Before you know it, in September 185 B.C., the plague that had raged for most of the summer finally converged as the weather gradually cooled.

However, for this plague, the state of Chu has already paid an extremely heavy price, not to mention anything else, just the requisition of doctors in various counties and the large-scale purchase of herbs is a huge expense, if it were not for the red-top merchants to control it and let the pharmacists sit on the ground and raise the price, the price paid by the state of Chu may be even greater.

In addition to the huge consumption of money and food, there are even more tragic losses in terms of personnel.

It has to be said that Xiang Zhuang's emergency measures are still quite effective, due to the blockage of the water, white water, river water and the strict blockade of the water army, the plague was finally controlled between the two counties of Nanyang and Nanjun, but even if it only affected the two counties, it was enough to cause heavy losses to the Chu State.

Now the plague has not completely subsided, and the casualties cannot be counted for the time being, but Xiang Zhuang estimates that at least 200,000 people will die of the plague, and this is only the people, in addition to the people, the soldiers of the Chu army who died of the plague have exceeded 60,000, Xiang Zhuang must admit that in ancient times when medicine was backward, the flu was indeed an out-and-out super killer!

In the Chu Han Water War, the number of dead soldiers in the Chu army from beginning to end was only more than 50,000 people, but just a plague caused the Chu army to lose more than 60,000 soldiers, which made Xiang Zhuang's heart drip blood every time he thought about it, because the 60,000 people who died of the plague were all young and strong men, and the population base of Chu was not strong enough to make Xiang Zhuang completely ignore 60,000 strong men!

Moreover, the biggest trouble of the plague is not the plague itself, but the aftermath of the plague, such as the qualitative problem of the soldiers of the Chu army who died of the plague, the bereavement matters, as well as the post-disaster reconstruction of Nanjun and Nanyang counties, as well as the large-scale disinfection of the water sources of the two counties, and so on, etc., all of which are extremely laborious.

The only thing to be thankful for is. Ling Yin Xiang he did not hesitate to take the danger and had rushed to the Nanyang camp, and all affairs unrelated to military affairs had been handed over to Xiang He to deal with, and Xiang Zhuang did not have to do anything in person except for the overall situation.

At this time, Xiang Zhuang was inspecting a water source surrounded by civil and military officials. That's a dozen deep wells.

Although the plague has been subsided, this does not mean that it can be taken lightly, in fact, there are still as many as 100,000 soldiers of the Chu army who have been isolated and treated, and it will take a long time to completely cure or wait for these soldiers to recover themselves, so during this time, it is very important to keep the water source clean.

If the water is polluted, then all the work done is lost.

Xiang Zhuang instructed Zidu, who was in charge of water source guarding, as he walked: "General Zidu." Although the epidemic has eased, you must not take it lightly? ”

Zidu hurriedly said: "Don't worry, the king will take care of it." ”

As soon as the words fell, Qu Bucai, the commander of the Ebony Cliff, suddenly hurried to Xiang Zhuang's side, and took out a small volume of secret letters from his belt and handed it to Xiang Zhuang: "King, this is a flying pigeon from Xianyang!" "Of course, Xianyang's flying pigeon biography cannot be sent directly to Nanyang Daying, and it is forwarded through Ziling and Jiangling.

Xiang Zhuang unfolded the secret letter and hurriedly read it. Suddenly, his face was slightly gloomy.

There was only one thing mentioned in the secret letter, the ebony dead man lurking in Xianyang inadvertently glimpsed the Han prince Liu Heng and Yaxiang Baimo going out to Xianyang overnight and going in the direction of Luoyang.

Immediately, Xiang Zhuang handed the secret letter to Xiang He, Xiang Tuo, Bi Shu, Bai Lixian and other important civil and military ministers to circulate them one by one.

After the ministers finished circulating, Xiang Zhuang took the lead in asking Baili Xiandao: "Ziliang, this matter ...... What do you think? ”

Bai Lixian shook the feather fan in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Liu Bang led the troops outside, and he would leave the prince to supervise the country as usual, but now Liu Heng, the prince of the Han Dynasty, went to Luoyang with Bai Mo overnight, which shows that a major event has happened in the direction of Luoyang that is enough to shake the country. ”…,

"A major event that is enough to shake the country's foundation?" Wu Shi frowned slightly. Subconsciously asked, "What will be the big deal?" ”

"There are only two possibilities." Bai Lixian raised his left hand and stretched out his second finger in the middle of the food, and said, "First, the enemy army is under the city of Luoyang, but my Great Chu has not attacked Luoyang in a big way at all, and the Qi, Han, and Zhao countries are being attacked by the Xiongnu, and it is also impossible to threaten Luoyang, so this possibility can be ruled out." ”

Wu Shi said again: "But I don't know what the second possibility is?" ”

Xiang Zhuang's eyes froze, and he said in a deep voice: "Could it be that Liu Bang has already walked out of Yaoshan?" This old man's life is really hard. ”

"That's right. The second possibility is that Liu Bang is calling! Bai Lixian smiled slightly, and said, "It's just that Liu Heng and Bai Mo can run out overnight, it can be seen that Liu Bang's situation is very bad. ”

"Tuogu?" A hint of coldness suddenly appeared in Xiang Zhuang's eyes.

There was also a flash of cold light in Baili Xian's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "King, this may be a good opportunity to surrender without a fight!" ”

"You mean...... Do you fall into the ground? With that, Xiang Zhuang picked up a piece of quicklime and threw it into a well.

"Yes, fall into the well!" Bai Lixian pointed to the deep well with the feather fan in his hand, and said, "Today's Han Kingdom is like a person who falls into a well, as long as he throws a few more stones into the well, he can bury it alive without blood!" Saying this, Bai Lixian said again, "The minister thought that sending people to spread rumors in Guanzhong at this time would have a miraculous effect. ”

"That's a brilliant plan!" Bi Shu couldn't help but praise him, "My senior brother can be summoned by the King of Han to Luoyang to Tuogu, which shows that Liu Bang is about to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility, however, although he is capable, but after all, his qualifications are shallow. ”

"Good!" Xiang Zhuang slammed the knot and ordered Qu Bucai to say, "Old Qu, this matter is arranged by you!" ”

"Whoa!" Qu Bucai responded suddenly, turned around and hurried away, about half an hour later, a carrier pigeon flew into the night sky from the Chu army camp, and went straight to Jiangling, this is a secret letter sent by Qu Bucai to the Xianyang Wumu Cliff Branch, but the carrier pigeon of the Chu army camp could not fly directly to Xianyang, so it could only use Jiangling to transit.

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Besides, Liu Heng, Bai Mo, and Chen Ping helped Liu Bang's coffin to drive back to Guanzhong, but they did not mourn.

Two days later, the Imperial Forest Army had just passed through the Xinguan (Tongguan of the Later Generations) that was being built, when an earth-shattering news suddenly reached the Imperial Forest Army.

"What did you say?!" Chen Ping glared at his uncle and grandson in disbelief, and said in a deep voice, "The news of the king's collapse has spread throughout Guanzhong?" ”

Liu Heng, who was in the chief, also had round eyes, his face was full of disbelief, and the white ink thick eyebrows at the bottom right of Liu Heng frowned deeply, and fell into deep thought.

Uncle Sun Ying didn't dare to hide it, and reported truthfully: "Prince, the last general's words are true, and there is no deception!" ”

"How is this possible?!" Chen Ping spread his hands and said incredibly, "The matter of the collapse of the first king, except for the king, the prime minister, the Taishi and the uncle and grandson general, only the dozen or so royal forest guards know, and the matter has only happened for three days, how can it spread throughout the entire Guanzhong?" Isn't that logical? ”

"Oops!" Bai Mo suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I actually neglected the pervasive Ebony Cliff!" ”

"Ebony Cliff?!" Chen Ping heard the song and knew what it meant, and said, "Is the prime minister saying that the news of the king's collapse was spread by the people of Ebony Cliff?" "The rumors spread by the people of Ebony Cliff make sense.

But after thinking about it again, Chen Ping's face changed again, although the rumors spread by Ebony Cliff were facts, in this way, they were extremely passive, not to mention anything else, what would Lu Xuan, who was returning to Xianyang after receiving the letter, do? I'm just afraid that this guy will turn around and go back to Jiuyuan? And Lu Tai, what kind of reaction will there be? …,

"It's not a trivial matter." Chen Ping calmed down and said to Bai Mo, "Prime Minister, I'm afraid we won't be able to act according to the original plan anymore, at least the arrangements for Lu Juan and the general have been made in advance." ”

Bai Mo nodded, and immediately said: "In this way, Xianyang's side will be handed over to you, Taishi, and the prime minister will set off to rush to Jinyang day and night!" After saying this, Bai Mo turned his head and instructed his uncle and grandson, "General uncle and grandson, you lead fifty horsemen to Shangjun day and night, and be sure to block Yulinkou and prevent rumors from spreading out of the inner Great Wall!" ”

"Whoa!" Uncle and grandson Ying responded violently and took the lead in receiving the order.

Seeing the figure of his uncle and grandson in the distance, Chen Ping said worriedly: "Prime Minister, are you sure about this matter?" ”

"Who can say that this is completely certain?" Bai Mo shook his head with a wry smile, and then immediately cheered up and said, "But now, we can only pin our hopes on Champion Hou, we have no choice, don't we?" ”

Chen Ping smiled bitterly, and now, it seems that there is really no other way to do it than trust Zhou Guanfu.

At that moment, Bai Mo turned around and gave Liu Heng a deep look, and said, "King, the minister will set off." ”

"Father Xiang must be careful." Liu Heng couldn't help but say a few words, Bai Mo shook it again, and turned around.

Until this moment, Liu Heng didn't know Bai Mo and Chen Ping's overall plan, Bai Mo had now set off for Jinyang, but looking at Chen Ping's appearance, he didn't seem to tell Liu Heng the meaning of the overall plan, although Liu Heng was depressed in his heart, he couldn't help but didn't ask questions, and only put on a look of letting the prime minister and the Taishi take care of everything.

Chen Ping pondered for a moment in his travels, and suddenly summoned a royal forest guard and ordered: "You take a hundred royal forest guards to take a step ahead, and be sure to find a person with a similar appearance to the first king in the county pavilions along the way. ”

"Whoa!" The guards agreed, and took the order.

Chen Ping then turned to Liu Heng and bowed shallowly, and said, "King, the old minister intends to rebuild the Black Ice Platform. ”

"Black Ice Terrace?" Liu Heng paused in his heart, isn't this the secret service of the old Qin? But after just being stunned, Liu Heng readily agreed, "If the Taishi thinks it is necessary, just do it as soon as possible." (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )