Xie Ming

Chapter 520: County Gate
The next day, August 7th, at the beginning of the Chen hour (around am).

Xiao Xing's team set up a temporary camp and had breakfast, then reorganized the army and set out again, heading for Changzhou County as planned.

It's a flat road of more than 30 miles, so it doesn't take too long.

There was only a little waiting when changing ferry at the riverside.

It took about half an hour for Xiao Lang and his team to cross the river and officially enter the territory of Changzhou.
Changzhou County is located in the heart of the Yangtze River delta, in front of the northwest shore of Taihu Lake.

Here, in the late Spring and Autumn Period (547 BC), Ji Zha, the fourth son of King Shoumeng of Wu, was granted the fiefdom of Yanling.

It was the seat of county, state, road and prefecture in all later dynasties, and was once called Yanling, Piling, Jinling, Nanlanling and Wujin.

It was not until the ninth year of Kaihuang (589 AD) during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty that the name Changzhou was first used.

This place is surrounded by three rivers, and a branch of the Yangtze River traps the city in the middle.

As a result, it is said that half of the land under his jurisdiction is cultivated and the other half is swamped.

The waterways are well developed, making it convenient for cargo ships to travel, which is considered a good thing.

However, the rain this year is indeed very heavy, and natural disasters are beyond human control. Therefore, the water branches that usually connect to all directions have now become the source of floods!
After Xiao Jingchuan entered Changzhou this morning, he walked the rest of the way. As there were many swamps in the area, and the water had receded in some places, a lot of mud and stale materials had accumulated on the surface, making it very difficult to walk through.

Under the scorching sun, these things that are difficult to remove in a short time will smell extremely bad once they are baked.

Team Xiao's members suppressed their nausea and tried to find a main road to avoid the situation.

After another quarter of an hour, at the end of Chen time, Changzhou County could finally be seen.
At this moment, the sun had already risen high in the sky. Under the scorching sun, the county town gate was filled with tents and mats laid out by starving victims, mostly blocking both ends of the road.

What's worse, there are also people who cross the road in their own way.

Xiao Xing's cavalry had no choice but to slow down and walk forward cautiously.

As he walked, Xiao looked around and saw people suffering from plague, famine, and people with their heads wrapped in straw mats, surrounded by flies, and he dealt with them wherever he went.

The scene was horrific, like hell on earth.
"puff--"

suddenly!

At this moment, suddenly, an old woman came running in from the side, touching her belly, hunching over, her feet swaying, and she stood two steps in front of the horse of Xiao Lang, the leader of the team.

Before Xiao Ji could react, the old woman spat out a mouthful of blood, which gradually spread over three steps.

Xiao Lang was shocked and quickly reined in his horse to stop.

Later, the old woman was seen vomiting blood and exhausted, and she fell to the ground, with dust covering her head and face.

Xiao Jingchuan had no time to think, he jumped off his horse and walked forward to help.

But before he could take any step forward, Chang Ting, who was standing behind him, hurriedly took two steps forward, got close to his side, grabbed Xiao's wrist, shook his head in hesitation, and signaled with his eyes that it was not possible.

"General, I can't go."

"The plague has begun to spread here a few days ago."

"These people may be infected with the disease."

"You'd better not," Chang Ting kindly stopped him.

But seeing this scene with his own eyes, how could Xiao bear it?

"Bullshit!"

"What's the point of watching someone die without helping him?!"

As he said this, he threw down his long hand, jumped sideways, and got off the horse.

But things did not go as planned. Xiao Lang had just jumped off his horse when two strong men staggered over from the right side of the old woman in front of him.

They were all shirtless, and after supporting the old woman, they quickly retreated to another place.

As he walked, he turned around and glanced at Xiao with resentment.

"Quick, take mom away!"

"It's a soldier! Quick, run!"

"They are all evil spirits who kill without blinking an eye and eat people without leaving any bones behind!"

"Don't mess with me"

He carried the old woman in front of him and then retreated the man, still muttering to himself.

These words hurt Xiao Lang's heart.

Xiao Jingchuan stood there stiffly, dazed for a moment, and only after Ma Weimin came forward did he come back to his senses.

"Ah!"

"Hey, brother!"

"Okay, put away your kind heart!"

"There is no grace in a great disaster. You'd better not use your compassion in the wrong place!"

Ma Weimin's words may not be pleasant to hear, but good words have always been bitter.

There is some truth in what he said.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan sighed and didn't say anything more.

He then climbed back onto the horse.

"Chang Ting, go ahead. When we enter the city later, I'm afraid the epidemic will be even worse." "Before we came, we also knew the current situation, so we prepared extra gauze for everyone to cover their faces."

"Give orders to everyone to take them out and cover their mouths and noses to prevent the disease from invading their bodies and infecting the sick!"

Xiao Zi calmed his mind and made plans for his teammates. When the order came down, they made preparations early.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Changting turned his horse's head and went back to instruct them one by one.

Seeing that it was him leaving, Xiao Jingchuan also took out a stack of veils from his waist, all made of linen with some cotton lining.

Thinking that Ma Weimin joined the group lately and certainly had nothing, he paid more attention and sent two to other places as well.

"Wow! Haha. Good, good!"

"Brother, this is a very thoughtful idea!"

"Thank you, thank you!" Ma said politely.

"Tie it around your face."

"Alas, you said that this is already the case outside the city."

"When we enter the city, we don't know what terrible scene we will see!"

Xiao Lang looked melancholy.

Looking up, Ma Weimin fastened his face mask and smiled to comfort him.

"Hi!"

"If there's a plague, it's all the same!"

"It's definitely not going to work!"

"Brother Xiao, you are a duke of a noble family. You are here on official business. If you say that we are not going into the city today, then... yes, it is a bit unreasonable!"

"But we, Old Ma, have to persuade you first!"

"Dealing with these refugees, disaster victims and epidemic victims is not so easy!"

"Be careful not to turn a good thing into a bad one."

"Hey, hi!"

"How can I say this?!"

"With your current status, we really can't afford to bother with you! Huh?!"

I don't know if this old man Ma had encountered such a disaster before. Anyway, at the moment, he has an ambiguous attitude in his words. From a glance, I can tell that there is something hidden.

"Ah!"

"That's what you said!"

"You are a careful person."

"With the situation here, if we had prepared disaster relief food earlier, it wouldn't be so bad if we wanted to go!"

"how?"

"You can't stand this?"

"Eh? This can't be your first time seeing you too?!"

"Where are we going now?!"

Xiao Lang didn't like Lao Ma's emphasis on the disaster victims, and deliberately teased and ridiculed him as a counterattack.

"Ouch!"

"Brother, please stop making fun of me at this critical moment!"

"This relief grain, he..."

"Uh, you are trying to trick me on purpose!"

"We, Old Ma, won't be fooled!"

"I have a bet, so I won't tell you!"

Ma Weimin was such a cunning person that when he heard Xiao Zhi's words, he was about to refute them, but he suddenly remembered the gambling incident yesterday. He stopped talking and held his breath, not wanting to be fooled by him.

Hearing this, Xiao couldn't help but laugh strangely.

After he finished, he turned his head to look back and saw that the cavalry soldiers had all covered their faces. He then felt that he should not talk too much in front of the pass.

Then, he suddenly moved, pulled the reins, and stopped the expression on his face.

"Okay!"

"I don't have time to argue with you here!"

"Let's go, follow behind!"

"Let's go into the city first!"

"drive--"

After saying this, Xiao Jingchuan rode away alone, taking the lead.
(End of this chapter)