Qiu Yizhi finally convinced Miao Zhen with such righteous words. Although there was still a smile on her face, the look in her eyes had obviously dimmed.
So Qiu Yizhi said to Miaozhen: "I hope you will be blessed." He left her cell, said a few words to Li Shenshi on the other side, and walked out of the prison.
After working hard all morning, Qiu Yizhi was exhausted. Just as he was about to go back to the office to sleep, he heard Zhao Chengxiao report: "Sir, the Yuezhou Prefecture official army did not leave Shanyin County after being defeated. It was near the county seat. I occupied several private houses half-rented and half-grabbed, and seemed to plan to stay there for a long time.”
This was originally within Qiu Yizhi's expectation, so he ordered: "Brother Zhao, please work harder and stay here for a few more days. Then arrange for two brothers to monitor the movements of this group of people from a distance. Then send The two brothers are scouting on the road outside the city. If there is any abnormal situation, they must report it to me immediately. "
This was another military order, so Zhao Chengxiao clasped his fists in a military salute and turned around to make arrangements.
Qiu Yizhi had a hasty meal in the county government office, then went back to his house and took a nap.
In fact, he had not had a good rest since he came back from the capital. He slept until the middle of the next day and woke up in a daze. Qiu Yizhi naturally slept comfortably, but he missed a dinner, which made him hungry, so he had to get up to look for food.
Fortunately, Yang Qiaoer, who was helping in the yamen, was very considerate. Knowing that his savior, the county magistrate, had not eaten, he left a few snacks in the kitchen. It is said that the most delicious thing in the world is the word "hungry". Qiu Yizhi devoured these ordinary side dishes and felt that they were not inferior to the royal meals in the inner courtyard of the palace.
While Qiu Yi was eating and drinking, Wang Laowu hurried over and said, "Sir, something bad has happened, something has gone wrong!"
Qiu Yizhi heard what he said urgently, but she pretended to be calm. She calmly swallowed the piece of fried meat in her mouth and said, "Why are you panicking? A real man should keep his face unchanged even if the mountain collapses in front of him. You How is it appropriate to be in such a panic?”
Wang Laowu hurriedly agreed twice, but still said in a panicked tone: "Brother Zhao asked me to come over and tell you that a large group of people were detected from the front and were heading towards the county town. Judging from their clothes, they should be Jiangnan Jiedu The army has a total number of seven or eight thousand people!"
"What!" Qiu Yizhi said in shock. He let go of his hands and the two chopsticks he held fell to the ground.
Wang Laowu hurriedly picked up the chopsticks for Qiu Yizhi, handed them to Qiu Yizhi and said: "Brother Zhao said that the enemy army is still far away from the county seat. The matter is not urgent, and there is no need to ask your Excellency to go and deal with it personally. I think you should go first." Let’s finish the meal before we talk.”
Qiu Yizhi said angrily: "Who is still in the mood to eat now! Tell me where Zhao Chengxiao is now? Eight thousand people, do you know how many eight thousand people are? All the people in my county are only five people. Thousands of people!”
Wang Laowu also saw that Qiu Yizhi was indeed anxious, and said hurriedly: "Brother Zhao said that he does not dare to leave his post without permission. If the Lord wants to find him, he should go to the cell."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi agreed and ran out of the kitchen. Qiu Yizhi walked in such a hurry, and the night was dark, that she didn't even see the two or three-inch high threshold at the door of the kitchen. She tripped on the threshold and fell down, chewing mud.
Seeing this, Wang Laowu quickly stepped forward and helped Qiu Yizhi up, saying, "Sir, didn't you say you want Mount Tai to collapse in front of you without changing your face..."
Qiu Yizhi gave Wang Laowu a vicious look and said, "Stop talking nonsense, go and wake up Yuchi Jiming, tell her to get up quickly and meet me in the cell!" After that, he got up and went to the cell. Walk quickly to your room.
Not long after, Qiu Yizhi had changed into a smart outfit, and without waiting for Yuchi Jiming, he walked alone in the dark towards the prison of Shanyin County.
I saw that the barricade built with dozens of rice bags on the prison side was still there, and several torches were lit behind the barricade, illuminating the surrounding plains as if it were daytime. Qiu Yizhi grew up in the military camp. He knew at a glance that someone must be moving among them, so he hurriedly took a few steps and saw that Zhao Chengxiao and others were not asleep, guarding the barricades with knives.
Zhao Chengxiao saw Qiu Yi coming and knew the purpose of his visit, so he said: "Sir, although the imperial officers and soldiers are approaching fiercely, they are still several hours away from Shanyin County. Why don't you take this opportunity to have a good rest and recuperate?" Spirit, deal with them again?”
Qiu Yizhi replied: "As you said, there are seven or eight thousand officers and soldiers coming. Why am I not anxious with so many people?"
Zhao Chengxiao said nonchalantly: "So what if there are more people? If you can win just by having more people, then don't fight. Just line up the two families and count them. Whoever has more people will win." Isn't that enough? There is no need to take action, so as not to hurt the peace. Besides, even if there are many people in the court, we can't kill them. If they leave, they won't be able to stop us. "
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi shook his head and said: "Brother Zhao, what you said is about the head-on confrontation between the two armies, which is absolutely correct. However, now we are not trying to decide the outcome with the army, but we are trying to protect the prison. We can neither let the imperial court seize these prisoners nor run away with them. This battle is not easy to fight! "
Zhao Chengxiao was also a man who was well versed in military strategy. After listening to Qiu Yi's few words, he already understood the difficulty. He thought about it and said, "Actually, it's nothing more than holding on for a long time. Fortunately, my lord made preparations in advance and brought in countless amounts of water and rice. I don’t think it’s a problem to hold on for ten days and a half with this food and water. If there are too many opponents, we will be exhausted in a battle.”
"That's it!" Qiu Yizhi said, and then lowered his voice, "Actually, you don't have to hold on for too long. When I entered the capital, I had already had an affair with the Emperor and His Highness. His Highness is going to Jiangnan, obviously. Inspecting the people's situation and government affairs in Jiangnan is actually here to handle this big case. I expected that His Highness would arrive in Jiangnan in five or six days. I think Yin Chengliang heard the news and was afraid that it would be difficult to deal with my elder brother's arrival. Then they hurriedly sent troops to fight hard."
Zhao Chengxiao listened very seriously. After Qiu Yizhi finished speaking, he said: "It turns out that your Excellency still has such arrangements. It can be said that we won without a fight. But it will not be easy to hold on for these five or six days." It’s something!”
Qiu Yizhi frowned and said, "Yes, but this matter has been known to the Holy One, so we can only do our best."
Zhao Chengxiao nodded vigorously and said: "Even if we risk our lives, we must keep the officers and soldiers out of the cell!"
When Qiu Yizhi heard the word "official army" in Zhao Chengxiao's mouth, he thought for a moment and couldn't help sighing, and said: "Oh! Brother Zhao was originally a hero in the forest and opposed the official army. He didn't expect that he would be recruited by me to serve under his adoptive father. , but still have to fight against the government and the army. The reincarnation of this world is really unpredictable! "
He sighed with emotion, then returned to normal, and said: "The most urgent task now is the word 'drag'. If you can delay it for a day, it will be a day, and if you can delay it for an hour, it will be an hour. You can arrange a few brothers to beat the gongs and drums to bring the whole city to justice." The people woke up and told them to leave the city immediately, saying that there were bandits attacking the city and the city gates would be closed in the morning. "
Zhao Chengxiao said: "The bandits attacked the city, and the people outside the city had no time to run into the city. How could they still leave the city? This is not a good reason. You have to make up another one."
Qiu Yizhi suddenly realized: "It makes sense! Then there are several hungry people who fled from Shanshan Road who died in the city, and they are afraid that the Black Death was spread. In order to prevent the spread of the plague, the people in the city must be evacuated immediately."
Qiu Yi's lie was not completely unfounded - after New Year's Eve, a serious plague broke out in Shanshan Road.
Although the imperial court was well prepared, the plague was extremely fierce. Many states and counties had already lost their homes and houses, making people all over the world change their minds when they heard about "rat". Qiu Yizhi's idea was fictitious and hard to distinguish between true and false. It was indeed a good reason for the people in the city to leave the city quickly.
Even Zhao Chengxiao's heart trembled when he heard the words "Black Death" and said: "I will arrange for my brothers to act according to your plan!" There was already a guilty conscience in his tone.
Qiu Yizhi nodded. He couldn't think of any other countermeasures for the time being, so he let Zhao Chengxiao do the work. He went down to the cell and inspected the conditions of the prisoners. He saw that Miaozhen, Li Shenshi and others were sleeping properly. Shen Quanran didn't know what was going on outside, so he felt relieved and walked out again.
After leaving the cell, the gongs and drums in Shanyin County were already beating, and then someone shouted: "Escape quickly! The Black Death is coming! Escape quickly! Two Shanshan people are already dead!"
When the people in the city were sleeping soundly, they heard such shrill sounds and terrifying shouts. They suddenly lost all sleep, and regardless of whether it was true or not, they packed up their belongings and fled out of the city with their families. Suddenly, Shanyin County was in chaos, with the cries of children, the neighing of dogs and horses, and the sounds of collisions of various objects.
This restlessness lasted for two or three hours, until the east gradually became white, and then it gradually became silent.
At this moment, in Shanyin County, except for the sisters Yang Ying'er and Yang Qiaoer's family who knew a little bit about the inside story and stayed in the city, all the people in the city had left. Originally, Chenshi was a time when the people in the city went out to work and was full of vitality, but now it is indeed a time when chickens and dogs are ignored and lifeless.
Qiu Yizhi felt a little intolerable when such a commotion was made, so she said to Zhao Chengxiao: "The people in the city are innocent for such trouble. We are not allowed to damage the people's property while we are waiting in the city. If the officers and soldiers enter the city and damage it, it's a big deal." After the completion, compensation must be paid according to the price... "
Halfway through his words, he saw one of his soldiers hurried over and said, "Your Excellency, the army is now more than ten miles outside the city and will be there in a blink of an eye. We have followed your instructions and secured the city gate." close."
Qiu Yizhi nodded and said, "Okay. Just lead the way and let's go up to the city wall and have a look."
The city wall in Shanyin County is not very tall, only two feet high. It is completely incomparable with the city walls in big cities such as Luoyang, Jinling, and Guangyang. If a large army really comes to attack, it will definitely look like a small piece of land in the vast ocean. Like a rock, it was swallowed up by the tide.
However, when Qiu Yizhi climbed up the city wall and took a look, he saw that the eight thousand Jiangnan troops were the same as the Yuezhou army that he had easily defeated the day before. Their troops were in disorder, their flags were in disorder, their appearance was in disarray, and they did not carry any siege equipment. As for Qiu Yizhi, Naturally, they didn't know how to use tunnel blasting and siege techniques that Yi Zhi learned from the Tianzun Sect's classics.
So Qiu Yizhi calmed down a little, found a chair, sat on the city wall, and looked down: Although they were all wearing official and military uniforms, their uniforms were slightly different. Apparently they were temporarily mobilized from various states. Yes, the orders were not unified and clear, and even simple things like lining up in a queue were very difficult to do. (To be continued)