Chapter 300

The next day, in the early morning, Tang Yin woke up at dawn. He walked to the door of the woodshed and stood silently, listening to no movement outside. Then he walked out of the woodshed and climbed out along the courtyard wall.

Although it was early in the morning, there were many pedestrians on the street, at least much more than during the day. It can be seen that the common people were really frightened by Geng Qiang's indiscriminate arrest of young men. That is to say, they only dared to go out of their houses in the early morning when the officers and soldiers were sleeping, or to buy some food or daily necessities.

Tang Yin strolled to a narrow alley, which was in a remote corner but very lively. The streets were lined with stalls, offering everything from food, clothing and supplies. Tang Yin felt his stomach and felt a little hungry. He walked to a stall selling steamed buns, took out a handful of scattered coins from his pocket, bought five steamed buns, and ate them while standing there.

The steamed buns were vegetable steamed buns, with not even a diced meat inside. They were dry and astringent. Fortunately, Tang Yin was not picky about what he ate, as long as he could fill his stomach. While he was eating, he looked at the people passing by on the street. People rarely talked to each other. They all came and went in a hurry, as if they were being chased by ghosts. They bought something and left immediately after paying.

But even so, there are still many people in this morning market. After looking at it, Tang Yin secretly smiled in his heart. It was obvious to what extent the people of Xibai City had been oppressed by Geng Qiang, and one can imagine people's disgust towards him. While Tang Yin was thinking about it, suddenly, there was a huge chaos in the south of the morning market, and a large number of people were seen running from south to north, shouting from time to time: "The officers and soldiers are coming! The officers and soldiers are coming!"

As soon as they heard the words "the officers and soldiers are coming", the whole morning market went into chaos. Even the vendors who set up stalls were so frightened that their faces changed. They didn't even want the things they were selling. They grabbed whatever they could. What, just run away. The long alleys and the huge morning market were all deserted in an instant with the arrival of the government troops.

Tang Yin squinted his eyes and was still standing on the roadside eating buns. Some kind-hearted people passed by and hurriedly shouted: "Stop eating, run away. If you don't run away, the army will arrest you!"

Hearing this, Tang Yin's eyes curled up, he put down the bun from his mouth, exposed two rows of white teeth, and smiled. People just thought he was a fool and had no time to care about him. They could only shake their heads, sigh, and continue running away.

Soon, there was no one on the street, but there were chaotic footsteps at the entrance of the south alley, and shouts were heard from time to time: "Don't run! If you run again, we will shoot arrows!"

No need to look, the people shouting these words must be officers and soldiers.

Tang Yin stood still and continued to eat the unfinished buns in his hands. However, thick black mist suddenly rose up around his body. The black mist gathered behind him and refused to disperse. Time was running out. The gaseous state condensed into a solid state, and a person exactly like Tang Yin was condensed into life. That's the shadow clone.

The shadow clone didn't even look at the officers and soldiers running in the distance. He took two steps back, then stood up and touched the wall beside the street with his toes. His body was like an arrow and rushed directly to the roof of the roadside. Then he jumped. Then he disappeared into the house without a trace.

It ran away, but Tang Yin's true body was still in the alley. He had no intention of running away, waiting for the officers and soldiers to capture him and take him to the army.

Not long after, hundreds of officers and soldiers rushed to him. Suddenly they saw a young man eating steamed buns on the roadside. The officers and soldiers were also startled, wondering if there was something wrong with the young man in front of him.

"Hey, boy!" An officer quickly walked up to Tang Yin, flicked his arm, and knocked half of the bun out of his hand. Then he looked at him up and down and asked, "What's your name?"

"Early Tang Dynasty!" Tang Yin made up a random name.

"Oh! OK, OK, OK!" The officer shouted "Hello" three times in a row. It was not because he thought the name Tang Chu was good, but because this young man could still answer his own name. Even if he was not very bright, he was still stupid. Not going anywhere. He put his hand on Tang Yin's shoulder and said with a smile: "Boy, don't eat. The military master will take you to a place where you can eat for free!"

"Ah?" Tang Yin deliberately pretended to be stupid, with a puzzled face.

"Don't be wordy, let's go!" As he spoke, the officer pulled Tang Yin's clothes and strode out of the alley.

Tang Yin was not the only one caught by the officers and soldiers, there were more than fifty unlucky people, including middle-aged men in their forties, some fat young men with shiny faces, and even more skinny young men. poor. They were gathered in an open space by the officers and soldiers. The captain who led the team came out from among the soldiers and counted the number of people like cattle.

At this time, the captured young man squeezed out from the crowd, walked up to the captain, bowed and bowed, and whispered a few words into his ear. Then he took out a wallet from his pocket. Give it to the captain. The latter took it as if no one was watching, weighed it in his hands, and felt that it was very heavy. Then he nodded with satisfaction and waved impatiently at the young man.

Upon seeing this, the young master hurriedly thanked him, and without daring to delay for a moment, he turned around and ran away quickly.

As the saying goes, money can make all the difference. No matter what time or dynasty you are in, money has the power to reach heaven.

The captain stuffed the silver bag into his armor, then looked around at the people who were arrested, and said in a strong voice: "Today the military master has opened mercy. No matter who you are, as long as they can hand over fifty taels of silver, you will be released immediately." Let’s go, if you don’t have money, hey, then go to war with the military master!”

"Master, Master, I don't have that much money!" After listening to the captain's words, more than a dozen people turned out all the money they had and handed it to the captain, wailing and begging.

The captain was not polite. He took the money as soon as he saw it. He accepted the silver from more than a dozen people, but he had no intention of letting them go. He looked down at the scattered silver and copper coins in his hand, shrugged and sneered, saying: "What can this money do? It's not enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of the military master!" As he spoke, he looked at more than a dozen people and said: "You are lucky today. The military master is happy. Since you have paid the money, the military master can't help but take care of you. I will arrange for you to guard the city wall. Those..." As he said, he looked around at the people who had no money to pay, including Tang Yin, and continued: "Those who didn't pay, you don't take care of the military master, and the military master can't take care of you. You all have to guard the city gate!"

You must know that in a siege, the city gate is always the focus of the enemy's attack, and guarding the city gate is also the most dangerous position, and there is a possibility of death at any time. The captain was not polite to these people who didn't pay the money, and directly arranged them to guard the city gate. Of course, among the crowd, only Tang Yin was secretly happy. Things went much more smoothly than he expected.

The soldiers took them to the North Gate, which was attacked most fiercely by the Tianyuan Army. On the way, Tang Yin looked at the people around him. These people were in rags, with patches on their clothes and holes in their shoes. The young man on his left was only in his early twenties, and he sighed all the way to the north of the city.

Tang Yin asked, "Brother, who are these soldiers?"

The young man looked at Tang Yin strangely and asked, "You don't even know why you were arrested? They are all the personal soldiers of the county chief!"

"Since they are the personal soldiers of the county chief, why dare they accept bribes openly?"

The young man smiled bitterly and shook his head. If Xibai City had not been besieged by the Tianyuan Army for several days, he would really doubt whether Tang Yin had just arrived in the city. He whispered, "The upper beam is not straight, and the lower beam is crooked! Since the county chief came to Lehu County, we have not had a good day!"

This resonated with the people around him immediately. People sighed and said, "Instead of suffering like this, it's better to let the Tianyuan Army enter the city!"

"That won't do! I heard that the Tianyuan Army will massacre the city as soon as it captures the city!"

"There's no difference between dying at the hands of the Tianyuan Army and dying at the hands of the county chief..."

The people talked one after another, venting their frustration and dissatisfaction. It was not difficult to hear that although the people of Xibai City hated Geng Qiang, they were also full of fear of the Tianyuan Army. Tang Yin didn't know where they heard that the Tianyuan Army would massacre the city. He was about to ask, but then he thought about it and understood. This must be Geng Qiang's propaganda to make the people afraid of the Tianyuan Army so that they could help him defend Xibai City.

He took a deep breath and said firmly: "The Tianyuan Army will not massacre the city, at least not the people of Feng Country!"

People looked at him and asked: "How do you know?"

Tang Yin smiled and said: "Because I have seen the Tianyuan Army before! We are Feng people, and the Tianyuan Army is also Feng people. How can Feng people kill Feng people indiscriminately?"

"But..."

People wanted to talk, but at this time, several soldiers came over quickly and shouted: "What are you talking about? Don't think about running away. If you dare to run away, I will break your legs!"

Everyone shrank their necks in fear and dared not say another word. They lowered their heads and walked silently.

North City.

Tang Yin and more than 30 people were led directly to the north gate by the soldiers. He looked up and saw that the city wall was full of boulders and rolling logs, and bundles of arrows were piled together like small hills. The defense equipment was amazing.

Looking straight ahead, there are ten catapults in front of the city gate, which can launch boulders, kerosene and other objects from the city, posing a great threat to the soldiers attacking the city outside. Looking forward, there is a heavy city gate. Although the city gate is not blocked, it is also supported by dozens of thick wooden stakes. It is basically impossible to break the city gate from the outside.

This is the city defense of the north gate of Xibai City. With a wall as high as three and a half feet as a barrier, with such sufficient city defense facilities, it is indeed fearless, easy to defend and difficult to attack. No wonder our army has attacked for four days but has gained nothing.

Tang Yin slowly clenched his fists while watching. At this time, the captain of the army ran to a general Peng wearing a general's armor, bowed to him and smiled, and said: "General Li, I brought you more than 30 people this time!"