bookrebus Chapter 92 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 24
Chapter 92 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 24
"The barbarians are brutal. If you witnessed them massacring a village, how did you manage to escape alive?"
Ling Yi sat in the makeshift tent and met these people.
When the old man saw the magnificent tent, the tiger skin spread on the ground, and the large incense burner burning in the house, his heart sank.
These adults from the south seem even more corrupt than the local gentry.
Can these people stand up for them?
He was disappointed, but he still dared not be perfunctory with Ling Yi in the slightest. He honestly said, "Reporting to you, sir, we did not see it with our own eyes, but rather it was pre-arranged."
The old man slowly told Ling Yi what had happened. It turned out that they had been harassed by barbarians for several years, so several villages had set a rule that if they were safe after the autumn harvest, they would light beacon fires in the village and keep them burning day and night.
A few days ago, they discovered that the beacon fire in one of the villages had suddenly stopped. Just as they were wondering if the villagers had forgotten about it, the beacon fire in another village also stopped the next day.
The old man smiled bitterly and said, "Seeing this scene, I moved the old and young people of the village to avoid disaster, and I took the able-bodied men to Tongcheng to report the news."
Ling Yi frowned: "How many days have you been gone?"
"Reporting to Madam, it has been a full seven days." The old man smiled wryly as he saw that Ling Yi had grasped the crux of the matter in an instant.
In an instant, Ling Yi's face turned cold.
The imperial court has decreed that border troops shall patrol every seven days, taking turns to patrol the border without fail.
Under these orders, even if the patrolling border troops could not do anything to the groups of barbarians raiding the grasslands, they could still send the news to the main camp outside Tongzhou City as soon as possible after the incident.
But now, including the time it took for the flames of war to be extinguished, it has been a total of nine days.
Ling Yi gently pressed down Xiao Yao, who was about to jump up, and asked softly, "Didn't you encounter any border troops on your way here?"
The guards have already gone to investigate the route the old men took and confirmed that they followed the official road all the way to Tongcheng.
If they hadn't encountered the border troops who came to stop them, things would have been much worse.
The old man chuckled, seemingly at the naivety of the former nobleman: "My old eyes are failing, and I did not notice whether the adults had gone to investigate."
He was also quite old, an old man who had lived through both the previous and current dynasties.
At the end of the previous dynasty, no one cared when the barbarians raided the fields.
Even their adults would kidnap people and sell them to the barbarians in exchange for gold nuggets.
Later, the previous dynasty fell, and the current emperor was someone who couldn't stand being taken advantage of. In his youth, he led his troops and drove the barbarians to the far north. For more than ten years, he didn't even dare to come back to test the waters.
At that time, the old general who would patrol the border from time to time still lived in Tongcheng.
After the old general passed away, the new general wasn't as dedicated, but he still managed to have his subordinates patrol the border.
The new general has left, and the newest general doesn't even care about the court's orders.
A few years ago, when barbarians first invaded the border, he would send people back after receiving reports. Now, he only sends a few people to investigate, and those who go to investigate are charged money.
Even so, he still had to come to ask for help.
Because of the presence of border troops, the barbarians will have reservations and will temporarily let the village pass this autumn, allowing them to survive for a year.
As for next year?
Hopefully, he won't be among the first to be robbed next year, and that he'll still be alive to seek help from the nobles of Tongcheng.
Seeing the old man's smile that was more like a grimace, Xiao Yao slammed his hand on the table: "Outrageous!"
My father rose to power through military prowess, so he naturally attaches great importance to military affairs, and the provisions and pay for the border troops have never been reduced over the years.
But he never imagined that these border troops would be so absurd after receiving their pay and rations!
Thinking of the words of peace and prosperity sent from the border every year, Xiao Yao couldn't help but laugh.
He gritted his teeth and said, "I'm asking you, have there been any instances of villages being massacred in the past? Did those people fight back for you?"
The old man gave Xiao Yao a strange look: "If there hadn't been the massacre of the village in the past, how would we commoners have come up with this method?"
"As for revenge?" He saw the naivety in the nobleman's eyes and couldn't help but sneer: "The life of a soldier is much more precious than that of us commoners."
The imperial court hasn't even given an order to retaliate, so why would they draw their swords?
It's unclear how the emperor who once killed the barbarian chieftain could allow these incompetent fools to rise to the rank of general. Perhaps he was too old to see things beyond the capital.
"Outrageous! Outrageous!" Xiao Yao's eyes turned red with anger. How dare these guys disregard the imperial decree like this?
Remembering how casually the old man spoke of the village massacre, Xiao Yao gritted his teeth: "I'm going to kill them!"
These bastards deserved to die for deceiving the emperor and oppressing the people!
"Yes, kill them." Seeing how angry he was, Ling Yi quickly took the tea that Lu An handed her and fed it to him.
The old man, having spoken frankly, looked at their appearance, and his feverish mind instantly cleared as if splashed with cold water.
If the important person is angered to the point of illness, not only will his old life be in danger, but it will also implicate the two young children.
"Please let the old folks go and rest. We'll take them to Tongcheng when we set off." Lingyi gestured to the maid to lead the three frightened people to rest.
Once the tent had quieted down again, she said, "Please invite Lord Zhang in."
Before long, Zhang Qiran, the leader of the three thousand Imperial Guards, lifted the curtain and walked in.
As a servant of the emperor, this general was unusually not good-looking; he was robust, and his thick beard almost completely covered his dark face.
The emperor carefully selected Xiao Yao's head guard because of his unparalleled strength.
This man can draw a heavy bow with a strength of over sixteen, and his horse-slaying saber is wielded with great force, making him a fierce general capable of charging into battle.
The emperor chose him to provide Xiao Yao with an extra layer of insurance for his journey to the northern desert.
Unfortunately, this general didn't really like the job. Throughout his journey to the northern desert, he treated Xiao Yao with only official business and showed no affection whatsoever. His face clearly said, "It's time for me to go back to the capital. I'm not going to play house with you, a prince made of jade, in the northern desert."
Now, when the general was summoned to the tent, he still maintained a businesslike demeanor: "If there are any matters, big or small, please give your orders, Your Highness and Your Highness."
His presence blocked most of the candlelight behind him, casting a huge shadow in front of the couple, making Xiao Yao's breathing become disjointed.
"I..." He paused, glancing sideways at Ling Yi: "What did I ask him to do again?"
This wasn't his call.
Ling Yi pinched his face, put her mouth to the cup to make him continue drinking water, and calmly instructed Zhang Qiran: "General Zhang, please have a thousand men with three days' worth of rations, and await further instructions."