coobybook Chapter 953 Luo Yueniang of Shu
Chapter 953 Luo Yueniang of Shu
Chengdu, Sichuan.
A cavalry unit entered from outside the city gate, led by a general dressed in bright silver armor.
The general was very tall, probably nearly two meters, a head taller than the elite cavalry around him.
But he wasn't bulky; instead, he looked well-proportioned and slender.
The roadside was crowded with refugees. Although they were ragged and pale, their eyes were full of respect when they looked at the silver-armored general.
The general reined in his warhorse in front of the government office, dismounted nimbly, and casually removed his helmet.
Her long, smooth, jet-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, highlighting a face that possessed both heroic spirit and delicate beauty.
She was actually a majestic female general!
Luo Yueniang frowned, scanned the surrounding refugees, and asked the approaching deputy general, "How many refugees entered the city today?"
The lieutenant respectfully replied, "General, there are 327 people registered today."
Upon hearing this number, Luo Yueniang's brows furrowed even more.
It wasn't because there were too many refugees; quite the opposite, there were too few.
Looking back a few months ago, when the Qing army launched a major offensive against Sichuan, Chengdu, as the capital of Sichuan, naturally became the first choice for refugees, with thousands of people flocking into the city every day.
The city was teeming with people and filled with panic. People from the surrounding villages all wanted to enter the city to escape the disaster, which almost paralyzed Chengdu.
Fortunately, Wei Xun, the prefect of Rongcheng, ordered the people to be appeased and set up soup kitchens in the city, which brought stability to Rongcheng. The people came to him as if they had found a pillar of support.
As the war progressed, the Qing army advanced at an extremely rapid pace, and cities were lost from time to time, with the number of refugees even rising.
At that time, Luo Yueniang was struggling every day, as she had to appease the refugees, procure food and supplies, and deal with the battles on the front lines.
Fortunately, the people of Shu still had their hearts, and the Qing army was not used to the complex terrain of Shu Road.
Although they lost many cities, they were always able to recapture them by surprise, thus stabilizing their position.
However, the battlefield situation began to change starting last month.
The Qing army, which had been launching a fierce offensive, suddenly switched to a defensive posture and was no longer in a hurry to conquer cities and territories.
Instead, they began helping the people in the occupied areas to resume production, digging wells, building bridges, and repairing roads, making it seem as if they were preparing to establish a long-term presence in Sichuan.
Luo Yueniang was initially relieved, thinking that the Qing army's morale had been dampened by their prolonged siege and they were showing signs of fatigue.
This gave her a chance to catch her breath, to quickly reorganize her troops, strengthen the city's defenses, and prepare for a tough, protracted war.
But soon, Luo Yueniang realized something was wrong; the people's attitudes began to change.
When the Qing army suddenly invaded Sichuan, they naturally regarded the Qing army as enemies who had invaded their homeland and united under Luo Yueniang's banner to fight back.
But they soon discovered that although these Qing soldiers were fierce in battle, they were truly ruthless towards ordinary people, even better than some of the undisciplined Shu soldiers.
Even when civilians were captured by the Qing army while helping the Shu army transport grain, the Qing army did not mistreat them. Instead, they treated them well and even gave them travel expenses to go home.
Human hearts are made of flesh and blood. When the people discovered that the so-called invaders were not as monstrous as they had imagined, their attitude began to soften.
After all, the Qing army is not a foreign race, so there is no need to perish together with them. Moreover, His Majesty seems to be a benevolent ruler now.
Today, the people in the areas occupied by the Qing army have gradually accepted the rule and rarely organize resistance.
On the other hand, the situation in Chengdu is getting worse and worse, because it has taken in too many refugees and its food reserves are running low.
With this in mind, Luo Yueniang walked into the prefect's mansion with a heavy heart.
When the servants and servants in the mansion saw her, they all bowed respectfully, showing great respect for this female general.
Luo Yueniang's prestige did not come from her husband or family background, but from her real military achievements.
Before the Qing army entered Sichuan, she had led the Sichuan army in many battles against the southern barbarians and Qiang peoples, winning every single one.
To subdue tens of thousands of Shu soldiers while being a woman is an extremely difficult feat.
Luo Yueniang went straight to the backyard, where a strong, bitter smell of medicine wafted towards her.
Seeing a maid carrying a bowl of medicine approaching, she reached out to stop her: "Is this for the master?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Upon hearing this, Luo Yueniang took the medicine bowl and said, "I'll do it."
Upon entering the inner room, one sees a handsome middle-aged scholar reclining on the bed.
The scholar, by the light filtering through the window, was reading a black silk scroll, his face unusually pale.
This man was Wei Xun, the prefect of Rongcheng and also Luo Yueniang's husband.
The Wei family was a prominent local family in Chengdu. Wei Xun himself was an upright official and was deeply loved by the people of Sichuan.
The husband and wife, one a scholar and the other a warrior, were the two pillars supporting the situation in Sichuan.
Unfortunately, Wei Xun had always been physically weak, and now, burdened by the hardships of war and excessive worry, he had become bedridden.
"Husband, it's time to take your medicine," Luo Yueniang said softly.
Upon hearing the voice, Wei Xun raised his head, a gentle smile appearing on his sickly face: "Yueniang, you're back."
Luo Yueniang gently placed the medicine bowl on the small table beside the bed, her gaze falling on the black scroll, her eyebrows slightly raised: "What is this?"
Wei Xun didn't hide anything and handed over the scroll: "It's an imperial edict sent by the young emperor in the north."
Luo Yueniang took it, but didn't unfold it; her tone instantly turned cold: "What did he say?"
"It's nothing more than the same old rhetoric about persuading us to surrender." Wei Xun coughed twice. "He promised that if we surrender, he would not harm the people of Shu in the slightest, and would treat you and my wife with courtesy."
Luo Yueniang remained silent, not immediately expressing her opinion, but instead asked, "What does my husband think?"
Wei Xun sighed softly and looked out the window: "Observing the actions of the Qing Army these days, they have indeed maintained strict military discipline and have not committed any acts of tyranny."
"Their change of strategy to win over the hearts and minds of the people may not be a pretense, but rather the work of this new emperor."
"Can the Emperor's words be trusted?" Luo Yueniang suddenly interrupted him. "Husband, have you forgotten that Father died because of Emperor Qing's despicable schemes? Emperor Qing and the young emperor are both mortal enemies of our Wei family!"
The death of Wei's father was the deepest thorn in the hearts of the couple.
When Emperor Qing attacked Shu, Wei Xun's father served as the Prefect of Rongcheng and was also the commander of the Shu army.
Wei's father was a brave warrior and had a deep understanding of the terrain of Shu, which caused great trouble for Emperor Qing.
Emperor Qing saw that he could not subdue him and that the logistical pressure was increasing. It seemed that his army was about to be dragged to its death in Shu.
So he pretended to negotiate peace and invited Wei's father to meet him outside the city, but secretly he had a skilled archer lying in ambush and shot Wei's father dead with an arrow.
With their commander dead, the morale of the Shu army collapsed instantly, and Chengdu fell.
Emperor Qing was a ruthless and ambitious man who, though unscrupulous in his actions, was not a villain.
After occupying Rongcheng, instead of exterminating the Wei family, he protected their clansmen and appointed Wei Xun's second uncle as the governor of Rongcheng.
My second uncle had no children, and Wei Xun was able to succeed him after his death.