Near Xuanwu Pond, a moderate epidemic suddenly broke out.
The original construction site near Xuanwu Pond was suspended, and all laborers and craftsmen were arranged to go to the epidemic prevention station in a mountain depression in the Qinling Mountains for inspection and observation.
The epidemic came so suddenly and even violently that many people in Chang'an heard about it and started talking about it. Fortunately, the epidemic only occurred near Xuanwu Pond for the time being. As for the cause of the epidemic, one theory is that
Because the new warship angered He Bo; another theory is that it is difficult to put away food in early summer, and it is afraid that it will ruin your stomach; another theory is that someone mixed bad ingredients into the kitchen of Xuanwu Pond...
Anyway, everyone has their own opinions, and the people usually just listen to it happily. As long as the disease does not spread to other parts of Chang'an, it is not a big deal.
But some people know that this is indeed caused by insects.
The epidemic prevention station is located at the foot of the Qinling Mountains, some distance away from the labor camp in the Qinling Mountains. It is built in a valley similar to a basin.
Because when Feiqian took in Jingzhou refugees before, even though he did some epidemic prevention work near Wuguan and carried out part of the cleaning and treatment, he still could not avoid the incubation period of the virus, or he could be infected again during the transfer process.
Because of the epidemic, an epidemic prevention station was built here to accommodate, diagnose and treat some patients who may have been infected with the epidemic, and to isolate them against the epidemic.
There are a total of 175 craftsmen in Xuanwu Pond, 500 soldiers on duty, and more than 200 long-term laborers who are responsible for various heavy work in Xuanwu Pond. This is the number of nearly a thousand people.
Fortunately, the epidemic prevention station was built to treat refugees, so it was built larger, otherwise it might not be able to accommodate so many people.
In the past two days, the first people to go to the epidemic prevention station were, of course, the craftsmen of all sizes. After confirming that only a small number of craftsmen suffered from diarrhea and vomiting to a certain extent, and that most of the other craftsmen were relatively healthy, they started to arrive one after another.
It was the turn of the rest of the laborers and soldiers.
Because there are some soldiers at the epidemic prevention station itself, and there are also some soldiers on duty in Xuanwu Pond, and the important craftsmen have already settled in the epidemic prevention station, the next ones are just labor, and naturally there is no need to deploy additional soldiers.
Guard.
For most of the laborers and craftsmen in Xuanwuchi, although they felt that this incident was a bit sudden, they did not think of it elsewhere. In addition, the tasks of developing and manufacturing warships in Xuanwuchi had basically been completed before. Many
People think it's not too bad to have this opportunity to take a break.
Today is the last group to go to the epidemic prevention station, and it is also the largest group. They are mainly laborers, and there are also a small number of sick soldiers. After these people have left, Xuanwu Pond will be temporarily closed for a period of time. According to the previous Hussars
In accordance with the standards issued by the general to prevent the plague, thorough cleaning and disinfection will be carried out until the Xuanwuchi accommodation and living area is safe before it can be restored.
Because there were so many people, the queue was very long.
After the queue entered the Qinling Mountains, the view suddenly became a bit depressing. The continuous mountains seemed to be photographed directly on the face, and the undulating mountains looked like giants, mocking the human race.
The little one wriggled slowly along the mountain path.
In front of nature, human beings are like bugs, but some choose to live under the sun, while others just want to hide in the shadows.
Because the road leading to the epidemic prevention station is not as easy to walk as the official road, and the winding mountain is quite steep, so the guard soldiers who were originally on horseback had to dismount and lead the horse on foot after reaching the foot of the mountain.
More than two hundred laborers and a small number of sick soldiers formed a regular queue, while a small number of soldiers who were still in good health were on both sides of the queue.
The queue had to go around a medium-sized mountain ridge, then walk across a short section of a suspension bridge, and finally enter a mountain col with a stream, which is where the epidemic prevention station is located.
From the perspective of future generations, such a place is simply a natural oxygen bar. There must be many high-ranking officials and nobles who are tired of staying in the city and want to build a house of medium or small size to live in in order to prolong their life and facilitate their lives.
I can be healthier and stay in office longer so that I can better serve the people by digging into their hearts.
But now, this small suspension bridge seems to separate life and death, illness and health, making everyone who arrives here feel a little uneasy.
Because it is said that they will be quarantined and reviewed in the epidemic prevention station...
The team marched halfway up the mountain for more than an hour, and when they arrived near the suspension bridge, they gradually slowed down.
The suspension bridge is built on a natural cliff. Although the distance between the two sides of the cliff is not large, it is very steep. Controlling the suspension bridge is equivalent to controlling the entrance and exit.
The guard leader of the soldiers leading the way cautiously ordered the entire team to stop advancing, and then sent two soldiers over to negotiate. After the two soldiers returned, they began to slowly let the team pass through the suspension bridge.
The suspension bridge itself is not wide, and there are no protective measures like those of later generations. If you accidentally fall off the cliff, you will definitely die...
The queue advanced slowly and passed in an orderly manner. After walking for about half an hour, when most of the people in the queue had reached the opposite side, and only a few soldiers and laborers were left at one end of the suspension bridge, suddenly some soldiers discovered what was behind them.
In the ravine where we were, some strange figures suddenly appeared!
Immediately, these figures launched an attack on the few soldiers in the queue!
Several people howled and rushed forward. Regardless of whether they were soldiers or laborers in front of them, they would cut down and kill anyone they saw. A few others followed behind and fired at the soldiers who stayed on the suspension bridge.
Just shoot with the bow!
"Enemy attack!"
The soldiers responsible for guarding or escorting only carried ordinary swords and spears. They were not covered in weapons like the elites in the field. Therefore, when they were attacked, there was no way to attack the long-range archers.
Suppress or counterattack, and the laborers who were still on this side of the suspension bridge instinctively began to run away after encountering the surprise attack. Some laborers even pushed each other while rushing to cross the suspension bridge, and fell straight from the bridge to the cliff.
, which made the scene extremely chaotic...
After the soldiers in the epidemic prevention station arrived and firmly controlled the suspension bridge, the attackers and the remaining laborers on the other side of the suspension bridge had disappeared. When the soldiers cautiously lined up across the suspension bridge to shrink on the other side,
There are only some corpses left on the other side...
Except for some who died on the spot, many of the laborers who were originally at the back ran away. Although most of the laborers in Xuanwu Pond were paid, and only a small part were pure slaves, when there were laborers who escaped first
At that time, in the mood of death and panic, I didn't think much about the labor behind me, and just ran away without thinking.
The news quickly spread to Chang'an, and such an inexplicable attack immediately plunged the entire situation in Chang'an into tension.
There were more patrols and soldiers, and many pedestrians and caravans were questioned. Some people who escaped from the place on weekdays were arrested. At the same time, Kanze sent out the hounds that had smelled the scent and followed the traces.
Keep searching...
……(⊙??⊙)……
Tongguan.
Fan Cong touched his chest and felt the beating of his heart.
He feels very uncomfortable recently, as if something is about to happen, and it's something bad.
In the past two or three years, Fan Cong has become accustomed to living in Guanzhong. This habit is peaceful, comfortable, and even happy. He originally thought that as long as he hid carefully in Guanzhong, he would be like a brick.
Like the gravel attached to the stone, it is inconspicuous and will not attract anyone's attention. Either after a certain period of time, he quietly left Guanzhong and returned to his hometown, or he led an important military campaign.
Action, bid farewell to the spy career, and embark on another level of life.
For this reason, he quietly acted as an ordinary and ordinary middle- and low-level official in Tongguan New City. He has been living a stable life like this, and it seems that he has forgotten his original responsibilities.
But recently, he found that the surrounding environment seemed to have some changes that were different from the past.
Fan Cong couldn't tell what the change was. It was like he saw someone in a dream, but couldn't see his face clearly. It was also like what he smelled in the wind below the city head after General Hussar came to Tongguan in person.
That bloody smell.
In the past period of time, several colleagues around Fan Cong were transferred away for different reasons, and the matters he was responsible for also changed slightly during the series of mergers and dissolutions.
.These changes seem very reasonable, because each personnel change is not targeted at Fan Cong alone, but a group of people, and there are sufficient reasons, and there is nothing puzzling.
But in the process, Fan Cong gradually felt that such transfers and arrangements made it increasingly inconvenient for him to do something...
Perhaps it was this inconvenience that caught Fan Cong's attention.
Gu Dao "Perhaps my end is approaching..."
Sometimes, Fan Cong would inevitably feel such pessimism.
Just like that time when I watched the execution under Tongguan City, I always felt that I was the next person to be dragged to the execution platform.
No one wants to die.
But when faced with immediate death or postponed death, human beings often make some deviations in their choices, just like Fan Cong. In fact, this kind of psychology is not difficult to understand, especially for many smokers in later generations. Anyway, they smoke more now.
Not one of them will die immediately...
Tobacco leaves, produced in the Americas, were first used by Indians because smoking will cause various changes, which will cause a certain degree of mental excitement, increase blood flow, and promote platelet coagulation, which allows the Indians to hunt
It has certain advantages. After all, when the Indians discovered tobacco leaves, the overall life span of human beings was about thirty or forty years, so there was no need to consider old age at all.
When Fan Cong was young, he didn't think about what would happen to him when he was old. He even thought that if he couldn't make a career, he wouldn't be afraid of being broken into pieces. But now...
He didn't know what to do was the right thing to do.
As a junior official in Tongguan under the command of General Hussar, although he is not a high-ranking official, he has a worry-free life and still has some spare money for expenses. As a spy sent by Cao Cao, Fan Cong did not feel that his spy career was
How much spiritual enjoyment it can bring him and how much spiritual comfort he can get.
Even though he has given convenience and assistance to some people in some matters, but...is this all his life?
When he was preparing to come to Hussar's place at the beginning, the military advisor Guo Jia summoned them and had a deep talk, telling them that as children from a poor family, their opportunities and space for advancement are limited. If they can't do it,
There is no way they can revitalize Menlin unless something more remarkable happens.
This is a fact, and it is also the reason why Fan Cong is willing to put himself in dangerous situations and become a spy.
But what he didn't expect was that one year had passed, two years had passed, and then three years had passed. He had thought that he would soon usher in the army of General Cao Cao, ushering in a large-scale attack by Cao's army, the kind of dozens of
The grand plan of a four-pronged offensive with tens of thousands of people still seems to be a dream.
The upper road passes through Taihang Mountain and marches to Shangdang, the middle road marches to Tongguan, the lower road marches to Wuguan, and a side road marches to Hanzhong...
The military commander offered wine and spoke eloquently, and their blood boiled with excitement.
After all, the more people in Jizhou and Yuzhou means there are more troops, so Jizhou and Yuzhou have the advantage, don't they?
After Fan Cong gets up every day, he stands in the yard and glances eastward. He is completely unaware of what psychology his habit represents. He just keeps doing this day after day, day after day.
In the process, I gradually became tired.
Just like smoking a cigarette or taking a pill can give you long-lasting excitement, but as time goes by, the effect becomes worse and worse, even no matter how much you take, it won't help.
What's more, Fan Cong felt that someone might have found him...
Every time he thinks of this matter, Fan Cong is always afraid. He is afraid that one day soldiers will suddenly rush in front of him. At that time, will he die heroically, or will he continue to struggle and get confused?
The "Qin An" who came to Tongguan last time, or the guy named "Wei An", or it doesn't matter what his name was, when he left Tongguan for Guanzhong, he briefly mentioned that if Fan Cong is willing, he can find him immediately
If he has the opportunity to leave, he will arrange for personnel to take Fan Cong back to Xu County.
But Fan Cong was hesitant. He had always been hesitant.
Because he doesn't know what he should do. Go back? Continue to be an unknown boy from a poor family, living in a corner of the county until his death? And will he be suspected of his own negligence or betrayal?
After the Tongguan Incident happened before? Will he be imprisoned for review, and will he be released when he is old? Or even die in prison?
No one can give Fan Cong an accurate answer or any kind of promise. Just like the four-pronged army that the military advisor vowed to drink before, it is still a fantasy until now, so Fan Cong finally rejected "Wei An", saying that he still
Continue to stay in Tongguan. Of course, what Fan Cong said is still very good. For example, when the general Wang Shi is approaching, he must contribute more to the general. For example, if he stays in Tongguan for one day, it will be more likely to conquer Tongguan.
Previous point...
But now Fan Cong knows better than anyone that if he wants to get to Tongguan, he must first pass through Hangu Pass. And is General Cao Cao really capable of breaking through two passes in a row and marching into Guanzhong?
"Brother Fan, what are you thinking about?" Wang Ling, a clerk sitting next to Fan Cong, asked curiously.
Fan Cong quickly collected his divergent thoughts and coughed lightly, "It's nothing, or did you accidentally catch some cold last night?"
"Brother Fan, please be careful..." Wang Ling put a document on his hand aside, "I heard that the inspectors from Zhiyin Supervisor are coming here... I can't let anything go wrong..."
"That's natural." Fan Cong nodded.
Direct Yin Supervisor, Inspector...
What is this going to do? Fan Cong couldn't help but fell into deep thought again.
Wang Ling glanced sideways at Fan Cong, then lowered his head, and his heart started to tumble. Two days ago, he received a request from Guanzhong, saying that he was preparing to help a few people leave the customs, and at this time, he heard that
The inspector from Zhiyin Supervisory Station was coming. Not only did she have to be careful not to be discovered, but she also had to worry about the guy next door and try to find a way to prevent him from implicating her. It was really worrying...
Wang Ling's original surname was not Wang, but Sun.
That grandson of Sun Quan...
Since Sun Ce's death, he changed his name to Wang Ling. Under the arrangement of Mrs. Wu, he traveled from Jiangdong to Jingzhou, and then from Jingzhou to Guanzhong.
Sun Ce did not die on the battlefield, but was injured by a spy, and unfortunately died young. This made everyone in the Sun family resentful, and also made the Sun family suddenly wake up. It turns out that there are some people like this outside the battlefield, who can
To do such things, that is, after Sun Quan ascended the throne, the Sun family began to continuously send people abroad.
Wang Ling hid very deeply, and never directly contacted those responsible for the operation. He only indirectly provided some conveniences to these people, such as arranging some vehicles and ships. Apart from these, he never took the initiative to inquire about intelligence or information.
Risking an assassination, Wang Ling felt safe until he was transferred from Linjin to Tongguan, and then sat together with Fan Cong...
Wang Ling originally didn't know that Fan Cong had a problem, but by chance, he encountered someone following Fan Cong.
Because the follower's attention was focused on Fan Cong, the follower did not notice Wang Ling's gaze, nor did he see Wang Ling's face suddenly turn pale as a result.
Then, Wang Ling gradually noticed that there were many things that were wrong, which made him feel on pins and needles, but he could not say that he would leave immediately. In addition, during this period, Dali Temple was thoroughly investigating those officials who resigned without reason, and
The inspection of the checkpoints has been strengthened. Even if Wang Ling wants to escape now, it may not be a wise thing.
So much so that Wang Ling began to suspect that it might not be a pure coincidence that he was transferred here from Linjin.
While secretly cursing that damn Pei Yuan and this equally damned Fan Cong, Wang Ling had to start planning for his own life...
The key is those guys in Chang'an...
After a while, Wang Ling couldn't help but sigh in a low voice, and the sound of his slight exhalation was like the short low cry of crickets in the corner of the official wooden house.
These bugs hiding in the cracks may make noise but are invisible. Perhaps the day they are revealed will be their day of death.
