Late at night, on the official road outside the north gate of Zhongqing City, I saw a burst of dust flying and several horses galloping over.
When they came to the city gate, they saw a figure flickering, and the leader jumped off his horse, raised his head and shouted at the city gate:
"Hurry up for eight hundred miles and open the city gate as soon as possible. Anyone who obstructs will die!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of sound pierced through the air was heard.
An unknown object, with great force, was shot from below the city wall. There was only a "clang" sound of gravel, and a red flag was thrust straight into the city gate.
The flag swayed slightly, revealing a red flag with the words "delivery immediately" written on it.
Above the city gate, the soldiers of the city defense battalion knew the identity of the person coming as soon as they saw the order flag. Looking under the city wall again, they saw several officers stopped in front of the city gate, looking embarrassed and with anxious expressions on their faces.
color.
When the soldiers of the city defense camp saw this, they were immediately shocked.
The eight-hundred-mile expedited service is already the method used by the imperial court to deliver the highest level of urgent documents. It can only be used to deliver urgent reports such as domestic rebellion and enemy invasion.
Along the way, anyone who dares to prevent and delay the war will be punished with a third degree of crime. If the war is delayed and the result is irreversible, the whole family may even be punished with death.
The soldiers of the city defense camp did not dare to delay, and immediately opened the city gate and let in the officers.
The messenger immediately shouted loudly, the war horse neighed, and galloped into the city, heading straight towards the palace.
In the palace, Xiao Cheng, who was about to go to bed, was suddenly dragged out of the palace by eight hundred miles.
Xiao Cheng was wearing single clothes, pushed away the little eunuch who wanted to put on clothes for him, and asked in a deep voice:
"What's going on?"
The young eunuch on the side quickly handed over the urgent secret message from Eight Hundred Miles and replied:
"Your Majesty, urgent report from Jianchang Mansion!"
When Xiao Cheng heard this, he nodded slightly, but his hand movements were not as hasty as before.
After receiving the secret letter, Xiao Cheng scanned it with one eye and said in a deep voice:
"Sure enough, it was Changning County of Jianchang Prefecture who discovered the urgent report of the plague. Feng Bao, this time all those who have made meritorious service in your Dongchang will be promoted to one rank and rewarded with a hundred gold coins!"
Feng Bao on the side heard this and quickly bowed his head and thanked:
"Slave, thank you for your favor, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Cheng nodded slightly and continued:
"How is the progress on Ji Xu's side?"
"Back to Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Ji has already led twenty-seven disciples of Fang Jijie to the northern border in two days. Calculating the distance, I am afraid that we have already arrived at Weichu Mansion."
Ji Xu and Qin He, with the support of Xiao Cheng, have established Fang Jijia and settled in Jixia Academy.
It's just like the military strategists, among the hundreds of schools of thought, every family has inherited medical skills. Therefore, students who are interested in solving the suffering of diseases for the people rarely choose to join the Fang Technologists directly. Even though the medical skills of the two are,
He was already a man of flesh and bones, but he only had a few dozen disciples around him.
Now Ji Xu sets out for the northern border, taking all the disciples she has gathered during this period with her!
Xiao Cheng nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:
"Ask your subordinate Fanzi to deliver a secret message and tell Imperial Physician Ji about the plague in Changning County."
"yes!"
Xiao Cheng paused slightly, pondered for a moment, and then continued:
"Instruct Shen Wansan and the head of the Za family, Jin Shengyuan, to fully cooperate with the court and collect all kinds of supplies and medicine at all costs. The situation in the north must not become uncontrollable!"
With the power of the imperial court, it would be too expensive to collect a large amount of supplies in a short period of time and then dispatch them to the north.
Therefore, under such a situation, it can only be completed with the help of private businessmen.
As long as there is enough gold and silver, the power of these merchants will become extremely amazing!
Xiao Cheng had already swallowed up the six hundred years of accumulation in Ganye Temple. Not long ago, a small number of Buddhist temples were involved in the assassination of Emperor Rouning. Xiao Cheng was not polite to them.
, have already arranged for people to confiscate all the temple property.
Although this batch of things has not yet been included in the national treasury, it is definitely a lot. Therefore, Xiao Cheng currently has no shortage of gold and silver in the national treasury.
When Feng Bao heard this, he quickly responded:
"yes!"
Xiao Cheng pondered again for a moment, then suddenly said:
"By the way, didn't I hand over the list of new censors today? Find them out and let me take another look!"
When Feng Bao heard this, he immediately signaled his eunuch to go get it.
Not long after, the list of new censors discussed by the court was already placed in front of Xiao Cheng.
The Yushitai Yushi has the responsibility of impeaching hundreds of officials. It is an important institution to purge the government and control the court.
Xiao Cheng is now taking advantage of the plague in the southwest of Xia Kingdom to expand the number of Yushitai censors and assign them to various parts of the northern border to supervise epidemic prevention. But in fact, Xiao Cheng's real purpose is to pass the large-scale examination of law.
Prepare for implementation.
Xiao Cheng spread out the memorial, thought about it for a long time, and finally frowned, raised his ink pen, and added a line of annotations on the memorial.
"Hai Rui, a new scholar in the imperial examinations, was granted the title of Censor of the Censorship Station to supervise the epidemic prevention of Jianchang Prefecture."
Feng Bao glanced slightly. Although there was no expression on his face, he couldn't help but feel a little confused in his heart.
What is so special about Hai Rui that His Majesty deserves your personal approval at this time to appoint him as the Supervisory Censor of Jianchang Prefecture?
Xiao Chenghe raised the memorial, looked at Feng Bao, and ordered:
"Let Dr. Ji from the official pharmacy pay attention to Hai Rui!"
When Feng Bao heard this, he nodded quickly and secretly recorded Xiao Cheng's concern for this Hai Rui.
Xiao Cheng put down the ink pen in his hand and sighed softly, his eyes filled with solemnity.
-----------------------
Jianchang Prefecture, Changning County.
At this time, the city gates of Changning County were closed. On the city walls, there were pieces of cloth covering their mouths and noses. The soldiers of the Yun Kingdom, who were waiting in full formation, looked at the endless spreading outside the city with wary eyes.
Refugee gathering place.
Under the city wall, the refugees from Xia Kingdom looked at the towering and extremely dangerous city, and felt despair in their hearts.
Among so many refugees, not all of them are mud-legged. At this time, some people are obviously aware of their own situation.
plague!
For thousands of years, everyone from the imperial courts of various countries to the common people in Jianghu changed their expressions upon hearing this.
The chaotic and disorderly group of refugees stopped in front of Changning County. Some people fell down on the muddy ground, swaying all over, and their breathing was extremely weak. The family members beside them couldn't help but scream and cry.
There were also people who knelt down in front of the city gate and kept kowtowing to the Yun soldiers on the city wall, asking them to show mercy and open the city gate to let them in.
There are even more people who are not willing to wait for death, or they want to climb the mountains in groups, or want to swim across the turbulent rivers. There are even some people who are secretly communicating with each other, looking at the city in front, showing a ferocious look.
.
In short, in such a situation, these people are trying every possible means to find a way to survive for themselves and their families.
The refugees from the Xia Kingdom regarded the territory of the Yun Kingdom as a place of survival, as if they could escape as long as they entered it.
But in the county seat of Changning County, the situation is also grim.
A county town that usually accommodates one or two hundred thousand people at most can now accommodate several times that number of people. With the city gates tightly closed, the people can't move around, and the situation in the city is like a powder keg, which can explode at the drop of a hat.
In the city, the 5,000 Yun Kingdom border troops who originally defended the Xia Kingdom's invasion were now in full force and dispersed into the city to maintain order in the city.
A fierce-looking monk wearing black monk robes, with a group of servants, arranged and coordinated many chores in the city, including the accommodation, food and convenience of the people and refugees in the city.
"Why don't you let us out?"
"That's right, why did you close the city gate and trap us in the city?"
A group of refugees gathered in front of the city gate of Changning County. They looked at the deer erected in front of them and the Yun soldiers with cloth covering their mouths and noses. Their eyes were full of vigilance. The restless mood was among the crowd.
diffuse.
The generals headed by the soldiers of the Yun Kingdom were holding long swords, pointing at the refugees sideways, with cold eyes, and shouted:
"Go back!"
"Retreat! Those who don't retreat will die!" A group of Yun Kingdom soldiers immediately shouted loudly.
The ferocious aura, accompanied by the roar of shouts that resounded throughout the world, surged straight towards the refugees ahead.
Elite soldiers who have been on the battlefield for a long time are full of murderous aura. How can these ordinary people resist it?
Everyone felt that their chests were stagnant and they could not breathe. Under the murderous aura of the soldiers, the refugees did not dare to look directly and took a few steps back unconsciously.
Seeing that the refugees were about to retreat, the Yun Kingdom soldiers immediately put away their weapons and took a few steps back.
At this moment, a hoarse roar was suddenly heard coming from behind the refugees.
"The Yun State officials are arresting someone, run away!"
A shout immediately caused the crowd to explode.
The refugees who had retreated suddenly lost their minds, and the crowd suddenly rushed towards the city gate.
The refugees, who were worried about their situation and were like frightened birds, immediately started a riot out of fear and distrust of the government.
The refugees ignored the spears and swords in the hands of the soldiers and grabbed the top of the deer to climb over.
The soldiers who were about to guard the city gate were confused by this sudden commotion. Looking at the slightly ferocious common people in front of them, they immediately felt panicked.
"Anyone who advances to attack the city gate will die!" At this time, a loud shout suddenly occurred to him.
These Yun Kingdom border troops were just slightly stunned before, not knowing what to do. Now after hearing this order, the habit of obeying military orders was engraved in their bones and they acted immediately.
The soldiers guarding the city gate immediately perked up, straightened their spears in their hands, took a step forward, and made a huge "thud" sound as they hit the ground.
"Those who advance, kill!" the soldiers shouted in unison, with ferocious faces on their faces.
The murderous spirit in the army suddenly surged forward, making people's hearts tremble.
In the sight that ordinary people cannot see, the blood-red killing energy is like beacon fire and smoke, billowing up. Although the vision has not condensed, only the blood-red smoke above the heads of the soldiers.
But even so, it is enough to deter the disorderly people in front of us!
The refugees who were facing the military formation, under the impact of the killing force of the military formation, suddenly stopped in their steps, their limbs became weak, their whole bodies were trembling and frightened, and they did not dare to step forward.
Among the refugees, a road was separated.
More than a hundred soldiers from the Yun Kingdom came out escorting Colonel Shi in armor and Dao Yan in black monk robes.
Captain Shi looked gloomy, looked at the soldiers guarding the city gate, and scolded:
"Why did you retreat just now?"
If they hadn't arrived in time just now, I'm afraid this city gate would have been broken through by this group of refugees.
Let’s not talk about how humiliating it was for this group of elite frontier troops to be scattered by a group of unarmed refugees. At that time, the refugees fled in all directions and the plague spread to all counties. It was a crime that could not be avoided.
!
The lower-level general of the Yun Army, who was leading the group, could not help but lower his head in shame and did not dare to reply.
Lieutenant Shi gritted his teeth and lowered his voice:
"When everything here is over, go and receive your punishment!"
"yes……"
Dao Yan, who was standing next to Captain Shi, was looking at these refugees. His sinister-looking triangular eyes narrowed slightly. He took a step forward and said:
"From today onwards, the city will be under martial law. Everyone will be placed in the city's square market, and all food will be supplied by the imperial court."
When the refugees heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other.
Among the crowd, an unknown person spoke Mandarin with a Southwest Xia accent and said:
"Who knows if your Yun Kingdom officials want to trap us in the city? Don't try to hide it from us. Those people you took away are obviously suffering from the plague..."
There was a slight silence in the crowd, and soon the sound of crying started to sound.
These refugees were all devastated by the war, and they had just migrated towards Yun Kingdom with their families. But now, they encountered the plague again, and they couldn't help but cry for their miserable fate.
When all the soldiers of the Yun Kingdom heard this, a trace of compassion flashed in their eyes, and they all lowered their heads slightly, unable to bear to look directly at him.
Dao Yan was unmoved at this time. His expression showed no emotion. He mobilized his inner strength to make his voice louder, and interrupted everyone loudly, saying:
"None of the court officials and soldiers in the city have abandoned the city. Closing the city gate also traps us in it. Even if we want to trap you to death, shouldn't we seal the city from the outside? Take us away before
In order to prevent the spread of the plague and make it easier to treat patients suffering from the plague, all patients are placed in the Qingshou Temple in the city, where doctors will take care of them. If you don’t believe it, you can find a way to send someone in to confirm it. "
As soon as these words came out, all the refugees suddenly fell silent, their faces full of uncertainty, and they looked at Dao Yan.
Dao Yan raised his head slightly and said:
"As a monk, a poor monk should never tell lies in his life! If he lies even half a word, the poor monk will scream and fall into the endless hell."
As soon as these words came out, the refugees froze on the spot, not knowing how to respond.
At this time, I heard a few more voices, saying:
"Okay, it's what you said about providing food. If this statement is false, we will definitely not wait to die!"
"First go to Qingshou Temple and try to find a way to confirm whether the person is alive."
The refugees didn't quite trust Dao Yan's poisonous oath. But after looking at the murderous Yun soldiers in front, they calmed down and finally didn't have the courage to attack.
After hesitating for a moment, the refugees finally took a few steps back to show relief.
Captain Shi, who was worried at first, couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the refugees retreating. Then he glanced at Dao Yan, who looked nothing like a monk in terms of appearance, temperament, and decisiveness.
It was so loud just now that the refugees might not have heard it.
At the critical moment, the voice that ordered the soldiers to kill was actually shouted by Dao Yan before him.