Chapter 1977: Increasingly Worse Situation

Fan Shuang had met one of the tenants of a large warehouse. This man, surnamed Lin, was a merchant who had contracted the development of the forest and mines in the back mountains from the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce. His initial work had been booming. The previous owner of these assets was the brother-in-law of Miancheng's former prefect, which meant their quality was excellent, though they hadn't been well developed.

When Fan Shuang saw Master Lin, he was sitting in an eatery, eating a bowl of plain noodle soup with many small pickles.

Fan Shuang greeted him, "Master Lin, what are you doing here?"

He had previously accounted to Master Lin on behalf of the county government, so they had met a few times.

"If not here, where else would I be?" Master Lin slurped another mouthful. "The large warehouse has been requisitioned by the county government to house refugees."

"I thought you had already left Miancheng." When news of Bai Tan's uprising spread from Tianshui City, officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants across Yao Kingdom fled immediately, not lingering in the troubled regions.

"All my money is invested in the industries here; if I leave, it's all gone," Master Lin sighed. "If I stay, at least the mines and forest farms are still operating and accounting for expenses. Prefect Huang said he'd repay me after the war."

During wartime, the county needed to mobilize all resources, so financial transactions were paused, and everything was recorded as an IOU.

"Right, everyone is rushing to produce weapons and arrows these days, and your operations are the source of raw materials." So, Master Lin's business not only continued but actually improved.

With limited personnel, the county government couldn't manage everything directly. Instead of requisitioning the businesses of merchants like Master Lin, they urged them to organize mining and production, working overtime.

To win this war, everyone needed to contribute their talents, and every industry had to play its part.

Fan Shuang cupped his hands and said, "Master Lin, you're working hard."

Master Lin could have left when the war first started. Regardless of his reasons, he had chosen to stay.

This indicated that Master Lin had confidence in Miancheng.

No, that wasn't quite right. He should have said Master Lin had confidence in the Dragon God or the Black Armored Army's rescue efforts and was willing to stay and take a chance.

"Everyone doing their part to defend against Bandit Guo, what's so hard about that? It's not like I'm putting my head on the line on the battlefield," Master Lin sighed. "I just hope the war ends quickly so my gamble pays off."

"Alright, I need to rush back to the forest farm." Having finished his noodles, he nodded to Fan Shuang and hurried away.

The waiter came over, slinging his shoulder towel to wipe the table, and asked Fan Shuang, "Mr. Fan, what did Master Lin mean by 'taking a gamble'?"

"The surrounding villages and counties have all been taken by Guo Baiyu. Do you know how many properties there have become ownerless?" Fan Shuang corrected himself, "Oh, no, I should say that once Guo Baiyu is defeated, those properties will become ownerless."

The waiter thought for a moment, "Oh dear, there must be many. After Guo Baiyu entered the cities, he looted, killed, and burned, occupying all those places."

"The original owners of those properties were either killed or fled far away; few will be able to return. As long as we eventually repel or defeat Guo Baiyu, these ownerless properties will be sold off by the county." Fan Shuang now understood perfectly. "Master Lin tasted success once when he bought the mines and forest farms in Miancheng, so he likely wants to gamble on this. Wealth comes from taking risks, after all."

The waiter said, "Oh, so that means as long as he holds out until the war ends, Master Lin will get rich."

"That's right. But the prerequisite is that Guo Baiyu is defeated or repelled."

Merchants like Master Lin were truly gambling their lives, as Miancheng's current situation was very grim.

Too many outsiders had crowded in, and prices were soaring. Don't be fooled by Master Lin only ordering plain noodles; not everyone could afford even that now.

Fan Shuang had seen the official registration statistics; Miancheng's current population exceeded 280,000 and was growing daily. In terms of population, it was already considered a large city.

Simply arranging their accommodation, food, and daily necessities was a massive undertaking.

The Fan family had also heard whispers from the government: powerful local factions were attacking the Dragon God's new territories, looting, killing, and burning everywhere. Some of the Dragon God's territories were gained only to be lost again, and the local military and civilians suffered widespread massacres.

In other words, Miancheng's situation was not unique.

The local forces of the Shanjin Plain were counterattacking.

However, resistance was also ongoing in the Dragon God's territories. Fan Shuang had heard of several successful clearance operations and resistance battles. These were announced as positive examples in the market square to boost public morale.

In short, after the Dragon God's army swept through Shanjin, the accumulated tensions in the region erupted like ignited city gate cannons.

Currently, only two cities stood in Guo Baiyu's path:

Miancheng and Haoxian.

These two places acted as strategic strongholds, watching over each other and barely holding off Guo Baiyu's attacks. However, every day felt like a year.

With too many people pouring into Miancheng, public morale was unstable, and rumors began to spread. Some eyewitnesses described Guo Baiyu as having three heads and six arms, while others asserted that Miancheng would certainly fall and everyone should flee quickly.

Some also complained that the Black Armored Army had abandoned Miancheng, scoffing that the Dragon God was just a showman...

Prefect Huang Chengqi simultaneously sent people to arrest spies and posted announcements to reassure the public and boost morale:

"The Dragon God has reached Liaocheng!"

"The Dragon God has reached Jingzhou!"

"The Black Armored Army has just crossed the Baiqu River and is getting closer to us!"

"Everyone, hold on a little longer! The Black Armored Army is currently attacking Sanping Township and will reinforce Miancheng in half a month!"

Fan Shuang didn't know if Prefect Huang's information was true or false, but he knew the prefect had to encourage the people this way because Miancheng's supplies were starting to run out.

The consumption by nearly 300,000 people was a heavy burden for this small city.

Food was scarce, and rations decreased daily. Adults received only a fist-sized portion of mixed grains each day, while still having to cope with high-intensity activities.

The fighting was unprecedentedly fierce, and weapons, arrows, and medicine had long since run out.

Fan Shuang and his father couldn't see the actual inventory list, but they knew that the supplies distributed daily were rapidly depleting the city's reserves.

Guo Baiyu's army was formidable. Miancheng had tried fighting them several times but found they couldn't win, losing many lives in the process. They were forced to barricade themselves inside.

With the city-guarding beasts, the city's safety was barely maintained. However, Guo Baiyu sent bird demons to conduct aerial raids, indiscriminately harming people in the streets and homes, especially children. They would snatch children into the sky and then drop them from a height to their deaths, creating chaos and panic.

Tu Shanfang was exceptionally busy. Fan Shuang had seen him five times within a month, but they never had a chance to talk.

Subsequently, Tu Shanfang and other generals led small teams out of the city at night for harassment raids. Both attempts were successful, and one even intercepted grain and fodder intended for Guo Baiyu.

This greatly boosted morale within the city and alleviated the gloomy atmosphere.

However, other bailiffs told Fan Shuang that two of Tu Shanfang's comrades had sacrificed their lives during the operations.

Two days later, the Imperial Dewburst erupted!

To everyone's surprise, this heavenly spiritual rain lasted for seventeen consecutive nights, making its duration and volume the greatest in 150 years.