Chapter 167: Popular Support
Shanggu City, at the gate of the government office.
Liu Fu paced back and forth, his face showing anxiety.
At this moment, a sound of horse hooves came, and a team of silver-armored cavalry appeared in his field of vision.
Seeing this, he hurriedly walked forward a few steps, and when the cavalry dismounted, he hurriedly asked: "What happened?"
"The ambush of the nobles was defeated, and the remaining soldiers all fled to Gaojiawu Fort. His Highness ordered you to take over Shanggu City and control the Shanggu County soldiers immediately. His Highness will be here soon." The cavalry shouted loudly.
"Hahaha, great." Liu Fu was overjoyed.
He turned to Qin Shan and said: "Captain Qin, the rest is up to you."
"Don't worry, Master Wang." Qin Shan clasped his fists. Since taking over Shanggu County, he has led 5,000 people to station here.
Turning around, he raised his feet to the camp to mobilize troops.
At this time, a cavalry came hurriedly, dismounted, and said: "Captain, the county soldiers ran away!"
"Run away? Where did they run to?" Qin Shan and Liu Fu were both stunned.
"He ran along the official road to the north!" The cavalry pointed to the north.
Qin Shan and Liu Fu looked at each other, that was the direction of Gaojiawubao.
"Gao Yuan must have learned of the defeat and gathered his troops to try to rely on the fort to resist." Liu Fu said.
Qin Shan snorted angrily, "I will lead the troops to surround Gaojiawubao and deal with it after Your Highness arrives."
Liu Fu nodded.
...
Gaojiawubao.
A group of noble officials surrounded Gao Yuan.
After the initial panic, he immediately asked each family to transfer the remaining private soldiers to their own forts.
Shanggu County.
Gaojiawubao has the largest area, the highest and thickest walls, and is like a small city.
As long as there are enough soldiers in the fort, he believes that unless the food and grass in the fort are exhausted, the Yan Wang's troops will not be able to break through the city.
"Don't panic, everyone. I have sent people to Fanyang. Lord Yuan will definitely protect our lives."
Although the fortress now has sufficient food, grass and horses, the officials all have worried expressions on their faces.
Worried that people might be confused, he brought up Yuan Li to comfort them.
"Yes, Lord Yuan is here. How can we let the King of Yan do whatever he wants?"
"The Yuan family has 200,000 soldiers and horses. As long as Lord Yuan sends troops to rescue us, the King of Yan can't do anything."
"..."
Hearing this, the officials of the noble families comforted each other, but some of them were worried.
Just at this time, someone else shouted: "The county soldiers are coming."
Gao Yuan and the officials of the noble families were excited.
Three thousand county soldiers and the private soldiers in the fortress, nearly 20,000 people.
The fortress was temporarily safe.
Less than half an hour after the county soldiers arrived, the soldiers on the lookout on the fortress shouted again: "The King of Yan's army is coming, the King of Yan's army is coming."
Gao Yuan and his eldest son Gao Man immediately climbed the wall of the fortress.
I saw flags waving on the road leading to Gaojiawubao, and the word "Yan" on the flags was particularly eye-catching.
Under the flags, the soldiers of the King of Yan wearing silver armor were coming towards the fort.
However, this group of soldiers did not seem to have the intention of attacking the city.
Instead, they occupied the main road outside the fort and surrounded the fort from four directions.
"These are soldiers from Shanggu City." Gao Yuan's eyes narrowed.
The news of their failure to ambush the King of Yan might have reached Liu Fu's ears.
Gao Yuan felt irritated.
Now he could only put all his hopes on Yuan Li.
...
In the evening.
Zhao Xu arrived at Shanggu City under the escort of the soldiers of the palace.
As soon as he entered the city, he was stunned.
I saw that the streets of Shanggu City were full of people. These people were smiling and happy as if it was the New Year.
"His Royal Highness the King of Yan has arrived, please make way."
Lu Chang, who was in front of the team, said to the people blocking the road.
This sentence was like a stone falling into the water, and immediately splashed countless water.
The people automatically retreated to both sides of the road, and then knelt down one by one.
"Live a thousand years, Your Highness, I am grateful for saving me."
"Live a thousand years, Your Highness, I am grateful for saving me."
"..."
The people kept shouting.
Since Shanggu County was assigned to the Yan Wang's fiefdom, they felt that their lives finally had a future.
And when the nobles handed over the occupied land, they felt that the sky of Shanggu County seemed to be clear.
But they didn't expect that the nobles would fight back immediately.
They secretly instigated the idle people and slaves in the market to come to the people's homes to intimidate and threaten them.
The land they had just obtained was taken away before they could even warm it up.
At this time, Shanggu County returned to darkness.
But they didn't expect that it would happen today.
Liu Fu of the royal palace suddenly sent soldiers to arrest noble officials and their minions everywhere in the city.
Later, they learned that the Yan Wang army had defeated the rebellion of the nobles and now wanted to wipe out the Shanggu nobles.
After that, Shanggu County will be like Yan County, where everyone has land to farm and a future to live.
So, they poured into the streets because they could not vent their joy of seeing the light of day again.
Now, seeing the King of Yan, they could not control themselves.
They had nothing but kneeling down and kowtowed to the King of Yan to express their gratitude.
When the soldiers of the palace saw this scene, the fatigue on their bodies seemed to disappear instantly.
It was worthwhile for them to fight to the death, as they liberated the people of Shanggu County from the vicious nobles of Shanggu.
And this is what the King of Yan said, the meaning of fighting - within the king's land, every citizen has land to farm, is well fed and well clothed, and will live a more prosperous life in the future.
"Please stand up, everyone." The roar of the people in front of him moved Zhao Xu.
He got off his horse and helped the people up himself.
The people who stood up all had tears in their eyes. An old man said, "Your Highness, can we live in Shanggu County like Shangyan County, where everyone has land to farm and is no longer enslaved by the nobles?"
"Yes!" Zhao Xu said firmly, "In the future, everyone will have a field, and you don't have to worry about your land being taken away by others. This is my promise to you."
The King of Yan said so, and the people around him became more and more excited.
They danced and danced, as happy as children who got candy.
Along the road, Zhao Xu continued to walk forward, helping the kneeling people up along the way.
Halfway, he met Liu Fu who was also walking.
He was also blocked by the people and did not meet him at the city gate in time.
When they met, Liu Fu looked apologetic, "Your Highness, please forgive me for my impoliteness."
"Don't worry about these details at this time." Zhao Xu said.
Arriving at the government office, Zhao Xu comforted the people at the door again.
The people who had been following and unwilling to leave dispersed.
Entering the government office, Zhao Xu said to Liu Fu: "In the next two days, you should transfer some officials from Yan County, and recruit some local officials to rebuild the officialdom of Shanggu County. In addition, count the number of people and the amount of land, and distribute the land."
"Yes, Your Highness." Liu Fu was excited.
He dreamed of this day coming sooner.
Otherwise, it would be uncomfortable for him to be unable to control a place within a fiefdom.
Zhao Xu nodded, and found that Qin Shan was not there, so he asked: "Where is Qin Shan?"
Liu Fu then told the story of the Shanggu nobles gathering troops at Gaojiawubao and Qin Shan besieging Gaojiawubao.
Zhao Xu nodded lightly, "Since most of the nobles gathered in the fort, when Chang Wei and Mo Yu took over the county, they could join forces and catch them all in one fell swoop."