General, you should rest now; the lady is even more ruthless.

The general's carriages ran day and night, finally arriving in Longcheng on the fourth day.

Cui Zhi, the prefect of Longcheng, was already waiting at the gate of the prefectural government office with his two remaining county magistrates.

Shen Luo got off the carriage in a wheelchair, looking exhausted.

Cui Zhi and his men quickly stepped forward: "Prefect Cui Zhi of Longcheng, along with all the officials of Longcheng, pay their respects to the General Who Protects the Nation."

"No need for formalities," Shen Luo said.

He looked around and asked, "Why are there only three of you here?"

At the time, the emperor did not mention the occupation of the three county towns to the other ministers in court, so Shen Luo pretended to be completely unaware of it.

Cui Zhi seemed to have anticipated this question, and immediately knelt down, shouting, "General, I am guilty, please punish me!"

"What crime have you committed?" Shen Luo asked him.

The other person looked sorrowful: "Reporting to General Zhenguo, while you were on your way here, in just a few days, those despicable rebels actually captured three county towns in my Longcheng."

"What? Is that really true?" Shen Luo exclaimed angrily.

"Yes, General." Cui Zhi knelt on the ground, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.

“The rebels are not only numerous, but they always attack at night when defenses are lax. In addition, the city has been plagued by plague in recent days, so there are not many soldiers available to defend it... I really have no way to deal with them.”

"In just three nights, they captured our three county towns: Longyou, Nanjiao, and Weishan. I am truly anxious to see this."

"Lord Cui, please get up. It's not your fault." Shen Luo sighed, seemingly helpless, and looked behind him. "Who are the gentlemen behind you?"

"This humble official, Sun Youcai, the magistrate of Longzuo County, pays his respects to the General Who Guards the Nation."

"Your humble servant, Zhao Dongwen, the magistrate of Lin County, pays his respects to the General Who Protects the Nation."

Shen Luo took out a map and examined it for a while: "Where are the magistrates of Jizuo County and Liyuan County?"

Cui Zhi stepped forward and said, "General, Magistrate Ma Erjia of Jizuo County contracted the plague a few days ago and died."

"As for Li Yi, the magistrate of Liyuan County..." Cui Zhi looked doubtful. "Your humble servant sent him a letter long ago, asking him to come and meet the general, but not only did he not reply, he also failed to arrive... I think he may still be dealing with miscellaneous matters in the county?"

"In that case, let's wait until he arrives before we discuss it further." Shen Luo didn't pursue the matter any further.

"By the way, judging from the time, the disaster relief funds and herbs from the Ministry of Revenue should have arrived by now. Lord Cui, I wonder if you and the other county officials have posted notices urging the people to come and collect them as soon as possible?" he said.

Speaking of this, Cui Zhi's face fell again.

"General, it's not that I don't want to issue a notice, it's that I dare not."

"Why?" Shen Luo wanted to hear what method Cui Zhi would come up with this time to plunder the people's money right under his nose.

"General, you are unaware of this. As the saying goes, 'bad people come from poor and remote areas.' The people of Longcheng are not like those in the capital. This is a poor and remote place where people are often so poor that they can't even afford to eat. Now that there is such a good thing as free medicine and silver, I'm afraid they will all come to claim it regardless of whether they have the plague or not."

"General, how can the imperial court's disaster relief funds and medicines be distributed to those who have not been affected by the disaster?"

What he said made sense. Shen Luo thought for a moment and asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Seeing that the other party was following his train of thought, Cui Zhi was somewhat smug. This legendary war god general seemed to have nothing but brute strength. Indeed, no matter how powerful a general is, he was ultimately just a warrior.

He pretended to think about it seriously for a moment, and then said, "General, I think we should set a threshold for obtaining the medicine, so that people can pay for it. That way, people who are not infected with the plague will naturally not have to spend the money."

Shen Luo pondered for a moment: "That sounds like a good idea. There's also disaster relief money."

The mention of silver made Cui Zhi curse inwardly: If it were any other official, he could easily win them over by promising them more benefits and sharing the silver with them. But the Emperor… had to send this troublesome ancestor.

But it turned out to be the notoriously incorruptible and unyielding General Zhenguo.

It seems he'll have a hard time keeping that pile of silver this time.

"General, as for the silver, I would like to keep it for now."

“If the medicine provided by the court is not enough, we can use this money to buy more medicine, which will also reduce the burden on the court, right?” Cui Zhi said cautiously.

That's all he could say; he'd just have to delay sending it for now.

As for whether the money was actually used to buy medicine after Shen Luo left, who knows? He thought to himself.

"How about this?" Shen Luo pondered for a moment, "Take out some money to hire a doctor to hold clinics at various street corners in the city to treat the people. The consultations will be free, and the medicine will cost ten coins per dose."

"General, this..." After all this trouble, he's lost everything.

"What?" Shen Luo glanced at him casually.

Cui Zhi paused, then said, "No, no, I will arrange it right away."

……

After getting a brief understanding of the current situation, Shen Luo and the others went to the courtyard next door.

When the General Zhenguo was coming, Cui Zhi cleared out the courtyard next to the governor's mansion for them to stay in.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

in the house.

Nineteen reported to Shen Luo what he had found out during this period.

“Master, when I arrived here, Cui Zhi had already destroyed all the evidence, and the memorials in his room had also been hidden away.”

Shen Luo nodded; this was expected.

"And my subordinates, just like before, took control of the post station the moment they arrived."

As official communication hubs, post stations were crucial information centers and held significant strategic importance. Therefore, during wartime, they not only needed backup post stations for themselves but also sought to control the enemy's post stations.

"What kind of messages did Cui Zhi send out?" Shen Luo asked.

“Reporting to Your Majesty,” Nineteen said, “everything else is fine, except for one letter sent to Magistrate Li Yi of Liyuan County, which is a bit strange.”

He took out the folded document.

"The beginning of the memorial contained ordinary things, such as strengthening the control of the plague and paying attention to guarding against the rebels. However, at the end of the memorial, there were a few words written in plain water, so faint that they were almost invisible."

Shen Luo placed the document in the sunlight, and through the sunlight, the words gradually became visible:

The plan has changed, and the operation has been suspended.

"well done."

He closed the folded document, put it aside, and asked Nineteen, "Has Cui Zhi acted strangely these past few days?"

Nineteen shook his head: "No. Every morning he would process memorials in the governor's mansion, and in the afternoon he would visit some people who were seriously infected with the plague. Sometimes he would even pay out of his own pocket to get medicine for them. He seemed like a benevolent official who loved the people like his own children."

"There's no need to rush here," Shen Luo said.

The grand show he arranged hasn't even started yet; let Cui Zhi keep up the act for a few more days.

Shen Luo changed the subject: "Have you found out who the leader of the rebels is?"

Nineteen lowered her head: "There's still no news from Twelve."

Shen Luo nodded: "Understood."

In fact, a group of rebels who had banded together from the common people were not worth his time.

The problem is that the officials in the court have already become disloyal. If the problem is not addressed at its root, even if this rebellion is suppressed, there will be another one.

He couldn't say this in court, so he had to find a way to investigate it himself.

After all, the eldest prince, Chen Chengjin, was still leading troops stationed in the western border.

Longcheng is the largest city in Northwest China and the second largest city in the entire western region, so its stability is of great importance.

If internal turmoil occurs, coupled with an invasion by foreign tribes, then Ah Jin will be besieged on all sides.

Therefore, there absolutely cannot be any problems in the western region.