165. Bandit Emperor (11) (1/2)

When General Zhao saw his wife and children, he had no more scruples. He killed the eunuch sent by the emperor to monitor him, and joined the Miaocheng Army that night.

Of course, he would not go alone, but merged all his soldiers and generals into the Miaocheng Army.

With General Zhao, Wei Mingyan was even more powerful and fought all the way up.

As more cities were captured, people gradually knew the difference of the Miaocheng Army.

Although they were soldiers, they never destroyed the people's property. When the city was captured, people fled for their lives, and these soldiers would not stop them from leaving. They would usually go straight to the government, leave people to stay, and manage the people who remained in the city.

If you want to leave, leave, if you want to stay, stay.

Those cities that were captured were a little uncomfortable at first, but gradually, the people let down their guard. After all, being able to eat and wear warm clothes was their only hope.

This winter seems to be particularly long.

The weather has been cold since the beginning of winter. Now it should be early spring, but the cold has not decreased at all. There is no sun all day long. People with some money at home are fine. Although it is hard to bear during the day, they can just cover themselves with more quilts. But those who are poor are miserable.

They often can't even afford a pair of shoes. They are all ragged, not to mention the thick quilt. At night, the family can only hug together to keep warm.

In the morning, when the adults woke up, they found that the child in their arms had already stiffened. This kind of thing is not uncommon.

Miao Chengjun was stationed in the newly conquered city. One day, while patrolling, he suddenly heard a miserable howl, followed by wailing. The soldiers in front waved, and the soldiers behind him stopped.

Holding long knives, they turned into the alley where the sound came from. Sure enough, they saw a woman crying with a child in her arms under the gloomy sky.

The neighbors around her persuaded her to bury the child. The short and thin man should be the father of the child. He was trying to bring the child over, but the woman cried and dodged.

The soldier was originally born in a poor family. He thought that he would live like this for the rest of his life. Unexpectedly, he signed up for the Miaocheng Army just for the food of his family, and he became a small leader along the way.

Now he has a meal allowance in addition to his salary every month. The fish and meat he brings back every month can make his old parents, who were originally pale and thin, eat well. Yesterday, he said that his family had some assets and wanted to find him a wife.

The soldier refused. They fought all the way up, and there were many risks. Although the adults would be given pensions for the dead and wounded, so that the parents at home would not be left without support, he didn't know what the future would be like. How could he harm the good girl and accept the separation of husband and wife after marrying her?

Although he thought so, he couldn't help but envy his brothers who were loved by fat babies.

He always liked children, and his biggest wish was to marry a wife after the war, and give birth to eight or ten children. He would teach his sons how to use knives, and dress his daughters beautifully, like nieces of adults, wearing the best clothes, using the best things, and running around happily every day.

Seeing this little child frozen to death, thinking that this was the seventh one they had seen this morning, the soldier sighed, took out three copper coins from his pocket, and handed them to the man.

"Buy a straw mat and bury it well."

Three copper coins were exactly the money for the straw mat. He had already given twenty-one copper coins this morning.

The man was stunned for a moment, then he knelt down with tears in his eyes to thank him. He was helped up by the soldier. He watched the well-dressed team, whose awe-inspiring team could be felt at a glance, walk away. The man wiped his tears and continued to persuade his wife.

"Boss, do you have enough money? I have already given it several times this morning."

The soldier was standing straight and inspecting the surrounding situation. A brother who was on good terms with him asked, and he said with a stern face, "I just can't bear to see those children buried without anything."

In poor families, when someone dies, they just dig a pit and throw them in directly. Not to mention the coffin, there are no straw mats or clothes.

Those children are pitiful to begin with, at least they should be treated decently.

Thinking about it, the soldier sighed, "My father was a hunter when I was a child. Although the winter was getting colder and colder and there were no prey, I never suffered from the cold. I was just hungry..."

The soldiers following behind him were immediately attracted, "Boss, you have never suffered from the cold? How is that possible? This damn weather is getting colder day by day. Who doesn't cry out in the cold in winter?"

"It's just that I didn't suffer from it when I was a child."

The soldier recalled, "At that time, there was a blind bear living in the mountains. My father accidentally broke in and brought out some black stones. He had thrown them in the woodshed. As a result, he accidentally used them in winter and found that they could be used for a long time if burned. Later, my father risked his life to lure out the blind bear and brought back a basket of black stones. Although we were hungry that winter, we were really not cold."

"Black stones?!!"

Strange stories always attract attention. Several soldiers who were close to him immediately became interested. "Boss, what kind of black stones are they? Can they really burn for a long time?"

"Boss, if we find these black stones, we won't have to suffer from the cold."

Several people were talking around, and suddenly someone said, "I heard from Lord Mo that he is looking for a way to keep out the cold. If anyone finds it, he will reward them with a thousand taels of silver."

The scene fell silent.

More than a dozen eyes fell on the soldier.

"Is this true? How come we haven't heard of it?"

The soldier had small eyes, but they looked very bright. He said directly, "I know Lord Mo's family, and Lord Mo can also talk to me. I heard this from him."

The soldier was the gangster who protected Widow Song. He saw that Widow Song was recognized as a sister by Lord Mo, and from then on she was the daughter of the Mo family. He was happy for her, but also worried that his little idea could no longer be realized.

Later, he thought it over.

He is a man who has nothing in his hands and is too embarrassed to even open his mouth. He was not worthy of Widow Song in the past. Now she is a lady with maids accompanying her. If he continues to live like this, he can't even think about that wishful thinking.

The gangster joined the army, but although he was smart and had some ability to climb over the wall, he couldn't compare with those soldiers who relied on their strength. Therefore, although he could fight, he was still a soldier now.

He himself was not in a hurry. He did his own things every day and hoped to be promoted as soon as possible.

Hearing this news at this moment, the gangster persuaded the soldiers, "Boss, this is a thousand taels of silver. You can report it. Maybe it will really work."

The soldier hesitated and finally nodded, "Okay, I will report it when I go back today."

A thousand taels of silver, if he can really get so much silver, even if he dies on the battlefield one day, he will not have to worry about his parents being left alone in his old age.

***

Just as the cold was getting worse, the news of the Miaocheng Army spread among the people.

It is said that the people under their jurisdiction all wore cotton clothes, and the government would provide porridge at noon every day. At night, they took the black stone and burned it, so they could sleep warmly all night.

Of course, the black stone was not free. After all, Wei Mingyan sent people to explore the cave and confirmed that it was not the blind bear that had the black stone, but it just happened to dig up the black stone in the mountain. After that, the black stones that were transported to various places were all dug up by hand.

With such manpower and material resources, the price of black stone looked a bit cheap, not to mention that Wei Mingyan ordered the construction of an official school. Children who wanted to enroll could directly register as long as they had books, whether old or new.

The official school burned black stones both during the day and at night.

Wei Mingyan did not care about the people who went in and out of the city he had taken. Gradually, some merchants boldly proposed to buy black stones, but they learned that the extra black stones had already been bought by a businessman named Li.

Just as they were lamenting that they were still a step late, the black stone gradually became popular among the upper-class families in the capital.

After all, the black stone burned without smoke and silently, and with the promotion of Li the merchant, people bought it one after another.

Expensive?

What a joke, people of their level, can they still care about this little silver?

Ministers gradually used black stones, and even the royal family began to buy them because of this popular trend. The price was quite cheap for them, but it was not the same in the eyes of the people.

The expensive things they could not buy in their lives, the black stone that could only be used by ministers and royal families to keep warm and save lives, could actually be used day and night by the rebels.

It was said that the government would issue a piece of black stone every day, which was a little small, but as long as you thought about what price this black stone would get if it was shipped out and sold, it would make people jealous.

Eat well, wear warm clothes, and don’t even need to worry about heating.

The people were originally envious.

The emperor who was courting death ordered conscription again.

There was no other way. His men were losing ground one after another. Now the treasury was empty, there was no food, and the swords were all rusty. He could only use the old method, manpower to win.

He was still hungry and cold, and it was difficult to live. The country was conscripting again, and even the conscription standard this time was that men had to go to the battlefield at the age of twelve.

Twelve years old, that's still a child, ask which family would be willing to let him go.

When the court led the conscripted men out from house to house like leading animals, and cursed them casually as usual, the old oxen who had been silent and allowed to be beaten and scolded were completely fed up.

After a man beat up the government officials, the rest of the men seemed to have seen an example. The Miao Chengjun camp was not far away. These dozens of people knocked down the soldiers and returned home without even having time to pack up their things, and rushed there with their families.

They were also desperate. Miao Chengjun valued the children. If they couldn't get in, the children would go.

Wei Mingyan accepted all the people who came to seek refuge, whether they were old or young.

Throwing a brick to attract jade, this is just throwing a brick, the real jade is still behind.

More and more people and their families fled to Miao Chengjun, and finally, this matter attracted attention.

The officer guarding the gate did not close the gate or report to the emperor, but led his men to guard it. Those who wanted to flee with their families were directly detained.

He thought that this would stop the people, but he did not expect that when his life was in danger, he would only arouse the anger of the people.

Finally, this group of people who had been suppressed and called fools broke out.

The gangsters lay in the broken house under the gate for seven days. When they were hungry, they ate the dry food they brought with them. When they were thirsty, they took out the bamboo tube and took a few sips carefully to moisten their dry throats.

He was like a weasel hiding in the night, lying in ambush and waiting for the prey to come forward.

Finally, he found an opportunity.

A soldier was waving his knife and confronting the people, cursing, and his feet slipped and fell to the ground.

Originally, this fall was fine, but he was unstable and panicked, and the knife in his hand was stabbed into his stomach without knowing why.

Only the gangster and the commoner saw this scene, but the other generals didn't know. They were furious in an instant and swung their knives at the fool who dared to kill.

The commoner himself was also confused and retreated to avoid it. The knife chopped on his arm.

Seeing the blood, the commoners were all timid.

But before they could be timid, the knife chopped down again.

This is not wanting them to live! ! !

Not enough to eat, expensive cotton clothes, no black stone, these are all fine!

But, you can't let them live!

Not enough, not enough!

The red-eyed commoners were no longer docile, and rushed up with desperate roars.

There was the first one, and the second one, and some people took advantage of the chaos to open the city gate and sneak out to join Miao Chengjun.

Until the whole capital was in chaos and the Miao Chengjun cavalry entered the city, the emperor sitting on the dragon throne hadn't figured out why it was so fast.

How long has it been since then? How come the rebels have entered the capital?

Wei Mingyan led the army and rushed all the way to the Golden Palace.

There, the emperor who wanted to escape had been tied up and trapped on the ground, wriggling like a worm.

He desperately shouted for titles, titles of kingship, and even land, hoping to persuade the traitor who even sat on the throne to let him go.

Wei Mingyan, wearing a white mighty armor, leaned on the throne, looking down at the man on the ground.

He was still cursing at first, then tempting, and now begging.

The handsome man with a heroic look propped up his chin and looked at him as if he was watching a monkey show. When the former emperor stopped talking, Wei Mingyan spoke lightly.

"Do you know why you lost?"

"Before Emperor Tianwei died, he left you eight loyal ministers to assist the country. Each of them was carefully selected by him."

"These ministers must be able to assist you, but they cannot become powerful because of the small number of descendants in their families. They are all loyal to Emperor Tianwei. If he says he will die, these ministers will die without hesitation..."

"Before he died, he accepted the resignation of the father-in-law and took away all the power in the hands of the queen mother. Whether it was the former dynasty or the harem, everything was arranged for you."

The man on the ground had red eyes, and listened to Wei Mingyan slowly and despair in disbelief and despair, "Emperor Tianwei is indeed a good Emperor, it's a pity that you were born as stupid as a pig."

"You forced loyal ministers to death and welcomed back treacherous ministers. Step by step, you forced yourself into this dead end."

After Wei Mingyan finished speaking, he waved his hand without even looking at the crying middle-aged man with snot on his face, "Kill him here."

"Don't! Don't kill me! ! ! "

The former emperor had completely lost his former high position. He wore a dragon robe and kowtowed in panic, "I give you the country and the concubine, but I don't want the dragon throne or the dragon robe anymore. Don't kill me, please, please..."

The soldiers stood behind, looking at the emperor they once feared, and all of them showed disdain in their eyes.

Wei Mingyan changed his hand to support his chin, and with a pair of heroic eyes, he quietly looked at the former emperor on the ground, "Your Majesty, do you want to live?"

The emperor nodded desperately, "Yes! I do!"

He looked at the man in the wheelchair with fear and smiled slowly. He felt relieved and thought he had escaped a disaster, but suddenly a gloomy voice came to his ears:

"Those people and loyal ministers who were killed by you, don't you want to live?"

The emperor froze, and he watched the man in front of him like a devil saying:

"I changed my mind. Beheading is really not in line with your Majesty's status."

Wei Mingyan still had a gentle smile on his face, and knocked on the dragon chair,

"Then, Lingchi."

"No - I am the emperor of Jin, you can't do this... umm..."

Something was stuffed in his mouth and he was dragged away directly.

The emperor who had been incompetent all his life was dragged away like a dead dog. With a pair of cloudy eyes, he watched as groups of people stood in rows and knelt down. There was pure admiration in everyone's eyes.

But this admiration was all for the traitor.

The emperor was only wearing a middle coat and was dragged on the ground. He was shivering all over. He had never suffered such hardship since he was born. When he was cursing and despairing in his heart,

Along with the soldiers looking at Wei Mingyan in the Golden Palace with admiration, the neat voices, like a tsunami, completely resounded in his ears:

——"Long live the emperor!"

——"Long live!!"

——"Long, long live!!!"

From then on, the Jin State changed its surname to Wei.

The author has something to say: Mumumumu, the second update is here, good night everyone!

The first ten little angels will send red envelopes, and then ten will be randomly selected. I have saved up red envelopes for a long time. I will try to send them tomorrow. Mimu, love you!