The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 431 We even provided relief to the puppet Qi state.
Yang Tian glanced at the twenty or so reinforcements coming from afar, his expression calm, and said to the platoon leader on the fortress, "You've been chatting with me and stalling for time. It seems you're waiting for reinforcements."

The platoon leader's face flushed slightly, but he didn't feel ashamed at all. All's fair in war, right? He was using a scheme, which meant he was skilled, not that he was cunning. He snorted and said, "So what if I am?"

Yang Tian said, "I've already said, we're not here to cause trouble, we're here to surrender, so whether reinforcements come or not is irrelevant to me. We can continue talking, just keep sending reinforcements."

His frank statement eased the platoon leader's doubts somewhat: "Does Your Excellency truly intend to surrender?"

Yang Tian: "Sincerely!"

Platoon leader: "Alright, I'll send a fast horse to Shouchun now to inform Young Master Yue. If you have the patience to wait..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yang Tian said, "Of course I can wait. We have traveled thousands of miles from Huting Lake to this place, breaking through countless checkpoints of the Southern Song Dynasty and crossing the terrifying Dabie Mountains, all for the sake of finding a wise ruler. We don't mind waiting here for a few days."

After speaking, Yang Tian retreated to the middle of his followers and ordered everyone to retreat.

His tens of thousands of men did indeed retreat a mile to the south, set up camp by the Yanzi River, cooked meals, and made it seem as if they were preparing to settle down there for a few days.

The platoon leader looked them over carefully for a while, and feeling that these people did not seem to be bluffing, he then sent out a fast horse to gallop towards Shouchun.

At this time, the beacon fires were still burning, and reinforcements were still arriving one after another.

Every now and then a small squad would arrive. The nearest town was called Yanzihe Town, and the town's archers, soldiers, and local militia quickly came to reinforce them. Gradually, the small fortress was garrisoned by more than a thousand people.

These thousand men kept a close watch on the tens of thousands of Manichaeans from a distance, each side cautiously observing the other from a mile away.

The "agricultural instructor" who was in charge of teaching the surrounding farmers how to farm in Yanzihe Town also arrived soon!
Although he was just a minor agricultural official, he was a "legitimate" official of the Northern Song Dynasty, while the mayor of Yanzihe Town was an official of the puppet Qi regime who had "surrendered." Therefore, relatively speaking, the agricultural official had more power than the mayor.

The agricultural officer took out a telescope and observed the Manicheans' condition from afar. He whispered, "They're short of food! Even the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled only have half a bowl of mixed vegetable porridge. Look at that child, he's so thin from hunger... If Young Master Yue were here, he would surely help them."

The new recruits were astonished: "Huh? Young Master Yue would come to the aid of the enemy?"

The veterans immediately laughed and cursed, "What enemy? In Young Master Yue's eyes, these are all workers, farmers, and bald-headed labor reform soldiers. Wait, that's not right, they haven't had those strange Jin Dynasty hairstyles before, so it seems they don't need to shave their heads."

The new recruits seemed to understand something.

The agricultural official turned to the town mayor and said, "Open the official granary in your Yanzihe Town, transport grain over, and feed these tens of thousands of people temporarily. Record how much grain is used, and report it to Young Master Yue afterwards."

The town mayor dared not refuse, since the agricultural official would take responsibility if anything went wrong anyway. He quickly went back to make arrangements, gathering a large number of laborers from the town and transporting them by boat from the Yanzi River, which was quite convenient...
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Yang Tian appeared calm, but was actually panicking.

He didn't have much food on him!
He fled with his subordinates, their families, and loyal followers after the defeat of the pseudo-Chu state. How could he carry much food when he fled? They had traveled thousands of miles from Dongting Lake into the Dabie Mountains, and their food supplies had long been exhausted. They picked wild vegetables and fruits and hunted for food in the mountains. When they finally made it out of the Dabie Mountains, they had very little food left.

If the Northern Song Dynasty refused to take them in, they would have no choice but to plunder. But plundering on Northern Song territory? Even the Jin Dynasty's cavalry couldn't do it, so what chance did a bunch of infantrymen wielding muskets have?
Without even thinking about it, they'll all be wiped out.

And he didn't want to steal it either!
Although Manichaeism spreads "impossible dreams," they never considered themselves a cult. They just had distorted dreams, but that didn't mean their values ​​were distorted. They knew that murder and arson were bad things, and they weren't like other bandit groups that only knew how to burn, kill, and plunder.

They have always organized farming and land reclamation around the lake, getting rich through labor. They also help each other while working, alleviating poverty and hardship. The lower-level believers in the church are all sincerely trying to equalize wealth and will use their own property to help the poorer believers.

Only high-ranking mages are extravagant and decadent!
The high-ranking mages, including the two leaders Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao, slapped Yang Tian hard across the face with their extravagance and decadence, causing him to lose his way for a time.

Watching his men draw water from the Swallow River, boil it in a broken pot, and then add wild vegetables...

His heart was filled with unease: Northern Song Dynasty! Northern Song Dynasty! Please take us in, otherwise, this group of good people will be forced to go astray.

Just then, a believer who was drawing water from the river shouted, "Boats! Look at the river, lots of boats are coming!"

A large number of small boats swayed and rocked as they sailed by. Each boat carried only a boatman and a few large bags, which, judging from their shape, looked like they were filled with grain.

On the boat at the very front stood a man in official robes, waving and smiling at them from afar: "Hello, I am the local agricultural official of the Northern Song Dynasty stationed in Yanzihe Town. I have come to deliver some relief grain to you."

Yang Tian had heard of the Agricultural Official, a mere ninth-rank official, but the fact that he could mobilize so many ships of grain demonstrated his considerable power. In the Southern Song Dynasty, no one would dare to do such a thing without the approval of a prefect.

Yang Tian quickly bowed deeply in gratitude: "We haven't even formally surrendered yet, and we've already received such great favor from the Northern Song Dynasty. Aren't you afraid that if we don't reach an agreement, in the end..."

The agricultural official laughed and said, "That's not right. There's no such thing as whether or not a deal has been reached. Although you call yourselves Chu, you are, in the end, descendants of the Yan Emperor. We, the Northern Song, will naturally provide relief. We also frequently provide relief to the people of the Southern Song. By the way, we also provide relief to the people of the pseudo-Qi Kingdom."

Upon hearing this, Yang Tian was truly astonished: You're even providing aid to the pseudo-Qi Kingdom? Impressive!

One boat after another rushed to the shore, and the boatmen shouted, "Come and help!"

The Manichaeans on the shore were terrified and dared not approach for a while.

Yang Tian could only sigh and say, "Go and move it!"

The believer then mustered his courage, walked to the side of the boat, picked up a sack of grain, returned to the cooking pot, opened the sack, and found it full of good grain...

The moment the grain sacks were opened, a flood of emotions overwhelmed them, and a large group of men burst into tears, their cries echoing across the Yanzi River.

(End of this chapter)