It was midnight, and the sky outside should have been pitch black. But when everyone came out of the hall, what they saw was the bright red sky in the southeast, and a fire broke out there! And even in a deep mansion like Tong Mansion, everyone could still faintly hear constant shouting coming from a distance. It was obvious that the impact of this sudden fire was not small.
These guests were all moved and started talking about what was going on. The servants of the Tong family were not slow to react, and they immediately came forward and explained: "Dear officials, there was a sudden fire in Changxingfang, which is still three streets away from our Ruyifang. However, all the fire fighters nearby have rushed over. The fire will be under control soon."
When they heard that the fire was in Changxingfang, many people breathed a sigh of relief. Most of the people living there were low-class people, and it was not a place they had to pass when going home, so it would not have any impact. So soon, everyone dispersed after muttering for a while. On the other hand, Sun Tu's expression froze when he heard the name Changxingfang. He had just taken someone there to retrieve someone a few days ago. Is there such a coincidence
However, he didn't say much. After Gu left the Tong Mansion, he rode forward. But after a journey, he became more and more confused. Finally, he shook the reins, controlled the horse and turned towards Changxingfang in the southeast. He had to go to the scene to see it before he could feel at ease.
As a result, along the way, Sun Tu saw many people who came to their homes to visit the place where the fire started, as well as city soldiers and officers who had the same goal as him and were hurried towards Changxingfang. Apparently after discovering the fire, several government offices in Tokyo responded quickly and sent personnel to put out the fire and save people.
However, when Sun Tu rushed to Changxingfang on horseback, the fire here was not only not contained, but continued to spread outwards. Many people were crying and holding some of their riches in their homes, and the soldiers pulled them from their respective houses. After being pulled out of the house, many people were even injured. They were groaning in pain at the resettlement area, and the scene was in chaos.
At this time, a gust of wind suddenly blew from the southeast, causing the flames that were not very strong at first to blow upward and violently jump around. It actually lit several houses on fire. The residents were evacuated in fright, holding water hoses and thinking. The soldiers who were trying to put out the fire hurriedly backed away, fearing that they would be caught in the fire.
Water and fire are the most ruthless, and most of the houses in the capital of the Song Dynasty are now built with wooden structures. They are most afraid of this disaster. Once the fire spreads, the damage caused is often incalculable. Seeing that the fire was a little bigger than before, these soldiers retreated under the command of their superiors. At the same time, they gave up rescuing the row of houses where the flames were the most intense, and instead focused on the nearby buildings that had just been burned. On the residence that caused the fire.
However, the number of water dragons mobilized this time was really limited. After some efforts, the water was exhausted. At that moment, the commanding official shouted loudly: "Where is Fangzheng? Where is Fangzheng of Changxingfang? Where are the water wells here? Can someone please take me to fetch water?"
An old man in disheveled clothes stumbled up and said in a hoarse voice: "Sir, the Wang family in the third courtyard on the left has a well, and the Qiu family across the way also has a well..." Following his instructions, there was a well. Many soldiers had already gone straight to those houses with buckets, basins and other containers.
The owners of those houses had long been called out to take shelter, so it was convenient for the soldiers to enter. They quickly fetched water and went to put out the fire. It's just that in the face of the fire that is getting stronger and stronger and spreading to all sides, it is really difficult for this water to have an effect. Even though the soldiers have tried their best and poured buckets of water at the origin of the flames, it is still difficult. Contain its momentum.
If this continues, the fire will get out of control. Not only will Changxing Square be completely engulfed in flames, but even the neighboring squares will be affected. This made Zhong Yu, who was commanding the soldiers to control the fire, so anxious that his whole body was about to burn: "Quick, hurry up. Then go to Jiminfang and Tai'anfang nearby to get water. If it doesn't work, go to Bian." To get water from the river, I must control this fire!"
These soldiers also knew that the situation was serious, so they quickly agreed and ran out. After seeing their actions, Sun Tu had a heavy expression on his face. Just fetching water to put out the fire would be of no use. The official in charge obviously didn't know how to put out the fire, and he only knew how to use force.
At that moment, he quickly rushed up and came to Zhong Yu and said loudly: "My lord, looking at the fire, I'm afraid we can't stop the fire with just water. We have to find another way to do it."
"Who are you?" Zhong Yuzheng was jumping anxiously. Suddenly, such a young man wearing ordinary clothes came and spoke like this, so naturally he was a little resistant.
"Sun Tu, the lower official, is the head of the Kaifeng Prefecture." Sun Tu quickly revealed his identity, and then continued regardless of the other party's reaction: "The fire is out of control. Water alone can't extinguish it. We can only cut it off." The trend of the fire caused it to self-extinguish.”
"Huh?" Zhong Yu's expression changed slightly after hearing this. Why didn't he think of this move before? Indeed, as long as the place where the fire can burn is cleared, the fire will naturally be delayed. It will not be too difficult to put out the fire with water or wait for it to be extinguished.
The situation was urgent, so he made a prompt decision: "Where is Li De? You quickly tell everyone not to fetch water, and let me demolish the houses around the fire, and then dig up the ground to prevent the fire from spreading further!"
The low-ranking military attache named Li De was now blackened by the fireworks, but he still agreed energetically and shouted quickly, asking his soldiers to quickly change their fire-fighting strategies and rush to the vicinity of the fire to demolish it. Residential houses, ditches have been dug.
Fortunately, their response was fast enough before, and they cleared out all the people in the houses that had not been affected by the fire early. In addition, Changxingfang was inhabited by ordinary people, and there were no big houses, so they demolished it. It was quite fast, before the fire came over, a fire insulation belt had been removed.
However, the nearby evacuated people still cried loudly after seeing their homes destroyed. Upon seeing this, Zhong Yu quickly went over with Fang Zheng to comfort them, patting his chest and promising that the government would help everyone rebuild their homes after the fire, which made their emotions a little more stable.
But Sun Tu could still see the sadness and panic in these people's eyes, and they obviously didn't know what to do next. Not far away from these people, there were many injured people rolling around, and some people continued to die from serious injuries. The tragic situation made Sun Tu couldn't bear to look at it carefully.
What is even more worrying is that in addition to these people who escaped or evacuated in time, there are probably many people trapped in the fire. There is no need to ask what their fate will be at this time.
Of course, no one cares about these details now. Everyone is rushing to control the fire and put out the fire. People are constantly coming and going, countless buckets and basins are coming in and out, and many wooden furniture are being taken out.
Finally, with the concerted efforts of thousands of people, the fire was brought under control. Although buckets and basins alone could not completely extinguish it, because the isolation belt was pulled out in time, the fire did not completely spread, and as it burned almost everything around it, the fire gradually became smaller. .
When the sky dimmed, the terrible fire was finally extinguished. Only wisps of black smoke continued to rise from the ruins, which was frightening to see.
Zhong Yu's expression relaxed a little, and he couldn't help but look gratefully at Sun Tu, who had helped him direct his men to put out the fire that night: "Sun Dutou, it's really thanks to your advice this time, otherwise the fire would have caused The loss will be even greater.”
"This is what a lower official should do." Sun Tu's throat was hoarse at this time, but he was in good spirits. Until then, he finally felt relieved, and then asked the question he had always wanted to ask: "By the way, does Si Zheng know how the fire started?"
"I haven't asked clearly yet. The only thing I know is that the fire started in Maojia Lane, west of Changxingfang!" His words made Sun Tu's expression become more solemn. Could this be a coincidence?