In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 744 Are you out of your mind?

As it turned out, Zhu Changhe, who later came to power, was even more greedy than the Green King.

Not only did they condone the Qingzhou army soldiers looting the people, but they also ransacked the city, wantonly plundering the wealth of the people...

It can be said that the people of the prefectural city have always lived in dire straits, and they long for someone to rescue them.

They weren't sure if this person was Yang Zheng, but they felt that... even if Yang Zheng was bad, he probably couldn't be as bad as the Green King and Zhu Changhe, right?

Not only the people in the city, but even the soldiers of the Qingzhou Army were tempted after hearing Yang Zheng's promise.

Yang Zheng said that after the city falls, not a single soldier or civilian in the city will be harmed, which means that even if they do not choose to resist, their lives will not be in danger.

If that's the case, then why resist at all?

War means death. For the soldiers of the Yang family army, war means military merit and a better life, but for the soldiers of the Qingzhou army, war brings no benefit whatsoever.

Even if they won a battle, their credit would be embezzled by the generals in the army, and they would not gain any benefit except for paying with their blood and lives.

Under such circumstances, how could the soldiers of the Qingzhou Army possibly enjoy fighting?

If it weren't for Zhu Changhe and other military commanders keeping an eye on things, the Qingzhou soldiers would probably have opened the city gates and surrendered.

"shut up!"

Sensing the unrest in the army, Zhu Changhe angrily rebuked Yang Zheng below, saying, "Traitors and rebels deserve to be killed by everyone. How dare you bark and howl in front of my army?"

After cursing, Zhu Changhe immediately took out a bow and arrow, drew the bow, and shot an arrow at Yang Zheng below.

"Humph!"

Yang Zheng snorted coldly, flicked his spear to deflect the incoming arrow, and then said, "The emperor is incompetent, the court is full of incompetent and corrupt officials, the people are starving, but the court turns a blind eye, and even repeatedly increases taxes to harm the people. What use is such a court? You evil officials who aid and abet the tyrant, after the city falls, I will not let you off lightly!"

After saying this, Yang Zheng turned his horse around and returned to the military camp.

Zhu Changhe on the city wall had a livid face. Yang Zheng's meaning was very clear: Yang Zheng could spare the people of Liangzhou and the soldiers of Qingzhou Army, but he would never forgive Zhu Changhe, this evil official who "aided and abetted the tyrant".

This shocked and enraged Zhu Changhe and the generals of Qingzhou Army. If the Yang family army broke through the city, the lower-ranking soldiers would still have a way to survive, but they... had absolutely no chance of survival!

Realizing this, everyone immediately strengthened their resolve to defend the city. No matter what, they must not allow the Yang family army to breach the city, or they would surely die.

Therefore, all the generals of Qingzhou Army perked up and stared at the Yang family army outside the city with high alert.

Meanwhile, Yang Zheng, who had returned to the military camp, was also discussing countermeasures with the military generals.

"Yang Shuai".

Inside the military camp, Madam Wan, named Zhou Yingjie, asked, "Should we attack the city immediately?"

"No!"

Yang Zheng shook his head: "Qingzhou City is like an impregnable fortress, and tens of thousands of Qingzhou soldiers are defending it. A rash attack on the city will only result in heavy losses for our army."

"But……"

Zhou Yingjie frowned and said, "If we don't attack the city, wouldn't our army have come for nothing?"

"will not!"

Yang Zheng said, "I have already sent Erlang to conquer the cities surrounding the prefectural city. Once Erlang has taken over all the surrounding cities, the prefectural city will become an isolated island. After a period of siege, the prefectural city will fall without a fight!"

Yang Zheng had considered many strategies for capturing the prefectural city, but he had never considered the option of forcibly attacking the city.

There were 30,000 troops stationed in the city, and hundreds of thousands of people lived there. Hundreds of thousands of people meant a continuous source of soldiers.

If Zhu Changhe were to forcibly conscript men within the city, he could easily raise an army of 100,000.

Under these circumstances, it would be impossible for Yang's army to break through the city with such limited strength.

The best solution is to besiege the city, causing unrest among the people and starvation within its walls. At that point, the entire prefecture will naturally fall without a fight, and the Yang family army's losses will be minimized.

“Heroic”.

Yang Zheng ordered Zhu Yingjie, "I'm giving you 10,000 soldiers. Can you seal off the other three city gates?"

"can!"

Zhu Yingjie answered without hesitation.

The Qingzhou army inside the city clearly dared not venture out to fight in the open. Under these circumstances, 10,000 soldiers were more than enough to block the other three city gates.

"Alright! I'll leave this task to you!"

"Rest assured, Commander Yang, I will certainly not fail in my mission!"

…………

…………

Over the next few days, the Yang family army began to besiege the city, sealing off the four city gates and preventing the troops inside from contacting the outside world.

Meanwhile, Yang Erlang was also receiving a series of good news.

In Taiqing County, where the prefectural city is located, apart from the prefectural city itself, there are almost no military forces stationed in other cities. Each city only has a city guard that is more symbolic than practical.

These city guards were clearly no match for Yang Erlang's 40,000-strong army.

As a result, wherever Yang Erlang led his army, cities fell one after another, and the officials in the cities were all beheaded. On the contrary, the Yang family army did not harm the people in the city, which greatly reduced the hostility of the people in the city towards the Yang family army.

While Yang Erlang was rapidly conquering cities and seizing territory, the people of Qingzhou Prefecture were filled with panic.

The Yang family army has been stationed outside the city for nearly ten days. During this long period, the Yang family army outside the city has remained inactive and has shown no intention of attacking Qingzhou Prefecture. This has made the people and the army inside the city extremely uneasy.

"Bald man's head".

The provincial capital.

Inside a simple teahouse.

A middle-aged man sipped his bland tea and asked his companion, "What do you think the Yang family army outside the city is thinking? They haven't made a move for so long."

The man called "Bastard" was bald. Because he was sick when he was a child, his hair was so sparse that it resembled that of a monk, hence the nickname "Bastard".

"I don't know what the Yang family army outside the city is thinking. I only know that these days are getting harder and harder!"

"Hey, you bald-headed guy," he said with a sigh.

As a large city, Fucheng could not possibly be self-sufficient in terms of food or other supplies.

Since the Yang family army began to blockade the city, supplies from the outside world have been unable to enter.

This has led to soaring prices in the city, with already high grain prices changing daily, and now many people in the city are going hungry!

"Alas! This world offers no way for ordinary people like us to survive!"

"That's right! With both cold disasters and wars, God just keeps tormenting us ordinary people."

"I understand now. Given the current situation, we'll be starving to death even before the Yang family army invades."

"It's better to surrender than to wait to die in the city!"

"Shh! Are you out of your mind? How dare you say something like that that could get you beheaded?"

"..."