After half a month of preparations, He Qiuan led ten thousand soldiers and drove off. Yan Jing and Taiyuan were separated by the long Taihang Mountain range. In ancient times, it was a natural barrier with many passes, making it difficult to break through if guarded.
However, due to the development of various regions, many important highways appeared in the Taihang Mountains, which could traverse the entire mountain range. It was said that many mountain bandits guarded these passes in the mountains, and one had to pay a toll to cross these intersections.
But there are always special circumstances. Now He Qiuan was preparing to take revenge. He planned to bring ten thousand soldiers, all fully armed with advanced equipment. There were no decent mountain bandits in the Taihang Mountains that could deal with ten thousand soldiers. Anyone who dared to block their path would surely be killed by the army.
Just as this group was about to set off, two youths suddenly ran from afar. Upon closer inspection, they were Qu Zhaoqian and Wang Xiqiang. These two were also going to participate in the revenge mission.
Qu Zhaoqian's explanation was very simple: "When I was in Yuzhou before, I heard my master say that the Thirteen Taibao of Luliang Mountain had connections with many families in Taiyuan, and many of them even came from these families. Therefore, we will definitely encounter many esper users, and I will help you fight!"
Wang Xiqiang said: "The instructor was worried that he would have no one to look after him if he went alone, so he sent me to take care of him. Speaking of which, when my master returned home, the group on Luliang Mountain had ambushed them. Although it has been a long time, I have to avenge this."
After hearing their explanations, He Qiuan readily agreed and said, "Your esper abilities are both very powerful. If a battle occurs, you will definitely be useful."
He Qiuan took the two youths with him, and then the army set off mightily, with a simple slogan: "To question the offense."
Within half a month, many media outlets reported on the situation in Yan Jing, and many people condemned Taiyuan online, believing that these people were completely dragging their feet and causing trouble. It was one thing to deal with others, but to do so to their own countrymen was an act that angered everyone, and they all blamed Taiyuan.
The twenty-odd families in Taiyuan jointly issued a statement: "This matter is completely a frame-up. We did not do this at all. It was all orchestrated by He Qiuan. He must have his eyes on our resources and wants to seize them."
Unfortunately, such explanations did not convince most people. Instead, they were met with a torrent of criticism, because as more spies were caught, they all claimed to be from Taiyuan.
The ironclad evidence was before them, and Taiyuan could not deny it.
Many spies from other forces, when caught, confessed to being from Taiyuan in order not to implicate their own forces. Their accents were completely different, but they insisted they were from there, and who could refute them? Thus, the blame was firmly placed on these families.
"He Qiuan, I warn you not to come to Taiyuan to cause trouble, otherwise our tens of thousands of soldiers are not to be trifled with. Don't think you are the only ones who can fight." These families then issued a reply, warning He Qiuan not to act rashly, otherwise they would resist.
He Qiuan ignored them and led his ten thousand troops. Among their convoy were many trucks loaded with grain, enough for them to fight for half a year.
He Qiuan's actions put Taiyuan on high alert. They did not expect their actions to truly anger these people, so Taiyuan also needed to resist the invasion.
The prominent families of Taiyuan then contacted the Thirteen Taibao of Luliang Mountain in the west. The esper users on the mountain immediately descended and arrived in Taiyuan City in just half a day.
At this time, people were surprised to discover that there was such a powerful force within Taiyuan City. Originally, there were several esper users in Taiyuan, and now with the addition of the esper users from Luliang Mountain, there were over twenty esper users in Taiyuan City, which was already a considerable force. In a real battle, so many esper users would undoubtedly unleash powerful combat strength.
"The esper users from Luliang Mountain are all outstanding members of the various families in Taiyuan. We did not publicly disclose this before because they are naturally indifferent and dislike pursuing fame and fortune. However, now that Taiyuan faces a crisis of survival, it is reasonable for them to appear to protect their hometown!" The prominent families in Taiyuan City responded.
Such an answer did not convince others, because how could these esper users be naturally indifferent and thus stay on the mountain without coming down for years?
Assassination incidents frequently occurred in many parts of the north. Most of the assassinated people were esper users, and their heads were cut off after they were killed. Previously, many people believed that the Tianya Alliance was responsible, as this group often assassinated esper users.
But after the Tianya Alliance was wiped out by Shen Feng, the organization disbanded, and many informants were killed by Shen Feng. The Tianya Alliance had no possibility of rebuilding.
Logically speaking, with the disappearance of this organization, the esper users in the north should have been safer. But the opposite was true; more esper users were killed. Currently, there were very few organizations in the north capable of killing esper users. Coincidentally, the group on Luliang Mountain was elusive, and no one knew what they were doing during normal times. Many suspected that this group was secretly assassinating esper users.
He Qiuan was also quite apprehensive. He thought it was just a matter of questioning the offense, but as the army continued to advance, he suddenly realized that the enemy's strength seemed to have increased.
"The main objective this time is to force the other side to yield and hand over the esper users who harmed Sister Qin. That should be enough, and it's not necessary to fight a big battle!" He Qiuan thought to himself.
However, after they crossed the Taihang Mountain range, they suddenly found that the river valley plain had become chaotic. Countless refugees wandered on both sides of the road. Upon seeing the army, their faces showed hatred.
"Are these people blaming us for invading their land? Quickly issue an order stating that our purpose is only to warn the twenty-odd families in Taiyuan City, not to oppose ordinary people. Once these people know our purpose, they will not continue to trouble us." He Qiuan quickly issued a notice.
So, the people clearing the way in front loudly shouted that their purpose was not to trouble ordinary people.
But the scouts in front quickly ran back, bringing the latest report: "City Lord, the reason these people hate us is not because we invaded their land, but because our appearance has made them poorer, even leaving them with nothing."
"What does this mean? We haven't robbed them of their property, so how could they become poorer?" He Qiuan couldn't help but ask.
The soldier who returned reported: "It's all because these scoundrels in Taiyuan City, in order to resist our arrival, chose to levy heavy taxes. Many of the local people were already crushed by heavy taxes, and now these people have intensified their tax collection. If they don't pay, they will be robbed directly. If they have nothing at home, they will even tear down their houses, under the pretext of clearing the area."
Hearing this answer, He Qiuan was dumbfounded, as he never expected the other party to be so inhumane. "Don't these people have any humanity? Taxing is one thing, but then robbing them of their grain and tearing down their houses, isn't this creating refugees deliberately?"
Qin Kevi walked over and said, "These families have enjoyed wealth and status for hundreds of years. They don't care about the lives of ordinary people!"
He Qiuan looked at the refugees on both sides of the road. Many were displaced, and their homes had been torn down. Fortunately, it was summer, otherwise, without houses to live in, they would have frozen to death long ago.
"These refugees are an unstable factor. They seem to hate me now. What should I do?" He Qiuan asked Qin Kevi.
He Qiuan felt that he probably couldn't just ignore these refugees, otherwise, who knew what they would eventually choose. But once he resettled these refugees, his own grain would be consumed. In this way, the enemy's objective would be achieved: using refugees to slow down his progress.
Qin Kevi replied: "Why not use these refugees to achieve our own purpose? Many people don't have enough food to fill their stomachs right now. At this time, we only need a small amount of food to make them defect and become vanguards."
"No, Sister Qin, although our Ice City has abundant grain, this grain is not inexhaustible. I don't know how many refugees there will be next. If there are hundreds of thousands of refugees, even if I distribute all my military rations, it won't be enough to make them defect," He Qiuan quickly explained.
"You don't need to provide relief to all the refugees. Just provide relief to a portion of them, and the others will naturally gather. Then, you just need to ask them to follow you to Taiyuan, and the team by your side will surely grow stronger," Qin Kevi explained seriously.
After hearing this explanation, He Qiuan understood. In order to finish quickly and not be slowed down in his march, he would temporarily give up some grain in exchange for the support of the refugees.
"Immediately distribute grain to them and tell these refugees that there is countless grain in Taiyuan City. As long as they follow me to attack Taiyuan City, they can take the grain in the city themselves!" He Qiuan immediately announced, ordering people to distribute grain and inform them.
Moreover, He Qiuan had an even more sinister plan. Even if he ran out of grain himself, as long as he claimed there was grain in Taiyuan City, other refugees would head towards Taiyuan. In this way, he could borrow the strength of the refugees to attack Taiyuan.
"I didn't expect you to learn to play dirty tricks too. I really underestimated you. If you really let your subordinates say this, it will take three to four days, and you will have a sea of refugees around you!" Qin Kevi looked at He Qiuan with new admiration. The He Qiuan of the past was still very naive, but now it seemed he had learned to play tricks.
"These are just minor tricks, not worth mentioning," He Qiuan suddenly became shy.
When the surrounding soldiers saw this scene, they firmly believed their guess that the City Lord must have feelings for Qin Kevi, because they had never seen the City Lord so embarrassed before. This was the first time he had been so shy in front of a woman.
"It seems the City Lord really likes this woman!" the soldiers speculated in their hearts.
Things unfolded as the two predicted. These refugees, after being forcibly taxed, were left with nothing, and even their homes were destroyed. While they were lacking food and clothing, they suddenly received distributed grain, and immediately developed a good impression of the newly appeared army.
"Let's take down Taiyuan and then snatch back everything that was stolen!" the refugees shouted excitedly at this time.
"These damned prominent families, they are always so cruel, and at critical moments, they still rob us of our property. It's truly shameless. Let's drive them out of Taiyuan now!"
"Driving them out is not enough! We must kill all these scoundrels!"
The refugees were filled with righteous indignation. After years of oppression, their anger finally erupted. Although they had no weapons, they grabbed branches from their surroundings and prepared to move towards Taiyuan.