In this late autumn season, the further north you go, the colder it gets, and when you are halfway through, you can already enjoy the snow along the way. The whole team had changed into light winter clothes, but the speed of the team slowed down significantly due to the fact that some roads were slippery and difficult to navigate, and the three imperial doctors who were not military personnel could not stand the excessive speed and bumps. Yue Tang ordered the imperial doctors to prepare an anti-epidemic decoction for the soldiers to drink, and also informed the leaders in charge of the towns along the way of the decoction recipe to control the spread of the plague to the south to the greatest extent.

After a short rest, the whole army, under the leadership of Yue Tang, continued to ride horses at a rapid pace, and finally arrived at Lanxi, the plague town in the northwest, on the eighth day after leaving Beijing.

Although everyone took the anti-epidemic decoction according to the instructions of the imperial doctor before entering the city, and covered their mouths and noses with a face towel soaked in medicinal juice, but after the city gate was opened, the pungent smell of potion and the somewhat disgusting smell of suffocation and corruption in the city were ruined and depressed straight in front of them, and the street was empty, and all the team members led by Yue Tang felt depressed and depressed, and they couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Behind the city gate, two men who were also covered with face bandages walked out, and their eyes could not hide their tired and sad faces. Yue Tang dismounted and exchanged official cards with the two of them and saluted, and learned that one of these two people was Lei Xing, the chief city lord of the six cities under the jurisdiction of Lanxi, and the other was Chi Zhiming, the commander-in-chief of the garrison of the six cities of Lanxi.

Lei Xing looked at the long and broad body and quite elegant, and Wei Chi Zhiming had the usual gangsterism of a soldier, strong and mighty.

Lei Xing took the lead in speaking: "General Yue, I won't be polite anymore when the situation is urgent, the two of us have received the news that the general is coming, and we have prepared all the needs of the generals and soldiers on a daily basis, and the residence of the rank is set in a newly opened territory in the eastern suburbs of the city, this city is really uninhabitable, and I hope you will forgive me." ”

Yue Tang: "Needless to say, these subsections need to be said. Lord Lei City, Commander Wei Chi, before I came, the report in the capital was not so serious, why is the city like this now? She glanced at the city again, and said with some solemnity, "It's not like it's empty because of the plague, it's like it has been sacked by some rebel army." ”

Lei Xing and Wei Chi Zhiming glanced at each other, and they were a little eager to speak. Seeing this, Yue Tang said directly: "If you have anything to say, just say it directly, I came here to fight side by side with the two of you, please be sure to speak up if there is any situation." ”

Lei Xing: "The general's eyes are like torches, and this scene in the city is indeed man-made." It's hard to talk about because the person who is so wreaking havoc is none other than His Royal Highness King Hui here, and with our humble rank, I really can't compete with it, so I have to move the people who can still move around in the city to live outside the city, and there is no other way. ”

Yue Tang frowned: "Since this is his fiefdom, why did he plunder his own towns and people?" ”

Lei Xing sighed: "The general doesn't know anything about ......"

Wei Chi Zhiming glared at him a little impatiently: "What's polite?" Or cover up for him? And think about how to say it so as not to ruin his reputation? Then he looked at Yue Tang, "General Yue has just arrived, and he is not afraid of your jokes, this His Royal Highness King Hui is our famous 'Batong King' here, what is 'Batong'?" Eating, drinking, prostitution, gambling, cheating, abducting and deceiving him, arresting and harming whom, especially when he saw a good-looking girl, he had to molest and even forcibly enter the house, so that most of the girls in our six cities married early, and they did not dare to wander on the street at all. I visited the Lord of Lei City several times and asked him to restrain his self-discipline, but he was blasted out and even ordered to be punished by the guard staff, and several times he played impeachment to the court but never heard back - because he has not made any life lawsuits, we can only swallow our anger and strengthen the defense of the city, but since the plague, this highness has changed the way and began to rob the crude medicine shops in the city, and in just five days, the crude medicine shops in six towns were looted, and not a single pill was left for us. ”

Yue Tang was taken aback, and immediately reacted: "He hoarded medicinal materials and sat on the ground to raise the price?!" ”

Wei Chi Zhiming was very satisfied with her reaction speed, and immediately answered: "That's right! When I led my troops to surround his house and searched it inside and outside the house three times, I found that he did not hide the herbs in the house at all, but he did not say a word where they were hidden, but only said some polite words back and forth, saying that if there was any need, I would go to him, and as the king of the land, he would definitely try his best to find a way. I didn't find any herbs, so I had to retreat temporarily and send troops to stay behind and observe secretly. But there was no movement for several days, and I had to ......," he thumped his hands in frustration, "and finally he got his way." ”

Lei Xing patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, and said to Yue Tang: "If you don't have medicinal materials, you are waiting for death, and asking for help from nearby towns is also far away from the water, so we have to buy medicinal materials from King Hui. But at first, in order to quickly suppress the plague, we bought it anyway, and even pasted it with our own money. ”

Wei Chi Zhiming sighed deeply: "I didn't expect that this plague could not be suppressed, I put out my eyeliner to find out the approximate location of the medicinal materials, so I took someone to rob them, but I grabbed some back, but the medical officer said that the medicinal materials were not complete and there was still no way to make medicine, but it angered King Hui, so that now he will go to the city from time to time to slash and burn...... It's all my fault, it's me who is too impulsive. ”

Lei Xing: "You're also in a hurry, I can't blame you." ”

Yue Tang pondered for a while, and said: "Lord Lei City, as far as I know, although the rank of the king is higher than yours, as the lord of the six cities, you have the right to decide on crises, and in the case of the plague, you should be able to order General Wei Chi to send troops to directly control King Hui." ”

Wei Chi Zhiming seemed to be worried that Yue Tang would blame Lei Xing for not governing the city effectively, and immediately said: "The city lord did give an order, and he went with me to arrest King Hui!" But King Hui is guarded by a warrior monk by his side, and we are really no opponent...... In addition, there has been no response to the excerpts of the imperial court, and we don't dare to touch him easily......"

Yue Tang said suspiciously: "Warrior monk? ”

Wei Chi Zhiming nodded vigorously: "Very powerful warrior monk!" Any one is one against a hundred! My soldiers are also well-trained, but it really takes seven or eight people to deal with a warrior monk. I fought with the leader of the warrior monks beside King Hui, and I really didn't ...... three moves."

Lei Xing glanced at him, and Wei Chi Zhiming swallowed the second half of his sentence. Lei Xing explained to Yue Tang: "Seeing the smile, it's because we are not good at learning and art, and we can't complain about others." Just to remind the general not to provoke those warrior monks easily, if it hurts himself, we really can't escape the blame, but if the general wants to punish King Hui, I can tell the general about those warrior monks-"

Yue Tang interrupted with a smile: "I'm here to cure the plague, and irrelevant people and things are not in my eyes, so don't worry, two adults." ”

Lei Xing and Wei Chi Zhiming quickly exchanged glances, and Lei Xing immediately said: "That's natural, anti-plague first, and everything else will be postponed." So what does the general plan to do first now? Let's get ready. ”

Yue Tang shrugged his shoulders slightly exaggeratedly and said, "I'm really tired after riding my horse for nine days, so let's go to the garrison you arranged to rest first." ”

Lei Xing suppressed the slight displeasure in his eyes, and immediately led the way: "Please come with me, general." ”

Yue Tang stretched out his hand to summon his lieutenant general, and introduced to Lei Xing: "This is my lieutenant general Hong Ding, who will place the five thousand soldiers with you." As for me—" She patted Wei Chi Zhiming's shoulder loudly and said with a smile, "just ask Chief Wei Chi to take me around the city." ”

Wei Chi Zhiming didn't expect her to have such an arrangement, and immediately looked at Lei Xing. Lei Xing was embarrassed to pick up his eyes in front of Yue Tang again, so he had to say to Yue Tang: "The general might as well settle it first, and then I will send someone to go with him, so as not to make any mistakes." ”

"Not necessarily." Yue Tang waved his hand casually, "It's really not good for five thousand people to gather at the gate of the city, Lord Lei City quickly take them to settle down, and I will come later with Commander Wei Chi." After that, he directly dragged Wei Chi Zhiming's arm and entered the city.

Wei Chi Zhiming said "hey, hey" a few times, but he couldn't stop Yue Tang's pace, and he couldn't get the stop of Lei Xing, so he had to follow Yue Tang into the city quickly. There was a slight hint of anxiety on Lei Xing's face, which attracted Hong Ding's comfort: "Lei City Lord doesn't have to worry, my general's one enemy is not a problem." ”

Lei Xing smiled politely: "That is, I have already heard of the prestige of the general." Adjutant General Hong, please come here. ”

Lanxi City.

Yue Tang and Wei Chi Zhiming walked side by side on the wide and unmanned main street. Although the storefronts on both sides of the road are dilapidated, the regulations are still lined up one after another, and the banners are scattered, so you can imagine the prosperity of the city before the plague. Lanxi is located at the junction of the two countries, and foreign trade has been very frequent, and the six cities under its jurisdiction are more or less bordered by the neighboring Beiting, especially Lanxi.

Yue Tang quickly found a crude medicine shop and walked in, and he didn't know what he was looking for. Wei Chi Zhiming followed her and looked around, and asked, "What is General Yue looking for?" Say it and I'll help you find it. ”

Yue Tang squinted his eyes behind him and raised his chin to signal him to look back. Wei Chi Zhiming turned around, and saw that the chisel mark of a heavy object on the door panel behind him was very conspicuous, and he couldn't see what was striking the door panel like this.

Yue Tang took a few steps closer to take a closer look, and said thoughtfully: "The top three are like knife marks, and the lower one is like a hammer blow, this is obviously another overall blade, but I have never seen this kind of blade - does Commander Wei Chi know?" ”

Wei Chi Zhiming shook his head: "I've never seen ......"

Yue Tang: "Don't the people under King Hui have this kind of blade?" Did he order the city to be plundered? ”

Yu Chi Zhiming seemed to suddenly come back to his senses, and hurriedly said: "That may also be the blade held by the people under King Hui!" After all, they came at night a few days ago, and they probably didn't see it clearly. ”

Yue Tang suddenly repeated: "Ah, at night, I didn't see clearly. She turned to look at the candles and lamps in the shop, and went to the back hall to check the hut where the shopkeeper stopt, wondering if the city was really being attacked at night.

Wei Chi Zhiming followed her around the city for most of the hour, and found that she not only checked the traces of looting, but also rummaged for some seemingly useless things, and even directly tore the hem of her robe as a wrapper, wrapped the collected things properly, and carried a large bag on her shoulder.

The two walked out of the city gate, and Wei Chi Zhiming breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to take Yue Tang to the station, but he heard her say: "Take me to the largest medical hall." ”

Wei Chi Zhiming was a little surprised: "It's getting late, the general should settle down earlier?" It should be dinner at this time of the year, and the patients' masks will be taken off, so I'm afraid that the general will ......"

Yue Tang only stared at him and said in a deep voice: "Lead the way." ”