Chapter 163 Ruins
Zheng Feng saw that Pei Rongdu had seen the situation in the city with his own eyes and refused to leave. He had no choice but to order people to close the city gate.
He personally accompanied a group of people inside. Although he was not infected with the poison, he still kept a distance from everyone. "I received the order half a month ago to temporarily take over Hexin City. After I arrived, I led people to isolate the people who were infected with the plague and separated the south city from the north city. The people who were infected with the plague lived in the south city and the people who were not infected with the plague lived in the north city. Fortunately, the rotten smell of the plague was not It smells bad, but if you don’t come into direct contact, you won’t be infected.”
He sighed, “But when I came, it was still too late. Half of the people were already infected. The people in the city were said to be heartbroken when their family suffered a tragedy. They were grateful for the kindness and righteousness of Lord Pei and his wife. Although the bones of Lord Pei and his wife could not be found, many people still left voluntarily during the funeral. This led to the outbreak of the plague. It spread very widely, and spread rapidly in just ten days."
Pei Rong pursed his lips, speechless in grief.
Zheng Feng said: "In fact, there are nearly ten thousand people quarantined by me in the city now, but they have not been infected with the plague. I reported to the court to move these people out of Hexin City and resettle them elsewhere, but the court was afraid and refuted all three of my letters. When I came back two days ago, with the arrival of the imperial envoy, I issued a sacred order to burn the city."
Pei Rong looked at Zheng Feng and said, "Now that your majesty is benevolent and loves the people, how can you let tens of thousands of people be infected? The plague-stricken people were burned down and killed?”
Zheng Feng sighed, “At the beginning of this year, His Majesty began to believe in the faith and invited a heavenly master to be in the court. You should know about this. The heavenly master has the power to control the wind and rain. Yes, your majesty is very convinced. This is what the heavenly master said, saying that heaven will bring great disasters to the world, and evil spirits will cause chaos. If the evil spirits are not eliminated, the country will not be protected, so your majesty naturally listens to it. After hearing the words of the Heavenly Master, the prince made such a holy order. Not only did he fail to stop it, but he was also ordered to do so by his Majesty. Now he is ordered to sit in the East Palace and reflect on his mistakes. "
Pei Rong said angrily, "This Heavenly Master. Master, I have heard about it, but I never thought that he didn’t care about human life. In his eyes, could tens of thousands of people, except for the prince and important officials in the court, treat him like this? No one stopped it?"
"Why didn't you stop it?" Zheng Feng said: "The prince's faction was fiercely opposed at first, and the courtiers who supported the prince also felt that burning the city was inappropriate. How could tens of thousands of people be killed so easily? But the Heavenly Master sneered, saying that the prince and the court officials were pedantic, and the benevolence of a woman and the people of a city could not be worth the safety of tens of millions of people in a country. His Majesty also felt that it was justified, and was angered by the repeated objections, and he was executed in court. He summoned more than ten opposing courtiers, and the Jinluan Palace was filled with blood that day. He also scolded the prince. Did he want to bring trouble to the country, destroy the legacy left by his ancestors, and become an unworthy descendant who was unfilial, unkind, and disrespectful to the king? Feng, of course, had no choice but to feel sad that a good official in the court was killed, and tens of thousands of people in Hexin City were not infected by the plague, but what could they do? It is said that his Majesty sent someone to escort him back to the East Palace. "
Lou Qianyi couldn't help but whisper to Jiang Lisheng, "This mortal prince is too cowardly."
Jiang Lisheng said: "It shouldn't be that heavenly master who regards human life as such. ”
Lou Qianyi He nodded heavily, "Yes, how can such a person deserve the title of Heavenly Master? He is simply a cold-blooded devil. He still calls for wind and rain, but who knows where the evil is? It is definitely not the right way."
If he is the right way, he will not regard human life as such. Grass mustard.
Jiang Lisheng felt the same way, and she couldn't bear to kill tens of thousands of people at will. There are tyrants like that in picture books, but I have never heard of them burning and killing an entire city of their own subjects without blinking an eye. In particular, it is said that he used to be a benevolent king who loved his people like his sons, but now he killed more than a dozen loyal ministers in order to burn the city. It is simply unbelievable.
Zheng Feng added: "Now no one in the court dares to object anymore. Your Majesty has issued an order to burn the city within three days. Everyone in Hexin City will die for the country."
Pei Rong was silent for a moment and asked: " Where is Pei Mansion? ”
Zheng Feng looked apologetic, "Brother Pei, I'm sorry. The place where the plague originated was burned down when I came here."
Pei Rong paused, and after a moment, shook his head. , "Master Zheng, there is no need to apologize, this is what you should do, It would be the same if it were me."
Zheng Feng sighed, "Yes, I have to do it. These days, I have burned down the residences of countless people and officials. Those rotten liquids are very powerful. If it goes up, it will cause ulcers all over the body , even if I impose control, you can still smell the corrosive air, which is still strong. That is because there are too many people who are still alive after being infected with the poison. There are four to five thousand people here. It is close to Nancheng. So you can smell it better." Pei Rong nodded.
At this time, a soldier hurried over, "Sir, I heard that the imperial court ordered the city to be burned. There was a riot in Beicheng, and they wanted to break out of the city."
Zheng Feng was helpless, " You didn't tell them, even if you broke out , there are 250,000 soldiers and horses outside waiting to strangle them?"
The soldier said: "It doesn't work."
Zheng Feng asked; "Brother Pei, you come with me. Check out Beicheng?”
Pei Rong hesitated for a moment, then said: "Mr. Zheng, you go first. I want to take a look at Pei's house, and then I go to Beicheng to find you."
He did not forget that he came back to collect the souls of his grandmother and parents. , now that the Pei Mansion has been burned, what about their souls? But still there?
Zheng Feng nodded, "That's fine."
So, Zheng Feng hurried to Beicheng with the soldiers.
Pei Rong led a group of people to Pei Mansion.
Many shops and shops were burned down on both sides of the street. The shops that were not burned down are now closed and uninhabited. It can be seen that just as Mr. Zheng said, people are divided by him.
Jiang Lisheng almost didn’t recognize the road leading to Pei’s Mansion, but Pei Rong grew up in Hexin City. No matter how ruined the place was, he knew it, and led people silently and sadly all the way. Arrive at Pei Mansion.
Today's Pei Mansion is in ruins, with almost no tiles left. In the entire street adjacent to Pei Mansion, only one or two solitary mansions still exist that have not been burned down.
Pei Rong stood in the open space, looking at the ruins of Pei's mansion. He wanted to cry, but he found that when people are extremely sad, they can't cry. He just stood, recalling the scenes of growing up, regretting that he had joined the army since he was a child and had too little time to fulfill his filial piety at the knees of his parents. Even the memories now are of him hurriedly going home every time, sometimes staying for one night, sometimes taking a rest, or at most one or two days.
Because the Pei family has been passed down for several generations, his father was not strict with him. He just wanted him to be safe. Even joining the army, he wanted to make contributions and not be mediocre. It was his own idea, and His mother and grandmother were kind, but they always disliked his thinness. When he returned home, his mother would always cook herself, add two dishes for him, and then order him to prepare a table of food.
How come everything was destroyed overnight!
(End of this chapter)