Chapter 180: Yangguangzhai Is Different

The Prince of Zhenbei looked at Wei Xikang with a very strange look, as if saying, how can you have two faces?

Wei Xikang flushed red and explained: "Yangguangzhai is different!"

"What difference can bandits have?" The Prince of Zhenbei didn't believe it.

"You will know when you receive the news!" Wei Xikang decided to sell a pass first. He also believed that Jiang Jinshi wouldn't let him down.

The Prince of Zhenbei asked: "Then I will go back to Liu Xuecheng first?"

"Hmm!"

The Vice General didn't know why he received this order. He was only ordered to go to these three cities to see the situation and record everything he saw and heard, but not to interfere in any way.

Now that the war on the front line had been eased, such an outing task was a hot commodity, and many people under the Vice General prayed to be able to follow and go back to see.

In the end, the Vice General picked a few of his confidants and hurried toward Jiangcheng.

Not long after leaving the city, the desolation along the way and the silent villages hit the hearts of several soldiers again and again.

Such a lonely Northern Frontier and empty cities had to make waves in the hearts of several people.

"Head! Do you think we will win?" One person in the team was riding a horse, his face completely devoid of the excitement when he first left the city, only deep loneliness.

"Yes! Haven't we already won twice?" The Vice General believed in the Prince of Zhenbei more than anyone else, and he firmly believed that this Great General would lead the Zhenbei Army to victory.

A group of people didn't see the shadows of some common people until they reached the southernmost part of Anbei Jun, but rather than calling them common people, it would be more appropriate to call them refugees.

And even after leaving Anbei Jun, this situation didn't improve, but rather the number of refugees increased.

Passing by cities on the way, the Vice General also discovered many problems. The common people lived too bitterly.

If it weren't for the heavy responsibility, the Vice General even wanted to pull out the county magistrates of these cities and ask them well why there were so many unreasonable places.

But in the end, he still didn't do so. The Great General's order was to let him investigate the three cities, and he was not allowed to interfere.

Thinking that these cities were already in such a state, the three cities that were treated with emphasis by the Great General would probably only be worse.

So the Vice General didn't dare to delay and hurried to Jiangcheng.

When he was close to Jiangcheng, the Vice General noticed something unusual.

Before approaching the city, the first thing that caught his eye was the row of thatched cottages. Just as the Vice General was curious about why there were no common people in these thatched cottages, a subordinate exclaimed repeatedly.

"Head, look quickly, is this porridge distribution or?"

The Vice General looked in the direction pointed by his subordinate, only to see a group of people lined up in two rows, each holding a bowl in their hands.

"It should be porridge distribution! Go, let's go up and see!" The Vice General wasn't surprised. They had also seen porridge distribution in cities along the way, but in the Vice General's view, that was just a bowl of clear water, which couldn't be counted as porridge at all.

After a few people approached, they dismounted one after another and stood on the side, constantly looking.

These people in line should be refugees based on their clothing, but the Vice General didn't dare to be sure.

Because these people all had radiant smiles on their faces, and even chatted and laughed while in line, completely unlike the refugees they had seen before, whose eyes were full of numbness and had no hope for life.

"Head, is this right?"

Clearly, besides the Vice General, the others also discovered something wrong.

"Wait for me to find a fellow villager to ask!" The Vice General was puzzled and decided to ask these common people himself.

Just then, a middle-aged man at the front of the line walked to the side with a bowl, not caring about the environment, and sat on the ground leaning against the city wall, eating his meal in big mouthfuls.

Seeing this, the Vice General brought a few people closer. When he was five steps away from the other party, he suddenly saw the other party's meal.

It wasn't porridge, it was dry rice! There were even vegetables!

Several people looked at each other, not knowing how to express it in words for a while.

You have to know that even for the Zhenbei Army, they could only drink porridge when grain and grass were scarce before, and the refugees were actually eating dry rice?

"Do you guys have something?"

The middle-aged man asked suspiciously. These people looked very strange, first walking toward him, and then not speaking after getting close.

If it weren't for the armor they were wearing, and he recognized the identity of the Zhenbei Army, he would have thought they were refugees from other cities.

"Fellow villager, we are soldiers of the Zhenbei Army and want to ask you some questions!" The Vice General showed a kind smile and sat down next to the middle-aged man leaning against the wall.

"Okay! But be quick, I still have to move stones in the afternoon!" The middle-aged man responded while shoveling a mouthful of rice into his mouth.

Hearing about moving stones, the Vice General asked puzzled: "Fellow villager, what are you moving stones for?"

"Repairing the city wall! The new City Lord ordered it!"

"New City Lord?"

The middle-aged man swallowed the rice and vegetables in his mouth and said helplessly: "Don't ask, I'll explain it to you!"

"Okay! Sorry to trouble you, fellow villager!"

"This new City Lord! He is the Chief of Yangguangzhai, but ever since he occupied Qingcheng, we have called him that."

The Vice General exclaimed upon hearing this: "What? Bandits attacking the city?"

"Eh! Why so loud?" The middle-aged man turned his head, frowning, clearly very dissatisfied with the Vice General's loud voice.

"This... fellow villager, I was just a bit surprised, don't blame me!" The Vice General laughed twice, still thinking about the bandits attacking the city in his heart, saying that maybe this was the real reason why the Prince of Zhenbei asked him to talk.

"Forget it! Keep your voice down, I'll tell you! After this new City Lord came, he canceled the porridge distribution, built us thatched cottages, and let us work, and he provided us with food."

Speaking of this, the middle-aged man was somewhat proud, quietly pushing aside the rice and vegetables in his bowl, revealing a piece of fat meat at the bottom.

"I was lucky today, the person who served the vegetables gave me a piece of meat, I have to save it until the end to eat."

"Ah? There is even meat?" The Vice General had deliberately lowered his voice, but the surprise in his tone couldn't be hidden.

The middle-aged man nodded and shook his head, "Yes! But very little, there are only a few pieces of meat in a large basin of vegetables!"

The Vice General couldn't help but look at the middle-aged man's bowl and found that this so-called vegetable was actually salted vegetables!

Worried that his judgment was wrong, he asked somewhat hesitantly: "This is salted vegetables?"

"Yes! The new City Lord said that if you don't eat salt, you won't have strength, so it's salted vegetables every day, but it tastes great!" Speaking of this, the middle-aged man shoveled a few more mouthfuls of rice and vegetables, thought for a moment, and added.

"Oh right! There is even oil in this vegetable!"

The Vice General didn't expect that he would be shocked and speechless one after another before entering the city. Were these still refugees? They were eating better than the Zhenbei Army!

"Then... what is the situation in the city? Do you know, fellow villager?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man couldn't help but sigh: "I haven't been in the city, but those in the city are certainly more comfortable than us. It's just a pity that at the beginning, I didn't believe in Yangguangzhai and missed the good opportunity and didn't enter the city." ===== CHAPTER 181 =====