Chapter 2236 General Meng
Governor He paused for a moment, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Which road did Doctor Zhou come from?"
As far as he knew, there was a section of the road from Suzhou to their Shazhou that had been occupied by a group of bandits. Although they would not kill all passers-by, they still had to pay a considerable amount of money to pass through.
And I haven’t heard of any large-scale anti-bandit campaign in Suzhou recently. Didn’t they agree to join forces after a while?
Manbao seemed to know what he was asking and said, "We didn't go from Suzhou, but passed through the desert."
But the desert is actually not safe. Governor He wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he swallowed his words. They had already arrived safely, and it was meaningless to say more. Maybe they were just lucky?
However, Mr. Zhuang saw that he was hesitant to speak, so he couldn't help but interrupt and ask a question. In his opinion, there is no trivial matter when going out, especially for a group like theirs that carries a lot of luggage and looks like a fat sheep. They must try to get as much information as possible on the way, otherwise who knows what will happen?
After asking, they realized how chaotic the area outside Xiazhou was.
According to what Governor He said, people's hearts north of Xiazhou are somewhat unsettled, and the further west and north you go, the more such people and forces there are.
Because these lands were conquered by the Jin Dynasty over the past ten years, and these places are vast and sparsely populated.
The area is really vast and sparsely populated. It's okay if you walk along the official road. You may barely come across a village after two or three days. But after leaving the official road, there are a large area of uninhabited mountains and wilderness.
Although there was arable land after leaving Xiazhou, there were mostly grasslands and mountains. Many herdsmen lived by following water and grass, so the government had little control over these people.
Before the fall of Gaochang, people here were actually already feeling uneasy. After the fall of Gaochang, it frightened a group of people, so everyone reluctantly behaved themselves.
The governors and generals in Liangzhou, Suzhou, Shazhou and other places took the opportunity to suppress many bandits. Among them, Governor He made the greatest contribution. Because there were guards at Yumen Pass in Shazhou, he joined forces with General Meng and not only defeated half of the horse bandits and mountain bandits going to Suzhou area, but also drove the horse bandits outside the pass far away. No one knew where they had run to before.
He should have been able to be transferred back after his current term expired in two years, but smallpox broke out.
Rumors were rampant before. First, Xiazhou was destroyed, then patients flowed into the Central Plains, and smallpox broke out in the capital, and the emperor died suddenly from it...
The rumor was so convincing that not only the common people, but even these serious officials had a moment of suspicion because they were too far away from the capital.
Later they began to quell the rumors, but unfortunately it was too difficult to dispel them. Moreover, because they were officials, what they said seemed to be inherently questionable. In any case, there were fewer people who believed than those who doubted.
So those who were already dishonest became even more dishonest.
Apart from the ordinary people who worked diligently, everyone else started to tell each other the news, and some people who had experience as bandits picked up their swords again, abandoning their families or taking their families with them to become bandits.
"Because of smallpox, the number of merchants traveling back and forth has already decreased by nearly half. With the emergence of these bandits, that half has been reduced by another half. Now there are very few merchants willing to enter or leave the border."
Manbao pondered for a moment and couldn't help but feel a little worried. "What about Mr. You? Can he go back when the road is so dangerous?"
Only then did Governor He realize that they were traveling with a merchant this time.
He perked up and said to them with a smile, "If Mr. You is not in a hurry to leave, why not let him wait for another two months?"
He said, "That period happened to be the busiest time for Yumen Pass, with the most merchants coming here. He happened to be exchanging things and taking them back."
It would be useless to exchange something if you don't have the ability to keep it. Obviously, Governor He was hinting at external security conditions.
Manbao and the others naturally understood, so they nodded in agreement tacitly.
The few of them just exchanged a few pleasantries, and when Governor He saw that it was almost time, he took them to the restaurant to wait for General Meng.
General Meng looked like a middle-aged man in his forties, tall and strong, with a sense of toughness all over his body. As soon as he entered the box, Man Bao and the others felt very oppressed. It was certainly not because of his aura. After all, they had seen many emperors with an aura of two meters and eighty centimeters.
But it's the oppression brought by height.
He was really tall, the tallest person Manbao had ever seen, so Manbao's bright eyes swept over his body, focusing on his knees, thinking that his height and physique must have put a lot of pressure on his knees.
General Meng paused when he saw Yin Huo standing inside. He looked at him again and again with some uncertainty, then frowned and asked, "What is this young master's name?"
Yin Huo stepped forward and saluted, saying, "My boy Yin Huo, greetings to Uncle Meng."
General Meng glared, "Is he really a kid from the Yin family?"
He looked Yin Huo up and down and saw that although he seemed a little short in stature, his complexion was not as pale as before.
"Are you well now?"
Yin Huo smiled slightly and said, "I'm much better now. Thank you for your concern, Uncle Meng."
General Meng's gaze fell on Zhou Man. "Did Doctor Zhou cure him?"
Manbao paused and said, "It's not completely cured yet."
To outsiders, Yin Huo's illness seemed to be cured, but they all knew that Yin Huo's illness was difficult to cure. Yin Huo himself knew it, but his mental illness had improved a lot, and he had Zhouman's medicine for his physical illness, so he looked almost like a normal person.
Outsiders who don't know the situation would just think that he is a little sicker than the average person, and it's not a serious problem.
However, General Meng had also seen Yin Huo's previous appearance. He had not returned to the capital for many years, but the last time he went back, Yin Huo happened to be ill. At that time, the Yin family had prepared a new coffin and the mourning hall was decorated. The Yin family was even considering finding a wife for Yin Li to bring good luck.
As a result, before they even started selecting the person, Doctor Tan brought the person back from the brink of death.
At that time, he went to take a look at the child. All he remembered was a small figure lying in the quilt, with a pale face, without a trace of blood, and speaking in a very low voice. He was afraid that the child would die if he said one more word.
Over the years, General Meng still knew some of Yin Huo's condition from the stewards who went back to deliver festival gifts, but he always had two answers: "He is not in good health" or "He is not in good health". The former indicated that his condition had not worsened, while the latter indicated that he was about to die again.
General Meng looked at Yin Huo, then at Zhou Man, and his attitude became much better.
When he first saw that the imperial physician was so young, he was a little skeptical, but if he could cure Yin Huo like this, he must be very capable.
General Meng paused for a moment, then sincerely suggested to Zhou Man, "If you want to leave the border, it's best to wait another two months."
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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