Chapter 71 Hanzhou

After these words were spoken, Song Lianyu and Zhao Qionghuan looked at each other.

Seeing his lost look, I sighed helplessly.

They knew that he missed Zhao Fangye, but they could do nothing about it. According to the date, Zhao Fangye should arrive in Hanzhou soon.

Meanwhile, in Hanzhou.

Zhao Fangye and his men set up camp in an open area outside Hanzhou City. I still don’t know the situation in Hanzhou City.

Do not enter rashly.

Next to the tent, two people were chatting while tying the tent ropes into the ground.

One of them swung a sledgehammer at the wooden stake tied to the rope.

"Oh, I've been traveling day and night these past few days. I really feel like my soul is about to be tossed away on horseback. I can finally have a good sleep tonight."

The other one immediately joined in, saying that he had accumulated a lot of complaints in his heart after traveling for days.

"Yes, yes. King Ning is worthy of leading troops to fight. This is too cruel. The brothers are exhausted from the non-stop travel these days."

"Why is he in such a hurry? The epidemic in Hanzhou cannot be cured in a short time."

"Who knows? It should have taken at least half a month to get there, but he arrived in ten days. He was so eager to take credit that he didn't care about our lives."

The two were talking in the shade of the tent when they suddenly heard a noise behind them.

"who!"

The two were shocked. It was disrespectful to talk about the royal family behind their backs.

Looking closely, they saw a little girl standing behind them. His body was tattered and under his dirty hair were a pair of very alert eyes.

Looking closely, it looked like the child had sores on her face. She was infected with the disease!

When the two saw the sores on her face, they immediately scolded her, "Don't come over here!"

Then they immediately took out masks from their sleeves and covered their mouths and noses, and did all this.

One of them looked at her and asked, "What are you doing? Who allowed you to get close to the tents here?"

The little girl stood there, frightened by his fierce tone, but she did not back down.

He knelt on the ground and begged, "Please, give me something to eat... My sister is dying, please give me something to eat."

Seeing how miserable she looked, the two men took out the dry food in their arms and threw it to her, and they could do nothing else to help her.

Picking up the dry food on the ground, the little girl ran away.

As they watched her retreating figure, a desolate and miserable world appeared in their eyes.

The city of Hanzhou, not far away, has long lost its former prosperity.

The floods eroded the homes on which the local people depended for their survival.

Thousands of acres of fertile farmland were destroyed and the people’s hard work was in vain. Houses were washed away and silt piled up at the foot of the city walls.

The homeless people built temporary huts among the ruins for shelter.

The huts here are clustered together. The people living here have haggard faces, and their eyes are filled with covetousness and ferocity when they look towards the tents.

If they didn't have the army guarding the place, I'm afraid this group of refugees would have rushed over long ago.

Inside the tent, Zhao Fangye sat at the table, listening to the reports from his subordinates.

As he gradually gained a deeper understanding of the situation in Hanzhou, his expression became increasingly serious.

The situation in Hanzhou was far more difficult than he had imagined. If no action was taken, things would become even more troublesome.

He promised Song Huaixi that he would go back as soon as possible so he wouldn't spend too long here.

Zhao Fangye ordered: "Immediately send people to gather all the disaster victims in the surrounding area and distribute food and medicine."

After hearing this, the subordinate frowned and said, "Your Majesty, are you being too hasty? The brothers have been traveling for a long time and haven't had a good rest for a long time."

Zhao Fangye frowned coldly and stood up: "The situation is urgent and there is no time to lose. Divide the troops into two teams and take turns back and forth. Go do it!"

After saying this, he put on his cloak and walked out of the tent with a team of personal soldiers.

His subordinates looked at his back and hurried to make arrangements.

Zhao Fangye came to an area of ​​slums under the city wall of Hanzhou.

As soon as I entered, a strong stench hit me in the face. Even wearing a face mask is difficult to avoid.

Zhao Fangye's face looked normal. The pampered life in the capital did not affect his willingness to condescend to step into the refugees' shack.

He has seen everything from years of fighting on the battlefield.

Looking around, I saw rows of simple shacks, filled with ragged, haggard-looking victims.

Zhao Fangye walked into a shack where an elderly couple and her young grandson lived. He seems to be in good spirits and doesn't look like he's sick.

When the old woman saw a group of people coming in, she quickly stood up and protected her grandson behind her, her eyes full of vigilance.

"Who are you? .....We have nothing...Please let us go..." She pleaded in a hoarse voice.

Zhao Fangye glanced at the guards around him.

The guard understood and immediately took out the food from his body and gave it to the old man: "Old man, this is Prince Ning. The court sent him to provide disaster relief. You don't have to be afraid!"

When the old woman heard that it was Prince Ning, she immediately knelt on the ground and said with tears in her eyes: "Thank you, Your Majesty! We haven't eaten for several days, and the child is starving."

Zhao Fangye helped the old man up: "Old man, I have something to ask you."

"Your Majesty, just ask me, I will tell you everything I know!"

Zhao Fangye asked her some questions and then returned to the tent, his expression more solemn than at the beginning.

Mainly, the plague in the city is a tricky thing.

The officials of Hanzhou had long ago embezzled the relief grain funds and fled with their families to an unknown place.

The people in the city were left without medical treatment, food or shelter, and the epidemic was rampant. For a time, it caused unrest and even led to people eating each other.

But later, a young man named Feng stepped forward to stabilize the order in the city. It was he who instigated the riot against the imperial court, and his power continued to grow and he was entrenched in the county government office in Hanzhou City.

The local refugees saw him as a leader.

Zhao Fangye thought that this man was a man of great ambitions, and it would be a good thing if he could be used for his own purposes. If not, then only annihilation is possible.

Just as he was thinking about it, a servant came to announce, "Your Highness, there is a white-haired old man outside who claims to be Ouyang Tongji and wants to see you, Your Highness."

Zhao Fangye's light-colored eyes flashed slightly, and he immediately stood up and walked out.

As soon as I walked out of the tent, I saw Ouyang Tongji standing outside the door with a medicine box on his back.

"Mr. Ouyang." Zhao Fangye looked at him: "Why are you here?"

Ouyang Tongji stroked his beard, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "To be honest with you! I have recently figured out a new chess game. I wonder if you can crack it this time!"

Ever since his endgame was broken by Zhao Fangye last time, he went back to ponder. His chess addiction is becoming more and more uncontrollable, and it’s good that Zhao Fangye doesn’t play chess with him.

This made him unable to stop.

He hurried out to find Zhao Fangye to solve the chess game.

Zhao Fangye chuckled: "Sir, you have come at the right time. If you are willing to help, I am happy to play chess with you."

"Huh! Do you think I don't know?" Ouyang Tongji patted the medicine box: "Look, isn't this just giving you a pillow when you feel sleepy?"