Chapter 25 Spreading Rumors
The ancient Puyang city is still busy, and the people in the city are still working hard for their own lives. Although the city has been occupied by the Jin people and they have become slaves to the destruction of the country, the ants are still greedy for life, let alone humans.
The Jin soldiers occupied Puyang for three months. At first, the people of Puyang City thought that the Song army would drive away the group of Jin soldiers, but they did not expect the court to be defeated repeatedly, and even the capital Bianliang was almost defeated by the Jin soldiers. The people of Puyang City were already desperate for the court and no longer hoped that the court's army could defeat the Jin people, but just wanted to save their lives in this chaos.
Although the streets are not as lively and prosperous as before, the shops are still open, and all kinds of vendors are carrying cargo loads around the streets in the morning and evening, shouting and hawking. Under the city wall, several naughty children are still chasing and playing with each other, without knowing that a war is about to break out.
"Dang! Dang! Dang!" A few crisp sounds of gongs came from the avenue at the government office, attracting countless people to watch. The children who were playing also stopped chasing and poked their heads to look at the government office.
"This must be a monkey-playing person. Let's go and see the monkey-playing person!" A slightly older child came to his own judgment, and the other children believed his words and followed him.
The children walked through the crowded crowd and ran to see. It turned out that the person who beat the gong was not a monkey-playing artist, but a white-faced scholar in a long robe. The children were suddenly disappointed and dispersed.
The person who beat the gong was no one else. It was Liu Yixuan who came to spy on military affairs. After Liu Yixuan wrote the list text, he presented it to Wanyan brothers and sisters for a look. Wanyan Hong asked Liu Yixuan to read it. He felt basically satisfied, so he ordered Liu Yixuan and Liu Zi to go to the four city gates and densely populated streets to post the list text, and let five or six Jin soldiers follow him, not allowing them to walk around at will.
"Dang! Dang! Dang!" Liu Yixuan beat the gong in his hand vigorously, trying to attract more people to come and watch.
"From the south and the north! Old and young men, girls and wives, take a look! There are big news here, absolutely explosive, absolutely headlines, come and see!" Liu Yixuan learned this method of selling and shouting in a very good manner!
An impatient audience next to him asked loudly: "Little scholar, what are you doing? I shouted for a long time and didn't know what you were selling!"
Liu Yixuan smiled and said, "Dear fellow villagers, don't worry, don't worry, Xiaosheng is here to sell things today. Did he see the paper in my hand? This is the decree and list issued by the Little Prince of Jin. When I paste it on the wall, everyone will understand!" He turned around and said to Xiaoliuzi, "Xiaoliuzi, bring me the paste, and I will paste this list."
Liu Yixuan found a clean place on the city wall, applied paste to paste the list paper, and then read the list paper to the people of the city as Wanyan Hong ordered.
"The Prince of Zhuozhou County, the Prince of Zhuozhou County, the Prince of Zhuozhou County, is now a thousand years old, and the people of Puyang should bow their heads and surrender and be content with their own affairs. If anyone is concerned about the old dynasty's attempt to resist, he will be beheaded and displayed to the public.
The king of Song was incompetent and unruly, and abandoned his subjects and ignored the fire. The people of Puyang should abandon the secret and turn to the light and support our Emperor Jin. In order to prevent the spies from entering the city, from now on, the whole city of Puyang City will be martially and the four gates are closed. If the people in the city have no permission, no one will be allowed to leave the city. Those who violate the order will be killed without mercy!"
After Liu Yixuan finished reading the list, the onlookers were talking about it. When they heard that the whole city would be warned, they all complained. Once the city gates were closed, the vendors could not go out of the city to buy and sell, the people could not go out of the city to visit relatives, and even the fresh fruits and vegetables of farmers outside the city could not be transported to the city.
"If we don't open the city gate, how can we live? We live a good life, why do we have to close the four doors? What exactly do the Jin people want to do?" A shop owner next to him complained loudly.
"Yes, the Jin people asked us to support them, but now that the city gate is closed, we can't leave the city or do business. In a few days, the city will be eaten up. We have no food to eat, so what can we use to support them?" An angry person complained.
Seeing that everyone was complaining, Liu Yixuan quietly walked into the crowd and whispered to the vendors who had complained the most: "Dear elders, do you know why the Jin people were martial law in the whole city?"
Several people shook their heads and said, "I don't know, how can we know!"
Liu Yixuan turned around and looked at the Jin soldiers who were guarding him. These Jin soldiers came to guard Liu Yixuan at the order of the princess, for fear that he would take the opportunity to escape. When they saw Liu Yixuan reading the list of the people, they stood far away. Moreover, most of these Jin soldiers were not proficient in Chinese, and even if they heard it, they might not be able to understand it.
Liu Yixuan said to everyone: "Tell you the truth. The reason why the Jin soldiers were martial law in the whole city was nominally to prevent the Song army spies from entering, but actually to defend the city to the death. I heard from people outside the city this morning that the Song army had already crossed the Yellow River and would come to attack Puyang soon. The Jin soldiers did not dare to go out of the city to meet the enemy, so they could not defend themselves and wait for the old prince to come back. In my opinion, the Puyang city is about to fight, so they should be careful!"
As soon as Liu Yixuan said this, the crowd was in an instant. This news is explosive compared to the content on the list, because what the people fear most is war. In recent years, the Song and Jin countries fought one after another, and the most suffering was the common people. People can starve and get cold, but when encountering wars, no one is afraid, because once the war breaks out, life will be as low as an ant and will lose their lives at any time.
"What? You said the court is coming to attack Puyang? Can they beat the Jin soldiers? In recent years, the Song army stationed in Puyang has been replaced one after another, but in the end it was defeated by the Jin people, which made us, the people of the Song Dynasty, become slaves to the destruction of the country. I think this time, the court may have to waste its efforts again!" an elderly citizen said.
Liu Yixuan said: "It's time and time, and you don't know that the general who will take charge of the war this time is the veteran General Zongze. Senior General Zong is no better than those incompetent generals. Besides, the current defenders in Puyang City are less than 20,000, so how can they block the 50,000 army of Senior General Zongze? I think the good days of the Jin people are coming to an end, and your days of being slaves are almost over. Everyone should not go out these days, don't work hard for the Jin people, it's important to stay at home honestly!"
The onlookers were half-doubted by Liu Yixuan's words, "The time of the Jin people is over", but they were also a little relieved when they heard that the Song army came to regain the lost land. After all, the emperor had not forgotten them yet and was still thinking about regaining the lost land.
Liu Yixuan said to everyone again: "I also eavesdropped on this matter when the Jin people talked about it. Everyone told each other that no matter what happened outside in the past two days, don't come out and walk around. You know that when you see the army of the Song Dynasty enter the city, you can come out!"
"Little scholar, aren't you working hard for the Jin people? Why do you tell us this?" asked a commoner.
"Although I am working for the Jin people, I can't help myself. At the heart, I am still from the Song Dynasty. Of course, I will care about the whole city's family. So I secretly tell you these news, just to tell you not to worry and wait for the arrival of the Song Dynasty army!"
"Hey, what are you talking about! After reading the list, we will disperse quickly. Don't gather here!" The Jin soldiers guarding next to him saw Liu Yixuan and the people in the city whispering, and hurried over to disperse them. They said to Liu Yixuan again: "Little scholar, are you done with your work? We still have to post it elsewhere, leave quickly!"
Liu Yixuan had no choice but to knock on the gong and continue spreading rumors elsewhere.
Chapter completed!