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

Chapter 743 It’s miserable

Wang Li comes from the Wang family, a prominent clan in the capital. Many members of the clan hold important positions in the court. Therefore, if Wang Li were to seek help from the capital, even though the court is currently preoccupied with the rebels in various prefectures, there is a high probability that he could secure reinforcements.

"I understand."

Wang Li nodded and said, "I will write a letter to the court to request reinforcements to relieve the crisis in the prefecture."

Soon, Wang Li finished writing a letter requesting help and handed it to Zhu Changhe. Zhu Changhe then summoned several trusted confidants and ordered them to leave the city immediately and deliver the letter to the capital.

After sending the letter, Zhu Changhe felt a little more at ease and began to make various arrangements in an orderly manner.

The first thing to do was to recall all the tens of thousands of Qingzhou troops stationed outside the city to the city, and then close all four city gates, preparing to defend the city to the death.

…………

…………

As the sun gradually set in the west, Zhu Changhe stood on the city wall and looked into the distance. Nearby were Qingzhou army generals and soldiers with solemn expressions and ready for battle.

Neither Zhu Changhe nor the soldiers of the Qingzhou Army had much confidence in engaging the Yang family army in open battle outside the city. Zhu Changhe's strategy of defending the city was the choice that everyone wanted.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on the north direction, desperately hoping that the Liangzhou army would not appear, but reason told them that this was absolutely impossible.

"coming!"

Just then, a commander of ten thousand men in the Qingzhou army gave a soft shout, and immediately, a vast, dark mass of Yang family soldiers appeared on the horizon.

Forty thousand Yang family soldiers are not a lot, at least not compared to the Qingzhou army which once numbered as many as 10. But when that army of forty thousand came into view, both Zhu Changhe and the soldiers of the Qingzhou army couldn't help but swallow hard, and some soldiers even trembled as they held their weapons.

There was no way around it; the Yang family army was too famous. This powerful army, which had successively defeated the Liangzhou army and the imperial army, instilled deep fear in them.

Fortunately, they did not forget their military instincts and quickly adopted a defensive posture under the command of their generals.

Meanwhile, the army outside the city did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. Under Yang Zheng's command, the 40,000 Yang family soldiers set up camp about 1,000 meters away from the city gate.

This move left the Qingzhou army generals on the city wall looking at each other in bewilderment.

Why don't they launch an attack?

A commander of ten thousand men asked, his face full of confusion, "The Yang family army came with such overwhelming force; everyone thought a major battle was about to break out, but..."

The Yang family army, which had arrived outside the city, remained stationary, leaving the Qingzhou army somewhat bewildered.

"They probably didn't want to suffer too much loss."

A commander of ten thousand men, squinting as he surveyed the Yang family army outside the city, said, “Since ancient times, attacking a city has never been an easy task, let alone a large city like Fucheng. The army below the city is estimated to be only around forty or fifty thousand men. Forcing an attack will only result in heavy losses for them.”

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized that the number of troops attacking from outside the city was only tens of thousands.

It is almost impossible for an army of tens of thousands to breach a large city defended by more than 30,000 troops!

Upon realizing this, everyone relaxed considerably, and many generals even showed smiles on their faces.

"That's right! The army outside the city numbers only tens of thousands; there's absolutely no way they can break through the city walls."

"The Yang family army looks intimidating, but in reality, they are completely incapable of attacking the city."

"If we simply maintain a strict defense, the Yang family army will have no chance to achieve anything."

"..."

After briefly assessing the strength of both sides, the atmosphere on the city wall immediately became more relaxed. Although most of the generals of the Qingzhou Army were incompetent, they still possessed some basic military skills.

At least they knew very well that with the strength of the army outside the city, it was impossible to break through the defenses of Qingzhou Prefecture.

Zhu Changhe's tense expression relaxed, and he laughed loudly, saying, "If the Yang family army dares to attack the city, I will make sure they never return."

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of agreement rang out from the city wall.

Outside the city, after giving the order to set up camp, Yang Zheng rode forward and stopped about 300 meters from the city gate, shouting loudly, "Listen up, people inside the city!"

"I am Yang Zheng from Liangzhou."

"Many people slander me, believing me to be a ruthless demon who kills without blinking an eye."

"But I have always only punished corrupt officials and powerful landlords; I have never harmed an innocent civilian!"

"Hereby I promise you that after the city falls, only the ringleaders will be executed, and not a single soldier or civilian in the city will be harmed!"

"You need not worry that I will massacre the city, nor do you need to worry that the Yang family army will burn, kill, and loot within the city!"

As a martial artist, Yang Zheng had a loud voice that carried far. Not only could the Qingzhou soldiers on the city wall hear it, but many residents of the prefecture city near the city gate also heard his voice.

Yang Zheng's purpose in doing this was very simple: to undermine the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city!

The reason why the people in the city were afraid of Yang's army was because they feared the army and worried that it would burn, kill, and loot after entering the city, causing them harm.

Because of fear, they will fully support the Qingzhou army in resisting foreign enemies, and once the people in the city are willing to fully support the Qingzhou army...

That would be an extremely bad thing for Yang's army.

It should be noted that hundreds of thousands of people live in the prefectural city, and among these hundreds of thousands of people, excluding the elderly, children, women and children, there are still tens of thousands of able-bodied young men.

If these able-bodied men were to help the Qingzhou army defend the city, let alone 400,000 troops, even 400,000 troops might not be able to breach the city.

Therefore, Yang Zheng had to win over the people in the city. He didn't ask them to help the Yang family army, he just wanted them not to help the Qingzhou army.

Whose voice was that just now?

"Are you deaf? They already said it's Yang Zheng from Liangzhou."

"Is what Yang Zheng said true? He really won't harm us after the city falls?"

"Who knows!"

"If Yang Zheng can really do what he promised and let the Yang family army into the city, it doesn't seem like a bad thing! I've had enough of that greedy Zhu Changhe."

"Yes! It was so hard to believe that the Green King was dead, but then Zhu Changhe came along. Heaven is truly blind! It won't even give us ordinary people a chance to survive!"

"..."

Whispers of the city's residents rose from the houses near the city gate. Yang Zheng's promises might not be enough to completely win them over to the Yang family army, but they at least tipped the scales in their hearts slightly in favor of the Yang family army.

Their reason for favoring the Yang family army was simple: during the reign of the Qing King, the people of the prefecture had already suffered terribly.

They thought that after the Green King died, they could finally live a good life...