PFC Chapter 628 My lord, who exactly are you?
Chapter 628 My lord, who exactly are you?
"Within the border region?"
Are you asking about the soldiers guarding the border by the Marquis of Pingxi, or the common people?
"If you are asking about troops, then even if I knew, I couldn't say."
"As for the common people, at the height of the prosperity of this region, the permanent population probably exceeded 100,000. If we add the merchants who stopped over for a rest, the number would at least double."
"But now, it's probably fair to say that less than one in ten survives."
The waiter thought for a moment and said.
The border garrison is a secret, and even if he happens to get the answer, he cannot possibly leak it.
Even when life had become extremely difficult, he never forgot that he was a person from the Central Plains!
"If only one in ten survives, then there are probably only about ten thousand people left. That's a rather small number."
Liu Bang fell into deep thought for a moment.
If there are only so few people left in the border area besides Wu Sangui's garrison, then it is unlikely that he can solve the problem here with such a small force.
"There's no other way. After such a long period of turmoil, the only ones who ultimately chose to come back are us poor souls who have nowhere else to go and can only come back to find a way to survive."
The quantity is indeed small, and there's nothing we can do about it.
In the midst of such war and chaos, people with no other way to survive naturally seek other ways to live.
At this moment, the old shopkeeper noticed their conversation and hurried over.
"Sir, please don't ask so many questions. It's not easy for my grandfather and grandson to stay here like this."
"If we say too much and incur the displeasure of the officials above, then I'm afraid both my grandfather and I will lose our heads."
"After all, this world is no longer the world of the Ming Dynasty's Zhu family emperors, including the officials here."
“I know you may be someone important, but some things are better left unsaid, even if you ask us a hundred times, than to see them for yourself even once.”
"We can't see the whole picture, and we dare not get involved in the affairs of important people like you. Please, sir, give us, grandfather and grandson, a way to survive."
Ordinary people wouldn't ask how many people live inside this pass.
Even ordinary officials wouldn't bother with such trivial matters.
After all, how could those high-ranking officials care about the lives of people like them from the bottom of society?
He didn't know Liu Bang's true identity or what his purpose was in coming to the border.
All he knew was that if he and his grandson got involved, they would surely die without a burial place!
"Oh? Old man, judging from your words, you must know something about the inside story?"
"That's not right either. If you really knew the inside story, you wouldn't be so cowardly. Either way, you'd die. You should rather die on the road of resistance than die in the Tartars' pot."
Liu Bang chuckled and revealed a little information.
The old shopkeeper: "..."
"My lord, what are you saying?"
"Don't you know that this city is full of Pingxi Bo's men? If you anger him, neither you nor your children will survive!"
The fact that he was able to run a restaurant for so long at least means that he is a smart man.
A smart person would naturally understand the meaning behind Liu Bang's words.
This means that either the Qing army was able to break through the border, or Pingxibo had already surrendered to the Tartars outside the pass!
Either way, it's a dead end for these people struggling to survive within the border!
“I’m telling the truth, so what right does he have to be furious?”
"To be honest, sir, the reason I came to the city today is to prevent this from happening."
"Whether it's for the sake of the tens of thousands of people within the pass, or for the hundreds of millions of people behind me, I don't want to see the border fall into the hands of the Tartars, nor do I want to see a traitor like the Earl of Pingxi enjoying wealth and honor!"
The old shopkeeper: "..."
what are you saying?
Is this something I can hear?!
"The old man must be confused from sleep. How could he hear such nonsense and have such a bizarre dream? He'd better wake up quickly."
After saying that, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard twice.
He didn't wake up, which only intensified my despair.
"My lord, why involve us mortals when you immortals are sparring?"
“We can’t help you in your confrontation; on the contrary, we might be crushed to pieces if we’re not careful.”
"This old man doesn't want to die. He still wants to see his grandson get married and have children. Please, sir, give this old man a way out. Please, sir."
As he spoke, the old shopkeeper knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly.
Faced with this situation, Liu Bang was momentarily at a loss.
He can easily handle any big situation and any danger.
Faced with this situation, and listening to the old man's repeated pleas, he was at a loss.
It was as if he could see the villagers who had surrounded him after the Battle of Pengcheng, asking him where his soldiers were.
“I didn’t want you to die, or rather, if there’s anyone in this world who wants you to live, it’s probably only me.”
"If you stay inside the pass and do nothing, whether the Tartars break through the pass or Wu Sangui surrenders to the Qing, you will all die. It's just a matter of dying sooner or later."
"The Ming Dynasty was already doomed, and Wu Sangui was unwilling to surrender to Li Zicheng. He could only find a more suitable master to preserve his power, and the only one he could choose was the Manchu Tartars."
"Old man, if you've been operating in the city all along, you should have sensed something was wrong, right?"
After taking a deep breath, Liu Bang tried his best to keep his tone steady.
He needs a place to stay.
Based on his extensive experience in judging people, he believed that the two people in front of him were trustworthy.
"If you think you can still survive when the Manchus break through the pass, then I will say nothing more."
“But if you want to stop this from happening, stop the Tartars from breaking through the pass, and save yourselves and the tens of millions of people behind you, then I hope you can give me a chance.”
The old shopkeeper: "..."
He wishes he were a fool right now.
If they hadn't understood Liu Bang's words, if they hadn't seen the purpose of his visit, perhaps they wouldn't have had to worry about what followed, nor would they have had to make such a decision.
Every time he speaks, he speaks of the tens of millions of people behind him.
Based on the old man's many years of experience, he knows that people like this always do things that put their lives on the line.
Following him is tantamount to throwing your head out the window; whether you can get it back, and when you can get it back, are all unknowns.
"My lord, who exactly are you? Are you part of the Great Shun Army, or the imperial court?"
"Forgive my poor eyesight, but I cannot tell which side you belong to for the time being."
After a moment of silence, the old shopkeeper asked.
He had met people from the imperial court and also Li Zicheng's Shun army.
But the generals and soldiers of the court were already rotten to the core. Not killing innocent people to claim credit was already the greatest mercy. How could they be expected to care about the people?
As for Li Zicheng's Shun army, he would only try to recruit them; if they were unwilling to submit, he would simply abandon them.
Are there still such important figures in the world today who speak of the millions of ordinary people all the time?