In the evening, Li Xiuyuan had already entered Guo Beicheng.
The city gates were wide open and unguarded.
Walking along the street, there was no one on the street. However, there were still smoke rising from cooking stoves and candles lighting up, which showed that the city was not deserted.
But as soon as Li Xiuyuan entered the city, he felt a lifeless atmosphere.
This breath makes people very uncomfortable, like a gloomy air, like a breath of death, and like an invisible haze covering the whole city, making people feel breathless.
"This city seems to be...dead." Li Xiuyuan murmured.
"Young Master, it's not that exaggerated. If an epidemic really breaks out, wouldn't we be throwing ourselves into a trap by coming here? The epidemic is contagious," the guard said with a change of expression.
As a native citizen, what we fear most may not be the disasters caused by weapons or demons, but the disease.
The plague is spreading together, and it is unknown how many people will die. Moreover, if the epidemic is not controlled, it will not be eliminated.
A major plague can even affect the rise and fall of a dynasty.
"Life and death have destiny, wealth is in heaven. If you want to die, you will die naturally. If you can't die, why worry about a small epidemic." Li Xiuyuan said: "Don't make a fuss. Go back to your home and ask Uncle Lu first to see the nearest city.
What happened there."
"Yes, young master."
The group of people came to Li's Mansion along the street.
At this moment, candlelight was still shining in Li's Mansion, but the door was closed tightly.
The guard knocked on the door, but Lu Bo quickly opened the door. Seeing Li Xiuyuan back, he immediately said with surprise: "Young Master, you are finally back. It's great."
"It seems that a lot of things have happened in the city these days." Li Xiuyuan said.
"Isn't it? Hey, it's a long story." Lu Bo sighed and said helplessly.
"If you have anything to say, let's talk about it after we go in." Li Xiuyuan said.
A group of people entered the house.
Lu Bo said: "There have been a lot of things going on in the city recently. Several of the eldest young master's friends have been staying at the house in the past few days, waiting for the eldest young master to come back to discuss things."
"Who are they?" Li Xiuyuan was stunned for a moment and said.
"There are Ning Caichen, Wang Ping, Zhu Yu, and several other scholars who were in charge of the previous disaster relief," Lu Bo said.
Li Xiuyuan nodded.
When he came to the lobby, he saw six or seven scholars gathered together, seemingly discussing something, but the result of the discussion was not good. They all sighed in low voices, looking decadent.
"Friends, why are you sighing?" Li Xiuyuan smiled slightly and strode in.
"Brother Li?" someone asked in surprise.
"Master Li." Someone was surprised.
Everyone looked happy when they saw Li Xiuyuan returning at this moment, and they all hurriedly stood up and saluted.
"We are all friends, so we can avoid these false courtesy."
Li Xiuyuan said: "When I entered the city before, I saw how lifeless the city was. Many people going in and out of the city were pale, coughing constantly, and looked sick. At that time, I guessed that there might be an epidemic in the city. There was a plague. I don't know if I was wrong.
?”
Ning Caichen sighed and said, "Young master Li is really sharp. He saw the clues as soon as he entered the city. Wan Sheng and others were incompetent, and they still allowed the plague to spread."
"After a major disaster, there will be a major epidemic. This has always been the case. You have done a good job. Now that this has happened, the top priority now should be to find ways to control it, rather than sighing." Li Xiuyuan said.
Ning Caichen shook his head and said: "Thank you Mr. Li for your comfort, but the outbreak of this plague is indeed our responsibility. We failed to manage things well, so the plague occurred."
Wang Ping next to him said: "I'm afraid Brother Li doesn't know something. The reason why this plague happened is because in the past few days, people dug up corpses outside the city every day. The people in the city couldn't bear to bury their relatives so hastily.
Everyone wants to find the bodies of their loved ones, hold funerals, and then bury them in the ground. But Brother Li, you also know that the bodies of people who drowned in water rot quickly. Once they are dug out, it can be said that the whole city is filled with the smell of corpses.
And just two days after this happened, the plague suddenly broke out, and people all over the city became sick."
"Everyone in the city got sick overnight?"
Li Xiuyuan frowned: "Even if the plague spreads so fast, it's impossible for the whole city to fall ill overnight?"
"Although this matter is a bit strange, it is the fact."
Zhu Yu shook his head and said: "Fortunately, the court official who provided disaster relief in the past few days was a responsible official. He immediately collected the corpses of the people in the city and went out to burn them and bury them. This prevented the plague from continuing to spread."
Li Xiuyuan asked: "Here comes the official of the imperial court for disaster relief? Which gentleman is so courageous?"
"It's the imperial court's Minister of War, Fu Tianchou, Lord Fu." Ning Caichen said.
"Minister of the Ministry of War?"
Li Xiuyuan said: "It seems that the imperial court is more worried about the disease happening here than the plague. It sent the Minister of War. By the way, is this gentleman in the city now?"
"He is no longer here. Only a sick civil servant is left to take care of things in the city." Wang Ping said.
Zhu Yu, however, was a little dissatisfied and said: "This Minister of War is probably also a person who is afraid of death. He ran away when he knew there was an epidemic in the city."
Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said: "It's good that he can come to Guo Beicheng, and didn't he clean up the corpses in the city? Now that the plague has happened, there is nothing he can do. Staying here is like waiting to die. If I didn't guess
If it’s wrong, Master Fu Tianchou should go to Jinling City.”
Zhu Yu said, "Brother Li is absolutely right. Master Fu has really gone to Jinling City. Brother Li is indeed an expert at predicting events."
Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said with a smile: "You can't predict things like a god. You can figure it out just by calculating. You should know that there are military camps near Jinling City, where the imperial garrison is located. There are at least a hundred thousand soldiers stationed there. This rampant plague is scary enough.
If there is another mutiny, the entire South will be in chaos, and the South is a fertile land where the country's tax revenue is. Once chaos breaks out, the consequences will be unimaginable..."
When the scholars heard this, their expressions changed immediately, and they all exclaimed in surprise.
After listening to Li Xiuyuan's explanation, I realized the seriousness of this matter.
Compared with the survival of Guobei City, Jinling City is obviously much more important. Therefore, it is no wonder that the Minister of War of the imperial court ran to Jinling City.
"It seems that the disaster relief is fake, but the stabilization of the situation is real. That's why the imperial court sent the Minister of War, not the Ministry of Husbandry, the Ministry of Rites, or a certain prince to come to the disaster relief." Ning Caichen said with wide eyes.
"No matter how stupid the imperial court is, there are still smart people who can see through the situation at a glance." Li Xiuyuan nodded: "So we still have to find a way to deal with the plague."
"The plague has spread, how to control it?" Wang Ping asked.
Li Xiuyuan asked: "Where are the part-time workers I recruited before? Where have they gone?"
"Brother Li, don't mention it. As soon as you left, there were people clamoring for wages the next day, but they couldn't find you. They all felt cheated and almost rushed into your house to empty out everything. Fortunately, the court's
Mr. Fu arrived in time to stop the riot, and distributed some food to each person, and only a little money quelled the riot." Zhu Yu smiled bitterly and said: "We are really useless scholars, we are powerless in the face of the riot."
Li Xiuyuan frowned and began to think deeply. He felt that this matter was a bit strange.
As soon as he left, everything happened, including corpse exhumation, labor disputes, riots, plagues... But when he came, the overall situation was decided, and there was only a lifeless Guo Beicheng in front of him.
Coincidence, what a coincidence.
It seemed that all these things were waiting for him, and they would burst out together when he left Guo Beicheng.
At first glance, everything seems normal, but when taken together, it becomes abnormal.
Although I left for a few days, it didn't last long.
After thinking for a while, Li Xiuyuan suddenly raised his head and said: "It's getting very late. Everyone, please go back to the guest room to rest first. Let me think about the countermeasures and discuss it tomorrow. You can still stick to the city when the epidemic occurs, which is enough for you.
I have the heart to sacrifice my life for righteousness. Here, Li Xiuyuan thanks me."
After saying that, he stood up and bowed solemnly to his friends.
The plague is all over the city, and not everyone has the courage to live here. This requires great determination.
Everyone knows that once you catch the plague, you are likely to die.
"Brother Li, what you said is serious."
Everyone's expressions changed, and they hurriedly stood up and bowed back: "Brother Li is a benevolent person who loves the people. He used his own efforts to relieve the disaster in a city. We are just doing some spare efforts. Besides, this epidemic is caused by our poor management."
,Brother Li, isn’t this a shame for us?”
After this disaster relief work, everyone was convinced and admired Li Xiuyuan.
If it weren't for Li Xiuyuan, the number of casualties in the city would be more than this. Now that there is a plague, they feel ashamed. They just blame themselves for being careless, otherwise how could the great situation in the city become like this.
"We won't say more to be polite. It's already late at night. Let's go back and rest first. If you have anything to say, we'll talk about it tomorrow." Li Xiuyuan saw that everyone was in a bad mood and said again.
After arranging for his friends to rest in the guest room, he went to the backyard with a somewhat tired body.
Instead of resting, he went to the pavilion to meditate with his eyes closed to regain his energy.
"There is something weird about the plague. You have to ask the ghosts and gods to determine whether it is a real plague or whether there is an evil spirit at work." Li Xiuyuan thought to himself.
Tomorrow he planned to go to the Chenghuang Temple.
Ghosts and gods such as Tieshan, the green-faced Yinbing and the black-faced Yinbing are still entrenched in the City God's Temple, so they should have some knowledge of what is going on in the city.
As for my master, Taoist Mu, I don’t know if he has survived the disaster.
There were so many distracting thoughts that it became difficult for him to even enter concentration. It took him a while to get rid of the distracting thoughts and start practicing in the bright moonlight.
The moon receives clear light and the sun receives rainbows, and the dragon and tiger intertwined themselves.
It was originally a method of cultivating immortality and a way to immortality, but in Li Xiuyuan's hands it was always a substitute for sleep.