My clone is on the other side of the starry sky

An army without food will perish.

It is natural for soldiers to eat. It is very scary when an army runs out of food and grass supplies. They usually plunder people's property on the spot.

When he heard the news of the mutiny by the border troops, Cui Zheng knew something was wrong.

"No matter what method you use, immediately raise rations for other armies!" Cui Zheng called several officials in charge of this aspect and said: "Remember, no matter what the cost!"

There is still one group now, but if it is left alone, then this one will become the whole group. The army cannot be in chaos, otherwise he will kill all the troops in Jinzhou, and the people of Jinzhou will completely collapse.

"Yes!" When everyone heard that no matter what the cost, they understood that for this matter, they could force food from the people, but in short, stabilize the army first.

"Lord, what should we do with the mutinous army?" a counselor asked worriedly.

"Tianbao, go and win over the troops. As for the general, shoot him without mercy!" Cui Zheng's eyes flashed with murderous intent. Since there has been a mutiny, whether it is to appease the people or to frighten other generals, someone must take on this responsibility.

A general walked out of the hall and saluted Cui Zheng: "Yes!"

In the past ten years, Jinzhou's fortune has been at its peak. In addition to Cui Zheng, it has also trained a cave warrior named Mu Tianbao. He was a prisoner ten years ago. Lu Chao begged for mercy and was pardoned. At that time, Cui Zheng and Lu Chao were in the same situation. In the state of a wise king and a wise minister, he naturally didn't care about such trivial matters. At that time, Mu Tianbao was not even innate.

Later, he was transferred from the army to the border. During the Guiyi Sect's several attacks, Mu Tianbao made many military exploits and rose through the ranks with military merit. Later, because there were no vacancies in the border army, he was transferred to Jindu to take charge of the central army. Mu Tianbao and Lu Chao There has been no contact in the past ten years, and coupled with the rapid improvement in strength, Cui Zheng is now in urgent need of a fifth-grade general. After Mu Tianbao broke through to the Cave View Realm, he appointed him as Jinzhou General and stayed with him to facilitate his win over. .

The border army generals hold heavy troops, and their own strength is not weak. Most of them are sixth-grade warriors. Ordinary soldiers may not be useful if they pass by. At this time, only the Cave View Realm can quickly quell the war.

And the facts were as Cui Zheng expected. After Mu Tianbao arrived at the border, he directly killed the rebel generals and quickly suppressed the mutinous soldiers without asking the reason.

But as the news spread, border troops everywhere felt a little chilled.

After all, the border army generals are all veterans who have followed the Cui family. Guarding the border for many years has no merit but hard work. Besides, the border army generals cannot be blamed for this mutiny. There is really no food in the army. If the soldiers don't mutiny, won't they starve to death?

And what happened this time, to put it bluntly, was a matter of internal affairs. Why should people like them, who had done nothing, take the blame? Regardless of the reason, just kill a general who has guarded the border for you for many years to resist the enemy. This is too much to say.

If you did it this time, will you do it again in the future?

For a time, people on the roadside will get the news and their hearts will be filled with excitement.

At the same time, the officials responsible for collecting grain also successfully obtained the grain and sent it to various border crossings. However, the process was a bit disgraceful. After all, the situation in Jinzhou suddenly changed in a few months. The people used the grain for themselves and sold it. If you don’t want to sell it, how can you hand it over?

Therefore, the process of requisitioning food is a bit cruel. This is not a big deal, just keep it secret. In this era of limited information, whether it is difficult to keep silence is difficult, it is hard to see how cruel it is.

It's just that the matter was exposed somehow, but he was still alive at the time, and the news spread quickly at an incredible speed.

"Who told you to do this!?" Cui Zheng looked at the officials responsible for collecting grain and shouted angrily. After this incident, the luck of the entire Jinzhou has declined to the limit. Even the 10% in its heyday is not enough. This A year ago, it would have been almost unimaginable.

Several officials in charge of food collection did not dare to speak. It was not that they had done anything wrong. In extraordinary times, extraordinary means could only be used. It was just that this matter should not have been exposed.

"Lord, there is someone behind this!" a counselor sighed.

"No matter what, this matter must be settled as soon as possible!" How could Cui Zheng not know, but now he is being led by the other party, but he has to go. Today's Jinzhou feels like a volcano about to erupt, even if it is a little exciting , may cause this volcano to explode.

He looked at the officials responsible for collecting grain.

Several officials trembled in their hearts, and quickly knelt down and begged: "Lord, there is nothing we can do. Now there are no wealthy merchants in the market to stabilize prices. The price of food keeps changing every day. Although the people have food in their hands, no one dares to use it. If we don't use this It’s impossible to levy food!”

"I know, but I didn't let you be so cruel!" Cui Zheng said coldly.

This is also the reason why he didn't say it clearly at the beginning. If this matter is done well, it will naturally be Cui Zhengzhi's good use. But if it is not done well like now, these people will naturally have to take the blame for this matter, watching everyone pale. With a look on his face, Cui Zheng waved his hand and said: "Drag him down, parade him through the streets tomorrow, read out the charges, and behead him in public!"

"My lord, I'm just sharing my worries with you. My lord can't treat me like this!" Several officials turned pale and hurriedly pounced on them and begged.

"Put it on, drag it on!" Cui Zheng waved his hand impatiently. There were enough things going on now, and he didn't want to talk nonsense to these people: "Don't worry, I will take care of my wife."

This is already a threat. If you still make trouble, it won't be you but your whole family who will die.

"Lord, if this continues, everyone will be in danger." After the counselor was dragged away, he looked at Cui Zheng and said worriedly.

"How come I don't know? It's just that it's very difficult to stabilize people's hearts these days, and I don't care about so many things." Cui Zheng rubbed his temples and sighed, how come he didn't know these truths? Is it useful to just know these?

When the counselor heard this, he could only sigh silently. The truth was not wrong, but it was just a little cold-blooded.

The border affairs temporarily subsided, and the people's mood temporarily eased with the beheading of several officials. However, Jinzhou's luck still showed no signs of recovery, and private prices began to skyrocket, as if in revenge for the suppression by the wealthy merchants' chamber in recent years.

Cui Zheng was quite angry about this and killed more than 20 vendors who took the opportunity to raise prices. As a result, no one did business. Looking at the whole Jindu, although it was still prosperous, under this prosperity, there was an inexplicable It feels a little more desolate.

The cities outside Jindu seemed much more depressed. Even in the county towns, there were not many people to be seen on the streets in broad daylight.

However, the situation was finally stabilized, but can it really be stabilized?

Everyone suddenly discovered a problem. There was no food in the treasury, there was not much food left in the hands of the people, and there was no food in the army. There was a lot of money, but it couldn't be used as food.

What about food? Where did the food go?

In addition to the batch of food that was robbed, there should be food. Jinzhou has been prosperous and the people have been abundant in recent years, and there has never been a shortage of food. Why is there a sudden shortage of food?

What was just given to the border troops was only a month's worth of food. After eating all this, where would you find the remaining food?

Just when everyone was confused, a list flowed out from nowhere. It recorded in detail that some time ago, someone secretly took advantage of the high price to sell the grain in the treasury, which made the treasury suddenly empty.

If there hadn't been a grain robbery, the matter would have been hidden, but when there was a grain robbery, the problem was immediately revealed.

The list recorded in detail the price of this batch of grain and how much money these corrupt officials received. Most importantly, this list appeared in every county in Jinzhou almost overnight, and no one could stop it.

"Check, where did the list come from?" Cui Zheng knew that this was someone behind the scenes taking action again. What he wanted to check was not these people, but the people behind the scenes. Where did the list come from?

As for the content on the list, whether it was true or not, he couldn't check it. There were too many people recorded on it, not only dozens of officials, but also his son Cui Peng. Not many people, but almost involved If all the core officials of Cui Zheng are investigated, there will really be no one around Cui Zheng available.

However, now that the move has been made, how could it be possible to give up easily.

The next day, an official was punched to death by an angry mob on his way home.

Although he is a Confucian scholar, he is also an innate martial artist. How could he be beaten to death by a group of ordinary people?

Cui Zheng knew that this was impossible, and most officials also knew that this was definitely someone's secret instruction? But that's not important. What's important is, how should this matter be handled?

Punish the mob?

The law does not punish the public, especially at this time, the entire Jinzhou is like a powder keg, and a spark may blow up Jinzhou. Punishing these mobs in large quantities at this time will definitely cause panic and dissatisfaction.

But if the punishment is light, isn’t this encouragement in disguise?

"Where is Mr. Fan?" Cui Zheng was discussing matters in the meeting hall again that day. Cui Zheng glanced at the ministers, but found that Fan Hong was not there, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"My lord, Mr. Fan is not feeling well. I ask you to inform the lord of your sins." An official said quickly.

"How's the investigation going on with the list?" Cui Zheng sighed and asked instead.

"The mob that committed the crime in the street has taken care of him, but he hasn't asked many questions," an official in charge of the prison said with a sigh.

When Cui Zheng heard this, he couldn't help but feel angry. Why are recent things so unsatisfactory? Can't even catch a criminal now?

Just as he was about to get angry, he suddenly saw a guard come in and salute Cui Zheng: "My lord, the border is in urgent need of documents!"

Cui Zheng frowned when he heard this and said, "Read it!"

"Yes!" the guard agreed, unfolding the document and said: "General Zhang Zhong suddenly announced to the surrounding counties three days ago..."

"Huh?" Cui Zheng's eyes turned cold.

"Declaring that the lord is unkind, treating soldiers harshly, and unworthy of being a master. From now on, he will no longer be the lord's ministers, and calls on all generals to respond. The king treats his ministers like grass, and his ministers regard him as an enemy bandit..."

"Bang~" Cui Zheng's palm suddenly exerted force, and the table in front of him fell into pieces in an instant.

"Reverse! Reverse!"

The entire meeting hall was filled with Cui Zheng's roar.

"Why is Mr. Cui so angry?" A chuckle sounded, and a slightly frail figure appeared at the door, looking at Cui Zheng with a smile.

"Lu Chao?" Cui Zheng's eyes turned cold when he saw the person coming: "What's the use of you coming back now?"

"Since my lord can't take care of this Jinzhou, I'll take care of it for you if I'm troubled." Lu Chao said with a smile.

"Presumptuous!" Cui Zheng said angrily: "Come here, capture this thief!"

However, for a long time, no one moved. Even the guard next to Lu Chao who had just been reading the document just stood bowed and did not move.

Cui Zheng narrowed his eyes when he saw this and looked at Lu Chao: "So it's you!?"