Since I met you, people are dying every day

"Master Shi, it's not that you don't know, you just don't dare to try, right?"

Shi Ziyu rested his hands on the table and stared at the chessboard.

Ye Sirui felt that he had almost completed today's task. "Master Shi, one last question. You say that Kong Taiping colluded with the superiors and took bribes. Do you have evidence?"

Shi Ziyu still stared at the chessboard, but shook his head.

Ye Sirui covered a yawn with his hand, "Since I came to investigate this matter, I will definitely find out the truth. I will go to inspect the victims tomorrow, please wait and see what happens, Mr. Shi." After saying this, he suddenly thought of another question, "Wait, since you said that you want to build dikes to benefit the common people, why is Kong Taiping the one who provides disaster relief and food? Why do you send troops to guard the gate of the west city? And why do the people have such a big opinion on you two? difference?"

Shi Ziyu finally looked away. "My lord is right." His voice was hoarse. "After receiving the official documents, the lower officials were angry and anxious. After the river embankment broke down, new illnesses developed. Kong Taiping publicized to other officials that the lower officials were sick in bed, and took advantage of the opportunity to seize power. The lower officials can't make decisions in the county government. What are you talking about sending troops to guard the city gate? But the people only know that the lower officials are repairing the embankment, and Kong Taiping is the one who relieves the disaster.”

In the past, Ye Sirui might have echoed him and complained about the ignorance of the people, but this time, Ye Sirui thought about it and said: "Your intentions are certainly good, but since you took office, what achievements have you made that the people are grateful for?" Is it?" He paused for a while, but Shi Ziyu didn't speak. "That's it. You are the minister of the Ministry of Industry, so you are proficient in water conservancy. Those people may not know the importance of the river embankment all their lives, but they know that the embankment collapsed and the food was gone. It was caused by corruption."

Shi Ziyu remained silent, Ye Sirui felt sleepy and didn't want to teach him any more, so he left.Xia Shu was still outside the door, motionless.Seeing Ye Sirui walk to the front and lead the way back to the house silently.Chaming waited in the room for a long time, fidgeting already, finally saw them, and kept saying: "Amitabha, it can be regarded as coming back." The two fell asleep.

When they got up the next day, Shi Ziyu invited them to dinner again.Ye Sirui found an excuse to shirk, and Shi Ziyu sent someone to deliver the meal to their room.Ye Sirui asked Chaming to watch the door, and he had the opportunity to tell him the results of his separate conversations with Kong Taiping and Shi Ziyu during the meal.

"The other party did all the evasion." Xia Shu commented.

"Yes." Ye Sirui nodded while eating some snacks, "The two stories are very different, but both are reasonable."

"There's always someone who made it up. Who do you think it is?" Xia Shu raised his chopsticks to pick up the last bun, and Ye Sirui, who also stretched out his chopsticks, gave a pause.Xia Shu picked up the steamed stuffed bun, turned around and sent it to Ye Sirui's bowl. "you eat."

"...Okay." Is this progress or regression?Ye Sirui thought hard and almost forgot to answer him. "I don't dare to make a statement. Neither of them have evidence." Ye Sirui shrugged. "Anyway, what I told both of them is that I trust them very much and will investigate the case to the end. They have no reason to stop me." He was a little proud when he said it, and he was counting on Xia Shu to praise him a few words.Xia Shu suddenly asked: "Do you like vegetable buns?"

Starting to pay attention to what he likes to eat, this is definitely progress!Shi Ziyu is very particular about the food he prepares. The steamed stuffed buns are filled with wild vegetables, which are refreshing and delicious.Ye Sirui stood still. "It's okay."

"Oh." Xia Shu carefully said: "The wild vegetables are indeed delicious."

When Ye Sirui heard that he was not going to ask the kitchen for another basket of steamed buns, he couldn't help feeling a little strange, what exactly was he trying to say?

Xia Shu mumbled: "I'm really not good at this." Ye Sirui didn't hear clearly, so he asked: "What?" .”

Ye Sirui didn't understand what he was saying for a moment, and after he understood, he just wanted to disappear from here, at least from Xia Shu's presence.He only felt that the image he had worked so hard for had been destroyed.But wake up, Ye Sirui, you are an official of the fifth rank, Ye Sirui, you are the official of the fifth rank, have you not experienced any big storms?Get out your composure!He smiled without showing his teeth, "Thank you." He asked Chaming to come over with a bronze mirror.He just turned his resentful eyes on Chaming.Cha Ming ran to get the bronze mirror, feeling aggrieved, and he didn't sit in front of the master, how could he see the food on the master's teeth?

With this episode, Ye Sirui was in no mood to be close. "You don't have to go with me, I have something to ask for your help."

"Let's talk." Xia Shu said.

Ye Sirui suddenly felt that Xia Shu was willing to use a function word when speaking now, which was already a great improvement. "They blame each other for corruption and bribery. Since there are silver bills, there must be account books. You should look for them in the yamen while they are away. There must be account books for the relationship between the two of them. If you can find clues, you will know who is who. No more."

If you are lucky, you can find some clues in the account books, and you can close the case directly.Ye Sirui thought.Xia Shu takes orders. "Then it's not safe for you to go alone?"

"I'm safe. They both wish I could help them convict each other. I won't be harmed." Ye Sirui said.

Sure enough, after the meal, Shi Ziyu sent someone to invite him, saying that the sedan chair had been prepared.Ye Sirui walked into the yard, and sure enough, he saw Shi Ziyu and Kong Taiping standing beside the sedan chair, ignoring each other.If the occasion was not serious, he would have laughed.Both of them saluted him when they saw him.

Shi Ziyu also only saluted.Ye Sirui bowed his hand to return the salute, and got into the sedan chair.

The victims were outside the south city gate, there was a distance, and the sedan chair walked for a long time.Ye Sirui had a long talk with Shi Ziyu last night, and he didn't sleep well at first, so he fell asleep in a daze after a while.

After an unknown amount of time, the sedan chair stopped, and Shi Ziyu came over to help him get off the sedan chair. "Are there?" he asked.

Apparently it's here.The South City Gate looks much taller and stronger than the West City Gate, but it is also hard to be corroded by the rain, and it is spotted.The south gate is more strictly guarded than the west gate, so there is no need to ask why this time.Many of the victims outside the city were infected with the disease. If they were allowed to enter the city, the consequences would be disastrous.Thinking of this, Ye Sirui asked again: "Where are those victims who are not infected? Didn't they be separated?"

Kong Taiping was in charge of disaster relief.After he sobered up, he still looked prim and proper.Kong Taiping came up and replied: "The lower official ordered that people who were not infected with the disease should be taken out to live in the city, but almost every family has infected people, and they don't want to leave their relatives. The lower official had to ask the doctor to make medicine soup every day to treat them." sent by someone."

Family love with blood thicker than water is natural, but for some people it is a bit extravagant.Ye Sirui nodded with emotion.But after thinking about it, I felt that something was wrong. With so many disaster victims outside the city, could it be said that none of them wanted to survive?He was suspicious and didn't say it out.The three adults came and brought many servants with them.The guards at the gate opened the gate after saluting.The three walked out surrounded by guards.

Going out is the Shura scene.

Many rows of refugee shelters were neatly built outside the city, but most of the victims were not in the houses.They were all lying on the ground, dying, and there were a few people sitting beside them, with ragged clothes, skinny bones, and black bodies.Looking out from the city gate, the ground is full of people, lying down, sitting, but not standing.It is still hot at noon in early autumn, and the stench here is disgusting.

Where is nobody wanting to go back to town?Is it because everyone gets sick and dies?

Next to the refugee sheds is a shed for distributing porridge and medicine.Ye Sirui walked over a few steps to have a look.There was still half a bucket left in the porridge bowl, thick porridge without any impurities. "Why are there so many left?" The yamen servant in charge said, "My lord, the portion of porridge is determined according to the original number of people in each household, but now that more and more people are dying, there is more and more porridge left. "

"Why don't you share the excess with others?" Ye Sirui asked in disbelief.The victims lying on the ground looked hungry for a long time, so why would they not want to drink an extra bowl of porridge?

The yamen servant faltered and couldn't tell.

Kong Taiping said: "How are you going to do things! Isn't the leftover porridge a waste? From tomorrow onwards, the extra porridge will be distributed according to the rules."

The yamen servant responded quickly.Ye Sirui moved to the shed next to him, where there was a black medicinal soup in the vat, and the bitter medicinal smell mixed with the stench made it even more uncomfortable.He dug a large spoonful with a wooden spoon and lifted it up to see that the medicinal soup was cloudy with residual medicinal residues.He didn't understand medicinal materials, so he still asked, "What kind of prescription is this?"

There are yamen servants under the shed where the medicine is applied, and there are also doctors who are invited to be on duty.The doctor said: "Some people get this disease from a sense of improper qi, such as headache, fever, neck swelling, and diarrhea. This is also an epidemic in the sky. If one person's disease spreads to one room, the disease in one room, Contamination affects a township and a city. The methods of governance are suitable for dredging benefits, eliminating filth, clearing the middle, and conquering..."

He kept talking, but Ye Sirui just frowned and asked: "Is there a prescription for this medicine? Give me a copy to open my eyes."

The doctor looked at Kong Taiping hesitantly, Kong Taiping nodded, and then the doctor handed over the prescription written with a brush to Ye Sirui.Ye Sirui picked it up and looked at it: "Ginseng 6 cents, Ophiopogon japonicus 6 cents, Dendrobium 1 cents, papaya 3 cents, raw licorice 8 cents, lotus seeds 6 cents, raw grain buds [-] cents." Even though he couldn't understand, he still looked at it seriously. Read every word and put it in your sleeve.It looks decent, but I don't know how effective the medicine is.He regretted not bringing Xia Shu with him. With Xia Shu's ability, he should be able to see whether the prescription is right for the disease.It's just that firstly Ye Sirui didn't want him to take the risk, and secondly, he had to find the accounts.

The doctor said: "My lord, I would like to advise you that the epidemic is dangerous and it is not suitable to stay here."

Ye Sirui suppressed his fire, and said to the guards surrounding him: "Everyone spread out! I have something to ask the victims."

Kong Taiping said: "No!" Even Shi Ziyu came to persuade: "If adults want to see it, just look at it. It is too risky to approach the victims."

Ye Sirui was on fire, "You are afraid of taking risks, but I am not afraid, get out of the way!"