Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

Inside the main tent, Li Ze sat in the main seat, while the other leaders who had come with him sat on either side below. Li Ying stood in the center of the tent, looking lost and dejected.

"Yingzi, what's wrong with you?" Li Ze asked with concern, noticing his granddaughter's strange expression.

"Grandpa, let's retreat. We can't fight for Kuaiji City anymore," Li Ying said with a hint of fear on his face.

As soon as Li Ying finished speaking, the tent fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a commotion. The leaders couldn't hold back any longer and began to discuss among themselves.

"Are you kidding me? We're about to take Kuaiji City..."

"Retreat? Absolutely not..."

"Has Old Li's granddaughter been bewitched...?"

The Baiyue barbarians had finally encountered such a rare opportunity, and seeing that they were only one step away from taking Kuaiji City, how could they be willing to give it up like this?

"Quiet down, everyone. Chief Li Ying, I believe you are not speaking without reason. Could you please tell us the reason behind it?" Cha Ya, the chief of the Kunyue tribe, asked with a gentle smile on his old face.

"Yingzi, just say whatever you want. I believe you're not the type to talk nonsense." Li Ze also strongly supported his granddaughter.

“Plague, I saw people who died of the plague in the city…” Li Ying said, her eyes filled with terror and her whole body trembling as she gave her reason.

It turns out that the strategy Yang Long presented to Shen Qing to repel the enemy was to spread plague among the barbarian army. Affected by the wave of barbarian invasion, Kuaiji City suffered a major disaster, with many people fleeing, causing the city to lose order and resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

After a major disaster, a major epidemic is bound to follow. With the loss of the imperial court to maintain order in the city, some people died and no one collected their bodies, causing them to decompose and pollute the water source, indirectly creating the beginnings of a plague.

Fortunately, by this time, about 50-60% of the population of Kuaiji City had fled, and most of those who remained stayed indoors with their doors closed. As a result, the plague did not have an effective means of transmission, and only a dozen or so people were infected, resulting in minimal casualties.

Yang Long was once a member of the Imperial Guard of the Eastern Yue Kingdom and participated in the control of the plague. Yesterday, after meeting Shen Qing, he returned to the city and suddenly discovered that some people had died from the symptoms of the plague. He and his brothers immediately collected the dead in an abandoned temple and planned to cremate them. However, before they could do so, they learned that the barbarian army was besieging the city. Therefore, they decided to come and help. After learning about the crisis in Kuaiji City, they came up with the idea of ​​using the plague to deal with the enemy.

It is well known that plagues have always represented enormous disasters. Once a plague breaks out, countless lives will be lost, ranging from tens of thousands to tens of millions. The final solution is often to completely seal off a place, not allowing any living thing to cross the blockade line, and letting them live and die on their own. Once all the people and animals have died, the plague will naturally subside.

Shen Qing remembered that in his previous life, there had been several major plagues. After the plagues subsided, people were often transferred from other provinces to fill the gaps left by the plague, which was essentially forced immigration.

Yang Long's plan to offer the plague was insidious, but if the barbarians were to breach Kuaiji City, it would only result in a bloody massacre. So, for him, death was inevitable either way, so he might as well use the plague to drag the enemy down with him. Perhaps if the plague broke out quickly, it would even collapse on its own before the barbarian soldiers could breach Kuaiji City.

Therefore, when Yang Long presented the plague plan to Shen Qing, even with Shen Qing's experience, he could not calm down for a long time, because such a plan was too vicious.

Upon learning that people had died of plague in Kuaiji City, Shen Qing immediately dispatched people to investigate water sources and find the source of the plague. At the same time, he ordered everyone to take precautions and completely isolate the affected areas. He also spread lime powder throughout the city and carried out various preventative measures to ensure that the plague would not spread.

A plague ravaged the city, while barbarian troops roamed outside. In this extremely critical moment, Shen Qing had a flash of inspiration and came up with a feasible solution. The word "crisis" implies that danger and opportunity coexist.

Shen Qing did not choose to spread the plague to the barbarian army outside the city. In his view, such a tactic of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of his own was completely unacceptable. Besides, he only wanted to win, not to be a ruthless butcher.

Yang Long could only see the area around Kuaiji City, while Shen Qing could see much further. Once the plague was spread to the barbarian army outside the city, it would inevitably spread. First, the plague would travel back to the Baiyue barbarians with the defeated barbarian army. Countless Baiyue barbarian civilians would be infected with the plague without any preparation, causing huge catastrophic deaths. The entire Baiyue barbarian tribe would be severely weakened, or even completely wiped out.

In addition, after the outbreak, the plague will spread from Kuaiji City to other counties in Yuezhou, and even to the surrounding prefectures. At that time, the plague will be completely out of control. Even if Liyang reacts and does its best to suppress it, it will eventually cause the deaths of countless people.

Yuezhou will suffer heavy losses in the plague, even more so than when it was conquered by the Baiyue barbarians. At that time, all the surrounding prefectures will completely cut off all contact with Yuezhou, and no supplies will be able to be transported in. Yuezhou will be completely ruined. Even if Yuezhou claims that it has survived the plague, the other surrounding prefectures will never believe it and will only keep Yuezhou under lockdown for a long time.

The plague is like Pandora's box; once opened, the consequences are unpredictable.

In view of this, Shen Qing came up with a somewhat coercive scheme: to use Li Ying to inform the barbarian tribes of the existence of the plague, thereby achieving the goal of forcing the Baiyue barbarians to withdraw their troops.

That's why Shen Qing took Li Ying to the outside of the dilapidated temple, told her that all the corpses inside were infected with the plague, and told Li Ying that if the Baiyue barbarians were really determined to attack Kuaiji City, they should be prepared to suffer the plague's retaliation.

In the era of cold weapons, plagues were like nuclear bombs, possessing a tremendous strategic deterrent effect that was enough to terrify ordinary people.

Inside the barbarian tent, as Li Ying finished speaking, everyone present gasped in shock, looking at her with horror. No one dared to insist on taking Kuaiji City anymore.

Compared to the Central Plains, the barbarian tribes already had harsh living conditions and poor medical care. If that tribe were to be infected with the plague, they would probably be doomed.

"Shen Qing said he's only giving us half an hour to consider. If the camp shows no sign of withdrawing after half an hour, he'll arrange for people to spread the plague among us." Li Ying delivered another fatal blow, making the leaders extremely uneasy.

"Yingzi, you said you saw the plague victims. Could it be that you saw it wrong, or that Shen Qing lied to you?" Li Ze asked with a dark face and a glimmer of hope.

In this campaign to attack Kuaiji County, Li Ze has contributed both money and effort. If he were to retreat in such a humiliating manner, not to mention the loss of money and supplies, it would also be a huge blow to his reputation.

"Brother Li is right, perhaps they are lying to us..."

"Young Master Li is inexperienced; he's probably been intimidated by the other party..."