Chapter 1693: Damn Traitor!

"General, where did you come from? Looking at your momentum, it doesn't look like the army of our Jizhou," a bold, social-butterfly commoner asked tentatively, his eyes carrying a bit of curiosity and awe.

Gao Shun frowned slightly but still answered patiently: "We are soldiers under the Qin Wang, passing through this place, and seeing the people fleeing, we are asking for the reason."

Once these words were out, the originally somewhat noisy crowd became much quieter; clearly, the two words "Qin Wang" carried no small weight in the hearts of these people.

"So it's the Qin Wang's army; we are saved!" that social-butterfly commoner's eyes lit up, then he sighed again, "General, you don't know, we are all forced to do this. That scoundrel Yuan Shao, extorting taxes and levies, and then encountering natural disasters, grain is in short supply, but he is good, only caring about fighting the Qin Wang, not caring about our lives at all. I heard the Qin Wang is benevolent and treats the people like his own children, so we thought of fleeing to join the Qin Wang!"

Hearing this, Gao Shun nodded secretly; the commoner's words were rough but the meaning was not; Gu Yi was indeed people-oriented, which was also the reason he could grow rapidly and win the hearts of the people.

"Then do you know how the situation in Yecheng is now?" Xu Huang interjected at the right time; his voice was gentle, making it easy for people to let down their guard.

"Alas, Yecheng, it is now full of panic, everyone says Yuan Shao is finished, and the Qin Wang's army might attack at any time. Moreover, there are quite a few people in the city who want to take advantage of this chaotic world to make a profit, and the public order is very chaotic," another commoner added, his face full of worry.

Pang De spoke up then, his voice low and powerful: "Then have you heard that Yuan Shao is seeking help everywhere in order to resist the Qin Wang?"

Once these words were out, the people looked at each other; clearly, they were unaware of this. An elderly man said tremblingly: "We only care about whether we can survive; as for the affairs of those big figures, how would we know so much?"

Gao Shun and the other two looked at each other, and all had their own calculations in their hearts. It seemed that Yuan Shao's internal situation was even worse than they had imagined, and Gu Yi's layout had clearly penetrated into every corner of Jizhou.

"Fellow villagers, rest assured, under the Qin Wang's rule, we will surely let you have fields to till and rice to eat. But before that, we still need to understand more situations so we can better help you," Gao Shun said firmly, bringing a glimmer of hope to the people.

Hearing this, the people nodded one after another, and some even knelt down, grateful to tears.

Gao Shun quickly gestured for the soldiers to help them up, but his heart became even more determined to act as soon as possible to add bricks and tiles to Gu Yi's great cause.

"Xu Huang, Pang De, let's act separately. Xu Huang, you lead a part of the soldiers to continue deep into the hinterland of Jizhou to scout Yuan Shao's military deployment; Pang De, you are responsible for contacting Zhang Yan to see if you can get more news about the interior of Jizhou from the Heishan bandits; I will lead the main force to station nearby to be ready to respond to emergencies at any time," Gao Shun made the deployment quickly.

The two received their orders and led their soldiers away separately.

Gao Shun looked at their departing backs, his heart filled with emotion. In the chaotic world, everyone had their own mission and choice, and they chose to follow Gu Yi, not only because of his great talent and bold strategy, but also because of his heart for the people.

Meanwhile, inside Yecheng, Yuan Shao was overwhelmed.

"Ju Shou, how is it going with your contact with Cao Ren and the others?" Yuan Shao's voice carried a bit of urgency and unease.

Ju Shou gave a bitter smile and answered: "Lord, Cao Ren has agreed to send troops to help, but the conditions are quite harsh, requiring us to cede more benefits. As for Supuyan and Yan Rou, although they agreed to send troops, their strength is limited, and I fear it is difficult to play a decisive role."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao slapped the table in anger: "This group of treacherous villains, taking advantage of the fire to rob! But now, we can only swallow our anger and get through this hurdle first."

Shen Pei advised from the side: "Lord, suppress your anger; the most important thing now is to stabilize the situation, and after repelling Gu Yi, we can discuss it in the long term." ===== CHAPTER 1694 =====