My vicious dog, my horse, I can do whatever I want with it

Geli Village is not big, so naturally there is no need to send thousands of soldiers.

In front of the camp, Zong Yanli stood in armor in front of the army, Meng Qi, Qian Zhixing and four others stood on both sides of Zong Yanli, and the rest of the soldiers stood in line.

Zong Yanliduan looked at the many soldiers and said, "I summoned you here today to select those who will follow me to Geli Village to block the source of the plague. I think you all already know something about the plague. This journey will be no less dangerous than on a battlefield."

"Now, those who are unwilling to follow this general to Geli Village, please step back!" Zong Yanli stood with his hands behind his back and shouted in a deep voice.

The soldiers who were standing still did not move at all, and no one retreated.

Zong Yanli smiled with satisfaction when he saw this scene, and then said: "You are all fearless soldiers, I am very pleased!"

"But we don't need so many people to go there." Zong Yanli paused and looked at them and said, "Those who are the only sons in their families, please step back!"

"Those who are married but childless, please step back!"

Most of the soldiers in the line retreated. Zong Yanli took a quick look at the number of people, stepped forward and said, "I'm keeping you here because you still have brothers and sisters at home. Even if you can't come back, your parents at home still have someone to rely on, and they already have children, so you can continue the family line and leave behind your bloodline!"

Zong Yanli glanced at everyone and said, "Now let me ask you again, is there anyone who doesn't want to go?"

"We are willing to advance and retreat with the general!" None of the soldiers in the army retreated.

Zong Yanli was greatly pleased. He turned around and arranged for everyone to get gloves, face towels, masks and other items. After the army was organized, he led his troops to Geli Village.

In front of the camp gate, Zong Yanli saw Ning Chi waiting outside.

Looking at his attire, he is going with us?

Zong Yanli frowned slightly and stared at Ning Chi. Ning Chi stepped forward and said, "Uncle... the general asked me to go with you to Geli Village and be responsible for recording the epidemic situation in Geli Village this time. I will be at your disposal."

Zong Yanli stared at Ning Chi. Qin Wujiu was willing to let Ning Chi go with the army. The spread of disease was the most unpredictable thing. If this young master was infected with the disease, wouldn't the Marquis' Mansion cause trouble for him?

Zong Yanli nodded, telling Ning Chi to follow on his own, and then led his men towards Geli Village.

The entire village has been surrounded. Soldiers take turns guarding around the village entrance. Anyone who approaches the village entrance and attempts to escape from the village will be persuaded to return. If they refuse to return, they will be killed on the spot.

Zong Yanli came here to replace these soldiers and arrange his own soldiers to guard the entrance of the village, preventing anyone from leaving or coming in.

The soldiers wore face masks and gloves and held their swords. In such a situation, if any mob hurt people, they would be killed without mercy.

As the attending physician on this occasion, Feng Pei immediately counted the people infected with the disease, and separated them into different houses according to their illness levels, while the soldiers were responsible for carrying medicinal herbs, boiling medicinal soup and boiling water.

Or help move people, do not remove the mask and gloves during the whole process.

Zong Yanli ordered everyone to do things in an orderly manner, from separating the people with mild and severe symptoms, to ordering people to light the stove and boil water, and then to repeatedly reminding the soldiers not to take off their masks, etc.

She seemed to be extremely skilled in these things. She would even calm the people down and encourage them with words. Even if the illness was too serious to be treated, she was incredibly calm when dealing with the bodies, taking them all to remote earth pits, burning them, and then burying them.

"How does the general know so much?" The expected chaos and panic did not occur. Everyone did their job, some boiled water, some fed medicine, some took turns patrolling. Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Lu Hao was shocked.

"I have never seen such a calm plague..." Pei Liangdang had the most complicated feelings among them.

Pei Liang was much older than all of them. He had been wandering around since he was young and had personally experienced the time when an epidemic swept across the country when he was young.

The plague also broke out in a village, but the village was remote and there were no troops stationed there. Seeing that the situation was out of control, the soldiers from the state government simply packed up and left, abandoning the village to fend for itself.

At that time, Pei Liang was shut out like everyone else. The nearest town closed its gates to isolate them. They had nothing to eat or drink, and all they felt was despair and death.

That kind of emotion was truly terrifying. As a young boy, he witnessed with his own eyes the horror brought by the plague. He once thought that he would die in that village. Perhaps God would not let him die. He was in a daze for an unknown period of time before the terrifying plague disappeared on its own.

"There is no medicine to cure the epidemic." People in Geli Village continued to fall ill and die, but Pei Liang could no longer feel the despair and death he had felt before. Instead, he suddenly felt that the epidemic was not that scary.

"General! We found a nest of dead rats in the cellar of a villager's house!" Zong Yanli did not forget his original intention. After entering the village, he ordered his people to search everywhere, catch the rats in the village, kill them, and burn and bury them together with the corpses.

"That mouse is big and has a long tail. It looks like it was brought from somewhere else and is wrapped in a sack!" Monkie said anxiously, "General, can you go and take a look?"

"Let's go." Zong Yanli's eyes darkened, and he immediately turned around and followed Monkie to the villager's cellar.

Monk was worried that this was the source of the plague, so he didn't dare to take out the sack easily. He immediately ordered his men to guard the cellar. After Zong Yanli came to check, he saw that the rotten and smelly rats were indeed bigger than the rats seen in ordinary homes.

Zong Yanli poked it with a stick and said, "Burn it and bury it deeper."

"Let the chief of Geli Village come to see me." Zong Yanli's eyes were grim. He asked someone to bring torches and set the cellar on fire. He also sprinkled the ashes of medicinal herbs on it and fumigated it before he was satisfied.

The village chief of Geli Village was very frightened when he was called over. Zong Yanli asked who lived in this house.

The village chief was a little confused but still told everything. The person living here was a widower, who was in his fifties or sixties. He had no sisters or children and had always lived alone. On weekdays, he did nothing except go up the mountain to chop firewood and sell it. He was a very honest man.

"Where are the people?" Zong Yanli asked after listening.

"Dead, dead..." The village chief said with great regret, "He was one of the first people found to be infected with the disease not long after the epidemic started. If the general wants to find someone now, he can only dig up a handful of ashes!"

"Have you seen anyone coming to his house recently, or has he gone to meet anyone?" Zong Yanli asked with a frown.

"No, I haven't heard of it." The village chief racked his brains, shook his head and said, "He usually goes up the mountain to chop wood by himself. I don't know who he met!"

"General, why are you asking this? Could it be that the plague came from his home?" the village chief asked anxiously.

Zong Yanli did not answer, but waved his hand and said, "Go down and ask around. If you have any information about this, please report it to me. I will reward you handsomely."

The village chief nodded repeatedly and wanted to ask about the epidemic, but the soldiers next to him refused to say more and just took the village chief of Geli Village out.

Zong Yanli was not idle either. After meeting with the village chief of Geli Village, he asked Pei Liang to inquire among the villagers about the widower's situation. The news he finally got was almost the same as what the village chief said. The only useful news was that someone at the village entrance saw the widower coming back with firewood one day with a small sack hanging on his back.

They just thought they had hunted some pheasants or rabbits in the forest, so no one thought much about it and just said hello.

The widower was a quiet person. He just smiled at people who greeted him and didn't say much. They were all used to it.

"It seems that the plague was indeed brought back from outside." Zong Yanli summarized the information and said, "But I don't know whether it was caused by the mountain rats that this person accidentally caught from the forest, or whether he was instructed by someone to deliberately bring in sick rats."

"When the epidemic is over, report this matter to the local officials of Changfeng County and order them to investigate it carefully."

"Except for Geli Village, the same symptoms have appeared in three or five nearby villages. Fortunately, no severe cases have appeared, and the situation in all nearby villages is now under control."

"The number of civilians who died today has greatly decreased, which shows that the method we used is effective."

Zong Yanli went on talking one by one, and some of the soldiers who came to support were not spared and showed symptoms of the epidemic. All the soldiers were concentrated at the other end of the village.

They spent almost the entire summer soaking in medicinal soup. The first thing they did after waking up every day was to drink a bowl of medicinal soup, and then drink another bowl before going to bed at night.

Soldiers could be seen everywhere holding torches made of licorice, and they smoked the herbs every day, as if doing so could reduce the spread of germs in the air. The houses where the people infected with the disease lived had to be cleaned and wiped with medicine every day.

Tons of medicinal herbs were transported from all over to Geli Village and several nearby villages.

Lu Hao and his companions smacked their lips and tasted a licorice flavor in their mouths.

Zong Yanli thought that in such a depressing atmosphere, Ning Chi would not be able to stay for long and would want to go back, but he did not expect that this young man was surprisingly good-tempered. Not only was he willing to work hard and never complain, but he also took good care of the people.

They spent the dull and hot summer in Geli Village like this. By the beginning of September, there had been no serious cases for half a month, and those with mild symptoms were getting better day by day.

"Finally out!" After coming out of Geli Village, Lu Hao felt that the sky outside was a lot bluer every few days, and even the air outside was fresher!

"I can hardly distinguish any other smell, it's all the smell of medicine." Monkie rubbed his nose, thinking to himself that he never wanted to take medicine again in his life!

"I am bringing you all to Geli Village this time because I want you to see and experience the epidemic with your own eyes." Zong Yanli rode in front and said, "During wars, epidemics are common. If you encounter an epidemic in the army when you lead the army in the future, you should follow what you have seen and learned this time. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" Monkie, Lu Hao and others were shocked and responded loudly immediately.

"When two armies are at war, it's inevitable that some generals will resort to unscrupulous means. It's not uncommon for them to load the bodies of civilians infected with the plague into catapults and throw them into the city." Zong Yanli continued, "The terrible thing about the plague is despair and panic."

Zong Yanli used his personal experience to teach them that epidemics are not scary.

Ning Chi, who was standing next to her, tilted her head and looked at Zong Yanli intently. Listening to her calm and steady words, she suddenly felt her heart beating extremely violently. Looking at Zong Yanli standing in front of the crowd and her back, she inexplicably felt a sense of admiration and praise.

Perhaps Ning Chi had only heard praises and compliments about Zong Yanli from other people before.

And now that he had seen it with his own eyes, the feeling was incredible.

In front of the camp gate, Zong Yanli led all the soldiers to line up in front of the camp gate to wash their faces and hands with the medicinal bath again. The leaves and branches were stained with the medicinal juice, and they splashed it on their bodies to make them clean as if they were swept. Then they returned to the camp one by one.

In the following days, the soldiers stayed in their own tents, paying attention to each other and their companions. If anyone showed any symptoms such as physical discomfort, they would report it immediately.

Fortunately, after nearly ten days of continuous observation, no sudden situation was found, and Qin Wujiu and Zong Yanhongtu finally put their minds at ease.

"Zong Yanli, I want to be your personal soldier!"

"puff--!"

Zong Yanli spurted out the tea in his mouth, turned his head and looked at Ning Chi who had broken into his tent. He couldn't help but hold the teacup tightly and stared at Ning Chi with a frown: "What are you doing here?"

Ning Chi knelt down and said to Zong Yanli, "General, please accept me!"

Zong Yanli looked at Ning Chi and felt his temples throbbing. He took a deep breath and said, "Even if you want to join the army, you should go to General Qin's camp. Why do you want to be my personal soldier?"

Isn't this funny?

Her last name is Zong Yan!

The Qin family army is large and powerful. Whether from the perspective of family status, military strength, or identity, it is unreasonable to let Zong Yanli be the general of Ningchi!

"I've already told my uncle that I want to be your personal soldier!" Ning Chi said with his neck stiff.

"..." Zong Yanli took a deep breath and said without thinking: "Absolutely impossible."

"Why?" Ning Chi's eyes widened. He even knelt down and begged him!

Zong Yanli said he would not accept anything, and Ning Chiqiu was thinking of ways to block Zong Yanli all day long, serving him tea and water. When Zong Yanli was practicing martial arts, he would wait on the side with a handkerchief in his hand, staring at Monk and the others.

Perhaps it was because Ning Chi's conspicuous behavior had caused too much trouble, and the soldiers in the army were all talking about it.

Naturally, the matter was brought to Qin Wujiu, who called Ning Chi over and scolded him, saying that Ning Chi's behavior was a disgrace to him!

How can the second son of the Lin'an Marquis be so shameless!

"I don't care. I'm going to Zong Yanli's camp." Ning Chi knelt in front of Qin Wujiu and refused to give in.

"You bastard! Your father sent you to the army, not to let you take care of other people's shit and piss!" Qin Wujiu's face turned green with anger. Although he knew that Zong Yanli was not that kind of person, he got angry when he saw his nephew acting so worthless.

Besides, he is his uncle, why doesn’t this brat say he wants to be his personal soldier?

Isn't that more comfortable than working for someone else?