Zhu Cilang was very angry. He had worked so hard and had done so much, so why did God still have to go against him?

"Your Highness, I heard from Xiao Shunzi of Ganqing Palace that Master Long Sui is worried about the disaster in Henan and other places again." Sun Wangcai said carefully.

Not only Emperor Chongzhen was worried, but Zhu Cilang was also frowning. He was also powerless to do such a natural disaster.

Simply disaster relief is a drop in the bucket. Everyone has a hard time, and food shortage is a big problem.

Zhu Cilang is not a god after all. It is already amazing that he can solve the problems around the capital. Natural disasters are not done by manpower, and it is not unreasonable for the cliff-like decline of the population in the late Ming Dynasty.

Food shortage is a huge problem facing us at present. Henan is short of food, Shanxi is short of food, Shaanxi is short of food, Shandong is short of food, Nanjing is short of food, and Huguang is short of food...

There is no place where food is short of food. Even in Jiangnan, a land of fish and rice, the grain output has decreased compared with previous years. Without food, the people cannot starve to death when they eat one by one.

Li Zicheng, who was forced to retreat to Huguang, smelled the opportunity to rise. At this time, there were less than 20,000 people around Li Zicheng. In the summer of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, drought enveloped the earth. The land was cracked and the land was barren for thousands of miles.

The refugees began to flee the famine with the elderly and the young. The landlords and gentry had a hard time, let alone these ordinary people.

These days, fleeing famine seems to have become a popular trend. All the troops of fleeing famine began to gather, and Li Zicheng was very excited.

The brothers who had sent them all came back one after another, and they brought back all news about refugees.

"There are a large number of refugees in Chuangwang, Fangxian, Baokang, Shiyan, Junzhou and other places. These people have all come out to escape famine, and there are many people who have families and people."

"Also, the news that the villain discovered was that many people in Gucheng, Laohekou, Shifangyan and other places could not survive, and these people had not yet formed a scale. At the beginning, various prefectures and counties also provided porridge and disaster relief. However, as more and more people flowed into the city, many prefectures and counties closed the city gates and prohibited refugees from entering the city."

"Yes, King Chuang, many of these refugees starved to death outside the city. They broke their bones and cooked, and changed their children to eat each other with their own eyes."

When Li Zicheng heard his subordinates' report, he had no expression on his face. He knew the taste of hunger better than anyone else. When the crops were harvested and the people could not survive, his chance came.

Liu Zongmin, the general under his command, also saw it: "The King of Rebellion, it's a rare opportunity. Take your brothers to do it!"

Li Zicheng nodded: "Tell your brothers to go out to recruit soldiers and horses. Tell the refugees that the gates of De'an Mansion are open for them at any time. The lonely man is waiting for them in De'an Mansion and come to surrender to the orphans, with clothes and food."

In the chaotic times, nothing is more tempting to the refugees than having clothes and food. The King of Chuang in De'an Mansion has a meal to join the King of Chuang.

Refugees flocked to the scene, and refugees from all over Huguang were verbal to go to De'an Prefecture to find the King of Chuang. If they defect to the King of Chuang, they would survive.

These refugees who could not survive regarded De'an Mansion as their hope for their survival. They took their families and brought their elderly and young people to De'an Mansion.

Does Li Zicheng have food? No? Faced with the tide of refugees and the tens of millions of refugees, Li Zicheng naturally does not have so much food supply.

What should I do? Li Zicheng is not in a hurry. As long as the refugees come to join him, he can turn these refugees with wooden sticks into chess pieces that will expand their territory.

As for the refugees who arrived in De'an Prefecture, Li Zicheng did not rush to open the city gate to welcome the refugees. Like other local prefectures, refugees gathered outside De'an Prefecture, and the gate was closed.

After Li Zicheng occupied De'an Prefecture, he regarded this place as his base camp. The government in Huguang was powerless to fight.

Li Zicheng occupied a place and began to burn, kill and loot. The surrounding counties were in great danger, and natural disasters and human disasters caused Li Zicheng to make people in Huguang live in poverty.

This time, refugees gathered in De'an Mansion because they heard that there was food here. But after the refugees came, they found that they had been deceived.

The gates of De'an Mansion were closed, and the refugees immediately became restless. Everyone was telling each other why everything changed after arriving in De'an Mansion, Li Zicheng broke his promise and became fat.

The people gathered under the city wall began to be dissatisfied. Someone stood under the city wall and shouted: "Didn't you say that you would give me food when you arrive at De'an Mansion? Why is the King of Chuang untrustworthy?"

In the hearts of refugees, Li Zicheng, the King of Breaking, is a banner in their hearts. But until now, this is actually the case.

Li Zicheng's subordinates on the city wall had no expression on their faces, and no one paid attention to these refugees at all. This made the refugees even more dissatisfied with the refugees under the city, and the refugees were excited.

What’s bad is that more and more refugees came to De'an Prefecture. Outside the entire city of De'an Prefecture, there was a vast army of refugees.

This is terrible. Hundreds of thousands of refugees, only hundreds of thousands of mouths. The most fatal thing is that the refugees have eaten up all the grassroots and tree bark, and De'an Mansion is their last destination.

If they cannot get food in De'an Mansion, their fate is destined to starve to death. If they go to other places to escape famine, their physical strength will not be able to keep up.

Especially those who are old, weak, sick and disabled, who can get here rely on their last breath. But who knows that hope is just in front of you, everything is shattered.

Li Zicheng started his business by looting, and asked him to resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees at once. Where did he get so much food?

The hungry people outside the city refused to disperse for a long time, and there were a large number of hungry people outside the city every day. If there was hell on earth, outside the city of De'an, it would be a terrible hell.

After about seven or eight days like this, countless hungry people outside the city starved to death. Finally, Li Zicheng stood on the wall of De'an Mansion in military uniform.

Li Zicheng, who was wearing a white and narrow shirt, felt crown and red crest, and behind the crown, stood on the wall of De'an Mansion, looking majestic.

Even though he broke his promise and was fat, Li Zicheng was still the hope in the hearts of the hungry people. Someone recognized him, so he fell excitedly under the city wall: "The King of Chuang is the King of Chuang, the King of Chuang is here!"

When the King of Chuang came, the hungry people outside the city immediately became restless. Many people knelt on the ground and worshiped them.

Li Zicheng was majestic, standing on the city wall like an emperor coming to the court, looking at the black refugees gathered outside the city: "Brothers and sisters outside the city, I am Li Zicheng!"

The shout was full of energy and the sound shook the sky. The refugees outside the city immediately became quiet.

Li Zicheng continued: "I went to raise grain for you a few days ago, so I delayed opening the warehouse and releasing grain. The brothers and sisters outside the city are sorry."

After saying that, Li Zicheng bowed to the four sides, and outside the city, he immediately became excited.
Chapter completed!