Chapter 990: Rob or Be Robbed

Su Shuang was originally from Zhongshan, and his ancestor was a small scholar-bureaucrat who was attached to the Zhao State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. However, after the fall of the Zhao State, he became a slave of the subjugated country. Later, after the fall of the Qin Dynasty, he was considered a slave. After getting married, he made a living by trading, mainly selling horses and livestock back and forth in Hudi, and later moved to Guanzhong.

The Su family's Wubao is neither big nor small. It has about five hundred people, so it can be considered medium-sized. The location of Wubao is between Mangshui and Luogushui. It is also a good location, so it was lucky that it was not affected during several conflicts.

As a result, there was the Yellow Turban Rebellion, then Dong Zhuo's Rebellion, and now it's the Xiliang Rebellion. Large groups of small groups of soldiers were like combs and grates, making it impossible to carry out trade smoothly. During this period, some people took advantage of the calm situation to move around with some horses and livestock for sale, but almost all of them encountered rebels, who lowered the price and forced them to buy or sell them. Some even held a big knife to their necks and extorted money. …

Later, Su Shuang simply took the young and old in Wubao and stayed behind closed doors, guarding their small valley between Mangshui, thinking of getting through this period of troubled times first.

In the current chaotic situation in Guanzhong, it is naturally impossible to say that there can be any happy and free days. However, Su Shuang took the thirty or fifty men who followed him in Wubao and traveled north and south, suffering in Fang Xiaotiandi. Just struggling to survive.

Because Su Shuang's reputation in this area is pretty good, some refugees even came over and stayed by the Mangshui River, built dens or grass huts, and lived by hunting by the Mangshui River.

On weekdays, Su Shuang was somewhat embarrassed when he saw these refugees. Sometimes he would bring out the food and grass and cook a few pots of porridge, mixed with things like mussels, fish and shrimps in the mango water, to help these refugees. Life is just a matter of taking it one day at a time. Unknowingly, more and more refugees have gathered on the edge of Mangshui. From the original few hundred people, there are now two to three thousand...

It's not like no one has persuaded Su Shuang to just raise a flag and say that these refugees should be integrated, so that one can protect themselves, and on the other hand, they can also take advantage of the current situation and maybe find a future or something.

However, Su Shuang thought about it and still did not make such a decision. One is that Su Shuang was originally just a businessman and didn't know much about military formations. On the other hand, Su Shuang also felt that even if he really raised his banner, no one would admit it, let alone rank him. No.

Besides, I see these refugees staggering around every day. All within sight are the old, weak, sick, and disabled, barely supporting themselves. Even if they are pulled out, what effect will they have?

Looking at the soldiers and horses coming and going during this period, Su Shuang was frightened every day. Those armored soldiers with helmets on their heads were running eastward and westward for a while. Their murderous looks made Su Shuang frightened. Shuang felt that once a fight broke out, it was still uncertain how long his fort could last.

During the period when the Xiliang soldiers had the upper hand, Su Shuang had not thought of moving closer to Xiliang, but he tentatively sent people out. As a result, not long after they left, the Xiliang soldiers were embattled on all sides. According to what Someone even sent cavalry to kill a certain marquis from Xiliang. It seemed like they were going to collapse again in the blink of an eye.

The soldiers and cavalry who came and went near Chang'an rushed back and forth, not only blocking the road, but also captured a few of the people Su Shuang sent out to inquire about the news and used them to serve as civilian husbands, and the remaining people had to fight. He ran away crawling back. Fortunately, the soldiers and horses in these areas did not take Su Shuang's manpower seriously, so apart from asking for some food and grass, they had no time to cause any trouble to Su Shuangwu Fort.

Therefore, the road to Xiliang seems to be impassable now, but the soldiers around Guanzhong seem to have not dissipated. Military intelligence scouts and escort teams of large and small vehicles are coming and going every few days. It seems that it will last for a long time. The way it looks like it's being beaten down...

Every day, Su Shuang could only sit in Wubao and stare. Even if he wanted to migrate now, it seemed too late. Wubao was in a good location, but now it has become an obstacle. On one side is Mangshui. On one side is the Luogu River, and to the south is the Taibai Mountain area of ​​the Qinling Mountains. It is inconvenient to go anywhere. Moreover, there are some horses hidden in the valley. If any signs of this show up, those generals who are in charge of the army are vegetarians. Maybe Not only can't I leave, my life is at stake.

Su Shuang is not sure whether these are troubled times, but what he can confirm is that everyone is having a hard time in this current situation.

Although Su Shuang is above everyone in this Wubao and does not have to worry about food and clothing, as time passes day by day, no one has a bottom line in mind as to how long this situation will last. Just in case, they all started living a life of half food and half wild vegetables, not to mention enjoying other big fish and meat...

After all, everyone knows right now that food is king. No matter how difficult it is, as long as you have food and grass, you can get through it. There are countless princes, grandsons, and high-ranking officials who have fallen in troubled times. Su Shuang has not seen this kind of thing before.

Su Shuang didn't know how long this wait would last.

However, on this day, the surging Xiliang soldiers told Su Shuang the answer.

Ma Chao did not directly send troops to attack the Wubao directly. Instead, he asked his horses to drive out all the refugees hiding in the dens or huts along Mangshui, like cattle and sheep. It rolled forward, causing more and more refugees to collapse subconsciously, and they only knew how to run along the flow of people.

The dozen or so personal guards around Ma Chao guarded both sides, slashing to the ground all the refugees who rushed over without thinking.

Facing these ragged refugees, Ma Chao wasn't even interested in waving his spear. He just heard that there was a Wubao here, and that there were some horses hidden in the valley behind the Wubao...

Ever since Ma Teng rushed to Xinfeng with a large number of horses, Han Sui was relatively short of horses, so when he got the news, Ma Chao rushed over with his men without stopping.

Although Han Sui had said that he needed Ma Chao's attention, now is different from before. After all, they have a peace treaty with each other. Whether he attacks the county or plunders the surrounding areas, it will be considered as a breach of contract, which means that he has lost the name of trust. This will inevitably lead to criticism in the future...

But when Ma Chao heard that there were horses, he blocked all Han Sui's words.

War horses are not equivalent to food and grass, and can even be a scarce resource under certain circumstances. If they are taken away by the people in Guanzhong, it will increase the strength of the people in Guanzhong. People who become infantry can become cavalry again. Because of the ebb and flow of the gap, Ma Chao is eager for revenge and puts aside all the subsequent troubles or moral issues.

Anyway, just grab it first and then talk about it!

I originally thought that at least some soldiers would be injured in the attack on Wubao, but I didn't expect that a large number of refugees would gather at the edge of Mangshui, so these refugees became a natural help.

These desperately crying refugees screamed and ran, and some even missed the mark and fell on the waterside depression and rolled all over themselves in mud. However, not many of the Xiliang soldiers who were slowly advancing were waving their hands. Killed with swords and guns.

It’s not that these Xiliang soldiers are soft-hearted, but they need the refugees more to attack Wubao. However, if anyone is stunned, they will be so merciful. If anyone is unlucky and stands in front of their horses, they will be trampled mercilessly. When entering the mud, there is no weakness.

The goal of the Xiliang soldiers is to drive all these refugees away, and then completely disintegrate them. Then, driven by fear, they will blindly obey the orders of the Xiliang soldiers and drive them away like cattle and sheep. Fill the trenches and traps of the dock.

In fact, there are not many Xiliang troops open in the front, and they are not airtight among themselves. Even if there are cavalry running back and forth on the outside, if these refugees are calm enough and have the courage, they can run out through the gaps between the Xiliang soldiers. It's not an impossible task.

It's just that when people are dominated by a large number of strong redundant emotions, the memory capacity required by the rational system is often insufficient.

In addition, the soldiers of Xiliang kept shouting, if you take down Wubao, you can have enough food, if you take Wubao, you can be free, if you take Wubao, you can do whatever you want. After talking too much, these refugees gradually lost their thoughts. ability, blankly believing everything the Xiliang soldiers said, completely forgetting that they had received help from people in Wubao before at the Mangshui River, and also drank the rice porridge cooked by Wubao...

The refugees swarmed in like a tidal wave. Hundreds of people pushed each other and ran away. The wave surged, rolling in front and behind, and rushed towards Wubao, who had originally released goodwill.

Behind the refugees, there were Xiliang soldiers, cavalry and infantry, forming a large circle, squeezing the refugees towards Wubao, whistling to each other, looking calm and moving smoothly.

Even though Wubao has some defensive measures, they are not as strong as a regular city, or even as strong as a fortress built by soldiers. Although it is usually more than enough to defend against some horse thieves and bandits, but in a situation like this Under the overwhelming flow of people, the trenches and traps outside the fort looked like paper.

Large groups of refugees who lost the ability to think and only knew how to move forward hurriedly filled the trenches in front of them. The people at the front were nailed to death on the sharp wooden stakes of trenches or traps, and their blood had not yet After all the bleeding, the person was not completely dead. There were more people behind who trampled on the body of the previous person. They hit the wall of Wubao and stopped crying and shouting...

The so-called Ding Zhuang on the wall of Wubao also had a pale face and trembling hands. He had no idea what he should do. Of course, under such circumstances, even doing something might be of no use.

The earthen wall of Wubao is not high.

Ma Chao held a spear, sat on the horseback, looked at Wubao, and waved casually. Ma Dai behind him understood and rushed forward with his soldiers. To deal with this kind of Wubao, Ma Chao would not have to do it himself.

To be honest, even if Ma Chao abandons his horse and leads his guards to climb the ladder to attack Wubao at this moment, it will only take a moment or two. Moreover, according to Ma Dai's bravery, it is enough. What Ma Chao wants now is to take After the horses behind Wubao, how to advance...

…………………………

At this moment, in Mangshui, hundreds of refugees are being driven around and shouting, struggling to survive, in Chang'an City, in Zhongshao's mansion, a group of warblers and swallows are surrounding Zhongshao, for He put on elegant court clothes inlaid with gold embroidery, a jade belt and a seal ribbon. A round bronze mirror with a diameter of about two feet, or more than 50 centimeters when converted into centimeters, was finely polished by craftsmen to reflect the figure of a person. It's almost clearly visible, right in front of Zhongshao.

Several concubines knelt at Zhong Shao's feet, arranging the accessories on Zhong Shao's body. Some carefully used gold hooks to hang the sachets on the leather belts around their waists, while others knelt on both sides and gently smoothed the wrinkles on Zhongshao's court clothes. Another person took another one. The maidservant's crown of virtue was placed on a silver plate, and she wore it upright on her head.

Normally speaking, at Zhong Shao's age, he should be able to see things clearly and let go. It is best for him to have grandchildren at home and enjoy his life. But this is not the case for Zhong Shao. He is older. , the heart of power and position has not weakened at all, but has become stronger.

Jinxian's crown was put on upright, and Zhongshao adjusted it slightly from left to right, then nodded slightly and waved all the concubines serving around him to leave.

In the bronze mirror, an old face was reflected.

Although he was richly dressed and elegant, he could not conceal the sense of age that was revealed from his body.

Zhong Shao watched silently for a long time, then suddenly smiled softly, showing some self-deprecation. I have been on the official career path all my life, and it was only when I was old that I reached the point where one person is below ten thousand people, but I never thought that even so, there are still people who want to rob me!

In the bronze mirror, his beard and hair have turned white.

The man in front of me is now old and can no longer withstand another storm. If he is kicked off the stage, he will never have the chance to climb up again...

Zhong Shao was fascinated by the bronze mirror for a long time, and finally slowly turned his head and looked eastward. From now on, until he dies, he must firmly hold this power in his hands, and no one can take it away!

Don’t even think about it!