Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 46 Huh?
The county troops suffered a crushing defeat, and the news of the destruction of Zhaojiazhuang spread back to the county town, causing panic among the officials, merchants, and civilians in the city.

They knew that the beggar bandits had won consecutive victories and were mobilizing the people to strengthen their momentum, so their first move was to attack the county town.

Everyone in the mall had heard about the audacity of the beggar thieves, and even witnessed the thieves attacking the county government office, causing several officials to wear mourning clothes.

Some people think that beggars are heroes who help the weak and fight against the strong, and they will not harm anyone even if they break into the county town. Others think that beggars are bloodthirsty and cruel, and they may plunder the city for three days.

As night fell with the terrifying shadow of the siege, countless undercurrents quietly surged in the county town, and many officials and wealthy people had different thoughts.

The most miserable person was the chief clerk who had just woken up.

He had been in a coma for many days and was unaware of the change in the situation. He thought that all the thieves who attacked the county government office were executed on the spot, the county was out of danger, and this year's summer tax collection work could be carried out smoothly.

Unexpectedly, the facts were a complete reversal from what he had imagined.

"The entire county army was wiped out? The Zhao Family Village was also destroyed and its entire population was wiped out?"

The chief clerk took a deep breath, staggered backward, and almost fainted.

"The bandits, accompanied by the treacherous people, are rushing towards the county town. It seems they are coming to seize the city. What should we do? Third Master, can you give us some advice?"

A group of assistants and yamen runners were kneeling under the bed, with their heads lowered, waiting for the official's response.

"You, what on earth are you doing? You're just sending some strong men to capture these bandits who are killing people indiscriminately. How could you let them cause such a disaster today?"

The chief clerk thought to himself that he usually just obeyed his superiors, so why did the third-in-command of the county suddenly give him the heavy responsibility of defending the city?
You haven't enjoyed much blessing, but you have to bear the biggest blame, right?

"Master Zhao captured a few informants and tortured them. He learned the thieves' lair and quickly dispatched his troops there. Who knew they would be ambushed by the thieves..."

"What military strategy does that Zhao guy know? How could he rush in to suppress bandits without reconnaissance?" The chief clerk sighed, feeling that his teammates were useless and he couldn't lead them. "Where are the reinforcements?"

"The barracks have sent horses to the surrounding area to seek help, but we don't know when the reinforcements will arrive."

"I'm afraid that even if we get there, we'll all die before the thieves!"

When the chief clerk recalled the scene where the thieves rushed into the county government office and killed people crazily, and even shouted and cursed to hang the chief official, he felt goose bumps all over his body.

"How many soldiers are available in the city?" The chief clerk took the hot tea handed to him by the yamen runner and took a big sip.

"Including us, there are less than two hundred."

"Less than two hundred?" The chief clerk coughed, nearly choking to death on the new bad news. "You said the bandits have already taken thousands of refugees with them. Less than two hundred people against thousands, what's the point of defending!"

Even if he was passively promoted to the "chief" of a county, abandoning the city and fleeing would be a serious crime, but the chief clerk did not want to lose his life here.

Even if he is held accountable for abandoning the city, he can still use the money to lobby for higher positions.

As long as the beggars were suppressed, he could use his connections to send some gifts and add his name to the results of the suppression of the bandits. That would not only save his life but he could even get a mention to the higher authorities.

The chief clerk made up his mind and arranged for his men to abandon the city and flee.

Ordinary officials could just flee, and as long as they kept their positions, they could recover their lost property, but those wealthy merchants and gentry were in trouble.

All their assets and gold and silver were in the city. Even if they wanted to withdraw, they did not have enough carriages to transport the goods.

In this way, those who fled and those who stayed quickly split into two groups. The residents of the entire county were busy all night, and the ground was littered with belongings and clothes left behind by people running back and forth...

The next morning, the players who set out with the militia never expected that when they gathered 3,000 men and marched to the city, they would see the county town with its gates wide open.

Dozens of elderly men knelt at the doorway. Several of them held spears, serving as flagpoles. Black, yellow, and blue flags, emblazoned with the words "Beg for Life," fluttered in the breeze.

Huang Zilong was stunned, Lu Xiaobu's eyes widened, and Zhang Xianzhong's fingers gripping the knife loosened.

Shangcheng County opened the city unilaterally and bloodlessly without saying a word.

In order to show their obedience and loyalty, the surrendered people would write the words "obedient people" on yellow paper, stick it on their heads, kneel on the ground and prostrate themselves to show their obedience.

Huang Zilong was angry.

He and his brothers attached great importance to the defense of the county. In order to prevent any mistakes in the first siege, he went to the military and political group to inquire about relevant siege knowledge.

Afterwards, he worked tirelessly to make siege equipment. He didn't know how much effort it took before he assembled a siege force of 3,000 people. He was very happy to have a great fight.

The results of it.

The vendors lurking in the city had not yet been activated by the players, but the county town opened on its own.

"Fuck!" A high-powered player angrily removed his helmet and slammed it to the ground along with his mace. "I spent countless hours donning armor just to fight, hoping for a bloody battle and the merit of being the first to reach the dungeon, earning some extra stats and a 'Best in the dungeon' rating. Damn it! This county is this big, with walls this high, and they're surrendering without firing a single arrow!"

"It's alright," Lü Xiaobu consoled him. "You can release the surrendered soldiers and let them close the gates before fighting again. It'll be a late Ming Dynasty version of the Seven Captures of Meng Huo."

"Oh, that sounds good."

"Not bad, you idiot! It's good enough that you can open the city without blood, but you still want to waste time to do it again? You spit it out, and you want to stuff it into your mouth and eat it again, right?"

"Ah, yes, yes."

The old man kneeling in the front saw the Beggar Army approaching and hurriedly reported loudly, "The Deputy Director of Household Affairs of Shangcheng County leads all the merchants and citizens in the city to pay a visit to the Beggar Army Commander!"

Wang Tutu, who was walking in the front, had muscular bodies that looked like rolling mountains.

He crouched down, Miao Dao in hand, his massive figure like a mountain bearing down on him. He lowered his head to examine the temporary worker at the county yamen.

The old man who claimed to be the assistant of the household department had white hair and beard and looked to be at least fifty years old.

It is really difficult for him to kneel in front of the younger generation at such an old age and act so servile and submissive.

What was rare was that the mark on the other side's head was not red or yellow, but a fainter green than that of ordinary friendly forces.

In any case, as a temporary worker in the county government, although this person holds certain power, he has been able to maintain the reputation of "no red label" for decades, which should be good.

He looked up and glanced at the others. They were all light green and light yellow, and all of them had a mediocre reputation or had slight flaws.

The ones with deep yellow and red names were not there at all. It seemed that the reputation of the Beggar Army for "eliminating violence and upholding justice" had spread throughout the county. As soon as they heard that the Beggar Army was coming to attack the county town, they all ran away knowing that they had committed serious sins.

"If there's anything to hand over, let's go to the county government office first. Also, call out all the important people in the city. We can have a small meeting and talk about it slowly."

More than 300 players led more than 2,000 militiamen into the mall.

The beggars who used to be able to only attack and kill the powerful and wealthy and were regarded as bandits by the county people, are now powerful people who have thousands of soldiers and horses under their command and control the entire city.

"What is the first step for our rebel army to enter the city?" Lu Xiaobu stepped over the gate of the county government office.

"Needless to say, it's to make money, of course." Huang Zilong looked confident.

(End of this chapter)