"Another grain levy?"
Wang Feng said with a bitter face, "Du Baozong, just a few months ago, you moved all the grain from our Mei County granary to Xinghua Prefecture. Where would we have any grain left now?"
Du Baozong said very impatiently, "Inspector Wang! The Sheng forces are at our gates. Without grain, how can we defend the city? If Xinghua Prefecture City falls, do you think these counties below us can hold? The Sheng people are cruel! Once they pour into the territory and slaughter everywhere, not sparing men, women, elderly, or children, what would this bit of grain matter by comparison?!"
Wang Feng sighed deeply, unable to find a reason to refute, "Not long ago, we forcibly levied several hundred stones of grain from the people. It's in the county government granary, you go take it."
Du Baozong questioned, "Only several hundred stones?"
"That's already the people's rations!"
Inspector Wang helplessly said, "People are starving to death every day in the city, and neither the Martial Arts Hall nor the gentry are willing to anymore. Four hundred stones is already a lot, we really don't have any more than that!"
Du Baozong did not press any further and led his people to load up the four hundred stones of grain, then rushed out of the city in a hurry.
"Du Baozong, can you dispatch some soldiers to Mei County?"
Wang Feng asked from behind, "We are really too short of hands here. If the Sheng forces attack, we won't be able to resist at all. There are nearly ten thousand people in the city after all!"
"Don't worry. The Sheng forces are all outside Xinghua Prefecture City. Besides, who would attack your backwater Mei County after eating till they're stuffed?"
After speaking, Du Baozong didn't look back and continued to escort the grain away.
Wang Feng cursed from behind, "All they know is to snatch our grain, not caring whether we live or die!"
He went to the city wall, sighing and groaning.
War and chaos, dead bodies everywhere!
And yet, this battle must be fought.
The enemy's invasion was no different from bandits. Once the city fell, the soldiers would be the first to be wiped out, then the people of the city would suffer. They had to hang on, even if it was impossible to hold.
Leishan Prefecture and several other places were living examples of this.
"Why have you returned?"
Wang Feng watched, wide-eyed, as Du Baozong and the others, who had left not long ago, were panic-stricken and had fled back, and the grain they had just taken was gone.
He hurriedly asked, "Du Baozong, what's going on?!"
"Open the city gate! Quick!"
Du Baozong shouted in terror, "The Sheng forces, the Sheng army has come!"
"Didn't you just say nobody would attack Mei County?!"
Wang Feng's face turned deathly pale: "How many men?"
"Over three thousand, and they are the elite Xuanjia Iron Cavalry of the Sheng Dynasty!"
Du Baozong's voice trembled, "The leader is a young general with a long spear, bearing the Chen banner. They'll be here in twenty li, so open the gates and get all the people up on the walls to help!"
The sound of gongs rang out in the alleys and streets of Mei County.
Due to the hasty situation, not many people had gathered, and with no time to prepare rolling logs and defensive wood, they could only clutch at kitchen knives, hoes, stones, and tiles, essentially without any lethal force.
"The Xuanjia Army, three thousand men!"
Wang Feng anxiously stomped his feet, "Elite forces of three thousand, and the leader is at least Meridian Passage stage—how, how have they come for us?!"
"What else could it be?!"
Du Baozong said, "To vent! Even in the poorest place, there are silver and women, isn't that what the Sheng forces invade for?!"
Wang Feng's eyes were filled with fury, and he drew his battle sword resolutely: "Brothers! Even if we are wiped out today, we can't let the Sheng forces step one foot into the city!"
The soldiers from Meizi County were all local garrison troops, and even though their hands trembled, they had no choice but to brace themselves and lift their weapons.
From a distance, the thundering sound of horse hooves was heard.
Soon, the tidal wave of the Xuanjia Army appeared just five hundred steps outside the city gate, deploying in formation.
Unexpectedly, they didn't launch a direct assault on the city.
Instead, they sent a general who rode up to the city walls to shout.
"People of Meizi County, listen up!"
"We are the Xuanjia Army under General Huai Yuan, Chen Sansi, of the Great Sheng Dynasty, here to recruit your surrender!"
"Should you open the city and surrender obediently, our General Chen guarantees that not a single hair on the civilians' heads will be harmed, and you will be given food rations!"
"if you fail to appreciate our goodwill and stubbornly resist, not a soul shall be spared after the city falls—men, women, old, and young alike!"
"Choose which path you wish to take! It's your decision to make!"
Wang Feng and the others heard it clearly.
They exchanged looks with each other.
"Not slaughtering the city is good enough, yet they speak of not harming even a hair."
"And distributing food rations?"
"Impossible, it's obviously a deception!"
Grinding his teeth, Du Baozong exclaimed, "Do you take Sheng people to be here for waging war or for doing good deeds and accumulating virtues?!"
"Wait! What did that man say, their leading general is Chen Sansi?!"
Gathering his courage, Wang Feng shouted, "Which Chen Sansi is your leader?"
"Which other Chen Sansi could it be!"
Booming with confidence, Xia Cong declared, "Naturally, it's General Chen Sansi, known for leading civilians across the river during the Four Crossings of Hongze River!"
The Chen Sansi who led the civilians across the river!
The people atop the city walls were suddenly abuzz with excitement.
The tale of leading civilians across the river had been spreading throughout the land for over a year, and it was a favorite segment of storytellers in many taverns and teahouses.
Not because the battle itself was extraordinarily difficult.
But because there was a general who, rather than risk his own life recklessly, chose to escort the civilians across the river first—a feat unheard of through the ages.
For military families,
crossing the Hongze River four times might have been an unprecedented and unparalleled achievement.
But for the common people,
the act of leading them across the river was even more deserving of their remembrance.
They would not believe the words of others.
But could the words of a general like Chen Sansi, who loved his people as if they were his children, be true?
"Where is Chen Sansi!"
Wang Feng called out with all his might, "Let us meet him!"