Lu Zheng guarded the beacon tower for three years. On the day he returned to the camp, he found that the granary was empty, the military pay had been deducted, and the brothers were so hungry that they were chewing tree bark. Pei Chong, the eunuch who oversaw the army, was sitting in the big tent drinking tea and said with a smile that there was no need for so many soldiers at the border and half of them should be eliminated. Lu Zheng said nothing and turned back to the camp. The next day, Pei Chong had a finger floating in his tea bowl. On the third day, the northern cavalry knocked on the pass. Everyone was waiting for reinforcements from the imperial court, but Lu Zheng blocked the city gate with eight hundred old, weak, sick and disabled people. He looked back at the group of hungry brothers behind him, with only one thought in his mind: From today on, no one can starve them anymore.
