Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 202 Ape God, activate!
The "Eternal Life Army" left 40% of its troops to clean up the area around Xiangyang City, and the remaining troops were divided into teams of 1,000 people to expand their rule in the surrounding areas.

The news of Xiangyang's fall quickly spread to surrounding prefectures and counties. Officials and defeated soldiers fled in panic, not daring to fight against the powerful rebel army.

The news that the rebel detachment was distributing food along the way also spread over a radius of dozens of miles.

People from nearby areas, whether poor or not, came to "welcome them wholeheartedly", and each person received seven liters of food.

Although the amount of food donated by the volunteers was not much and there was a daily limit on the amount of food they could distribute, it greatly alleviated the spring famine that many people were suffering from, and thus earned the reputation of the "Eternal Life Army."

The official road was crowded with people begging for food, forming a long queue.

In contrast to the advancing crowd, a group of people who had received food were happily returning home.

Looking at the departing backs of the "Eternal Life Army", Wang Chengqi thought to himself that the volunteers were going to capture the county town.

He set out on his journey home carrying a few bags of grain, and the villagers took turns pushing the grain-laden cart.

Although the heavy weight of the food caused a dull pain in my shoulders, the heavy feeling was like hoping that it would become a tangible object within my reach. The feeling of finally getting what I wanted after all the hard work was particularly blissful.

Wang Chengqi wished he could rush home the next second to share this hard-earned joy with his wife and children.

The fellow villagers who were traveling with them were also full of joy, talking about how much grain and silver they had received and how they should buy some new clothes for their wives and children this year.

After a slow but happy journey, Wang Chengqi finally saw the "landmark" of his hometown - a stone arch bridge across a small river.

Just cross the small river and you are only ten miles away from home.

However, the village behind the bridge was still as miserable as when he passed by it before.

Slightly simple wooden houses and makeshift straw huts were interspersed with each other, and 30% of the houses were burned to charcoal black.

This village resisted the grain-collecting officers and soldiers, so they were severely retaliated against.

Fortunately, the great judge has come, and such a tragic tragedy will never happen again.

The hungry and poor villagers stared at Wang Chengqi and his group intently.

Staring at the grain bags on their shoulders and the straw bags in the carts, one can tell that they contain grain just by the changes in shape of the straw bags when they shake and the faint fragrance.

When they noticed the food, the hungry people stood up, leaning against the wall like wolves seeing their prey.

Seeing a large number of hungry people gathering around, the clever fellow quickly pointed to the distance and shouted, "The beggar army has captured Xiangyang and is on its way to Gucheng County. They are distributing food on the way, and those who go will get it. If you work for the volunteers, there will be generous rewards. This is what we will get, so go quickly!"

There are righteous soldiers distributing food!

Hearing this, the starving people with numb eyes became like puppets with souls, and their dull eyes became clear and bright. They turned around and went into the house one after another, took out straw bags and cloth bags and headed in the direction pointed by the villagers.

Wang Chengqi subconsciously pinched the straw bag on his shoulder, and the granular feeling of the grains between his fingers seemed to make him feel better.

He left quickly with the bag of food on his back, following his fellow villager silently.

For miles along the way, you can occasionally see emaciated starving people hanging from trees, or lying on the roadside like rotten leaves.

Suddenly someone asked, "How many days have we been away from home?"

Upon hearing this, the villagers calculated in their minds how many days they had gone out to beg for food, how many days they had followed the volunteers south, how many days they had rested after capturing Xiangyang, and how many days they were going to have to follow the volunteers back home.

"It's almost been fifteen days..."

"But my family has run out of food for fifteen days!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengqi felt all the pores on his body open up and a burst of cold sweat erupted.

He doesn't have much food at home!
With a loud bang, Wang Chengqi seemed to hear a series of explosions in his head, and the scenes of "broken families", "hanging due to lack of food", and "forced to sell oneself" that he saw along the way seemed to appear before his eyes.

"Hurry! Go home!"

Someone shouted loudly, and the villagers immediately quickened their pace.

Soon everyone arrived at the village and saw many villagers gathered at the entrance, and some women were crying loudly.

Wang Chengqi didn't think much about it, and hurriedly carried the food and squeezed into the crowd in two steps. When he looked closely, he found that they were not his family members.

"No..." Wang Chengqi breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart was still hanging in the air. He quickly ran back to his small shabby house.

Along the way, he heard someone crying loudly in the neighboring house. The crying and wailing revealed that the deceased also hanged himself because he did not want to implicate his family.

Wang Chengqi only felt his chest tighten, his head hot, and his hands trembling uncontrollably.

He threw the food at the door, rushed into the house and shouted his wife's name, but no one responded. He then called his children's nicknames one by one, but no one responded either.

"Hey..." There was only a familiar but weak response.

It’s my mother.

He saw his mother lying on the bed, his youngest son sleeping soundly in his crib, and a white-haired old man lying on a straw mat on the ground.

The old man's clothes were badly torn, but looking at his boots one could tell he was from a middle-class family.

The mother is still alive, the youngest son is also there, and there is a stranger, but where are the wife and other children?
For a moment, Wang Chengqi thought that his wife and children might have committed suicide and were dragged out and buried by the villagers.

He immediately turned around and rushed out of the house, but because he was too anxious, he bumped into the fence at the door and fell to the ground in an awkward posture.

Severe pain came from his shoulders and legs, and he lay on the ground unable to move.

The mental exhaustion of just a few seconds made him think of countless terrible and tragic scenes, and his family members might be being eaten by wild dogs in the wilderness.

"Boss..." A whisper came from above my head, like a heavenly sound soothing the soul.

Wang Chengqi looked up and saw his wife holding the second and third sons, and his eldest son was holding a small fish with a rope and an iron hook. The whole family looked at the head of the family who had returned safely with joy.

Although Wang Chengqi's posture was awkward and embarrassing, he was smiling happily, like a fool who had lost and found a precious treasure.

“Hahahaha…hahahaha…hahahahahahahahahahahahaha…”

Wang Chengqi suppressed his wild laughter and smiled faintly as the head of the family, "I'm back."

He led his wife and children to the village entrance and took their own food from the cart.

Including a few bags at the doorstep, he brought back a total of three stone and eight dou of brown rice.

"This is?"

The wife looked at the bags full of grain and felt it was incredible. She thought that even if they went to rob them these days, her husband wouldn't be able to do it with his skills, right?

"I earned this by working for the Beggar Army..."

Wang Chengqi proudly held his head high, enjoying the surprised gasps and adoring glances from his wife and children. He then pulled out two taels of silver like a treasure, placing it flat on his palm for them to see. "There's even more silver!" his wife exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.

The little girl asked in confusion, "What is this?"

The second child didn't understand either, and reached out to touch it curiously.

The eldest son was more knowledgeable. He had seen traveling merchants taking out this thing on a daily basis. "This is silver. It can buy a lot of delicious food."

"Wow! It's delicious!" The little daughter smacked her lips and wanted to reach out and touch it.

"Dad, these grains and silver were given by the beggars?" The eldest son was extremely excited. "The beggars are really good people!"

"Yes, you're right." Wang Chengqi patted his son's shoulder apologetically. "The Qihuo Army is indeed as the rumors say. They are good people who punish evil and eliminate evil. They are heroes!"

Although two taels of silver and three stone and eight dou of grain are not worth mentioning to a big shot, for Wang Chengqi's family, it is a blessing after a long drought.

My wife and children can all eat their fill, and my mother can also have enough food to maintain her health.

But who is this strange old man? Wang Chengqi asked his wife and children.

It turned out that the eldest brother was out fishing when he accidentally found an old man lying unconscious by the river. He saw that the man's lining and boots were expensive, so he might be a wealthy family who had fled.

If you rescue him, you might get some money or food as a reward.

However, the old man's physical condition was unstable, half unconscious and half conscious, and his mind was a little unclear. He occasionally muttered, "Am I really wrong?"

"Wake him up. We have food at home now, so it won't be a problem to feed him for a few days... Once the situation outside stabilizes, I'll go work for the volunteers to earn money and ask around. Maybe I can find his family."

So the Wang family had their long-awaited sumptuous "feast", and the old man was awakened and sat together at the simple wooden table, but he remained in a daze.

Wang Chengqi's wife and children curiously asked about the trivial things he had experienced in recent days, and the latter was happy to share the anecdotes in the army.

What about the people helping each other build a floating bridge, immortals casting spells and sending down divine soldiers, righteous soldiers beating up defeated soldiers and thugs, and righteous soldiers setting up a stage to publicly try King Xiang and the entire family of the evil gentry...

Wang Chengqi described what he saw and felt vividly, and couldn't help but feel excited.

He said that he also punched and kicked several officers and soldiers who were forcibly requisitioning food, which was more satisfying than eating three bowls of brown rice!
"It's good that the beggars have arrived. The world is bright and clear. Corrupt officials are like monsters encountering a magic mirror. There is nowhere to hide!"

Wang Chengqi couldn't help but imitate the rebel army's "opera troupe" and sang two passages in imitation, as if he had become a hero who punished evil and swept across the world.

The sick mother was a little worried, "What if the imperial court attacks again?"

"The imperial court? Humph! No one has supported the imperial court for a long time. When we attacked Xiangyang, the rebel army responded with a single call." Wang Chengqi's face flushed. "With that idiot Commander Yang, even if he was given 100,000 elite soldiers, he wouldn't be able to fight back!"

Seeing his joy, his wife softly agreed, "In that case, we should hope that the beggars will soon enter the capital and become emperor."

"That's right. It's time for this broken Ming ship to sink."

When the white-haired old man heard that King Xiang's family was destroyed, his whole body tensed up, and his chaotic thoughts seemed to be reorganized and restored.

He recalled that he was the incompetent commander that Wang had mentioned.

Yang Sichang.

In the past, he would have definitely debated with the villains who slandered the court, and even used his fists to repay the emperor's kindness.

But now the spirit that maintained his good feeling was gone, he opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Despair and sadness stirred up waves in his heart, and he couldn't eat even a bite of brown rice.

The killing of King Xiang meant that his retreat was basically cut off, and no one could bear the blame for the capture of the vassal kings.

The grand scene of the people bringing food and drink to help the bandits attack the city is still vivid in people's minds. They rushed to destroy the government and the Ming Dynasty.

Yang Sichang couldn't help but ask, was he really wrong?
Is it really not the bandits who used sorcery to deceive the people, but the three taxes that were imposed on the people, forcing them into a desperate situation?
Yang Sichang came from a wealthy family. His father was Yang He, the governor-general of the three border areas in the early years of Chongzhen. He himself was also a Jinshi and had a successful career.

All he saw were government offices and courts. When he was on official business, he traveled by boat or sedan chair, or stayed in post stations. He never had the opportunity to truly understand the poor people.

Although he was in a "crazy" state these days, he still had a clear view of the plight of the villagers.

The people don't want to starve to death at home.

Because they are human beings, they will become furious, resist, and yell at officials when they are desperate.

The people's clothes, shabby houses, food, furniture, and family health...all were beyond his imagination.

He couldn't imagine that the poor could be so miserable. The cost of his family's meal on a normal day was enough to feed a poor family for a long time.

He heard countless people insulting the court and cursing the emperor, but he had no words to refute.

After experiencing the life of the poor firsthand, he realized that a small act of willfulness by an official, or a trivial increase in taxes, would bring a devastating impact to the people.

Is he really wrong?
The moonlight in the middle of the night shone into the house through the cracks in the shabby house, and Yang Sichang could vaguely see the happy appearance of the whole family huddled together.

They all imagined a bright future before going to bed.

The owner of the house wants to renovate the shabby house, his wife wants to make some new clothes for the children, his mother hopes to find a wife for the eldest son, the second and third sons want to have enough food every day, and the youngest son, who usually cries from hunger, keeps laughing...

What a wonderful family.

However, he, the commander-in-chief of several provinces, became a stumbling block for this family, this village, and even thousands or tens of thousands of people.

Yang Sichang left.

He brought a small stool and a string of hemp rope and came to a forest outside the village, where he was attracted by an "independent" old crooked tree.

He looked up at the branch he had chosen, quickly tore a piece of clothing, bit his finger, wrote a few large words on it, and then threw it at his feet.

He stepped on the bench and put his head into the rope loop. Then he mustered up his courage and kicked the bench away. His whole body swung on the rope loop.

The rope around his throat was getting tighter and tighter. He looked at the rising sun that was slowly revealing its orange glow at the end of his vision, and couldn't help shedding two lines of tears.

He tried to open his mouth to speak, but only his lips remained closed.

As the morning sun slowly rises, its warm light shines on the earth.

The bloody words written on a piece of cloth were illuminated by the light——

Yang Sichang felt ashamed towards his emperor and father, and towards all the people.

……

In the capital, Zhu Youjian was furious when he heard that Nanyang and Xiangyang had fallen one after another.

(End of this chapter)