Chapter 1644: Riot!

He even wanted to release the grain from the military granaries to Tianshui City, but that was the military's guaranteed grain, which could never be easily moved.

The King of Yao had also issued an order for the south and west of Tianshui City to set up disaster relief sheds to provide porridge and grain to the starving refugees. Regardless of how thin the porridge was, distributing grain at this juncture was digging into the national treasury to subsidize commoners and refugees! But these refugees didn't know how to be grateful, biting the hand that fed them! The Monarch was moved to thunderous rage, and the Yao Court immediately acted with the efficiency trained by the Tianshui eastern expansion project, with Bai Tan quickly dispatching city patrols and some imperial guards to suppress them in person!

That night, one thousand patrol guards and officials rushed into the northern district, conducting a carpet search, determined to capture the lurking and fleeing refugees one by one.

Another two thousand government troops broke into the shacks where the uprising started, arresting everyone they saw.

They held swords and chains in their hands, but if the other party didn't kneel on the ground the first time, they would be beaten and smashed, regardless of gender or age.

For a time, the shacks were in chaos, with tearing, fighting, and screams shaking the sky.

In normal times, the refugees might have swallowed their anger, after all, Tianshui City never treated them as human beings from the officials to the commoners; but not tonight. Tonight they all knew that as long as they were caught in prison, they and their families would only have a dead end! Those with strength were all fighting back, and the timid ones were hugging their heads and fleeing, rushing to other shacks to take refuge.

But Bai Tan had deployed in advance, and those who fled couldn't run far and were all caught in one net.

This riot was suppressed before dawn.

The inside and outside of the shacks were covered in debris and blood.

The smell of blood drifted far away, and the surrounding residents covered their noses and closed their doors, not daring to go out.

The authorities rushed to interrogate the prisoners while the iron was hot. The refugees who participated in the riot all said they had no food to eat and were starving, so they had the idea of robbing the wealthy. How much surplus grain could ordinary residents of Tianshui City have? Robbing them was like squeezing oil from a stone crack, exhausting and useless. At this time, two refugee leaders told them that if they wanted to rob, they had to rob the wealthy merchants and nobles, as these places had plenty of rice, flour, gold, and silver; if they grabbed them, they would definitely be able to eat their fill!

This bunch of refugees was starving to death, and once they heard it made sense, they didn't hesitate at all! They picked up sticks, tree branches, stones, and even pitchforks from the stables and shovels from the latrines, following the leaders to charge.

Bai Tan's action this time was timely, the suppression was rapid, and the suppression was effective, deeply praised by the King of Yao.

In fact, there were refugee riots in Tianshui City every few years, and Bai Tan had handled them for the past five years, very effectively.

The King of Yao was still relatively reassured by his methods.

The only flaw was that the two refugee leaders who organized the riot both died in the chaos. Whether they were driven by greed or instigated by others, there was no answer now.

Tianshui City hadn't had time to relax, and even before Bai Tan walked out of the palace, a new round of riots had actually started!

Riots like this, once they happen, can bloom everywhere.

With this precedent, other refugees saw that it was true, robbing grain could really grab grain, and their stomachs could really be filled, as long as they banded together.

Although they would be pursued by the authorities afterward, but—

Dying of hunger right now, or eating a few full meals before dying, the refugees were quite yearning for the latter.

Besides, didn't many refugees successfully grab grain and escape? Everywhere, stories spread about who grabbed what, ate what, not only full but also carrying a lot of gold and silver jewelry!

Looking at the government's disaster relief sheds distributing porridge, it was as thin as clear water, with only two grains of porridge floating on top. No matter how much you drank, it could only deceive you into a water-filled stomach.

The refugees realized: if you don't steal or rob, you will eventually starve to death; if you rob and eat, at least you can have a few full meals, and maybe you can escape.

The more people who participated in the riot, the less likely they were to be caught. How could they be so unlucky, right? Within three short days, seventeen refugee riots of various sizes broke out in Tianshui City!

A large number of commoners were victimized. After all, the refugees at this time were already red-eyed, robbing whoever they didn't like. Why did they rob? Nonsense, if they didn't rob, they would starve to death!

You know, there were 100,000 refugees in Tianshui City!

What would happen if this group became restless? The entire Tianshui City was in a state of panic, and the noble families spent more effort and money to strengthen the protection of their courtyards. Once the array was opened, the refugees couldn't rush in, so they had to turn to trouble the shops and ordinary residents.

In stark contrast to the "enthusiasm" of the refugees, the initiative of the patrol guards and officials became worse and worse. Sometimes they were too lazy to move when they received news of refugee riots.

On one hand, the riots were too frequent; with the ones in the east not yet handled, a whole bunch more popped up in the west and south. How were they supposed to handle more than a dozen cases per person? On the other hand, the food rations of the patrol guards and officials themselves were limited.

More movement meant more consumption, and they got hungry too fast. The superiors never thought about giving them extra meals.

Later, they were too lazy to move. When the superiors urged them, they would just take a few steps to go through the motions.

Earning this little bit of money, two bowls of dry rice a day, who would sell their lives for you?

He Lingchuan lived on the outskirts of the city, a distance from the center of Tianshui City, and the Yongquan Shanzhuang actually encountered four or five invasions again.

At this time, Zhao Song and the nearly one thousand palace guards had a use for their skills.

The Yongquan Shanzhuang was too large, and the manpower of Yangshan was seriously insufficient. If more than a hundred refugees climbed over the wall to steal, He Lingchuan had to turn a blind eye. After all, the array couldn't be opened every moment, otherwise, the loss would be greater than being stolen.

But Zhao Song and the palace guards were here to guard the house, and all petty thieves were driven away.

This defensive force was much larger than that of ordinary noble families.

With the lesson of the owner of the Red Hut in front, Zhao Song was also very diligent, taking the initiative to arrange manpower and adjust the rotation of sentries, beating the refugees who sneaked in half to death before throwing them out.

He contacted his colleagues in the palace and heard that the King of Yao ordered that the palace should also be frugal to set an example, so the food inside the palace gates actually started to be timed and limited. The big and tall palace guards were only supplied with two steamed buns and two or three small dishes per meal, and could only eat meat once a day—

The small meat slices were hidden in the pickles to play hide-and-seek with you. It took a lot of effort to dig them out, only to know that the cook's knife skills were excellent, and each slice was no thicker than paper.

As for wine... now wine had become hard currency in the palace. If you wanted to do something, just bring a bottle of wine, and it would be done! In contrast, the Yongquan Shanzhuang was like a paradise. Their thousand-plus guards had enough rice, flour, vegetables, and meat to eat, and every day the villa would take some fruits from the cellar to give to everyone. The frozen grapes and frozen persimmons preserved from autumn were very sweet.

Oh right, and there was wine to drink! There was a wine cellar in the villa. ===== CHAPTER 1645 =====