At this moment, Zhao Changqing's heart is very painful, he is not a cold-blooded person, although sometimes he likes to kill innocents indiscriminately because of his mediocrity, but he has always taken those who are good to him and willing to really work for him.

For example, Zhao Yun in front of him, or Xiao Yuming who went out to do errands, which one did not interfere with him earning mediocrity? But in the end, which of these people is not in a high position now?

Because he knew very well in his heart that it was not possible to drive away those who really served him and worked hard for the sake of mediocrity, which was first of all stupid and secondly inauthentic.

The death of the big brother really stimulated him, if he really died because of his own interests, then the minister died as he deserved, but he died of this disease, which was unacceptable to Zhao Changqing, and even, this disease was probably artificially created.

If that's the case, it would be hateful.

Zhao Changqing asked Zhao Yun: "Yu Ming has been gone for so long, why hasn't he come back yet? It's just a slaughterhouse, as for wasting so much time?"

Zhao Yun didn't know how to answer, so he had to say, "Or, the last general will go to see the situation?"

Zhao Changqing shook his head and said, "Wait a while, with you by my side, I can calm down a little." ”

Zhao Yun was stunned when he heard this, perhaps, it was because of this plague that His Majesty was a little sad, right?

After about a while, Xiao Yuming went and returned, and reported to Zhao Changqing: "Your Majesty, there are one hundred and twenty-three people in the slaughterhouse, and none of them have survived, but among them, there are no new faces that the men and soldiers saw yesterday to buy ingredients.

The last general also turned the entire slaughterhouse upside down before discovering these corpses, and according to identity verification and informants, these dead people were all laborers and butchers in the slaughterhouse, and probably, they had been dead for two days. ”

Zhao Changqing frowned at Xiao Yuming when he heard this, stared at him and said, "You mean to say that the people in the slaughterhouse have all been transferred?

Xiao Yuming heard that His Majesty's tone was not good, so he knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, the preliminary judgment is indeed so. The last general has already asked people to investigate this matter strictly, and the whole city has arrested the strange faces who have entered the city in the past two days, and I believe that in time, these people will be arrested. ”

Zhao Changqing gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and kicked Xiao Yuming's shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground, but immediately he straightened his body and knelt down.

Your Majesty's kick, although unexpected, is reasonable.

After all, this matter is really negligent and careless.

Zhao Changqing kicked him and was still angry, and immediately scolded again: "Are you still embarrassed to say these words? This is Lingnan Prefecture, and we have 400,000 troops here! But I didn't expect that we were still walked in by people with ulterior motives, and they also deceived the sky and the sea, and moved flowers and trees, so that our soldiers were infected with this plague!"

Xiao Yuming, Xiao Yuming, how do you tell me that you are good? And you Zhao Yun! You two really impress me! Under our noses, you actually let some gangsters and even anti-thieves sneak into the city, and you have caused such serious losses to our army!

Tell me, both of you, how shall I inflict your sin?"

After a thought, it is not difficult for everyone to guess that the plague in the army is inseparable from the executioners who killed one hundred and twenty-three people in the slaughterhouse, however, who dares to put his hand into the army of the imperial court?

At the moment, there is no one but the thief.

The only thing that I can't figure out now is, by what means can they create or possess the source of these plagues?

Xiao Yuming and Zhao Yun glanced at each other, and they both hugged their fists in unison and said, "I beg Your Majesty to surrender!"

Zhao Changqing took a deep breath, wanting to calm his emotions, and then said: "Of course, you have to punish the crime, and when you return to the capital, each of you will go and get two hundred military sticks, now, you give me snacks, I don't want any chaos!"

Zhao Yun opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, if such a thing is found in the city, the two of us are willing to come and see it!"

After he finished speaking, Xiao Yuming also said that he must find out about this matter, arrest all those angry guys, and let them experience what hellish pain is.

In this way, Zhao Changqing nodded with satisfaction and said, "I thought about it just now, the matter of the plague can't be delayed any longer, I and those sick soldiers can't wait for Zhu Yanxiu's arrival."

The notice went down, and a large reward was offered for those who could cure the plague, so that all states and highways urgently mobilized doctors and medicinal materials and transported them to Lingnan Province as soon as possible. ”

Xiao Yuming and the others thought about it, His Majesty's doing this was tantamount to publicizing the fact that the general had a plague, and in this way, wouldn't it make people panic? And once the influence continued to expand, it was very likely to cause a certain loss to His Majesty's Long Wei.

So, Xiao Yuming stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, isn't this too fast? If you let someone with ulterior motives take advantage of it, I'm afraid the whole world will be panicked!"

Zhao Changqing thought for a while and said decisively: "I can't worry about it so much, after all, paper can't contain fire, in case the plague continues to spread, it will be a loss of human lives." ”

Since the emperor has said so, what can they do as courtiers?

What's more, what His Majesty said also has some truth, but everyone thinks about the problem from a different angle.

Xiao Yuming: They consider the problem from the perspective of the emperor.

And Zhao Changqing was standing on the sickbed and thinking about the problem.

It is normal to have some disagreements with different starting points.

Just when Zhao Changqing was about to give an order, he learned a piece of news.

The news was reported through the scouts.

At present, it is rumored in the entire Lingnan Province that because of his own immorality, God lowered the criminal law, which caused the army to be infected with the plague.

After Zhao Changqing heard the news, he sneered at Xiao Yuming and the others: "Okay, the matter of the plague has been revealed. Don't think about it, it must have been the traitors. ”

A sneer is a sneer, but Zhao Changqing is not angry about his reputation, on the contrary, the worse his reputation is among the people, the happier he is.

He is angry that the actions of these thieves are too shameless and hateful!

Xiao Yuming said: "Your Majesty, the last general will let people write articles to make the truth of this matter public, so that the plan of the anti-thieves will fail." ”

Zhao Changqing shook his head and said, "Personal reputation is insignificant. The most important thing we need to do now is to stop the plague, to find out why they were able to create this plague, and third, and most importantly, to do everything we can to save the lives of every soldier. ”

Zhao Yun and the others nodded, and he took the lead in speaking: "Then Your Majesty, follow your will, mobilize all the resources of the various states and roads, and control the epidemic here in the shortest possible time." ”

They all figured out in their hearts that the matter had come to this point, and the best way to save His Majesty's reputation was actually to eradicate the epidemic in the shortest possible time, as His Majesty said.

After all, after thinking about it, they found a truth.

Ordinary people don't look at how beautiful you say, but how well you do it.

If you don't do it well enough, what you say will be sprayed into the sky.

At this moment, a guard came to report, saying that they had met a group of people dressed as Taoist priests at the city gate, and because they felt that their identities were suspicious, they did not let them enter the city, but they gathered outside the city, saying that they wanted to see them.

At that time, Zhao Changqing felt a little confused, Taoist priest?

When I think about it, I find that I don't have much to do with those swaggering and deceiving charlatans!

Wait a minute

Taoist priest, Taoist palace, little Taoist aunt on the Huai River?

"Yu Ming stayed in the barracks, responsible for stabilizing the mood of the soldiers, and those who disguised themselves as butchers in the slaughterhouse and came to harm my soldiers must be found.

Zilong will follow me to the city gate to have a look, in extraordinary times, until their identities are discovered, or don't let them enter the city for the time being, I also want to see, these bull-nosed veterans, come to find me what the hell is going on. After Zhao Changqing finished speaking, he left, and Zhao Yun followed closely.

Xiao Yuming waved to the emperor's departing back and said, "The last general will take the order." ”

came to the gate of the city and startled Zhao Changqing.

In front of the city gate, there were about three or four hundred Taoist priests gathered, which was really unexpected.

After seeing the emperor's true body, these Taoist priests held the Taoist meridian recipe one after another, and said to him: "Poor Dao has seen Your Majesty. ”

Zhao Changqing waved his hand and looked at these Taoist priests, although there were men and women, but he didn't find the figure of Xiao Daogu, he couldn't help but feel a little lost, he said to these Taoist priests: "You came to find me, what is the so-called matter?"

Led by a gray-haired old Taoist priest, he was an elder of the Dao Palace, the Taoist name Xuan Chengzi, on behalf of a group of Taoist priests, he said to the emperor: "Back to Your Majesty, Poor Dao and others are all from various Taoist sects of my Great Wei, and they do not hesitate to trek through mountains and rivers to come here to help Your Majesty and eliminate those witch thieves. ”

Zhao Changqing frowned and said, "How can I trust what you say?"

Xuan Chengzi said: "I heard that the barracks in the city were infected with the plague for no reason, and the poor Dao guessed that this was a method of witchcraft, using all kinds of poisonous insects and beasts to create a man-made epidemic, and we have been practicing the art of medicine since childhood, and we may be able to solve this plague in the army." ”

Zhao Changqing's eyes were cold, and he said, "Where did you know that a plague broke out in the military camp in the city?"

Xuan Chengzi said: "Along the way, there is no shortage of beggars I have seen, and I learned from them that it is said that there is an outbreak of plague in the military camp in the city, and Your Majesty has also been slandered by those thieves. ”

In this way, it is basically the same as the information that Zhao Changqing just got.

I also believed a little in my heart, but I still had doubts, "Why are you Taoists who only know Qing cultivation on weekdays willing to help me?"

Xuan Chengzi replied: "There are two reasons, first, Your Majesty is a peerless monarch of the past and the present, and helping Your Majesty is to help the people of the whole world. Second, since ancient times, there have been two sects of Taoism and witches, and they have never died. ”

Zhao Changqing understood what this meant.

It's probably a means of using each other.

He said, "You say you can cure the plague, well, I will give you three days, and then give you a sick person, if you can cure him within three days, I will make Taoism the state religion in the future, and if you can't cure him, I want you, and them, to be buried with that sick person."

In these three days, I can only let these people from the Dao Sect who came with you first grieve and settle down in a small camp outside the city. What do you think?"

After finishing speaking, he also added in his heart, "You are Mingjun, your whole family is Mingjun!"

Xuan Chengzi frowned when he heard this.

This majesty is too suspicious, right?

But after thinking about it, throughout the ages, whoever is an emperor through the ages, who is not suspicious and suspicious?

Originally, these people in the Daomen had some complaints, but after hearing Xuan Chengzi's bitter explanation and appeasement, they had no choice but to come according to His Majesty the Emperor's wishes.

(End of chapter)