Quickly wear it and insist on being an old man forever

At this time, the county magistrate Zhu Huaijin, who already knew the cause and effect of the matter and even the current situation, also had a very ugly face. Even the word "ugly" was considered polite. If he had not drunk some hundred-year-old ginseng soup an hour ago and had a few injections, he might have died long ago.

He died due to excessive emotional fluctuations caused by fear and anger.

After all, it was such a shocking defeat.

How can he afford it?

This was a defeat that was enough to send him spiraling into despair.

But precisely because of this, Zhu Huaijin was too lazy to struggle at this point. Let them make a fuss, let them quarrel, who could be as powerful as them? They swore and swore, saying that they had sent out their strongest elite soldiers, but this was the result?
He casually conscripted 30,000 civilians.

It can't be any worse than this.

Of course, although Zhu Huaijin wanted to continue to be so rotten, he later thought about the family's reputation. Even if he could not keep his position as the county governor, he could not be too rotten, which would completely damage the family's reputation and be despised by others. So in the end, he forced himself to slam the table and said:

"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!"

The first sentence is relatively mild, but the second sentence is a hysterical roar. It can't be blamed on his great emotional fluctuations. Who can remain calm when encountering such a thing?

Fortunately, his roar still had some effect.

The sudden shock indeed made the heads or representatives of many powerful families present stunned and quiet down, and they turned to look at him.

“I already know the causes and consequences of this battle.

Zhang Yu, you tell them. "

Zhu Huaijin was too lazy to repeat it, nor did he want to mention those bad things, so he directly gave instructions to Zhang Yu.

Anyway, he has already colluded with those powerful families.

They are birds of a feather, so it's just right for him to tell the story.

Zhang Yu had no choice but to stand up with a rather sad face, then he bowed to everyone and said:
“It’s complicated and there are still unknowns.

I can only make it short.

On the third day after the army set out, a strange disease broke out in the military camp. About three thousand soldiers suddenly became weak all over and had difficulty getting up. The military doctor diagnosed that it was a deficiency of both Qi and blood, the cause of which was unknown. It was initially suspected to be an epidemic.

The three thousand people were urgently isolated and treated.

The next day, all 30,000 soldiers fell ill. Not long after, the same happened to the firemen, attendants, and civilian laborers who had escorted the food and fodder.

By then, the anti-rebel army had already lost its combat effectiveness.

After several generals and military advisors discussed it, they all agreed that it was most likely a highly contagious disease, so they did not dare to return, for fear that they would bring the disease back with them, causing the entire county to fall into crisis.

Then they made a new plan, a plan to bring an unknown plague into the area ruled by the rebels.

Even if I die there, I will bring the disease with me.

It can't be considered as having no achievements.

It’s better than doing nothing and dying of illness.”

"Later, it took them a long time to drag their sick bodies slowly to the area ruled by the traitors. Then, because Lu Ni had always claimed that they would not be killed if they surrendered, the soldiers might have considered that, firstly, they were indeed powerless to fight back, and secondly, if they became prisoners, they would also bring the disease into the heartland of Lu Ni's rule, so most of them surrendered without much resistance.

The anti-rebel army was basically delivered to the door as prisoners.

If the final result is indeed as originally planned, the epidemic will spread throughout the area ruled by Lu Ni.

Then this time it can’t be considered a major defeat.

But they miscalculated. Several days passed after they were captured, and Lu Ni's territory was still safe and sound.

No one was infected with a similar disease.

At the same time, their disease seemed to be improving.

I have a little more strength.

But it was too late for them to fight back, because they had already been dispersed, and the few groups of soldiers who resisted were either killed or suppressed, but they also found out an important clue, that is, this strange epidemic was very likely related to Lu's forces.

Many soldiers who had recovered some strength had their strength drained away again at the moment of resistance, and their qi and blood were severely depleted again. This was not an isolated case, but a common phenomenon.

Therefore, this matter can only be said to be not a crime of war.

It's simply because Lu Ni is too cunning and insidious.

He also mastered some unknown and strange methods.

The main unknown thing is that we don’t know what this epidemic is, and we don’t know how Lu Ni and others made us sick with the epidemic or even controlled the epidemic.

This is probably the cause and effect of this war.”

The whole thing sounded quite outrageous from beginning to end, but after listening to it, no one present questioned it. They just looked at each other in confusion, and some frowned and thought, as if they didn't know how to explain it.

After a long time, they discussed it privately.

"Does this situation sound familiar to you?"

"How could it not be familiar? Although it is not exactly the same, it is indeed a replica of the Mandate of Heaven of Saint Ancestor Liu Yu."

"It's true. When Emperor Shengzu Liu Yu started his army, plague would break out in the armies that opposed him, but nothing happened on his side, even if the bodies of dead patients were sent to him and even things related to the plague were put into their water sources.

The soldiers and civilians standing on the side of the Holy Ancestor were also fine.

But even during the time of the Holy Ancestor, the plague did not spread so quickly. In less than three days, 100,000 people were infected, and it was still under control. Is the Destiny even more powerful?"

"Compared to the Saint Ancestor who only avoided the plague and caused the plague to his enemies, the God Ancestor ruled the area with good weather and good harvests, while the areas not ruled by him were plagued by natural disasters. Isn't it obviously more serious? Now that more than two hundred years have passed, it is not surprising that he has become even better with the blessing of the destiny.

The only problem now is, isn't the traitor who started the rebellion named Lu? And she's a woman!

No matter what, it has nothing to do with the Liu family!"

"Could it be that destiny has shifted, not only within the Liu family, but also within the Lu family?"

"It's not just a surname issue, it's a gender issue. Don't forget that Lu is a woman, and she's an old woman over 50 years old. She doesn't care about her grandchildren at this age. I don't know what she's doing."

"Her son was killed, how can there be a grandson?"

"We still have to investigate in detail and find out the truth. After all, there have been people who have pretended to have the mandate of heaven over the years. For example, the King of Yue who is currently rebelling has staged a farce of making food rain from the sky, and he also said that his mandate is that there will be no more starving people.

As a result, Annan County is now under tight lockdown.

His soldiers were so hungry that they were almost cannibalizing each other."

"It's different. The Mandate of Heaven created by the King of Yue is fake at first glance. I don't even need to see it. I feel it's fake just by listening to it. But this Lu family is too weird. We can distrust the fighting power of ordinary soldiers in the court, but we cannot distrust our own private soldiers.

So I suspect that she may really have a destiny. Looking back at history, in the past thousand years, all the families that went against the destiny have had a bad ending. "

"But her last name isn't Liu!"

"Yes, even if we don't consider her gender, it doesn't matter if she's a woman, but it's really strange that she doesn't have the last name Liu."

"Is it possible that her ancestors' surname was Liu?"

"More than a hundred years ago, the imperial court conducted a major investigation of the Liu family, and many people with the surname Liu who could not provide evidence that their ancestors had the surname Liu were forced to change their surnames.

But you also know that not all families have family trees, and not all family trees can be preserved. There have been so many wars in the past thousand years. Large families like ours are still better off, but ordinary civilians or small families that have become poor are better off.

No matter how many accidents happen, no matter how much you lose.

None of this is surprising.

Perhaps the ultimate destiny does not necessarily require the surname Liu, but rather requires the blood of the Liu family.

Even if you change your surname, as long as the bloodline is still there.

Then you can still get the recognition of destiny?"

“It’s possible.”

"That's not necessarily true. If we only consider bloodline, there have been many people who have intermarried with the Liu family over the past thousand years.

Among the major royal families of the Xiongnu and southern barbarians.

Many people have Liu bloodline, right? "

"Maybe it has something to do with the blood concentration, or a specific bloodline. I remember that Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, Liu Zhan, or the Holy Ancestor Liu Yu and the Divine Ancestor Liu Ming were all descendants of Emperor Jing."

"In that case, we should investigate the ancestors of the Lu family carefully. It would be best to trace back to see if there is any ancestor with the surname Liu. If there is, then it is almost certain that she is the new Mandate of the Han Dynasty."

"What a sin! How could it be a woman?"

"Is God blind?"

"I'm not sure yet!"

"There is nothing uncertain about it. Such a weird thing will only happen to those who are destined to be together."

"Wait, don't you think that if she is really the one destined by heaven, it would be a particularly troublesome thing? Don't forget what this Lu family did in her own ruling area. She slaughtered all the noble families and distributed the land of the noble families to the common people. Don't you know what this means? She clearly regards us all as enemies.

If she really has a destiny, how can we be her opponent? Can't we just wait to die?"

"That's not the case..."

"As long as she's not stupid, it shouldn't be that bad. After all, she still has to rely on us to govern the world. Without us, who can she rely on? Those illiterate peasants? Or those treacherous and cunning businessmen?"

"The core reason why she slaughtered the noble families in the territory should be that she promised to exempt them from taxes and corvée for three years, and she really implemented it. If they don't try to steal food and money, they will not be able to continue to exist.

After all, whether it is raising people or soldiers, a lot of money and food are needed to support them. Without money and food, nothing can be done."

I have to say that people in this world are really sensitive about fate, but it is actually understandable. Anyone who has seen a lot of weird things will be very sensitive.

At this time, quite a number of them believed that Lu might be the new man of destiny.

Just because of the last name.

Not sure yet.

As for what to do if a new Man of the Han Dynasty appears? Past experience has taught them that going against the Man of the Han Dynasty is purely courting death, so once they are really sure that the rebellious Lu family is the new Man of the Han Dynasty, they will most likely try to join him.

And use this to gain the honor of following the dragon.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the new people of destiny are willing to cooperate and be willing to give them a way out. If they are unwilling to cooperate, and even want to put them to death without any room for maneuver, then it is hard to say.

The last time there was abdication, it was because everyone compromised.

If you are unwilling to compromise.

Naturally, we have to go through a bloody storm.

After all, no one would be willing to die, let alone die with the entire family. When knowing that one is doomed to die, who wouldn't be determined to not let the opponent have an easy time even if they die, let alone these proud families.

However, their discussion was basically useless, because these circumstances would not reduce Zhu Huaijin's guilt, and might even aggravate it. After all, it was impossible for the current emperor to abdicate immediately after knowing that a person suspected to be the destiny had been born here.

Most likely they will just blame Zhu Huaijin for his incompetence.

Resented him for not quelling the rebellion sooner.

I guess they want to bury him alive.

It can be said that after this operation, he has offended both the current emperor and the future man of destiny.

Living strong at this moment is a sign of having a big heart.

The only thing that made him feel fortunate was that now the attention of those aristocratic families was on the Lu family. They were all trying to quickly find out whether the Lu family was the new destiny of the Han Dynasty. For the time being, they had no time to claim compensation from him.

After all, he borrowed the 30,000 elite soldiers. Although he had promised in advance that if he succeeded, he would give those powerful families many benefits, but if he failed, those powerful families would obviously not be willing to admit their bad luck. Naturally, they would find ways to get some benefits back from the court to make up for their losses, and this was their usual attitude.

But this time is an exception.

Determining whether Lu is the new Mandate of the Han Dynasty is obviously much more important than asking for some compensation.

So those people rarely got involved.

They dispersed quickly and went home to discuss and think about the future.

As they left, County Magistrate Zhu Huaijin finished writing a memorial and sent someone to deliver the relevant information to the capital at full speed, and then he decisively hanged himself in his official residence.

Having offended both the current emperor and the man of destiny, he really couldn't think of any chance of survival.

I can only take one step forward.

Hopefully it won't bring harm to his family.

After reading the specific intelligence, he felt that the Lu family was undoubtedly the man of destiny, so he specially summoned all the local wealthy families to the county magistrate's office, informed them of the relevant situation and then hanged himself. His main purpose was to spread the news and prevent the royal family from blocking the news.

Only when the relevant information is spread thoroughly can everyone's attention be drawn to that Lu family.

And thus ignore him and the family behind him.

At this time, any high profile could become the target of public criticism and lead to fatal disasters. There was no guarantee that someone would not target his family in order to please the current emperor or the future man of destiny. So an hour ago, to be exact, before he sent the memorial at full speed, he had already sent a letter back to his hometown in advance. He asked his family to disperse and leave quickly, live in seclusion in a low profile, and come back to the world after a few years of completing the reform and restoring peace.

This is the last thing he can do. (End of this chapter)