Chapter 14 Mobile Warehouse

  It was a night of chaos, a night of bloodshed.

  The city was breached, and the eight thousand Western Liang iron cavalry were like a pack of wolves charging into the village, revealing their sharp fangs. Many wealthy families suffered looting, and the helpless cries and wails continued until dawn.

  In this chaotic era, no one will sympathize with the weak.

  The army privately robbing civilians of their property is originally a trivial matter. When the flames of war rise, the first to suffer are still ordinary civilians, only to be deliberately forgotten by those in power and never recorded in history books.

  As for brutality and cruelty, the Western Liang army was even more so.

  Wancheng is Yuan Shu's territory, now it has been breached, why should the Western Liang army not kill until the blood flows like a river?

  Luo Zheng didn't show any mercy either, and with his personal soldiers, they searched and gathered several large boxes of gold, silver, and treasures, all of which were moved to the vegetable garden.

  There are so many wealthy and powerful families in Wan City, it would be a waste not to rob them. Moreover, robbing these rich but heartless landlords and aristocrats will not bring any guilt, as none of these noble families are good people.

  Of course, Luo Zheng would never go and rob the common people, on the contrary, he strictly restrained his subordinates and did not allow them to harm the common people.

  That night, the entire city of Wan was wailing under the iron hooves of the Western Xia cavalry.

  When dawn broke, the fires that had started everywhere were still raging and had not yet been extinguished.

  Corpses and pools of blood can be seen everywhere on the streets, a true reflection of the desolation and helplessness of a chaotic world.

  All Luo Zheng can do is to struggle in this era's furnace, try his best to preserve his own life, and then grasp enough power to do what he wants to do, so as not to let this tragedy continue.

  The eight thousand Western Liang troops ran amok for a night and after daybreak they all lay on the warm beds in the grand mansions dreaming of Zhou Gong.

  Luo Zhen went to see Hu Zhu and proposed that they leave Wan City as soon as possible, but was driven out by Hu Zhu, ordering him to lead troops to patrol the city.

  It's not easy to break through the siege of Wan City, how can we be satisfied without finding a few women to have some fun?

  Hu Zhe spent the whole night with seven women, and was already exhausted with sore legs and soft feet, how could he still have the energy and mood to hurry on his journey?

  Luo Zheng was secretly cursing Hu Zhu's ancestors for eighteen generations while ordering the small guards in charge of patrolling the city: "Pass on the order, no one in the city is allowed to walk around freely, if anyone disobeys, kill them on the spot. At the same time, keep an eye on those wealthy and powerful families, if there are more than fifty people gathering, report immediately and disperse the crowd. If they refuse to comply, kill without pardon."

  "Very good."

  A few small schools strengthened their spirits and urged their horses to leave.

  Luo Zheng personally went around in the city and found a large mansion, where he took a tight rest to recover his energy.

  The master of the mansion and his whole family had long been dragged out and brutally killed by the Western Liang army, and the women were being ravished by the soldiers.

  Chen Tong and a dozen or so personal guards stood guard outside the gate, divided into two shifts to take turns resting.

  It was almost noon when Luo Zheng woke up from his nap, yawned and sat up.

  In a flash of inspiration, about three seconds later, a doorway appeared in front of him.

  Luo Zheng stood up and stepped forward, and the gate disappeared immediately.

  The vegetable garden is lush and green, with several large chests placed near the entrance, emitting a brilliant light from within.

  However, in just a few short hours, the vegetable garden had expanded by a full tenfold, and the dense fog around it seemed to have retreated in a large circle, revealing a vast expanse of black soil, with the one-acre vegetable garden exposed right in the middle.

  "Huh, how did this happen?"

  Luo Zhengxian was taken aback at first, then he became overjoyed, "Could it be that this treasure will level up again?"

  I went to a new open area, grabbed a handful of black soil and smelled it, and I caught a whiff of the earthy fragrance.

  There is no doubt that this newly added land and vegetable garden soil are of the same geology, which is a fertile soil that grows everything luxuriantly.

  "With such a large piece of land, I alone can't manage it."

  Luo Zheng patted his forehead and ate a few yellow cucumbers before coming out of the vegetable garden.

  When he arrived at the gate, Chen Tong was leading six personal soldiers sitting on the ground in the courtyard, and they were having a great time eating dog meat stew.

  "Uh, General is awake."

  Seeing Luo Zheng, Chen Tong hurriedly jumped up.

  Several bodyguards hastily turned around and also scrambled to their feet, standing on one side.

  Luo Zheng stretched his limbs, sniffed his nose and said, "Where's the dog meat? Give me a piece too."

  Chen Tong hastily scooped out a piece of dog meat from the large pot and handed it over, chuckling: "General, rest assured, my brothers dare not disobey your orders to loot the common people. This big yellow dog was obtained by my brothers from a wealthy household."

  "As long as they don't snatch from ordinary people, it's fine."

  Luo Zheng casually took over the dog meat and sat down beside the fire heap, taking big bites of it.

  Chen Tong and several bodyguards sat around him, eating in a much more refined manner than before.

  Luo Zheng chewed on dog meat while asking: "Is there any news in the city?"

  Chen Tong replied: "Nothing's happening, those wealthy families have been killed off for the most part and can't cause any more trouble. However, Zhao Junhou came by earlier and said that the South Yang Arsenal is empty, only finding 3,000 dan of military rations in the warehouse."

  Luo Zhen asked: "Isn't Nanyang a place where iron is produced? How can the armory be empty?"

  Chen Tong scratched his head and said: "This, I'm not very clear about."

  Luo Zhen thought again, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the first year of Zhongping, the chaos had already appeared, the imperial court's authority was no longer there, and its restraint on the vassals had greatly weakened, and the various local lords were secretly recruiting soldiers and buying horses.

  Yuan Shu occupied Nanyang and recruited tens of thousands of strong men to join the army; it would be strange if there were no supplies in the treasury.

  What famous people are there in Nanyang?

  Luo Zheng asked again.

  Chen Tong scratched his head and said: "I've already inquired about it, I heard that Nanyang has a Zhang Heng, also a Fan Li, and another named Deng Shou who is also a great talent. As for whether there are any other famous people, I don't know."

  Zhang Heng

  Luo Zhen was taken aback, Zhang Heng, of course, knew that he was a great astronomer in Chinese history.

  As for Fan Li and Deng Shou, I don't have any impression of them at all.

  "Think carefully, is there anything else?"

  Lu Zheng furrowed his brow and asked, "I remember that when I watched 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' before, there were many famous scholars from Nanyang, how could there be none?"

  Chen Tong scratched his ears and cheeks for half a day, humming and hawing: "That's all, the little man just heard these three."

  Luo Zheng nodded and immediately thought of Nanyang's rich production of fine iron, known as the "Iron Capital", with refined iron smelting techniques renowned in the Central Plains, and those blacksmiths who forged iron were also talented individuals.

  In this era, people's eyes are only on strategists and generals, completely unaware of the importance of craftsmen.

  However, every one of the 365 lines is a champion.

  Luo Zheng as a traverser, how could he not know this principle?

  The handicraft industry in Western Liang was far behind that of the Central Plains, and there were naturally very few skilled craftsmen.

  If we recruit a batch of craftsmen from Nanyang and bring them back, they will definitely be useful in the future.

  Luo Zheng thought of this and immediately ordered: "Pass on my military order, quickly summon the craftsmen, regardless of whether they are blacksmiths or carpenters, as long as they have a special skill, find them for me, go quickly."

  "Ah, yes sir."

  Chen Tong was stunned for a moment, then hastily took orders and went to handle it.

  After lunch, it's time for shift change.

  Hu Mao yawned and came over to exchange defenses with Luo Zheng, leading two thousand cavalrymen to patrol the city walls.

  Luo Zheng brought Chen Tong and more than a dozen of his personal soldiers to the granary in the north of the city.

  From a distance, I saw a group of soldiers pouring oil and preparing to set fire to the grain in the warehouse.

  "Stop it."

  Luo Zheng let out a loud whoop and hastily urged his horse to gallop over.

  See General Luo.

  A group of Western Liang soldiers threw away the torches in their hands and saluted in a disorderly manner.

  Luo Zheng's voice boomed: "Who allowed you to burn down the granary?"

  A group of Western Liang soldiers looked at me with their eyes, and after staring for half a day, one of the team leaders finally spoke up: "General, I think it's better to burn all this grain than to leave it for that traitor Yuan Shu."

  Luo Zheng nodded and waved his hand, "Alright, you can withdraw."

  "Got it."

  Dozens of soldiers did not dare to disobey and hastily retreated.

  Luo Zheng dismounted and strode in with large steps.

  When I came to a deserted corner, I opened the door of the vegetable garden.

  Quickly, move the grain inside.

  Luo Zheng swept a glance at the more than ten personal soldiers who were stunned and motionless, and loudly ordered.

  More than ten of his personal guards had dull eyes and showed no reaction, including Chen Tong.

  "Hurry up, what are you spacing out for?"

  Luo Zheng was furious and kicked Chen Tong with all his might.

  Chen Tong was kicked until he fell to the ground, only then did he come back to his senses. Sitting on the ground, he trembled and said: "General, th-th-this..."

  It took half a day and still didn't come up with a reason, obviously being scared out of his wits.

  Luo Zheng didn't expect a pat on the head, and only then did he realize that some things were miscalculated.

  The secret of the vegetable garden had never been shown to anyone before, and no second person knew about it, which is why Chen Tong would have this reaction.

  However, this era was ignorant and backward, unlike the 21st century where ideas and concepts change daily. People in this era often attributed things they couldn't understand to ghosts and monsters, and were filled with reverence for them.

  When encountering something incomprehensible, even the bravest person will be scared half to death.

  Chen Tong, as a veteran, had never been afraid of death. But when it came to the legendary ghosts and monsters, no one was fearless.

  Lu Zheng had no choice but to take matters into his own hands and transport the grain himself. After going back and forth several times, Chen Tong and over a dozen of his personal guards finally regained some focus in their eyes. As they looked at Lu Zheng again, their gazes had completely changed.

  Those eyes seemed as if an ignorant mortal was gazing up at a deity, filled with deep reverence.

  "Come and move the grain quickly! Damn it, dare you disobey military orders?"

  Lu Zheng couldn't bear it anymore and glared with his eyes wide open, letting out a loud roar.

  Chen Tong and over a dozen of his personal guards were startled, and they hastily ran over to lend a hand.

  "My goodness, it's a ghost!"

  One of the bodyguards carried a sack of millet into the vegetable garden and immediately let out a loud cry, falling to the ground.

  The soldiers who came in later, such as Chen Tong, were also scared pale and trembling all over, unable to stand still.

  Until Luo Zheng roared a few more times, they slowly got up one by one, desperately suppressing the fear in their hearts, under Luo Zheng's murderous gaze, they moved bag after bag of grain into the vegetable garden and piled it on the empty ground.