Please ask me to be the emperor

"Good news, good news! Under the auspices of Shaanxi Governor Gan Xuekuo and Shaanxi Chief Military Officer Zuo Guangxian, the bandits were defeated and the killings were indiscriminate!"

On the night when the rebels retreated, Zuo Guangxian, the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Province, ordered his soldiers to carry cloths and show off their military exploits everywhere in the city to stabilize people's hearts.

The so-called Lubu is a kind of silk flag with words written on it to convey good news. It is mostly used to convey military good news.

It stands to reason that unless it is a great victory, it should not be used lightly.

But Zuo Guangxian, the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Province, had no choice.

Under the repeated attacks of the rebels, he lost Tongguan once, Huayin twice, Huazhou three times, and Bailuyuan four times. Finally, He Jin captured Xi'an city.

In the eyes of knowledgeable people, Shaanxi Commander-in-Chief Zuo Guangxian resisted the rebels for several months with his newly defeated army. Although he had no great achievements, he had no major fault.

But how do ordinary people and gentry understand this? They only saw that you Zuo Guang was defeated first and then again, and was extremely incompetent.

Now that another thief has entered the city of Xi'an, his family and life are seriously threatened. When old scores are raised in the future, he will want Zuo Guangxian's good looks.

Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, also had the same problem as Zuo Guangxian. If we investigate carefully, we will not be able to escape the relationship in the future.

Therefore, after the rebels retreated, the two of them came up with the idea of ​​holding a happy funeral, turning defeat into victory, and fooling the gentry and people in the city.

If it can be sustained until Liang Tingdong, the governor of the three sides, arrives, they can work together to repel the "Shun thieves" and regain Huazhou, Huayin, Tongguan and other places.

When the time comes, they spend some money, and the court treats them with dignity, and the matter is over.

Although they had good intentions and there was going to be a lot of joy in the city at that time, only two days later, trouble broke out in the city.

On this day, Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi Province, and Zuo Guangxian, the chief military officer, were thinking about pay, food and grass. Unexpectedly, a soldier came and reported: "General, it's not good. The people in the city are making trouble and want to leave the city!"

"Leave the city, what are you doing out of the city at this time? Are you still planning to become a thief?" Zuo Guangxian raised his eyebrows, and suddenly he became murderous.

"No...no!" The soldier heard this and explained, "He is going out of the city to collect firewood!"

"Collecting firewood?" Zuo Guangxian heard this and said angrily, "It's not autumn or winter at this time, and thieves are eyeing them. How can we collect firewood?"

The meaning of firewood harvesting is to collect firewood. If you don't do it early, you won't do it later. But when you collect firewood at this time, how dare you say that you are not a spy of a thief?

"Well...the thieves have been besieging the city for seven or eight days. The rice and food in the city are still sufficient for the time being, but the firewood for cooking is getting less and less."

"It used to cost a few cents per load, but now it has increased to twenty or thirty cents per load. Many people have reached the point where they have to eat raw rice porridge..."

The soldier was a local, and he felt a little resentful, so he couldn't help but say a few more words.

The chief military officer Zuo Guangxian was originally a military attache, and the local people's livelihood and economy were not under his jurisdiction. Hearing this, he couldn't help turning his head to look at the governor Gan Xuekuo.

"The thieves are besieging the city. Xi'an City has to close four gates as a last resort, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous!" Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi Province, said after hearing this.

"Now that the thieves have retreated not long ago, and there is a risk of coming back, how can we easily open the city gate? Otherwise, once the thieves return, how can the people in the city survive?"

"The only solution for now is to keep suffering the people for a few more days, and wait until the thieves retreat, then it's not too late to make plans again!"

Gan Xuekuo's words were more pleasant than his singing, so the two of them tried hard to suppress the chaos, one with earnest persuasion and the other with threats of sharp knives.

It's just that Xi'an is a big city after all. The population may not be in the millions, but it may be six or seven hundred thousand.

These people are not engaged in production. They import all the firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea from outside the city.

Now that the city gates are locked up by the officers and soldiers, there is no need to worry about the shortage of oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea for a while.

Only those two things, firewood and rice, are the most important to people's livelihood. How can they be so short?

In fact, there was a shortage of corn, but most of the people who died of starvation were poor people, so there was no disturbance.

But the shortage of firewood is different. On the one hand, no one will prepare a large amount of firewood if they have nothing to do. On the other hand, the food of high-class households is not tired of fine meat and fine meat, and the firewood consumption is far more than that of the poor.

So the city gates were closed for six or seven days, and many people couldn't stand it anymore.

Gan Xuekuo and Zuo Guangxian held on for two more days, and then they couldn't stand it anymore.

In the city of Xi'an, everyone from Qin King Zhu Yizhen to various gentry and wealthy families pleaded for mercy: "The thieves are watching covetously outside the city, and the officers and soldiers are locking the city gates. It is natural for them, and we all agree."

"Even when the thieves attacked the city, we were able to contribute money and help, so we were considered one of our own."

"It's just that now the house is full of cold stoves, and it's really hard to open the pot. I don't ask you to open the city gate and let everyone go out to collect firewood."

"I just hope that I can give me a little face, so that the servants can go out at night to collect some firewood, so that my family can have a warm meal!"

Where does Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, not follow? He quickly agreed.

Zuo Guangxian, the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Province, hesitated to speak, but due to human feelings, he did not dare to refute Gan Xuekuo's face.

After Gan Xuekuo saw off many guests, he couldn't help but said: "Fu Jun, you don't know how to fight. If you really follow their method, everything will be in chaos. How can you defend the city?"

"Although I don't know the military, I'm not a fool. How can I not know the risks?" Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, said unhappily after hearing this.

"Then Fujun, please return," Zuo Guangxian said hesitantly.

"If I ignore them, without the support of these big gentry families, can our city still hold on?" Gan Xuekuo sneered.

"That's it." Zuo Guangxian also knew that although he had more than 10,000 troops under his command, it was impossible to send soldiers to patrol and guard such a large city day and night.

Only by relying on the wealthy gentry in the city, asking them to send servants, calling on the people to assist in patrolling and guarding, and minimizing the pressure caused by trivial matters, can we draw out a new force when the thieves attack the city.

There has never been a principle in the world where you can only tell a horse to run but not to eat grass.

If Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, dared to disregard their life and death, maybe the next time the "thieves" attack the city, the city gate will be broken down without a fight.

"Then what should we do?" Zuo Guangxian hesitated for a while and asked.

"This is easy to handle. The thieves can't stare at the Xi'an city gate every day. Tomorrow you can secretly let them out and have a look." Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, said with a smile.

"If it's captured by thieves, they'll be in bad luck; if they get firewood, they'll be in luck. We just need to guard the city!"

"Okay, that's fine!" Zuo Guangxian nodded helplessly.

Early the next morning, Zuo Guangxian secretly sent someone to open the Anding Gate of Xi'an's west gate and let the gentry and servants of wealthy families out of the city to collect firewood. He also sent two thousand soldiers to guard the city gate to prevent a sneak attack by the rebels.

As a result, not long after these servants left the city, they were discovered by rebel scouts wandering outside the city, and they were immediately chopped to death. The servants were so frightened that they turned around and ran away, trying to return to Xi'an City.

Where can Zuo Guangxian be willing to let go? He quickly ordered the soldiers to close the city gate and let him fend for himself!