After penicillin was manufactured and used on a large scale, the number of deaths due to the plague in Yangcheng County decreased rapidly.

Although the epidemic is still raging in a short period of time, this disaster will slowly pass over and gradually become history.

On the other hand, in other places, such as Zhili, Jizhou, Qingzhou and other places, the disaster situation has become more and more uncontrollable, and more ordinary people died in this disaster.

For the first time since the crossing, Xiao Jiu intuitively felt that the power of human beings was so small in front of nature.

Although there were countless ideas in his mind to change the world, Xiao Jiu couldn't do much in his current state.

Listening to the news of the victims coming from time to time, Xiao Jiu secretly made up his mind that he must develop modern medicine after the epidemic is over to improve the common sense of life of the people in the territory.

On this day, when Xiao Jiu was secretly worried about the resettlement of the victims, a news from Yuzhou made Xiao Jiu's mood calm for a long time.

"Gu Chong is dead?"

Xiao Jiu looked at the intelligence officer who came with the news in front of him with some excitement, and kept muttering in his mouth.

For Gu Chong, Xiao Jiu didn't have much hatred in his heart, on the contrary, he had some admiration for Gu Chong's life experience.

Since the first conversation with Gu Chong outside Yangcheng County, Xiao Jiu knew that this old man was not obsessed with power, and what he wanted to do was far more noble than profit-driven.

Half a life was bumpy, and he led the uprising at the risk of killing his head in the last journey of his life, if he wanted to be the emperor, he had no heirs under his knees.

It wasn't until the rebel army in Yuzhou entered the city of Kyoto and completely erased the Great Xia court that it began to let the world go until he really just wanted to overthrow the guarantee.

Although the reputation of the rebel army in Yuzhou is mixed, Gu Chong, as the leader of the Shenhuo Sect, enjoys great prestige among the people.

He is a man who wants to be a saint.

This is the evaluation that Xiao Jiu gave him, but now he is dying painfully in the struggle for power and profit, which is not a kind of sadness.

Gu Chong and Xiao Jiu are very similar in some places, there are really people in their hearts, but different choices lead to different results.

If the roles between Xiao Jiu and Gu Chong are reversed, maybe Xiao Jiu can't do better, and vice versa.

Thinking of this, Xiao Jiu's eyes were full of sympathy, but now was not the time for him to be sad.

After Gu Chong's death, Chen Peixing, the left general of Yuzhou, and Li Shihao, the vanguard officer, conspired to assassinate Wang Yunfei in an unsuccessful attempt, but they were afraid that they would soon be besieged in Yuzhou City by the other party's subordinates.

The civil strife in Yuzhou is all Xiao Jiu's opportunity, but he still needs to hear the opinions of others.

Xiao Jiu did not hesitate, and directly ordered the officials of Yangcheng County to go to the meeting hall of Yangcheng County, ready to discuss how to deal with the Yuzhou issue.

Xiao Jiu's order was conveyed quickly, and in less than two hours, the high-level leaders of the military, government, and business of Yangcheng County gathered.

Seeing that everyone was almost here, Xiao Jiu cleared his throat and said with a stern face: "Elder Gu Chong of Yuzhou is dead, and the current Yuzhou City is in full swing, I want to hear your thoughts." ”、

As soon as these words came out, most of the civil and military officials were shocked, and only a few such as Zhou Jin were still sitting calmly in Diaoyutai.

For a while, there was a noisy discussion in the hall, and Xiao Jiu watched the discussion with a blank face.

It wasn't until everyone was tired of discussing that Xiao Jiu began to name him: "Zhou Jin, you can say it first." ”

Xiao Jiu's voice fell, and Zhou Jin, who had not spoken much, stood up and said slowly: "In my opinion, the plague is raging right now, and if you rashly lead the army into Yuzhou, I am afraid that other accidents will easily occur." ”

After speaking, Zhou Jin quietly took a step back and continued to stand, as if Xiao Jiu's final decision had nothing to do with him.

Xiao Jiu glanced at Zhou Jin, thoughtfully bypassed him, and looked at the others.

It's just that a circle of people came down, and few of them supported Xiao Jiu's move to Yangcheng County, and only a few people in the army were still fantasizing about making some military merits through this war.

In the end, Xiao Jiu set his eyes on his eldest brother Li Yi, quietly waiting for him to answer, and only after seeing that he began to shake his head did he give up the idea of sending troops.

There's no way, who let Li Yi manage the money now, his role is even greater than that of others in ordinary times.

But now Xiao Jiu's decision not to send troops to Yuzhou for the time being does not mean that he will be idle during this time.

After the meeting, Xiao Jiu left his eldest brother Li Yi alone and gave him a difficult task.

That is, to make a batch of explosives that can explode in the factory in Yangcheng County, and he wants to sell them to Chen Pei and Li Shihao, who are now in Yuzhou City.

……

Qingzhou, the state capital.

Today's Qingzhou presents a scene of decay, the streets are deserted, only the yellow paper that has been sprinkled at the funeral is still broken on the ground.

"Another one, I don't know how many it is."

"Who's to say it's not, the doctor in the city just finished taking medicine for her, but she still died in the afternoon."

On the streets of Qingzhou, two young people from the city carried a bag and sank directly into the canal with a bang, and the bag knew that it was a corpse without guessing.

This time the plague swept through Qingzhou, leaving Xu Liang, the current governor of Qingzhou, bedridden, and no one cared about the lives of the people below.

At the same time, the factories that Xiao Jiu opened in the north were all suspended, and in just one month, a lot of money was lost.

But now is not the time to feel distressed, for this time, we still have to put people first, so as not to make a bigger mess.

Just like Qingzhou at this time, because of the raging plague and the strong suppression of the Qingzhou army, there has been a backlash among the people.

A Taoist named Wang Laoji distributed talisman water in Qingzhou, claiming to be able to cure diseases and save people, and has gathered a lot of believers around him, just like the Yuzhou Shenhuo Sect back then.

The Qingzhou Prefecture Government, which got the news, immediately took thunderous measures to directly suppress these people who gathered in the crowd, and caught the demon Wang Laoji and beheaded the public.

But in this way, it can be regarded as completely arousing the dissatisfaction in the hearts of the people, making the situation in the entire Qingzhou more and more delicate.

The thoughts of these people are actually very pure, since you officials don't care, and now you have cut off the only hope for life, how can you not make people feel cold.

At this time, a person in charge of the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce in charge of the factory in Qingzhou saw an opportunity from this incident, an opportunity to make Qingzhou unstable.

This person's name is Wei Lai, a common man who first joined the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce, and was reused by Li Fu with his keen business instincts, and has now become the spokesman of the Qingzhou Division.

During this time, Wei Lai gave alms to the people displaced by the plague on the one hand, and earned enough prestige among the people.

Secretly, Wei Lai supported the original group of believers of Wang Laoji in Qingzhou, forming the first rebel force in Qingzhou to overthrow the rule of the Qingzhou army.

After that, Wei Lai secretly sent a letter directly to Xiao Jiu, and got Xiao Jiu's approval, and the reply he got only had four big words, "act with discretion".

In the second month of the plague raging in Qingzhou, dozens of forces, large and small, had been formed in the counties under its jurisdiction, raising their arms among the people and directly pulling the flag to rebel.

Compared with the terrible plague, sometimes the turmoil in the hearts of the rulers made the ruler's heart palpitate, and it was only now that those officials in Qingzhou began to react, but it was too late.

Now Xu Liang is seriously ill, and all the affairs of the family are handled by the officials of the Qingzhou family, and he organized private soldiers to exterminate them as soon as he got the rebellion of the people.

For these rebellious people, the attitude of the Qingzhou army is very firm, that is, to slaughter, kill until they dare not resist.

But this kind of violent treatment may work in normal times, but at the moment when the plague is crossing, it can only provoke more opposition.

……

Qingzhou, the city lord's mansion.

At this time, the home of Xu Liang, the governor of Qingzhou, had gathered many Qingzhou officials who wanted to see him, but now Xu Liang was in weak health, and everyone could only wait here for the summons.

"Master, please move to the back hall."

After a long time, a porter dressed as a housekeeper took everyone to see Xu Liang on the sickbed, but he saw that the emaciated appearance was already skinny.

Several older Qingzhou officials approached Xu Liang's side, wanting to explain their intentions, but when they saw the other party's appearance, they really didn't know how to say it.

Xu Liang still supported his seriously ill body, let himself sit up reluctantly, and took the lead in asking: "You are here for the rebellion, right?" ”

Listening to Xu Liang's inquiry, several officials close to the hospital bed nodded slowly and began to talk about the recent chaos in Qingzhou, but Xu Liang just listened quietly without saying a word.

It wasn't until the official said that the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce made Xu Liang's eyes regain some of his brilliance.

"Wei Lai of the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce is secretly supporting those anti-thieves?"

Hearing this news, Xu Liang's brows furrowed slightly, although he was surprised, he knew after a little thought that this news must be true.

Then, the Qingzhou officials asked about Xu Liang's attitude, which was also the main purpose of their trip.

Because the identity of the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce is really sensitive, if they rashly act against it without Xu Liang's consent, the consequences of something happening are not something they can bear.

I saw Xu Liang groaning for a while, and finally sighed, and said slowly in a hoarse voice: "At the moment, the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce cannot be moved, if the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce is directly uprooted, it will not only arouse the opposition of the people, but also directly give Xiao Heizi a reason to send troops to Qingzhou." ”

.“ What do you mean? ", the Qingzhou official who asked asked asked hesitantly.

Xu Liang slowly closed his eyes and said with difficulty: "There is only one way to calm the people's grievances, and that is to sacrifice some of our interests." Pass my order, immediately summon the patriarchs of the four major families to the City Lord's Mansion, and the time has come to decide the fate of Qingzhou. ”

Xu Liang's attitude is far more cautious than that of these Qingzhou officials, and his vision is more long-term than theirs, but the future of Qingzhou is not something that Xu Liang can decide.