Chapter 496: The Flock Effect

Qinghe County in Bei Prefecture was a major county in a superior prefecture, situated at a key node along the Yongji Canal, so its population was extremely dense and the county seat was a full size larger than the surrounding walled towns.

The Qinghe County seat lay on the north bank of the Yongji Canal, while the ferry crossing was on the south bank. Around the ferry, a sizable market town had formed.

During the Kaiyuan era, the government established the "North Granary" here, gathering the bulk of Hebei's grain provisions and stockpiling them at this point before shipping them via the Yongji Canal waterway to Guanzhong.

Inside the walled seat of Qinghe County itself, there was no comparable storage capacity. In truth, there was no need to stockpile large quantities of grain within the county seat either.

After all, the county walls were not built right against the river; they were over a li from the bank, and even such an unremarkable short-distance haul would consume enormous manpower over time. No matter what, grain could not simply fly from the canal directly into the county seat.

So Qinghe County seat and the "North Storehouse of the Realm" across the river each managed their own affairs.

After the two garrisons of Hebei rebelled, Huangfu Weiming replaced large numbers of prefects across Hebei's prefectures.

The former prefect of Bei Prefecture, Wang Huaizhong, was killed because he refused to submit to Huangfu Weiming.

The new prefect of Bei Prefecture was Yuwen Kuan, a descendant of Yuwen Rong, the chancellor who had reformed the central government's finances during the Kaiyuan era.

He had deep ties to the Huangfu Weiming family and enjoyed their utmost trust.

Unlike the miserable Wu Lingxun, the middle-aged Yuwen Kuan lived quite comfortably. Qinghe County was situated behind the front lines, untouched by the fires of war, and prospered commercially thanks to the canal. Yuwen Kuan's sole duty was to transport supplies to the front via the canal.

Beyond that, he lived like a local emperor, his days idle with nothing pressing to attend to.

As for local civil administration in Bei Prefecture, what could there even be? There wasn't even a department to conduct performance reviews! Muddling through military affairs was enough—everything served the running of the war machine.

Hebei was a ramshackle operation.

Early that morning, after a comfortable meal of mutton soup-cakes at his residence, Yuwen Kuan strolled leisurely to the prefectural office to attend to business.

But the moment he settled into his seat, a clerk rushed hastily into the signing room and whispered to Yuwen Kuan, "Your Excellency, something is gravely amiss—there's trouble at the granary across the river!"

"Are you certain it's the granary?"

Yuwen Kuan's nerves snapped taut at once, shedding his languid state entirely as he widened his eyes and pressed the clerk standing before him.

"Your Excellency, I can't explain it in a few words. You'd better go up to the city wall and see for yourself."

The clerk spoke with visible anxiety.

In his view, nothing catastrophic had happened yet, but a delay could make it hard to say.

Yuwen Kuan did not doubt him and followed the clerk out of the prefectural office and up onto the city wall.

Gazing across the river, he saw that near the granary on the opposite bank, crowds of people had gathered in dense, chaotic masses.

And more people kept streaming toward the site!

The Hebei rebel soldiers guarding the granary had formed ranks behind the outer wooden wall, using a thin palisade as a barrier to block those people from entering the granary.

The two sides faced off, packed thick with people. Even across a river, Yuwen Kuan could feel that the atmosphere near the granary was so tense it was ready to explode.

This clerk had witnessed the scene while leaving the county seat on errands and, without a second thought, had turned straight back to report it to Yuwen Kuan.

However, Yuwen Kuan could largely keep his composure.

Because the agency responsible for managing the granary and the troops garrisoning it were both run by people from the Youzhou side. Though Yuwen Kuan was the prefect of Bei Prefecture, he was only responsible for providing boats for grain transport, arranging corvée labor, and the like.

He had no authority over the grain provisions, nor could he mobilize those troops.

So now that something had gone wrong, Yuwen Kuan neither knew how to handle it nor whether it was his place to step forward and handle it.

"Who are all these people? What are they doing at the Bei Prefecture granary?"

Seeing the vast, surging crowds across the river, along with large numbers of flatbed carts and even wheelbarrows, Yuwen Kuan asked in bewilderment.

The clerk replied helplessly, "Probably common folk from the surrounding commanderies and counties. Pushing carts here, they're clearly here to transport grain."

"But I never issued a corvée order for them to come transport grain! Doesn't grain transport all go by water?

What are they doing with carts?"

Hearing the clerk's answer, Yuwen Kuan was stunned.

It was already a benevolent policy that the government wasn't going door to door to strip them bare—what kind of audacity would it take to try to seize grain from Bei Prefecture's "North Storehouse of the Realm"?

Yuwen Kuan found these people utterly unreasonable.

But it wasn't convenient for him to leave the city, so he watched quietly from atop the wall. Yuwen Kuan figured that if his intervention was needed, the granary's defending commander would send someone to request reinforcements.

He'd decide how to respond when the time came; for now, he might as well observe quietly.

Yet just as he relaxed slightly, the situation at the granary across the river changed dramatically!

After their attempts at persuasion failed, the granary guards who had been facing down the crowd—no one knew which side struck first—actually began slaughtering the common people confronting them!

And those common people being slaughtered by the granary guards were no pushovers either. Armed with iron-toothed rakes, carrying poles, wooden staves, and the like, they fought back against the granary guards, even snatching weapons directly from their hands.

But how could these people match the well-trained Hebei frontier army? They were soon being cut down in a one-sided massacre, their line retreating steadily.

The scene quickly deteriorated into chaos beyond the point of watching!

"What in the world is going on!"

Yuwen Kuan broke out in a cold sweat and couldn't help but cry out.

He looked at the clerk beside him with a face full of terror, only to find the other man equally horror-struck, unable to utter a single word.

Yuwen Kuan was fortunate, because all he needed to do was observe from the city tower. But Yin Ziqi, the commander charged with defending the granary, had far more to consider.

At this very moment, Yin Ziqi watched the common people swarming toward him like locusts, surging forward wave after wave, impossible to scatter no matter how many he killed. He watched a defensive line that appeared to be pushing outward but was in fact crumbling under the weight of too few soldiers, and his heart sank to rock bottom.

A bunch of people from Bo Prefecture running over to the granary here in Bei Prefecture, demanding the granary be opened to distribute grain—it was utterly baffling!

Among them, someone had even produced a so-called "voucher" bearing the signature of the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army.

How could a voucher issued by the military of the Xuanwu garrison be used to claim grain from a granary here in Hebei?

Yin Ziqi could not fathom what was going through these "rioters'" minds either.

Of course, the news of Liaocheng's fall had not yet arrived, so he did not know that the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army had already arrived at his doorstep.

"Loose arrows. Shoot them dead."

Seeing that the granary guards had failed to scatter the "rioters," Yin Ziqi ordered his bodyguards beside him.

He decided to use lethal force!

The bodyguard hesitated for a moment and did not immediately go to relay the order.

Yin Ziqi glared at him and scolded in a low voice, "These people are all rioters. Without killing them, there is no way to intimidate the lawless. Kill!"

"General Yin, our men are down there too?"

the personal guard asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"We can't worry about that! Go pass the order!"

Yin Ziqi roared with a ferocious expression.

"Yes, sir!"

The personal guard took the order and left.

Soon, the crossbowmen standing on the wooden palisade raised their horn-bow crossbows and fired wildly at the commoners below who had come to demand grain. These crossbow bolts had no accuracy to speak of—whoever got hit was simply unlucky. There was no shortage of friendly fire among them.

"Run!"

Someone shouted, and the cry exploded through the crowd.

The commoners who had still been fighting desperately against the Hebei rebel army instantly lost their nerve and immediately turned to flee.

They could no longer care about the flatbed carts abandoned everywhere, nor their fellow townsfolk lying on the ground wailing.

The ground was covered in corpses, blood staining the earth red and gathering into one channel after another. The commoners who had come from all across Bozhou ran about like headless flies, heading south, away from the granary.

The Hebei rebel soldiers guarding the granary did not pursue them either. One by one, they shrank back near the wooden palisade, panting heavily, still shaken.

The situation just now had been truly perilous beyond words. The principle that enough ants can bite an elephant to death—only those who have personally experienced something similar could truly understand it.

Many times, numbers represent strength, or at least a part of it.

Seeing that the grain-demanding commoners had already retreated, Yin Ziqi could not help but let out a long breath. He removed his helmet, only to find that it was soaked with sweat inside, as if he had just washed his hair.

There was even sweat on his forehead and neck.

The granary defenders below had it hard, but he was not having an easy time either.

"Which of you saw—who struck first just now?"

Yin Ziqi roared at the personal guard unit beside him!

Anger flared in his heart; he deeply resented that his soldiers did not know how to handle such situations.

Unfortunately, no one answered. There were too many people storming the granary at that time. These Bozhou commoners had traveled a full hundred li from afar, or at least fifty li from nearby. Letting them return empty-handed was something even a god could not accomplish.

Moreover, many of the local wealthy families had emptied their own granaries. If they did not demand grain from the Beizhou North Granary, they would starve to death upon returning!

Getting rough during a shoving match was perfectly normal. It was already very difficult to determine who had struck first. In any case, the bloodshed had already occurred and could no longer be undone.

"Go tell Yuwen Kuan to send men to clean up the corpses near the granary. In this heat, it won't be long before this place reeks to high heaven!"

Yin Ziqi frowned and gave the order to the personal guard beside him.

……

Fang Chongyong led the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army, marching north from Qingping County in the morning. By evening, they had already arrived beside a stretch of woods less than ten li from Qinghe County.

Che Guangqian, who was in charge of managing the scouts up ahead, rode up to Fang Chongyong's side, cupped his fists in salute, and said, "Jiedushi, many commoners from Bozhou are resting in the woods ahead. It seems they are waiting for us."

"Sure enough, some people still arrived early."

Fang Chongyong could not help but sigh, suddenly feeling that he was a man with a heart of iron and stone.

He had anticipated this scene beforehand, and in the end, it had indeed come to pass.

Why were there commoners who traveled faster than Fang Chongyong and his men?

Because these people had been rushing their journey without stopping.

Then why did they rush their journey without stopping?

Because even in Beizhou, even at the North Storehouse of the World, the grain could not withstand so many Bozhou commoners carting it away load by load.

In the end, those who arrived too late would surely get nothing!

So one had to go early.

But what these people did not know was that after the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army arrived at Qingping County in Bozhou, Fang Chongyong had ordered everyone to rest for three shichen, eating and drinking their fill before setting out.

As a result, their time of arrival in Beizhou was somewhat later than that of most Bozhou commoners.

"Lead the way. This Jiedushi will go see them."

Fang Chongyong gave the order to Che Guangqian, dismounted, and walked toward the crowd in the woods.

"Fellow townsfolk, I am Fang Qing, Military Commissioner of the Xuanwu Army. It is we who arrived late, causing you to suffer!"

Fang Chongyong led a group of generals from the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army to where the crowd was and shouted.

"Jiedushi Fang is here!"

Someone shouted loudly.

"Jiedushi Fang!"

"It's Jiedushi Fang!"

"Jiedushi Fang has finally come!"

Some people wailed loudly, sobbing uncontrollably. Others threw back their heads and howled at the sky, like lone wolves mourning the dead.

"Jiedushi Fang, the granary guards at Beizhou refuse to open the storehouse, and they're wielding blades to kill us!

Jiedushi Fang, are you going to open the granary or not? Are you going to release the grain or not!"

Someone in the crowd demanded loudly.

"When the world is at peace, the people of Hebei suffer!"

Fang Chongyong paused, then continued to shout: "When the world is in chaos, it is still the people of Hebei who suffer! Where is the justice?"

"Li Wan will not open the granary for you, Huangfu Weiming will not open the granary for you.

I, Fang, though unworthy—if they will not open it, I will open it for you with my blade!"

Fang Chongyong drew the Gale Phantom Blade, raised it to the sky, and shouted: "Flatten Qinghe, open the granary and release the grain!"

"Open the granary and release the grain!"

"Open the granaries and release the grain!"

"Open the granaries and release the grain!"

All the officers and soldiers under Fang Chongyong's command began to shout in unison.

Following that, the civilians in the forest also shouted together.

When the shouting ceased, Fang Chongyong raised his iron horn and shouted to the crowd, "Elders and fellow villagers, in a moment we will deal with the granary guards; you just stay behind our ranks!"

"Flatten Qinghe, open the granaries and release the grain!"

Che Guangqian, standing beside Fang Chongyong, shouted loudly, and everyone's blood began to boil.

"Relay my order: the Vanguard breaks formation, kill!"

Fang Chongyong gave He Changqi a brief command; the latter immediately sprang onto his horse, leading a roaring vanguard of cavalry. The sunset on the horizon dyed the clouds a deep blood‑red!

A hint of bleak heroism framed their silhouettes.

The civilians hidden in the forest emerged from the shadows and marched northward with the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army, keeping distance from the Vanguard.

Many of them had bloodstains on their clothes; what they had endured earlier needed no further explanation.

During the march, Che Guangqian rode up to Fang Chongyong and whispered, "Jiedushi, why are they so eager to reach Beizhou Qinghe, and why don't they wait for us?"

Fang Chongyong originally wanted to sum them up as a "rabble," but thinking of his own calm guidance, he let it become a sigh.

"The world is tangled and complex; many seemingly tempting things ultimately demand a painful price, and sadly only few can see through this truth."

"Most people follow blindly; if others go that way, I go along too."

"They often cannot discern right from wrong."

Fang Chongyong changed his angle and explained to Che Guangqian.

Since Huangfu Weiming raised troops in Hebei, the age of chaos has already begun. Further words are useless; merely surviving is already hard.

A few li later, He Changqi was already leading the vanguard into the granary.

Surprisingly, those following He Changqi were not Fang Chongyong's central army, but the civilians who had fought the granary guards during the day!

The granary was enormous; instead of brick walls it had only a wooden fence, and many doors opened simultaneously for grain transport, making its scale no less than that of an ordinary county town!

After He Changqi broke through the fence and burned a wooden gate, the civilians who had gone blood‑mad during the day followed him, slashing into the granary's interior.

From the outset, the battle entered a white‑hot stage!

Conversely, to avoid friendly fire, Fang Chongyong ordered the main force not to enter the granary, to extinguish their torches, and to stand by on the perimeter. Once He Changqi gave the signal, they would move to support.

Che Guangqian stared at Fang Chongyong with a horrified expression; if the opponent had even anticipated this step, it would be terrifying.

He opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.

"Still don't get it? These people have no way out. Do you think that after they seized Beizhou's granary, Huangfu Weiming will let them off as if nothing happened?"

Fang Chongyong let out a lingering sigh and continued:

"Whether this assault on the granary succeeds or not, the Hebei rebels and the Bozhou civilians have already forged a mortal hatred, relentless and without any chance of reconciliation."

"If we don't strike now, should we wait until someone places a blade at our throats before acting?"

"Moreover, if we don't charge the granary ourselves, what if He Changqi sends someone to set it ablaze with a torch?"

"Many of the civilians have served in the army; how could they not understand this reasoning?"

"Jiedushi, in these times of great strife, there truly is no mercy."

Che Guangqian couldn't help but sigh, remarking that even though he was involved, he had also helped deceive the civilians to go to Beizhou for grain, and likewise felt that the world had completely descended into chaos.

"Survival of the fittest."

Fang Chongyong, his expression calm, uttered eight words, his gaze fixed on the granary where killing cries rang; in his sight, Hebei rebel soldiers were already fleeing through the granary's main gate.