abnabooks Chapter 1620 Riot!
Chapter 1620 Riot!
Chapter 1620 Riot!
King Yao was so angry that he smashed the cup. "How can this be! I opened the granaries to release grain, and I provided relief to the refugees, and this is how they repay me? Where is Bai Tan? Call Bai Tan into the palace!"
He even wanted to send all the food in the military warehouse to Tianshui City. That was the soldiers' food supply and could never be moved lightly.
King Yao also issued an order to set up disaster relief sheds in the south and west of Tianshui City to provide porridge to refugees who could not get food. No matter how thin the porridge was, providing food at this critical moment would be like digging money from the national treasury to subsidize civilians and refugees!
But these refugees are ungrateful and they eat and then destroy the pot!
The monarch was furious, and Yao Ting immediately took action with the efficiency he had gained from the Tianshui Eastward Expansion Project. Bai Tan quickly dispatched city patrols and part of the imperial guards to suppress the rebellion in person!
That night, a thousand patrol officers and police rushed into the northern city area and conducted a carpet search, aiming to capture all the lurking and fleeing refugees.
Another two thousand soldiers broke into the houses where the riots broke out and arrested anyone they saw.
They held swords and chains in their hands, and anyone who did not kneel down on the ground immediately would be beaten up, regardless of gender, age or status.
Suddenly, the room was in chaos, with sounds of fighting and screaming deafening.
Under normal circumstances, the refugees might have swallowed their anger, after all, everyone in Tianshui City, from officials to civilians, never treated them as human beings; but not tonight. Tonight they all knew that if they were caught and thrown into jail, they and their families would have no way out!
Those who were strong fought back, while the timid ones fled and rushed to other houses for refuge.
But Bai Tan had made arrangements in advance, and those who jumped out were unable to run far and were caught in one fell swoop.
The riot was suppressed before dawn, and the authorities arrested hundreds of people.
The house was in tatters and blood was everywhere.
The smell of blood spread far away, and the surrounding residents covered their noses and stayed indoors.
The authorities were eager to bring the criminals to trial, and the refugees who participated in the riot said that they had no food to eat and were starving, so they had the idea of robbing the rich. How much surplus food could ordinary civilians in Tianshui City have at home? Robbing them was like squeezing oil from the cracks of stones, which was laborious and useless. At this time, the two refugee leaders told them that if they wanted to rob, they had to rob the rich and powerful, because there were a lot of rice, flour, gold and silver in these places, and they would be full if they robbed them!
The refugees were so hungry that they were almost dead. When they heard this, they would not hesitate. They picked up sticks, branches, stones, and even the pitchforks from the stables and shovels from the toilets, and followed their leader to charge.
Bai Tan's response in this action was timely, the violence was quickly curbed and the suppression was effective, which won the praise of King Yao.
In fact, there have been disturbances by refugees in Tianshui City every few years, and in the past five years, Bai Tan has handled them very effectively.
King Yao was still relatively confident in his skills.
The only drawback is that the two refugee leaders who organized the riot died in the chaos. Whether they were motivated by their own desire or were instructed by others, there is no answer now.
Before the people of Tianshui City could relax, and even before Bai Tan left the palace, a new round of riots began!
If there are one or two riots, they will spread everywhere.
With this experience, other refugees saw that it was possible to grab food and fill their stomachs as long as they stuck together.
Although he will be pursued by the authorities afterwards, but——
To starve to death immediately or to eat a few full meals before dying, the refugees still prefer the latter.
Besides, weren't there many refugees who managed to escape with food? It was said everywhere that someone had robbed and eaten, and not only was he full, but he also had a lot of gold, silver and jewelry in his pocket!
Looking at the porridge distributed in the official disaster relief tent, it was as thin as water, with only two porridge grains floating on the top. No matter how much you drank, you could only fill yourself up with water.
The refugees realized:
If you don't steal or rob, you will probably starve to death in the end; if you rob and eat, you can at least get a few meals and maybe even escape.
The more people who participate in the riots, the lower the chance of being caught. How can you be so unlucky, right?
In just three days, seventeen refugee riots of varying sizes broke out in Tianshui City!
A large number of civilians were harmed. After all, the refugees at that time were already angry and would rob anyone they disliked. Ask them why they robbed? Nonsense, those who didn't rob would starve to death!
You know, there are hundreds of thousands of refugees in Tianshui City!
What will happen if this group becomes restless?
The whole Tianshui City was in a panic. The officials spent more effort and money to strengthen the protection of their houses. Once the formation was opened, the refugees could not rush in, and had to turn to cause trouble for the shops and ordinary residents.
In sharp contrast to the refugees' "high enthusiasm", the patrol guards and officials became less and less proactive, and sometimes they were too lazy to take action even when they received news of a refugee riot.
On the one hand, it is because the riots are too frequent. The ones in the east have not been dealt with yet, and a lot of new ones have popped up in the west and south. How can we deal with more than a dozen cases per person?
On the other hand, the patrol guards and officials also had limited food rations.
The more they move, the more they consume. They get hungry too quickly. The higher-ups never thought of giving them extra meals.
In the end they were too lazy to move, so when their superior urged them, they just took a few steps just to show their respect.
With just these few dollars and two bowls of rice a day, who would work so hard for you?
He Lingchuan lived in the suburbs, some distance away from the center of Tianshui City, yet Yongquan Villa was invaded four or five times.
At this time, Zhao Song and nearly a thousand other palace guards had their place to use their skills.
Yongquan Villa is too big, and Yangshan is seriously short of manpower. If more than a hundred refugees climb over the wall to steal, He Lingchuan can only turn a blind eye. After all, the formation cannot be opened all the time, otherwise the loss will be greater than theft.
But Zhao Song and other palace guards were there to protect the house, and all the scoundrels were driven away.
This guard force is much larger than that of ordinary wealthy and powerful families.
With the lesson learned from the master of Honglu, Zhao Song was also very diligent. He took the initiative to arrange manpower, adjust the rotation of sentries, and beat the refugees who sneaked in half to death before throwing them out.
He contacted his colleagues in the palace and heard that King Yao had ordered the court to be frugal and set an example, so the food inside the palace gates had also begun to be limited in time. The big and strong palace guards were only given two steamed buns and two or three side dishes for each meal, and they could only eat meat once a day.
The small pieces of meat are playing hide-and-seek with you in the pickles. It takes a lot of effort to find them out. Then you will realize that the chef’s knife skills are amazing. Each piece is not much thicker than a piece of paper.
As for wine... now wine has become hard currency in the palace. If you want to get something done, just bring a bottle of wine and nothing will be impossible!
In comparison, Yongquan Villa was like a paradise. The thousand-plus guards had plenty of rice, noodles, vegetables and meat to eat, and every day the villa would take some fruit from the cellar for everyone. The frozen grapes and persimmons that had been preserved from autumn were still very sweet.
Oh, yes, there is also wine to drink! There is a wine cellar in the villa.