The fourth day of the second month of the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu

There was silence in the yamen of the political envoy. All the servants have been temporarily driven out, and now only there are people in the hall, and there are many, Sichuan political envoy He Bin, left and right Chengxuan political envoy Li Fang, Wang Zhixiao, Sichuan Provincial Punishment Envoy Zhang Zhong, Sichuan Commander Xiao Rangxian, Xuzhou Mansion manages the four prefects of sixteen counties, six prefects of CD Prefecture, plus relevant officials at all levels, gathered together, and sat down according to priority.

The first person to sit was naturally He Bin.

Although He Bin is timid and afraid of things, he has no great talent, and he is even more submissive to Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, but now that the big event is coming, he is also a little calm, maybe Zhu Chun's previous instructions have played a role, "You are here, this king is your backbone, but when you return to your political envoy Yamen, you are the pillar of others, think about it carefully." Think about what you should do."

He Bin put down the teacup in his hand, cleared his throat, and said, "Everyone." For today, great calamity has come. ”

"I'm sure you've heard about it, a fire in Matou Mountain yesterday killed a lot of people, have you heard about it? Zhang Zhong, tell me about it. ”

Zhang Zhong is a procurator for punishment, and his subordinates are in charge of the arrest of the officials, and yesterday he sent people to Matoushan to check the situation.

"Yes. Zhang Zhong agreed, got up and said, "Around the time of February 3, Matou Mountain was on fire, and the idlers were not counted, and all the 7,000 elites under the command of the King of Shu died here. Now confirmed!"

"What?!" was a simple sentence, and everyone present suddenly exploded. The significance of the 7,000 elites of the King of Shu to Sichuan is not unclear to everyone. They only knew that there was a fire in Matou Mountain before, and they didn't care much about it (Zhu Chun's sending troops up the mountain was kept secret, and it was not publicized everywhere, only He Bin and himself knew), and on the way here earlier, they were still speculating about the reason why He Bin called everyone, but they didn't expect such a big thing to happen.

"Seven thousand people are all dead?" Li Fang's face was full of incredulity, "How is it possible? What are they going to do there?"

Zhang Zhong glanced at him, ignored him, and continued, "Yesterday, when the official sent his subordinates to check the scene, he found a large bronze pillar with the words 'Heavenly fire falls, nine dragons come out, and the world is not surnamed Zhu', which is suspected to be done by the White Lotus Sect. ”

After speaking, Zhang Zhong sat down by himself and didn't say anything else.

If Zhang Zhong's first news was to pour cold water in the hot oil pot, then this second news was to directly overturn the oil pot.

Everyone present was stunned and silent. If you look closely, it seems that there are still a few people who have some wet crotches.

However, not many people noticed, and those who noticed did not laugh loudly, but expressed their understanding in their hearts.

Sichuan was already a bit chaotic, some Tusi people often made trouble, all relying on the army of the king of Shu, now the most elite army of 7,000 is gone, the matter is serious, but it is not unsolvable. After all, there are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under Xiao Rangxian, although the soldiers' combat effectiveness is low because of Zhu Yuanzhang's reclamation policy, but it is not impossible to suppress it by relying on this number. But now that the White Lotus Sect is involved, the situation is different.

The more than 100,000 victims of the disaster in Xuzhou are unstable, and inciting the victims to cause rebellion is already the White Lotus Sect's forte. Defend the people, what should the victims of the Syrian Prefecture deal with?

His eyes slowly focused on He Bin's body, and the meaning was very clear: "You are the boss, of course you say it." ”

He Bin was beating a drum in his heart, but he didn't look in a hurry on his face, he picked up the teacup again, first covered the grate tea leaves with the cup, took a sip, and then put it down, and said, "This official has discussed with His Royal Highness the King of Shu before, and the matter is not without a solution." ”

"Lai Cangtian blessed, the saint Hongfu, before the prince has sent someone to ask the prince of Xiang to send troops to help, although the itinerary is slower, but if there is no other, it should be near Xuzhou Mansion in about three or four days, and the problem will be solved by then. ”

He Bin said that the time for the arrival of reinforcements in a few days was naturally deliberate, and if he directly said that it was more than five days, then it is estimated that the officials present would have to pack up and run away when they turned around.

"Lord He!" Wang Zhixiao, the political envoy of Youchengbu, interrupted He Bin's words, and said hurriedly, "We didn't get together yesterday, so I don't blame you, but you should know that the food in Xuzhou Mansion for disaster relief is in short supply, and it can last for two days at most." Now that there is the White Lotus Sect, it will be dangerous to run out of food for a day, not to mention that the march is an uncertain thing, if the army of King Xiang arrives in time, it is better to say, what if the time is wrong?"

"Then I can't help it" He Bin glanced at him dissatisfiedly, and then said in a deep voice, "Rank, the current situation is like this, the official has already told you everything he knows, now is not the time to discuss cause and effect, to put it bluntly, all we can do is to do our best and obey the destiny of heaven." ”

He Bin's voice suddenly became stern, "Next, the official said, you do it, whoever has a second word, just take off your hat and get out." ”

"Xiao let me be idle!"

"The lower official is here, please command" Xiao Rangxian got up and clenched his fists.

"All the soldiers on hand, all go to the palace of the king of Shu in a while, with the warrant of this official, the king of Shu will give you property. You led the four prefects of Xuzhou Prefecture to the market to buy grain, remember, buy as much as you can, and then hand it over to the four prefects, and send it to the 16 counties affected by the disaster, without a moment's delay. ”

"But... Xiao Rangxian hesitated a little, "If those profiteers sit on the ground and raise the price, or... ”

He Bin looked at him fixedly and didn't speak. But the look sent chills down his back.

"Xia Guan understands!" Xiao Rangxian nodded heavily, and then sat down.

"Hmph!" He Bin snorted coldly and continued, "For the matter of buying grain, the matter of contacting various merchants will be handed over to the prefects of the CD Mansion, no problem." ”

"The subordinate officer receives the order!" six middle-aged men in official uniforms replied in unison.

"En," He Bin nodded, "Zhang Rang!"

"The lower official is here!"

"All the servants under your command will go with the four prefects of Xuzhou Mansion, and you will go too. Remember, anyone who is suspected of the White Lotus Sect, no matter who it is, will be arrested first, and if they can't be caught, they will be killed directly. ”

"Yes!" Zhang Rang was not ambiguous, and immediately agreed.

"Li Fang, Wang Zhixiao" He Bin looked at the two people nearby, in Sichuan, the status of the two of them was second only to He Bin.

"In"

"The Lower Officials Are In"

"In a while, you will go to the court with your official and tell the emperor everything about this place, no problem, right?"

"Yes," Li Fang nodded in agreement.

"My lord ... Wang Zhixiao thought for a while and said, "It's not enough for the three of us, is there one less person?"

Listening to Wang Zhixiao's words, Li Fang also reacted, "My lord, I don't know that Jinyi Wei calmed down Lord Zhang Zhong... ”

He Bin glanced at them lightly, and then said lightly, "He is from the White Lotus Sect." ”

"What?" Wang Zhixiao subconsciously repeated, and then his face began to turn pale.

Li Fang is even more so.

The envoy of Sichuan Jinyi Wei turned out to be from the White Lotus Sect? This..

"Otherwise?" He Bin asked rhetorically, "How do you think His Royal Highness the King of Shu was ambushed by the 7,000 army, and who led them to Matou Mountain?"

"Alas~" He Bin sighed abruptly, got up and said, "Everyone, don't say more, in this crisis, we have to do our best." I'll just conclude by emphasizing one point"

He Bin's eyes sharpened, "I know that our Ming officials are having a hard time, but this time, who dares to stretch out their claws, be careful that Lao Tzu chops your head!"

"The lower officials (lowly positions) don't dare. The people stood up and answered in unison.

"Time is tight, let's disperse" He Bin waved his hand, and walked to the back hall first, and everyone left one after another, Li Fang and Wang Zhixiao glanced at each other, shook their heads, and followed.