be concealed. But now that the three northern continents are raging with war and ruins are being rebuilt everywhere, their new city will naturally no longer be inconspicuous.

Now that it is seen that it is a military town, it is naturally impossible to stay.

But after thinking about it, Yikui added:

"Oh, by the way, the man said that he knew he would die and begged us to go to the mountains to the west to save his village."

Qin Yuan's eyes paused, and he stopped and was about to leave Yi Kui:

"Keep it for now and send someone to the west to take a look."

Yikui looked back in confusion and asked strangely:

"Why?"

"See for yourself."

Qin Yuan threw the document in his hand to Yi Kui, and while he was reading it, he said calmly:

"The time is coming. The Prime Minister went out hunting in the north with the emperor last night. The young master has just gone to the court. There may be great changes in the capital city of Dayan soon. We may receive orders at any time to break camp and go north to seize the pass to prevent the Northern Feng army. Go south. There is no room for error in anything at this time. Go check out the place mentioned by this person first. Well, go there yourself. "

Yikui listened without complaining and waited for more detailed arrangements.

Qin Yuan thought for a moment and then continued:

"If what this person says is true, he is just a refugee, so I will send him some food. If it is not true, if there are any clues about the details, I will kill them all, and then call the Black Scale Guards to torture that person."

Yikui blinked her beautiful eyes, frowned, and objected:

"Hundreds of people have enough food to eat in one winter. Wouldn't it be easier to just kill all the refugees?"

The survivors of the underground palace are extremely xenophobic, and the Prime Minister's Office did not force them to undergo ideological transformation at this juncture. After the city was built, they only placed some black scale guards and technocrats to monitor the city. Everything in the city was basically controlled by the two of them. The priest has the final say.

Qin Yuan is in charge of military affairs and Yi Kui is in charge of finance.

As a priest who came from the underground palace, although Yikui is promiscuous, she is by no means excessive.

In the past, I was really scared of poverty in the underground palace. I wanted to break every grain of food in half and eat it. Even though I am living a good life now, I have been living on a budget.

Now let her transfer money and food to outsiders?

What a joke!

The survivors of the underground palace have always believed in natural selection. In order to save supplies, they are ruthless to their own people, let alone other refugees. Now to prevent the news from leaking, Yikui thinks the best way is to directly massacre the village.

Qin Yuan should let the other party know what he was thinking. He pondered for a while and suddenly asked:

"Yikui, you should have seen the general of the Black Lin Army named Yuan Hao on the way south. What do you think will happen to him in the future?"

"."

Yikui was puzzled as to why the other party suddenly mentioned that madman.

Qin Yuan took a deep breath and said slowly:

"Yuanhao, like us, is the master's sword, but he is different from us. He himself doesn't care about how easy it is to break, nor does he care about his own life or death, but we need to care about the life and death of these 400,000 divine people.

"Yikui, our current situation is actually very difficult. Although Si Ming has become a close friend of the young master, the ministers in the prime minister's office are jealous of us and don't like us. If we don't want to end up like Yuan Hao, we have to learn to adapt. In this great heat, we must be cautious in everything we do.”

Yikui listened carefully, thought for a while, and then whispered reluctantly:

".Then it has to be calculated based on the minimum ration."

"Can."

Qin Yuan nodded in agreement.

He was also a priest of the underground palace, so he also searched.