It doesn't matter what the lord is.

36. A wave of wealth

The chaos in Yunyang is getting worse.

Everyone felt that they were the trendsetters of the times, and everyone saw their own opportunities in this chaos. There seemed to be an invisible hand behind this, and half-true and half-false rumors spread throughout Yunyang.

The news that Li Yi killed his father and usurped the throne, the news that Kalpas and Li Yi were sworn enemies, the news that some young masters in Yunyang were ready to make a move... Rumors that were difficult to distinguish between true and false were spreading at a very fast speed in the streets and alleys, a new version every day, each one more exciting than the last, not only did the amount of information increase wildly, but it also came with all kinds of twists and turns.

For example, the fact that Li Yi killed his father and usurped the throne can be derived into various theories. The fact that he attacked his own father is a huge hot topic in communication studies. So how and why did he do it? The matter can be traced back to Kalpas, and even further back to Lord Yunyang himself. It was because Lord Yunyang marginalized Li Yi that Li Yi chose to fight desperately to seize his father's power.

This is official history, and there are also unofficial histories. For example, some people say that Li Yi had a favorite concubine named A Ping, but the Lord of Yunyang also fell in love with this woman, so Li Yi was furious and stabbed the Lord of Yunyang with a knife. Compared with official history, unofficial history is more likely to be talked about and is also heating up the topic at a faster rate.

Then everyone found that almost everything that could be dug had been dug up, so they could only trace back to the source and explore why Lord Yunyang and Li Yi repeatedly went to trouble Yuxi City, and what the feud between them and Li De was. So some "insiders" began to study Li De's years as a whetstone in Yuxi City. No one expected that the knife he wanted to sharpen broke, but the stone itself became sharper.

Now that Yuxi City has been mentioned, the topic naturally turns to Yuxi City.

How prosperous the construction there is, how peaceful the people there are, how brave the soldiers there are... The people of Yunyang are not unfamiliar with Yuxi City. In the past two years, a lot of news has been reported from there, but in the past, everyone was always skeptical. Now that they have heard this information again, they have begun to slowly believe it -

In other words, they instinctively chose to believe.

Because people have expectations for beautiful things. In their hearts, Li De is the son of Yunyang after all, and the sphere of influence of Yuxi City can still be regarded as the territory of Yunyang, and there is no essential difference from other city lords. If it is really as beautiful as the legend, maybe there is still hope for their future, and everything is not so bad.

Ten days later, under tremendous pressure, Li Yi announced that the Lord of Yunyang was seriously injured in the battle against Yuxi City, and he would temporarily take over the position of Lord. The first thing he did after taking power was to order Kalpas, who had marched halfway, to return to the eastern part of Yunyang and wait for orders, and not to approach Lingyun City.

This also adds some credibility to the rumors.

Three days later, Li Ren, the eighth prince of Yunyang, brazenly raised an army to attack Li Yi, calling him the culprit who murdered his father and wanted to kill him. Soon after, three more princes defected and joined the war. It was like a volcano that had been dormant for a long time suddenly erupting. No one knew when this war would stop.

If Li Yi wins, it will be fine. If Li Yi falls, the other princes will definitely start a new round of infighting, which will be almost endless. The people's power, which has been squeezed to the extreme, has suffered even heavier oppression. Many people will give various high-sounding reasons for the war, but the essence of wasting people's money and labor will not change anyway.

Various forced conscriptions, wartime taxes, and a variety of clauses have become shackles around the people's necks.

Not to mention that war itself can easily destroy a family. After all, conscription and taxation are still exploitation based on the law. When the army passes by, all kinds of unreasonable robbery often bring a more serious blow to a family. In the past, most of the nobles in Yunyang looked down on the people of Tiancheng Territory. Now, the people of Yunyang are gradually becoming like Tiancheng, with no fixed place to live and exchanging children for food.

When walking on the street, you can often see homeless people squatting on the side of the street, covered in mud.

In the middle of the night, sad cries could be heard from various places.

Many people who could not bear the torture committed suicide, and their bodies were not discovered until a long time later, after they had already rotted beyond recognition.

Each city lord was desperately squeezing the people to collect wealth and trying to recruit men to join the army. But everyone knew that those armies were places where they could never return, so the people often fled as soon as they could, and countless people became refugees wandering around Yunyang. No one took them in, and they didn't know where to go.

At this time, a unique conscription order was suddenly posted all over the streets of Yunyang overnight.

The first phase of Yuxi City’s recruitment plan has begun!

Houses, residences, money, land, everything needed to make a living can be found here.

With cheap prices, extremely low taxes, and comprehensive social welfare, everyone can live without worries.

Moreover, there is something that most poor families would never dare to dream of - almost completely free compulsory education.

This means that their children have the opportunity to learn knowledge and change their destiny. Maybe they can just be an accountant or write and draw for others, but they don't have to run around outside in the cold or hot summer, which is already a very good livelihood in their eyes.

In addition, there is a saying in Yuxi City that "one person joins the army, the whole family is honored". The children of soldiers can enjoy some special care, and the conditions offered by Yuxi City to soldiers are also very generous. The salary, accommodation, and food are all impeccable. Except for the hard training, there is almost nothing to complain about.

The recruitment order also listed the military rules and regulations of Yuxi City, which seemed to be much stricter than those of the armies under the command of other city lords, and discouraged many people who wanted to sneak in and cheat.

The first conscription plan has a quota of 50,000 people.

After the conscription order was issued, He Yue was actually a little nervous. He had done everything he could, but if the people of Yunyang were unwilling to come to Yuxi City, the future development strategy would be a little tense. So he didn't sleep well for several days, until not long after, He Yue received a letter from Fang Shisan from the front line.

It took only a week to recruit 50,000 carefully selected soldiers, and more people were coming. Fang Shisan wrote to ask He Yue how to properly settle these people. In order to come to Yuxi City, people outside were almost desperate. Many people knelt in front of Fang Shisan and begged her to take them in, saying that they were unwilling to return to Yunyang, which was about to become a hell on earth.

He Yue asked Li De for his opinion. Li De yawned and said lazily:

"Since you are here, you are a guest of Yuxi City, so just accept it... What, there is not enough land?"

He Yue nodded, and Lid smiled and waved his hand, saying lightly:

"Then just fight until you have enough."

37. The most regrettable moment is when heroes part

For Reed, the most comfortable time is when no one is watching him.

Taking advantage of the time when Li Yi and the princes of Yunyang were fighting, Yuxi City could develop comfortably. Receiving a large number of people from Yunyang was just the beginning. As the combat effectiveness gradually increased, Yuxi City's sphere of influence expanded further. It successively captured eleven cities including Sword Forging City, Black Steel City and Blast Furnace City, and enclosed a large amount of land, so that the people from Yunyang who came to seek refuge could have a place to live.

During this period, the expansion of the army was completed quietly under the leadership of Fang Shisan, without any earth-shattering moves. Although many people were recruited, the military training of Yuxi City was as low-key as ever. So many people who paid attention to the developments of Yuxi City thought that they still wanted to stay in a corner and did not plan to develop further.

Only the top leaders of Yuxi City knew that they were just waiting.

Many city lords and nobles in Yunyang thought that fighting a war was a simple matter. They just needed to recruit some people, give each of them some weapons, and then they could go to the battlefield. After all, if they won, they would make a lot of money. If they lost, it didn't matter. They could just recruit another group to take over, and it would also save food.

Aren't there so many disaster victims causing trouble every year? Let them all go to the battlefield, and when they are all dead, there will be peace.

Yuxi City is just the opposite. They are unrivaled in their love for manpower. Even light infantry will not be sent to the battlefield until they are fully equipped. Soldiers in the army cannot all know each other, but they are divided into squads. Ten people in a squad must trust each other. Officers at all levels from top to bottom must have a certain understanding of the military formation. Therefore, Yuxi City will not produce the kind of quick-made army, but once the army of Yuxi City is trained, it will definitely suppress most of the armies in the world.

Fang Shisan's training of troops has always been methodical, and his plan of using the old to train the new has also been arranged very smoothly.

There are very few soldiers who join Yuxi City who are lazy and cunning, because Yuxi City's assessment of ability and attitude is very accurate: if you are injured during training, or find that you really cannot complete the training, you can choose to quit. After quitting, you still retain the citizenship of Yuxi City, can live in the territory of Yuxi City, and as long as you work hard, you can continue to enjoy various benefits of Yuxi City.

However, if they have a bad attitude, such as violating military regulations and discipline, embezzling military pay, cheating during training, etc., once they are caught, they will be directly recorded in the list of dishonest persons in Yuxi City. If the case is serious, they will be expelled from Yuxi City or directly sent to prison for trial. In fact, just being expelled from Yuxi City is already a difficult thing for them to accept. Not only will they lose all the benefits here, but they will also become the laughing stock of all relatives and friends.

It was inevitable that some people among the 50,000 people could not adapt to the high-intensity training. Most of these people voluntarily withdrew and chose other jobs. Only a few people were lucky enough to cheat and were directly kicked out. These vacant positions were quickly filled by new people. After all, there were many people who wanted to join the army.

The only regret is that the former commander of the Xuanjia Battalion, Luge, chose to resign at this time.

Lied met him in person, and Ruger told Lied very frankly:

"My Lord City Lord, I am a rough man, and I won't say any more hypocritical words. When you first arrived at Yuxi City, to be honest, I didn't expect you to achieve what you have today. At that time, I was just doing things for others in exchange for money. But later, I fought side by side with the brothers of Yuxi City, and went through life and death several times. I really regarded myself as a general of Yuxi City and a member of the army."

"When Lord Fang Shisan came to Yuxi City, I handed over the power to her because I knew that although she had killed many of our brothers before, she could let more brothers survive in the future. The same is true for this military expansion. With my status, I should have at least 10,000 people under my command if I want to be promoted to a division commander. But I don't think I have the ability to do it. I won't be able to do a good job even if I am promoted to that position. It's better to do my own thing first."

Luger bowed to Lid:

"I have been in the army for two years now. Thank you, Lord City Lord. It has allowed me to meet so many friends who are willing to die for me, and it has also helped me to improve my swordsmanship. I wonder if Lord City Lord still remembers that I practiced swordsmanship with you for revenge. If I can come back alive and if the army still needs me, I will serve you again."

Lid also showed a bitter smile on his face and asked:

"Do you have to do it yourself?"

Luger nodded seriously:

"I swore an oath. A real man living in this world must avenge his enemies and grievances himself."

Lid sighed, patted Luger on the shoulder, and said:

"Then... I wish you good luck in martial arts."

When Luger was learning swordsmanship from Lid, he said that he was doing it for revenge, but Lid didn't ask who his enemy was. With Luger's current level, although he can't be said to be a master of martial arts, he can still fight against ordinary masters. Moreover, his years in the army made him much more stable, and Lid believed that he would not do anything without confidence.

When he was practicing for him, the former commander of Wangdong Camp, Juanbai, also drank a lot of wine and looked sad. Juanbai was born in a military family, so he could see that Luger's talent in the army was limited, but they had fought side by side for several times, which made him trust the calm and resolute Luger. Now that Luger has taken the initiative to leave, it is also a very regrettable thing for Juanbai.

"Come back soon after you've taken your revenge. I'm waiting to go to the battlefield with you to kill the enemy. Don't keep us waiting too long."

Luger nodded.

The army does not stop functioning because of one person's departure, everything continues.

Unconsciously, summer has arrived. The sun gradually becomes dazzling, the air is filled with layers of heat waves, and the sound of cicadas can be heard every morning. Fang Shisan's pressure has been reduced a lot. Li De began to help He Yue deal with some government affairs. The two often work side by side until late, and when they are tired, they lean on each other's shoulders to rest for a while.

By early June, everything had finally settled down.

Yuxi City further radiates its industrial system outward. The demon breeding farm has gradually retreated from the original pillar industry to the second line, and the chemical industry and energy technology have become new sunrise industries. Unfortunately, even Yuxi City, which has a fairly developed productivity, cannot immediately popularize education and medical care after conquering the city, so it is as difficult to enter Yuxi Academy as to join the army. Not only do you need to stay in Yuxi City to work after graduation, but there is also a certain ranking mechanism within the school, especially some difficult subjects have begun to promote elite education.

Fortunately, there is no rush to cultivate talents. For many industries, you can participate as long as you know simple principles.

Yuxi City is like a high-speed machine. When the population and land were seriously insufficient, it had created all kinds of miracles. Now that this machine has more manpower and material resources to support it, its scale has further expanded, and as it continues to rotate, there is already a vague feeling of being unstoppable.

38. Above the Ruins

In stark contrast to the increasingly prosperous scene of Yuxi City, Yunyang's head was shrouded in an impenetrable layer of dark clouds.

Although there are many people willing to come to Yuxi City, they are still nothing in the whole Yunyang. Even if there are fewer than a million people, Yunyang still has a rich foundation for internal fighting. After all, most people in this world are used to accepting what comes their way. Even though they know that going to Yuxi City may bring a better life, they are unwilling to give up the land where their ancestors have lived for generations. The various city lords of Yunyang also took advantage of their thinking and intensified their harsh exploitation of them.

There is a saying among the people that "eats up the whole family", which means that after the pillar of the family dies, his wife and children are constantly bullied until the last property is swallowed up and there is no way to survive. Yunyang is actually doing something similar. First, high taxes are imposed to deprive the poor people of their ability to survive, then their land is purchased at a low price, and finally the remaining labor force is conscripted into soldiers, basically a family is wiped out.

A war would often last for several days, because the scene was too chaotic and the number of deserters was far beyond expectations. When two armies fought, it was not about who was braver, but about who had fewer people running away. The two disorganized armies collided with each other, some died and some were injured, the defeated fled in a hurry, and the winners had no intention of pursuing. This kind of war was actually just a waste of Yunyang's manpower and resources.

But the people who control it all think differently.

When they got the army, the first thing they looked at was the number. With tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people under their command, they felt that they were invincible and had no problems. After all, they were born and raised in Yunyang, and rarely had the opportunity to go out and see the world. They didn't know what the strongest army in the world looked like, so competing in numbers naturally became the only thing they could do.

Deploy troops, deploy troops, deploy troops, deploy troops without limit!

It seems that whoever gathers a million troops first will win the game. But in fact, the land cannot support so many soldiers, the military resources cannot keep up, and even the training is uneven. There are many factions in the army, and the young and capable people are often picked by the generals. In their eyes, the remaining people are just animals who rush to the front and are responsible for losing their lives in the war.

Li Ren, who was the first to raise an army, can be said to have reaped the full benefits of the war. At that time, the situation in Yunyang had not yet shown a clear trend of deterioration, and the slogan of resisting the murderer of his father was also inspiring enough when it was first proposed. At present, he has stationed nearly 400,000 troops, known as well-trained soldiers and sufficient food. Since he has not had a direct conflict with Li Yi's army since he raised the army, he is still quite deterrent.

There are two princes who have stationed more than 200,000 troops, and three more who have stationed more than 100,000 troops.

Yunyang's human and material resources naturally could not withstand such a large-scale consumption. The foundation accumulated from generation to generation was being overdrawn at a speed visible to the naked eye. However, those who only saw the immediate benefits could not see the hidden dangers in the future. The princes of Yunyang had already fallen into a frenzy of war.

Li Yi was actually awake, but as things had developed to this point, he had begun to lose control of the situation. Among the three regular armies of the Northern Border Army, the Eastern Border Army, and the Southern Border Army, only the general of the Northern Border Army, Asilante, clearly stated that he would obey Li Yi's orders before the lord woke up. Of the other two armies, the Eastern Border Army was driven back to the east by him, and the Southern Border Army was a master of Tai Chi. No matter who sent an envoy, they would just say "hmm", "good, good", and then continue to stay there without moving.

Asilante helped Li Yi repel most of the troops that wanted to attack Lingyun City, so Lingyun City is still as solid as a rock. After all, this city is the main city of Yunyang, and it was built on a grand scale from the beginning. Ordinary attacks cannot damage the foundation of Lingyun City at all.

But Li Yi also had his problems. He had no fiefdom. Although he could theoretically mobilize all the materials in Yunyang, the lords of Yunyang rebelled one after another, and more and more territories did not obey his command. Some of the land that had not been divided out was still under his control, but once the other lords cut off the main transportation routes, Li Yi basically became a commander without troops.

In the chaos of Yunyang, Li Yi was the strongest, because he had already received the support of the border troops. But he was also the one with the most pressure, not only did he have to deal with enemies coming from all directions, but the losses of the army and the subsequent supply were also difficult to be effectively guaranteed.

Li Yi's advisers have already analyzed that at least one of the border troops in the east and south must be willing to join Li Yi's army, so that this battle can be fought well. At that time, the northern army will help him defend the foundation of Lingyun City, and the other army will open up the main roads at lightning speed and reconnect the scattered Yunyang. Only then will there be hope of revitalizing this situation.

But because Li Yi himself had driven the Eastern Army back, he was unwilling to beg Kalpas in a humble manner, and he did not think that Kalpas would put aside his hatred and help him. So during this period, Li Yi had been sending people to contact Takis, the general of the Southern Frontier Army, but other princes, including Yu Xicheng, had also been contacting him. At present, this old fox did not seem to be willing to make a choice.

So Li Yi is in a dilemma, but he still has other hopes. Although Lingyun City needs to deal with enemies from all directions, each enemy is not without concerns. They also cannot support so many troops. If it continues to drag on, it is hard to say who will collapse first.

After all, within less than half a month, the subordinates of one of the city lords, who had more than 100,000 soldiers stationed there, mutinied, and more than half of them chose to flee overnight. This was just the beginning. Every night when it was quiet and only the bonfire was burning in the tent, someone would sneak out. Some were caught, stabbed to death, and their livers and intestines were pierced on the tip of the gun for public display; some fled far away and never came back.

Two weeks later, the first internal conflict broke out among the princes of Yunyang over the fight for food and fodder.

Li Yi felt that he saw hope, and the idea of ​​dividing and winning over others slowly fermented in his mind. He also began to consider which young master had the chance to be pulled to his side, and those young masters must be eliminated as soon as possible.

At the same time, the Yunyang princes also launched the largest joint attack, with as many as 300,000 troops attacking Lingyun City. This time the siege was more fierce than before. After all, this time the Yunyang princes did not hesitate to steal the Yunyang lord's fighting skills and promised huge benefits to the oppressed army. As long as you achieve excellent results on the battlefield, you can become a superior person, which is one of the few hopes for those who are desperate.

The historian who came from the capital recorded everything that happened in front of him impartially.

"In June of 334, Yunyang was in chaos. Fathers and sons fought, brothers killed each other, and countless people were killed and injured. Corpses were scattered all over the ground, fires lasted for days, and the sound of ghosts crying was often heard in the middle of the night."

39. There is nothing new under the sun

In the dilapidated house, a ragged little girl gently held her mother's hand. Her body and face were swollen and her voice was a little unclear:

"Mom, I'm so hungry..."

The skinny woman gently held her wrist, tears falling from her eyes:

"Go to sleep, my child. You won't be hungry when you sleep... When you wake up, mom will make you a lot of delicious food... Tell mom, what do you want to eat?"

The little girl stared at the ceiling blankly, and after a long while she whispered:

"I want to eat rice... lots and lots of rice. And meat, braised pork, a really big piece, as big as my palm..."

The woman hugged her and said gently:

"Okay, Mommy promises you, Mommy promises you everything..."

The little girl closed her eyes, her breath gradually weakened, until her last breath slowly stopped, and she had no strength left to hold the woman's hand. Her body gradually became cold, and the swelling all over her body slowly turned from purple-brown to black.

Without food, everyone ate everything. Wild vegetables, tree bark, bugs dug from the ground, anything they could find. Men in their prime could often find some slightly better food, but orphans and widows like this could only pick up what others had left.

Some time ago, a little girl dug some scorpions from under a rock, roasted them and ate them, which resulted in abdominal pain first, and then swelling all over the body. Most of the barefoot doctors in the village had been conscripted into the army, and only a few who knew little were left. They said they would let the blood, but after several attempts, it didn't work, so they gave up.

The woman used her body to exchange for some leftovers and fed them to her daughter, but that mouthful of food could not even fill her daughter's stomach. In the end, she failed to make her full. The woman stood up shakily and walked out the door. The sun was shining brightly above her head. She looked at the sun and saw only darkness in front of her. The sun blinded her eyes but she did not react, and tears kept pouring out.

She smiled at the sun, and as she smiled, she fell to the ground.

There is nothing new under the sun.

This is all just old news.

In the mine, the supervisor whipped the slaves who were bent over and kept scolding them:

"Go! Go faster! What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and start mining! If we don't complete this month's quota, everyone will starve for three days!"

In the army, someone was crying while holding his brother who had a broken arm but could not get medical treatment:

"Brother, hold on a little longer. After this battle, we will have food to eat..."

In the pouring rain, someone raised his head and shouted hysterically, his voice was sad:

"The dam has broken, it has broken again! Are you trying to kill us? What about the crops in the fields?"