This line of hundreds of horsemen is full of people and horses, well-fed and lightly armed, Jiangzhou is six or seven hundred miles away from Chang'an, with the progress of these good horses, and the official road is generally not in a hurry, can arrive in three or four days. However, Li Ke was obviously a little anxious, and ordered to travel day and night, and must arrive in Jiangzhou within two days.

Qin Mubai doesn't care. With the foot strength of the Huoyun Horse, if the weather is too bad and the road is too rugged and difficult, it is easy to run 600 miles a day. Although the ancients said that the horse "traveled thousands of miles a day" is an imaginary number, it is indeed not difficult to convert it into five or six hundred miles now.

Jiangzhou is very close to Taiyuan, the origin of the Li Tang family, and there were more than ten prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of the Jiangzhou Governor's Office during the Wude period, including Jinzhou Taiyuan. Later, Taiyuan was changed to a prefecture and became the northern capital of the Tang Dynasty, and Jiangzhou was reduced to a state with a total of five counties, but it was still an important state and county in the land of Jin annexation, which was valued by people.

This time, the more serious disaster was Jishan County under the rule of Jiangzhou.

Qin Mubai and the others rushed into Jiangzhou, and when they stepped into Jiangzhou, they obviously felt that the weather was different. From time to time, you can see many people migrating in groups to help the old and the young on the official road, and there is a mournful wail, as if the soldiers and horses have become displaced people.

Zhenguan Datang has always been peaceful and prosperous, and people's livelihood is very rare. Li Ke, Quan Wanji and others were shocked. Stopping the procession, they stopped a few homeless people for questioning. Seeing that they were dressed luxuriously and magnificently, and that they were with soldiers, they naturally understood that they were official families, so they wept bitterly and cried that Zhu Chengwen, the county magistrate of Jishan County, forced them out of their homes, and they had no choice but to wander out to find another place to live. But the house and land are gone, and I don't know how to live in the future.

Li Ke asked again how the flood was going now. The displaced people replied that in the two days before yesterday and tomorrow, soldiers from Jiangzhou Prefecture and nearby prefectures came one after another, and nearly 10,000 people had been temporarily relieved. However, the victims were piled up, there was no one to settle them, and more than 100 military horses came to rob the people when they had no food to eat, and even the seeds and cattle for the coming year were not spared.

Now the entire Jiangzhou has become a mess, like a chaotic era descending. Officials do not act, busy passing the buck and leading troops, conniving at soldiers and horses to steal the people. Among them, the situation in Jishan County is the most serious.

Li Ke and Quan Wanji were already full of anger after hearing these words. Li Ke turned over without saying a word: "Go to Jishan!" ”

Qin Mubai has always followed Li Ke's side, without saying a word, in public, he understands his identity and duty - Li Ke disaster relief, he is responsible for protecting Li Ke and impeaching those local officials and generals.

When the galloping horse walked out for a while, Qin Mubai saw that Li Ke's anger had calmed down before he said, "Your Highness, the situation in Jishan County is quite strange. ”

"How?"

"Now that the flood has been lifted, the county order should cooperate with the state officials and government soldiers to start soothing the people and settle the lives of these victims. But instead of doing so, the county decree drove the people away. Don't you think that's abnormal? ”

"That Zhu Chengwen is probably tired of it." Li Ke snorted coldly and said, "Abuse the people like this, aren't you afraid that the emperor's authority will come and you will be crushed?" ”

Qin Mubai shook his head: "If I were Zhu Chengwen, I would definitely understand this truth." But why would I do it? ”

Li Ke turned his head slightly stunned and asked, "Why?" ”

"That's because I must have unspeakable grievances." Qin Mubai said: "I would rather risk being convicted by the king's rule of law than have to drive out the people of Jishan and move away from this place. ”

Li Ke's brows twitched, and he was silent thoughtfully for a moment and said, "Then you mean that Jishan County is still very dangerous?" ”

"Possibly." Qin Mubai said: "Your Highness, think about it, since the flood has been eliminated, you should quickly rescue the disaster and restore the people, rebuild the houses and rectify the farmland. But Zhu Chengwen didn't do this, he drove the people away - pay attention to whether it was to drive or not move! In other words, it must have been forcibly driven away without the consent and arrangement of the state government at the higher level. Why is that? That Zhu Chengwen is not only violating the king's law but also disobeying Shangguan and making ideas, is he really not afraid of a catastrophe? ”

"Listening to you say this, the things in Jishan County are really a bit strange. Thanks for the reminder, I was a little overlooked when I was angry just now. Li Ke nodded and said, "Okay, you'll know when you arrive." Let's hurry! ”

Soon after, Qin Mubai and his entourage entered Jishan County.

From a distance, everyone smelled a thick smell of muddy water. The walls of the county town were apparently soaked in water, and traces of water receding could be seen on the walls several feet high. Countless houses have been washed away, and the whole city is a wolf, and occasionally you can see drowned cows, sheep, pigs and dogs, and smell a pungent smell of floating corpses.

If a big county town is like death!

"It seems that the damage is worse than I thought." Li Ke's thick eyebrows tightened: "Why don't you see a state and county official, a government officer, or a government soldier here to help the disaster?" ”

"Probably all went to the outskirts of the city, right?" Kwon said, "The flooding started from a large lake on the outskirts of the city. The lower terrain in the county town has only been affected, but the flood has slowed down here. Therefore, the real disaster is in the countryside and the countryside. ”

"Then let's not go into the city first, go straight to the suburban lake!" Li Ke said.

"Your Highness is cautious!" Quan Wanji said: "After the flood, the plague is easy to look down, and there is a dead silence in this Jishan County, and the residents of the city must have fled to avoid the plague." The top priority now is to find Zhu Chengwen, the county magistrate of Jishan County, and ask about the situation here before making a decision. ”

"Needless to say. This king has been commanded to come to the rescue, is he afraid of the plague? "Li Ke cut the railway" to the suburbs! Whoever is afraid of the plague is not reluctant to stay with this king! ”

"Your Highness is not afraid, what is there to fear?!" Quan Wanji Zhengse said: "There is danger, and we must be reminded." Since His Royal Highness is not afraid, even if he goes to the soup and fire, Wanji will definitely follow! ”

"Let's—"

A group of hundreds of people stepped on the muddy road and ran towards the suburban lake. After walking for more than ten miles, I finally saw the smoke drifting.

"That's the army, right? Cooking in a pot? Li Ke raised his eyes and said, "It turns out that they are stationed here!" ”

"Your Highness Rong Mou will step forward first!" At this time, it was Qin Mubai's turn to play. Li Ke nodded in agreement, and Qin Mubai stepped forward with a hundred cavalry soldiers.

There were quite a few troops stationed here, some of which were 3,000 men. The camp was obviously relatively simple and crude, but there were many scouts and soldiers guarding the village, and they were well guarded, as if they were facing the enemy.

Qin Mubai and the others stepped forward not far before they were stopped by a team of scouts.

"Stop!" The other colonel shouted: "Who is coming, the military plane is heavy, and you must not trespass!" ”

The brigade commander beside Qin Mubai shouted: "Bold! Don't you recognize the banner of the royal guard? Hundreds of horsemen make General Qin dismount here to greet him! ”

"The royal guard leads a hundred horsemen?!" The colonel and the sergeants were stunned for a moment—this kind of thing was as far away as a phoenix in the sky to them, and now it suddenly appeared in front of them!

A group of military academies hurriedly turned over and dismounted to greet them. Qin Mubai said: "No courtesy." went in and reported that His Royal Highness King Wu led his soldiers to visit the army under the escort of a hundred cavalry. Please come out and greet your chief general! ”

"Yes!"

The sergeants hurriedly turned around and ran, and not long after, the horns sounded in the entire barracks, the smoke from the cooking smoke rising from the army was also extinguished, the flags were fluttering, the drums and horns were flying, and the army formation was quickly set up and opened out of the gate to meet Li Ke.

Li Ke looked at this scene from afar, and couldn't help but smile and said to Quan Wanji: "Quan Changshi has a hundred horsemen to accompany him, which is really easy to do." You and I are not familiar with the army, and we will be a little rusty when dealing with soldiers. But Qin Mubai has a unique advantage in this regard. He is a hundred horsemen, although his official character is not high, but he is the commander of the personal guard beside His Majesty the Emperor. He came out to do errands, and the one standing behind him was the emperor! No matter how arrogant the soldiers are, they don't dare not give face to Your Majesty! ”

"Your Highness is very right." Quan Wanji said: "All things are born and one thing descends. His Royal Highness is a noble person, and he is proficient in officialdom, which is more than enough to deal with those state and county officials. However, these military academies have never been controlled by His Highness, and they have their own rules of conduct, which may not necessarily put His Highness in their eyes, and it may be difficult to put an end to the things that are contrary to the yang and the yin. Your Majesty has sent a hundred horsemen who are familiar with military affairs and have a special identity to help you, which can be described as a clever move! ”

"Indeed." Li Ke nodded and smiled, thinking to himself, you, Quan Wanji, only know one and don't know the other. It is enough to send someone who understands military affairs to directly send a general with twelve guards. Where is it just such a simple reason that the Xingshi sent out a hundred horses......

The soldiers and soldiers of the government lined up in array, and three people came out of the line, one wearing armor and armor, one wearing a scarlet robe, and the other a green uniform. According to the official uniform of the Tang Dynasty, the five grades or more wear crimson official robes, and the five grades are green.

Qin Mubai rode on a horse and led the hundred cavalry soldiers to spread out a line, and behind that, Li Ke rode his horse and stepped forward. And the three men fell down head-on.

"Humble Jiangzhou Assassin Shi Cheng Songnian, Jiangzhou Governor Ma Kun, Jishan County Lieutenant Liao Lirong - Greetings to His Royal Highness King Wu!"

Li Ke got off the horse and walked in front of them and raised his hand: "Get up!" Extraordinary times don't have to be so cumbersome. ”

"Your Highness!" The three of them all got up, and Li Ke pointed to Qin Mubai on the side and said, "This hundred horsemen envoy Qin Mubai." ”

The three of them glanced at Qin Mubai neatly, and hurriedly lowered their heads and clenched their fists: "I've seen General Qin!" ”

"No need to be polite." Qin Mubai returned the salute, thinking to himself, why did Jiangzhou Assassin Shi and the county lieutenant of Jishan County come here together? - Why is it a prefectural lieutenant and not a prefectural order?

The county lieutenant is the adjutant of a county's order, in charge of military affairs, equivalent to the deputy county magistrate, and the head of the county's armed forces.

Li Ke obviously also thought of this, and after introducing the greetings, he asked: "Why is the history of the thorn, where is the county order of Jishan County?" ”

"He ......" Cheng Songnian was slightly stunned, looked at Ma Kun and Liao Lirong left and right, bowed his head and said: "Jishan County Decree Zhu Chengwen has been ...... today. Suicide in fear of sin! ”

"What?!"