My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 142 Seeking refuge with General Tianzhu

"The people who fled from the north are now gathering outside the city. What do you think we should do with them?"

Fei Mu is now the Prefect of Shuozhou. He was appointed to this position temporarily by Li Chong after Yuan Yu fled, exercising his power as Grand Commander. He also submitted an official document to the court, which was approved.

His appointment as governor was temporary, and he didn't have time to appoint so many civil officials; his subordinates were mostly military officers.

The only one who looked quite refined and had the air of a scholar was the chief clerk sitting to his right.

This was Lü Bu's official position when he served under Ding Yuan. However, the position of Chief Clerk was a proper civil service post, whose duties included handling confidential documents and drafting government decrees, somewhat similar to that of a governor's secretary.

This man was named Wang Zheng, and to Fei Mu's left was Zhang Hetai, the military commander.

Fei Mu glanced at Zhang Hetai.

Zhang Hetai immediately understood and said directly, "We cannot let the people into the city. Letting them into the city will bring endless trouble."

"Oh?"

Fei Mu feigned ignorance and asked in return, "What trouble could there be?"

"If the rebels disguise themselves as civilians and infiltrate the city, they can cause chaos when the rebels attack and take the opportunity to open the city gates. By then, it will be too late to regret it."

"Moreover, the military order left by the Grand Commander was to have us guard Yunzhong and block the rebel army from advancing south, but it did not say that we were to rescue the fleeing people."

Once someone takes the lead, others immediately follow suit and make the same suggestion.

The granary official also spoke up, "The grain in the city is barely enough to supply the people and soldiers. If refugees enter the city, we will have to allocate some grain to supply them."

"We are really stretched thin and powerless."

"If we run out of food and are forced to abandon the city and retreat, then we will have failed in our duty."

These two points are the core reasons why they dared not release the people and did not have enough grain to help them.

Fei Mu, however, remained hesitant to express his opinion, looking troubled. "If we act in this way, it might not be good if word gets out..."

Wang Zheng then spoke up, “We all know that General is a kind person who worships Buddhism, but for now, General needs to temporarily put aside his compassion.”

"The Grand Commander ordered the General to lead troops to guard this place in order to prevent the rebels from the north from advancing south. If the General lets the people into the city out of a moment of kindness, and Yunzhong falls, the rebels will open up the passage to the south and advance straight in."

"At that time, Shuozhou, Hengzhou, and Sizhou will all be plundered by the rebels. How many innocent people will be implicated? How many innocent people will be separated from their wives and children, and their families will be destroyed?"

"The general's action demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice personal love for the greater good!"

The generals were stunned. It's true what they say, those who have studied are different; they found an excuse for Fei Mu as soon as they opened and closed their mouths.

He himself still had to work hard to kill enemies and make contributions, but if someone just opened their mouth and relieved the general's worries, it would be a great achievement.

Fei Mu nodded slightly, "Yes, Chief Clerk Wang is right. We should sacrifice our personal interests for the greater good, and let the people of the northern frontier suffer. I will bear the blame."

But then he seemed to think of something else, "What if we let the people starve to death outside the city, causing corpses to pile up and leading to a plague?"

It is currently the height of summer, and the hot weather is the easiest time for the plague to spread. If too many people die outside the city and the bodies are not disposed of in time, it could indeed easily lead to a large-scale outbreak of the plague.

Wang Zheng had already prepared an excuse for him.

"The imperial court has issued a decree that all criminals who were not exiled to the six towns for crimes will be pardoned and allowed to move freely. Tomorrow, people can be sent out of the city to post notices to inform the people outside the city of this matter, so that they can continue to flee south and avoid being caught by the rebel army and losing their lives in vain."

"It was my oversight that I almost forgot about the imperial edict."

Fei Mu smiled and shook his head, then sighed and said, "I am a kind-hearted person and cannot bear to see people suffer or die in front of me."

"It is precisely because the general is kind-hearted that the refugees are allowed to continue fleeing south, so as to prevent them from dying outside the city and causing the general heartache. The general also has to command the soldiers to guard Yunzhong, so there must be no mishaps."

Fei Mu strongly agreed, saying, "In order not to fail the trust placed in us by the court and the Grand Commander, I will entrust this matter to you."

The general was kind-hearted and could not bear to see anyone die in front of him.

That being the case.

Then let the common people go far away, let them die wherever they want, as long as they don't die in front of the general.

Although the general was willing to bear the infamy.

But by deliberately bringing this matter up for public discussion, how could his subordinates not understand what the general meant?
………………

"Uncle, when will I be able to see my father and mother again..."

Although Duan Shao is intelligent, he is still a child, and it is inevitable that he would feel this way after being suddenly separated from his parents.

“Tiefa, you don’t need to worry. Your father and mother have already gone south. Once we reach Yunzhong, we can inquire about their whereabouts and meet them soon.”

Gao Yu reached out and patted his head, then pointed to the horse under his crotch, "At such a young age, you can already ride a horse. You will surely be exceptionally brave and skilled in the future!"

Children's attention is easily diverted. Since there was no rush, Gao Yu found a gentle horse and had Duan Shao ride it alongside him.

Duan Shao was overjoyed after being praised. "They all say that my uncle is the number one warrior in the Six Garrisons. In the future, I will follow my uncle into battle to fight the enemy!"

"Once things settle down, your uncle will teach you archery."

"it is good!"

After traveling for a while, Gao Yu ordered a rest and sent Liu Taozhi, who was good at talking to people and often went out to do business, to continue to gather information.

They are not far from the clouds.

They waited until Liu Taozhi returned.

"What is the current situation in the clouds?"

"My lord, I have just received news that the garrison commander of Yunzhong has kept the city gates tightly shut and is not allowing anyone to enter the city. Anyone who approaches the city gates without authorization will be shot dead." Gao Yu remained silent.

It sounds cruel, but if he were the Cloud Guardian, he would definitely make the same choice.

Not to mention that the rebels might disguise themselves as civilians and blend into the crowd, if they did enter the city, they could deliver a crucial blow to the city's defenders at a critical moment.

Just considering the sheer number of people heading south, they wouldn't be carrying much food while fleeing. Once they entered the city, they would inevitably consume the food reserves in Yunzhong City.

If the people are ignored, when they are starving, their instinctive animalistic nature will erupt and cause riots in the city, which will only drain the energy of the defending army.

By not allowing ordinary people to enter the city from the very beginning, the problem was solved at its root.

However, Liu Taozhi brought another important piece of news.

"Furthermore, the garrison in the city posted notices outside the city, saying that the imperial court had long ago ordered that the household registration of the soldiers and civilians in the six towns be changed to that of ordinary citizens, and that the soldiers and civilians in the six towns could freely go south."

"If this edict had been issued months or even years earlier, how could today's disaster have occurred?"

However, Gao Yu also knew this.

The imperial court did not realize its mistake, but rather that the army that was suppressing the rebellion had suffered repeated defeats and that rebellions and uprisings had broken out in various parts of Longxi.

The imperial court was simply afraid. It knew that if it did not take measures and allowed the situation to continue to deteriorate, it would truly be waiting to die in Luoyang. Although Luoyang was in the center of the country, it had no natural defenses. In particular, if the attack came from the north to the south, it would be advantageous to take advantage of the high ground.

We should try to salvage the situation before it becomes too serious.

"Since they can't enter the clouds, the prince and the others probably won't stay outside the city for long."

The rebels could march south at any time, and lingering outside the city is too risky.

Gao Huan and his group must have found out by now, so it's highly likely that... they've already headed south.

"If that's really the case, then there's no need for us to go to the clouds."

Peng Le then walked over and asked, "If we're not going to the clouds... then where are we going?"

Gao Yu gazed southward into the distance.

If the garrison commander of Yunzhong has this attitude, then the people of Pingcheng will definitely have the same attitude and will absolutely not let anyone into the city.

They could only continue southward to places like Sizhou, Bingzhou, and Fenzhou.

Gao Huan and the others probably think the same way.

If this is the case.

Gao Yu roughly knew where Gao Huan and the others had gone.

"Let's set off for Sizhou."

Since the rebellion broke out last year, Liu Gui withdrew from Huai Shuo ahead of schedule and returned to Sizhou when the news came.

no way.

Liu Gui wasn't one of the Six Garrisons, so when danger came, he could just pack up and leave.

“The prince and the others must have gone to Sizhou to find Guizhen. If we speed up these next few days, we might be able to catch up with them.”

Unlike modern times, transportation in ancient times was not as developed. Only the post roads built by the imperial court were easy to travel. If you were going to the same place, you could indeed meet someone.

Gao Yu sent Liu Taozhi to deliver the order.

However, Tumen came to find him alone.

"Lang Jun."

He took the initiative to bow down.

"But something?"

"Has the young master decided to head south?"

"Yes, we shouldn't stay here any longer. We can't enter Cloud City, so we can only continue south."

Tumen looked somewhat troubled, appearing quite hesitant.

"Just say what you need to say, there's no need to hold back."

Tumen immediately gritted his teeth and said, "My lord... please forgive me for not being able to continue accompanying you south. I need to return to the tribe. I have been away for so long that I do not know what the situation is like on the grasslands now."

In the past, Tumen and Shidianmi gave up the fertile pasture that Anagui had allocated to them in the Rouran royal court, insisting on pledging allegiance to Gao Yu.

It wasn't that Gao Yu could offer them better conditions; the main reason was to break free from the Rouran people's control.

Furthermore, after the battle with the Gaoche people, Gao Yu became famous throughout the grasslands, and they could rely on Gao Yu's reputation to develop their own strength with peace of mind.

They could have ignored Gao Yu's orders, but knowing the danger, they still brought a thousand of their tribe's bravest warriors to serve. Now, more than half of them have died in battle, which can be considered as repaying Gao Yu's kindness.

Gao Yu was aware of this as well.

"It's alright. Since you have no intention of going south, then let's part ways here and lead your people back to the grasslands. If fate allows, we will meet again in the future."

Tumen knelt down immediately, kowtowed, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, young master."

He immediately gathered his men, each carrying only two days' worth of rations, leaving the surplus food for Gao Yu as a way of repaying Gao Yu's kindness.

He then led his men north back to the grasslands.

(End of this chapter)