Joy appeared on Jiang Jin's face. "Let's go take a look."
Zhou Sui and Yun Chengxuan quickly followed.
When Jiang Jin arrived at the south gate's watchtower, she saw dozens of Quzhao cavalrymen scattered around a grain transport convoy in the distance, supervising the progress of the carts.
If the transporters moved even slightly too slowly, they would be whipped. Angry curses drifted over, though it was still a bit too far to hear exactly what they were yelling.
Jiang Jin took a look. There were about a hundred flatbed carts, each loaded with bulging burlap sacks.
Each cart was manned by two to three people pushing and pulling, almost all of whom were able-bodied young men. The entire procession looked quite massive.
Guarding the south gate today was Xie Nanxiao. He said in a low voice, "The Quzhao people probably don't know we've already occupied Gefeng yet, otherwise they wouldn't be transporting grain here."
This was one of the reasons Jiang Jin had chosen a small border town. People were rarely seen here in normal times, and since she had wiped out the Gefeng city guards and taken control, it was very difficult for any news to spread.
With the city locked down, even the neighboring counties couldn't get any information about Gefeng.
Jiang Jin looked at the transport convoy and said, "Hmm, is this the grain for the entire county? Why is it so little?"
Xie Nanxiao shook his head and sighed. "I'm not exactly sure what the situation is, but logically speaking, there's no way it should only be this much."
Rubbing his hands together eagerly, he added, "My Lord, are we capturing them alive this time or killing them all?"
Yao Ji, who had just arrived with a squad of men, couldn't help but remind him upon hearing this, "Watch your language."
Zhou Sui also shot him a cold glare.
Xie Nanxiao shrank his neck back. "Oh."
The group then looked at Jiang Jin, waiting for her orders.
Jiang Jin smiled. "Capture them alive if you can. If not, kill them. Don't force it. Open the city gates."
Leading the transport convoy was a burly man in his thirties. Riding on horseback, he looked toward the Gefeng county watchtower, feeling a bit puzzled. "Why aren't the city gates open today?"
The soldier beside him was also confused. "I don't know what's going on. By all rights, it shouldn't be time to close the gates yet."
"Tch, those brats must be slacking off. I'll give them a good scolding in a bit," another dark-faced soldier sneered.
As the three were talking, the city gates slowly opened.
The dark-faced soldier laughed. "They must have seen us coming back and opened the gates. At least they have some sense."
The burly man relaxed, but as the distance grew closer, he realized something was wrong.
Although the soldiers on the watchtower were wearing Quzhao military uniforms, why did their faces look so much like Han people?
The burly man's eyelids twitched. He raised his hand and shouted, "Halt!"
But it was too late. Dozens of cavalrymen charged out of the city and surrounded them completely.
The soldiers on the city walls also raised their bows and aimed at them.
Zhou Sui took the lead, shouting, "Han commoners pushing the carts, squat beside the grain carts immediately, or die!"
The people pushing the carts had already been frightened by the scene before them. Instinctively following his words, they squatted beside the carts. Some of the more timid ones even crawled underneath, terrified of being killed by stray arrows.
The burly man drew his blade and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you in Gefeng County?"
Zhou Sui glanced at him. "My Lord is kind-hearted. Surrender and disarm, and you will not be killed. Put down your weapons at once, or die!"
The burly man was furious. He knew he wouldn't get any answers, and there was no way to run. The enemy had already surrounded them, not to mention the archers on the watchtower.
Without wasting any more words, he swung his blade and charged at Zhou Sui.
Zhou Sui gripped his long blade and spurred his horse forward to meet him, bringing his weapon down in a powerful slash.
Blood splattered, and the burly man was directly cleaved off his horse.
In front of Zhou Sui, he was nothing but easy prey, especially since his weapon was only a short blade.
An inch longer is an inch stronger. This was a hard truth, especially on horseback.
Looking at the other side, Yao Ji's cavalry lance had already sent a Quzhao soldier flying.
He hadn't been able to participate in the siege that night and had long been itching for a big fight.
Xie Nanxiao's spear was equally formidable. He was taking down almost one person per thrust, either piercing their hearts or sealing their throats.
Standing on the watchtower, Jiang Jin watched with a pang of heartache. The quarry was still short of so much labor!
Fortunately, there was the little cutie Yun Chengxuan. Since his aunt had said it was best to leave them alive, he had gotten a long wooden stick from who knows where and was whacking the Quzhao soldiers on their heads, making loud thumping sounds.
As for whether they would be trampled to death by horses after being knocked off, or if they were beaten to death directly, that was not within his scope of consideration. After all, he had already held back his strength.
With Zhou Sui and a few other fierce warriors carving up the enemies, the regular soldiers could only pick up the scraps on the sidelines. It took several of them to share one opponent, making the fight effortless.
The battle ended in less than a quarter of an hour.
Eleven people were captured alive. Among the six people Yun Chengxuan had whacked with his stick, one was beaten to death directly, one fell to his death from his horse, one was trampled to death by chaotic warhorses, and three survived.
Dong Si popped up from who knows where and led some men to start looting the corpses.
Yun Chengxuan pulled a pocket watch from his chest with an exaggerated motion and announced in a loud voice, "Time elapsed: 13 minutes and 5 seconds."
Everyone was speechless. There was no need to show off like that.
Ever since he got the pocket watch, he would have these little spasms from time to time. After a few days, everyone had come to understand what minutes and seconds meant.
Dong Si suddenly felt that looting corpses wasn't so appealing anymore. He felt a bit envious and jealous.
The battlefield was cleaned up quickly. The corpses were transported straight outside the city and buried, while the carts, horses, and people all entered the city.
This time they gained another 43 warhorses and 106 flatbed carts carrying a total of over 1,100 shi of grain.
The people who had helped transport the grain carts were also tallied up; there were 326 of them in total.
They were all people from a few villages under the jurisdiction of Gefeng County. The grain they had worked so hard to grow was not only robbed by the Quzhao people, but they were also forced to transport it to Gefeng county town.
Jiang Jin thought for a moment and asked, "Do you still have family members at home? Would you be willing to come live in Gefeng county town?"
The commoners looked at each other in dismay, not daring to speak for a moment. Although these people were all Han, most Han people in power also didn't treat them like human beings.
Jiang Jin continued, "Now that Gefeng County belongs to me, since you are the commoners of Gefeng, you are under my jurisdiction."
"If you enter the city and work for me, able-bodied young men will be provided with one midday meal a day and receive one and a half catties of grain."
"Other elderly and weak individuals who can still work will also be given corresponding grain as compensation. If you join the army, you can get half a shi of grain per month."
"More importantly, by entering the city, I can guarantee your safety, rather than having you robbed by barbarians today and killed by refugees or bandits tomorrow."
A dark-skinned man in his twenties asked with a trembling voice, "If we enter the city, is there really work to do? And... and grain to take?"
Jiang Jin nodded affirmatively. "That is naturally so. If you have families, you can bring them into the city together. Seeing as winter is approaching, you need to earn your winter grain and clothing as quickly as possible."
The commoners hesitated for a moment, but eventually, they all nodded in agreement.
Disagreeing wasn't an option. Let alone the fact that they would die if they went back without grain, even if they had grain, there were still refugees and bandits after the barbarians had robbed them.
Logically speaking, right after the grain harvest, winter should be the best time. But for them, every winter was the hardest to endure, and many, many people would die.
After the Quzhao people occupied Gefeng, they would leave them with about a tenth of the grain during collection, but how could that grain possibly be enough?
In ordinary times, they could still forage for wild herbs and tree roots to stave off hunger, but once winter set in and everything was blanketed in snow, where would they find anything to dig up?
Furthermore, they might not even be able to hold onto their pitifully meager rations. The young lady was right; wandering refugees and mountain bandits were still eyeing them like hungry tigers!
Seeing their unanimous agreement, Jiang Jin was highly satisfied. She turned to Dong Si and instructed, "Let them stay in the houses behind the military barracks. Tell Luo Qingci and Feng Qingzhu to register their identities as soon as possible."
She then issued an order to Zhou Sui, "Tomorrow, arrange for men to bring the families of these commoners here without delay."
