Food bloggers made fortunes in ancient times

The eighth year of Kangrui, winter.

After one night, the snow fell heavier and heavier, and in a blink of an eye, it covered the entire Yunshan County.

There were few pedestrians on the streets and thick snow piled up in front of the shops.

Only in front of a few grain stores, cotton clothing stores and charcoal stores, people were still queuing up, competing to buy winter supplies.

At the city gate, a team of flag soldiers entered the city in the wind and snow and headed straight for the county government office.

Soon, urgent drum sounds were heard from the county government office, startling the people nearby and causing them to stop and watch.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. The drum sounds creepy."

"Could it be that the rebels are attacking us?"

The crowd was talking, and a sense of unease spread in the cold wind.

Soon, the gate of the county government office opened, and a team of yamen runners walked out quickly and posted notices at the city gate.

People flocked over and crowded in front of the notice to look at it.

The literate old man squinted his eyes and read: "...Hanzhou Kaiyang Prefecture has been lost, and the rebels are approaching the capital...From now on, Yunshan County will implement a curfew, and the city gates will open at 12:00 and close at 12:00..."

The crowd immediately exploded.

"Kaiyang Prefecture is lost? That's the capital of Hanzhou!"

"I heard that the Chen Wang rebels were very brutal, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil wherever they went..."

"We are far away from Hanzhou, we probably can't defeat them..."

"That's hard to say! Didn't you hear the notice saying that the rebels are approaching the capital?"

Panic spread among the people like a plague.

At this moment, Ma Kaicheng was accompanying Song Yan to the rice shop to check the accounts. Hearing the commotion on the street, he quickly stuck his head out to look.

I saw people on the street looking panicked, gathering in groups of three or four and talking among themselves.

"Brother Song, something seems to have happened!" Ma Kaicheng ran back to the shop in two steps, his face full of tension, "I heard that Kaiyang Prefecture in Hanzhou has been lost!"

"I understand." Song Yan closed the account book and said calmly.

In fact, he received the news of the fall of Kaiyang three days ago.

Only three days later, the news had reached Yunshan County, which shows how critical the situation was.

"Brother Song, do you think we should make some preparations?" Ma Kaicheng rubbed his hands anxiously, "What if the rebels really attack us..."

Song Yan thought for a moment and said, "Add a layer of thick wood to the window panels facing the street, and prepare some sandbags to pile behind the door. Also, let the guys take turns to stand guard at night to prevent any accidents."

Song Yan was not worried that the rebel army of the vassal kings would attack.

With Guang'an Prefecture in front and Nanyang Prefecture behind, Yunshan County is located in the hinterland and is relatively safe for the time being.

But we must also be wary of stragglers or those who take advantage of the situation to loot.

"Okay, Brother Song, I'll arrange it right away." Ma Kaicheng responded and went to work in a hurry.

Song Yan returned to the backyard, packed up the cash and important account books in the shop, and took them back to the villa.

On the way back, he saw that many people had started to rush to buy supplies, with long queues forming in front of the grain shops. The price of rice had visibly risen by 10%.

"Turn around and go to the farm." Song Yan ordered An Wu.

In the past two years, An Wu and An Qi have taken turns to protect Song Yan's safety. Upon hearing this, An Wu immediately turned his horse around and drove towards the farm outside the city.

When they arrived at the farm, Song Yan immediately called a meeting of the managers.

"I'm sure everyone has heard the news of Kaiyang's fall." Song Yan looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Although Yunshan County is safe for the time being, we must prepare for a rainy day."

The managers looked solemn and nodded one after another.

"From now on, patrols of the village must be stepped up, especially the granary and workshop. They must be guarded day and night."

"Also, distribute those iron weapons so that everyone can have something to defend themselves."

These iron tools are exactly the farm tools made by the ironworks in the back mountain of Dongliu Village. Although they look ordinary, they are actually sharp and durable, and can also be used as weapons at critical moments.

When dealing with the scattered soldiers before, the guards used only some scrap copper and iron, and only managed to win by relying on numbers and the guards sent by Prince Hui's palace.

The Tianzhuang also sacrificed two guards, which made Song Yan feel resentful.

Now that we have this batch of sophisticated iron tools, we can at least reduce some casualties.

After leaving the farm, Song Yan couldn't help but let out a breath, and the white mist quickly dissipated in the cold wind.

He looked up at the gray sky, feeling heavy in his heart.

The fall of Kaiyang meant that the imperial court’s defense line in Hanzhou had collapsed, and Prince Chen’s army could march straight into the capital.

According to the information provided by Gu Qianfan, the next battle will be the defense of the capital.

But the current situation is different from the history in Gu Qianfan’s memory, and Song Yan is not sure how history will develop.

Next, let’s take it one step at a time.

The carriage stopped in front of the villa gate. Song Wanzhou happened to be coming back from the embroidery shop, and the brother and sister bumped into each other at the door.

Song Wanzhou was wrapped in a thick rabbit fur cape, his face flushed by the cold wind. When he saw Song Yan, he immediately smiled: "Brother, are you back from the farm?"

Song Yan reached out to brush away the snowflakes on her cloak: "You're still going to the embroidery shop in such a cold day? Can't you just let the stewards run errands?"

"There are a lot of orders at the end of the year, so I have to keep an eye on them in person to feel at ease." Song Wanzhou rubbed his frozen hands, then asked nervously, "Brother, I heard that Kaiyang Prefecture was lost."

Song Yan nodded: "Let's go in and talk."

After entering the warm room, Song Yan took off his cloak, took the hot tea handed to him by the servant, and then slowly said: "The news is indeed true."

Song Wanzhou covered his mouth and said, "Will there be any trouble in the capital?"

"Don't think too much." Song Yan looked quite calm, "If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. We just need to protect our own little piece of land."

As he was speaking, Song Jiaojiao pushed the door open, holding a dripping sword in her hand, obviously having just returned from martial arts practice.

"Sister, brother." She greeted briefly and hung the sword on the rack.

Song Wanzhou quickly poured a cup of hot tea and handed it over: "Warm your hands quickly. You are still practicing swordplay in such a cold day. Aren't you afraid of getting cold?"

Song Jiaojiao took the tea and drank it all: "It's not cold."

She turned to Song Yan with a sharp look in her eyes: "Brother, how is the training of the guards on the farm going? Do you want me to help?"

Song Yan shook her head: "The secret guards are here, so they don't need you for the time being. But you, don't practice martial arts too hard recently, be careful not to catch a cold."

Song Jiaojiao pursed her lips, as if she wanted to say something, but finally nodded.

"Why isn't second brother at home?" At this time, Song Wanzhou noticed that Song Zhengdu was not at home and asked.

Song Jiaojiao thought about it and said, "My second brother went out. At noon, Prince Hui's Mansion sent someone to invite him over."

During this period, Song Zhengdu went to Prince Hui's mansion quite often, and every time he asked, he would find out that Mr. Shen invited him to discuss current affairs.

But Song Yan always felt that things were not that simple.

Judging from the occasional solemn look on Song Zhengdu's face, it was obvious that he went to Prince Hui's palace not just to discuss the article.

But Song Yan did not ask any more questions. Song Zhengdu was an adult and had his own judgment and choices. Song Yan did not want to interfere too much.

The bangzi sound of midnight has just passed.

Shu Changyu took off his outer robe that was wet by the wind and snow, and casually draped it over the screen. He got into the quilt before the cold had dissipated.

Song Yan was vaguely aware of the movement beside her, and instinctively curled up to get some warmth, rubbing her forehead against the slightly cool skin on the other person's neck, earning a low, hoarse chuckle in return.

"Coming back so late..." Song Yan muttered vaguely.

"We went to the border of Hanzhou today." Shu Changyu stroked the back of Song Yan's neck, caressing the small piece of warm skin with his fingertips. "The rebels have already broken through three cities in Hanzhou, and they are only three hundred miles away from the capital."

Song Yan suddenly opened her eyes, and her sleepiness instantly disappeared: "So soon?!"

Shu Changyu tilted his head slightly and said casually, "Just last night, the emperor led 20,000 imperial guards to set up an ambush in Linjiang City, but was surrounded by the Chen Wang rebels. He was hit by three arrows and fell off his horse seriously injured."