Marry my elder sister? Fine! I'll give you the letter of annulment and marry someone else.

Xue Qi explained in detail, "The southwest corner is responsible for weaving various wooden products, such as arrow tails, bows, chariots, etc."

"And to the northeast is where the cooks are, and they're almost all women."

"As for the northwest, it's a real training ground. They only select strong men there. They train every day and are used as soldiers to charge into battle."

"Because the venue couldn't accommodate so many people at once, the remaining people were all locked up in the palace. If any venue was short of people, we would pick some more and send them there."

After hearing this, Xie Ting understood immediately. No wonder they couldn't see anyone along the main road last night. It turned out that they were all stationed in the four corners.

After learning the general distribution of the people, Meng Qi continued to ask, "What about the emperor's forces? How many people are there?"

Xue Qi thought for a moment and said, "About 30,000 people."

"Thirty thousand people?!"

The more steady Meng Qi almost dropped his jaw in shock, thinking he had heard something out of the ordinary.

"Are you saying that a city of over a hundred thousand people like yours is being manipulated by a mere thirty thousand people?"

No wonder there were only four people escorting them when there were hundreds of them. It seems that they were not manpower enough.

Meng Qi was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth, but Xue Qi thought it was reasonable.

"Who would react so quickly among a group of unarmed civilians in the chaos? Even if they did, who would be willing to sacrifice themselves to be the first to do so? And don't forget that."

Xue Qi said seriously, "In a city of over a hundred thousand people, after half of them are the elderly, weak, women and children, there are not many young and strong people left."

Meng Qi also expressed his understanding of this, "That's true, I thought it was too easy."

Ever since following Song Zhi and Xin Wanyun, they seemed to have never fought any difficult battles, and subconsciously thought of all battlefields as very simple.

We still have to be prepared for danger in times of peace, otherwise it will be easy to get into trouble if we keep fighting with this kind of thinking.

Xue Qi had a sad expression on his face. "Do you know why so many people here look so numb? Because their families have long been tortured to death. What a bunch of bastards, they have absolutely no humanity at all."

"Don't worry, they will definitely pay the price."

Xie Ting patted Xue Qi's shoulder to comfort him.

After knowing the number of 30,000, Xie Ting and Meng Qi also breathed a sigh of relief.

Previously, they had speculated that the Emperor of Li had been secretly preparing for so many years, and he must have at least 100,000 soldiers and horses, otherwise how could he control the people of the entire city.

It seems that they were worrying too much. If the Emperor of Li really had that ability, he would not have been suppressed by Jiang Li for so many years without making any waves.

"Is there any way you can get out of here?"

Meng Qi asked, they had almost figured out the situation here, but they still needed to go to other places to verify Xue Qi's words.

"Yes, there are, but I suggest that if you want to go together, you wait three days."

Xue Qi lowered his voice and said, "In the first two days after the newcomers arrive, the soldiers will definitely observe them carefully in secret. It is not wise to leave now."

"Okay, then we'll wait three days."

Xie Ting agreed, and Xue Qi told the two of them how to leave, which was bribery.

To get to the southwest corner where wooden tools are made, you only need to bribe a small general here, but the bribe is five taels of silver per person.

This is an unwritten rule. The emperor seemed to know about it, but he did not care because it would also motivate his 30,000 subordinates.

The people here are all ordinary poor people. They had experienced robbery before being captured. All the money in their homes had been added to the national treasury, so it was difficult for anyone to come up with so much silver.

But there were also people who hid the silver in various ways, or hid the silver in various places and it was not found, so they had the capital to deal with it.

Xie Ting was very confused. "They've already robbed you of everything. Aren't you afraid that they won't do anything even if you give them money? After all, even if they do that, you won't be able to do anything about it."

"Will not."

Xue Qi shook his head. "I told you, the emperor knows about this and has acquiesced to it. He wants a virtuous cycle. If we pay the money but don't do the work, who will dare to pay the money in the future?"

"That's true, but..."

Xie Ting looked at Xue Qi without blinking, "You know we can only get five taels of silver on us, aren't you afraid that if you tell us, we will fight to the death and not give it to you?"

"It's ok."

Xue Qi suddenly smiled bitterly. "It makes more sense for you to go out than for me. If you can go out, you can go to the northeast corner and find me a kid named Xiaomi. Help me take care of him and make sure he doesn't get bullied. With your size, you won't be unable to go to the northwest corner for training. Of course, going to the northwest corner will also be more beneficial for you."

"Where can we choose?"

"No, but you'll almost certainly go there. It's better than staying here anyway. Life is the least valuable here. If you're told you can be beaten to death, you're beaten to death. That wouldn't happen anywhere else."

Xue Qi looked a little disappointed, "I hope I can hold on until the day you win."

Meng Qi said solemnly: "Everyone will survive."

For the next three days, Meng Qi and Xie Ting spent three days forging swords in the training ground.

The only food they had every day was steamed buns and white porridge, which made them, who were used to a good life, sometimes feel so hungry that they wanted to eat people.

You know, even when Tianqi suffered such a severe famine, they never lacked food or clothing.

Now think about how desperate those refugees were.

Xie Ting and Meng Qi looked heavy-faced. Fortunately, after the beating, no one was easily killed here.

However, in the tents not far from them, the heart-wrenching screams of women could be heard every day.

"These beasts, I will kill them myself after we occupy this place!"

Xie gritted his teeth when he heard this.

After finally getting through three days, Xue Qi took them to find the young general in charge of the place.

Xue Qi pointed to a tent that was obviously more luxurious and said, "You guys go over there. The generals generally don't like to be disturbed by strangers, so I won't go over there."

He was about to turn around when Xie Ting stopped him, "Did we ever say we wouldn't take you with us?"

Xue Qi opened his eyes wide, "Take... take me? But each person needs five taels of silver, you..."

"I don't have much else, but I do have some worth."

After that, he took out one of the three portions of silver that he had prepared long ago and handed it to Xue Qi, "Let's go."

Xue Qi had already accepted his fate, but he didn't expect such a sudden turn of events. He was a little stunned by the sudden joy, "You guys..."

"Hurry up."

Meng Qi said from the front: "It would be bad if we were caught as deserters."

"well."

Xue Qi's eyes flashed with gratitude, and then he thought of something and said solemnly: "If I had known you were so rich, I should have asked for a high price."