The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 63 Good Official
At dawn, the golden sun breaks through the darkness.

This morning, all the chickens in Yangzhou City were silent.

Many Yangzhou residents were shocked to find after getting up early that all the flowers and plants in the front and back yards of their houses had withered overnight, and every corner of their homes was filled with stiff dead mice, spiders, and moths... It was as if winter had arrived overnight.

Looking at the sky again, low, thick dark clouds were motionlessly hanging over the city, but outside the city was still a scene of late summer and early autumn with a bright morning sun and full of vitality.

Just separated by a wall, it seems like two different worlds.

This situation is much more serious than Wang Wen and others expected.

They all thought that as long as they waited until dawn and the sun rose, the extremely strong and yang sunlight would greatly weaken or even completely suppress the power of the bloody ghost den. At that time, dealing with the evil ghost inside would be much easier.

No one expected that the power of this evil spirit was so strong that it could affect the weather of an entire city!

"What to do?"

Wang Wen stroked the fine steel silver spear and asked Cheng Xian beside him with some sincerity: "Have you ever dealt with a ghost of this level before?"

Cheng Xian's face was tense and his expression was very solemn. He shook his head and said, "No, didn't I tell you last time at the Liu family compound? That was the most ferocious ghost I have ever seen..."

Wang Wen pressed on, "You're high-ranking astronomical guards who've been trained at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau in the capital. Even if you haven't eaten pork, you should have seen pigs run, right? Haven't you even heard it?"

Cheng Xian tried to recall for a moment, then replied helplessly, "Maybe I'm just too ignorant. I've never heard of anyone successfully dealing with a ghost of this level..."

"Isn't that the end of the matter?"

Wang Wen wanted to run away when he heard this: "Even the headquarters in Beijing, where so many extraordinary people gather, has not successfully dealt with this level of evil spirits. If we rush in with just a few of us, won't we just be asking for trouble?"

Cheng Xian frowned, not knowing what to do.

At that moment, the two of them saw from afar Li Heng riding his horse at full speed, heading straight towards Zhao Zhiling who was busy working over there.

When Wang Wen saw him, he immediately gave Cheng Xian a gentle push and said, "Let's go and hear what he has learned from Master Shou'an..."

This time the Yangzhou government office was destroyed, and the Astronomical Observatory office was mobilized in full force, leaving only the great monk Shou'an and a dozen or so capable Astronomical Guards to stay behind to guard the office and important places such as the document library.

The two hurried over to Zhao Zhiling's room, only to hear Li Heng say, "...Master Yi Shou'an has already dispatched a fleeting chariot to Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, requesting all the eminent monks there to rush to Yangzhou and hold a water and land ceremony to liberate this evil spirit."

'Hangzhou?'

Wang Wen opened his mouth, but then forced himself to suppress his urge to complain. He thought, "By the time that monk gets reinforcements from Hangzhou, the daylilies will be cold!"

He didn't know much about ghosts and gods, but he was the fuse of this sudden change after all, so he naturally had some guesses in his mind.

In his opinion, the reason this fierce ghost, whose ferocity clearly exceeded its version's strength, had the appearance of an unintelligent beast was probably because his furious attack last night had disrupted the White Lotus Sect's formation, causing the ghost to be born prematurely and with incomplete intelligence...

Of course, there may also be reasons such as the backlash of the formation or the backlash of resentment.

In other words, this evil ghost is currently a premature baby.

But even if a baby is born prematurely, as long as he or she does not die, he or she will grow up one day.

With this evil ghost's physique, even if he was only given the wisdom of a three or five-year-old child, he could turn Yangzhou City into a real ghost den!
Zhao Zhiling was obviously dissatisfied with the reply from Master Shou'an. While racking his brains to think of other solutions, he shifted his gaze to observe the three capable generals under his command.

Then, his gaze fixed on Wang Wen, who seemed to be hesitant to speak and full of complaints, and he said in a deep voice, "Erhu, is there a solution? We are all family, there is no need to hide anything!"

"Who says you're one of us..."

Wang Wen shook his head without thinking: "My Lord, I have no choice!"

Zhao Zhiling didn't believe it: "Are you really helpless, or are you just pretending?"

Wang Wen: "Of course it's fake, there's nothing we can do about it."

Zhao Zhiling, Cheng Xian, and Li Heng: ???

"Just say it..."

Zhao Zhiling stroked his beard and said in a strong voice, "I will bear all the consequences for you!"

Wang Wen: "Really?"

Zhao Zhiling: "A gentleman's word is as good as gold!"

Wang Wen paused for a moment, then said, "I don't have any good ideas, but I do have two stupid ones."

Zhao Zhiling: "Just say it."

Wang Wen pointed at the sticky, bloody ghost den and said, "First, burn this ghost den to ashes!"

The three of them looked in the direction his finger pointed and were speechless.

Zhao Zhiling pulled off a strand of his beard and said with a headache, "Let's talk about the second one."

Wang Wen asked doubtfully, "Do you think this method is difficult to implement?"

Zhao Zhiling shook his head: "There's nothing we can do about this. If we set this fire, I'm afraid half of Yangzhou City will be burned down!"

The main reason is that the government office occupies too large an area. If you want to set the entire government office on fire, you must get a lot of dry firewood to help burn it.

Once the entire government office is set on fire, the fire cannot be controlled by simply isolating flammable materials.

The majority of buildings in the city are wooden. Once the fire spreads, it is probably a conservative estimate that half of Yangzhou City will be burned down.

Wang Wen was of course aware of this, otherwise he wouldn't have said this was a foolish idea. "So what do you think? Burning down half of Yangzhou City would be disastrous, or waiting for the evil spirit inside to fully develop and burst out, turning the entire city into a den of ghosts, also with disastrous consequences?"

In his opinion, it was not a difficult decision to save the people or the city.

As for the subsequent placement issue...

Zhao Zhiling regretted it so much that he wanted to slap himself. He looked around and said, "From here to Hangzhou, it only takes six days to get there by horseback. I have a strong army and strong horses in the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. Can't I hold it in six days?"

Wang Wen and Cheng Xian remained silent.

Li Heng wanted to speak to boost morale, but seeing that neither of them said anything, he closed his mouth again.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhiling clutched his chest and said with difficulty, "Even if I give this order... what should we do with the people in this city? Even if we mobilize the garrison troops, it will take at least three to five days to relocate so many people! We can't just start this fire and ignore the lives of so many people, can we?"

Cheng Xian and Li Heng also thought this was true and looked at Wang Wen together.

Wang Wen did not disappoint them: "Can a living person be suffocated to death by urine? As long as you are willing to think of a way, there will always be a way."

Zhao Zhiling: "What method?"

Wang Wen: "Don't they like to join in the fun and watch the excitement? As long as you are willing to take the blame, we can find an open area outside the city and hold some lively temple fairs, opera performances, etc., and let them go out of the city to join in the fun."

"Once the large group of people leave the city, we will immediately seal it off, allowing only people to leave but not enter. We can get the remaining people out of the city even if we have to carry them on our backs..."

Li Heng was stunned for two seconds, looking at Wang Wen in shock. For the first time, he regretted offending this black tiger... This guy is really cruel and evil!
Cheng Xian narrowed his eyes and thought to himself, "You rascal, you've finally stopped pretending?"

Zhao Zhiling had to admit that his method was indeed feasible, and said with a wry smile: "Let's talk about the second method first..."

Wang Wen shook his head like a rattle: "If the first method doesn't work, the second method will be useless."

Zhao Zhiling hesitated for a long time before mustering up the courage to ask, "What do you mean?"

Wang Wen: "Get all the gunpowder in the city, make a big bomb, and blow up that idiot in there!" "This..."

The three of them were a little hesitant. Of course, they all knew the power of gunpowder. They had seen artillery before when they were in the Western Army.

Cheng Xian had even fired a cannon himself, so he excitedly asked the question on the three people's minds: "Erhu, can gunpowder also be used against ghosts?"

Wang Wen said affirmatively: "I think that since fire is effective against ghosts, then gunpowder must also be effective against ghosts... If it doesn't, then it only means that the explosive pack is not big enough!"

In his understanding, ghosts are a kind of energy body that tends to be "cold and yin".

To prescribe the right medicine, of course we have to look for energy that tends towards "heat and yang".

No matter how you look at it, the high temperature generated by the gunpowder explosion should be an energy that is more like "hot and yang", right?
It's like... giving that thing in the bloody ghost den an atomic bomb, can it withstand it?
That’s so unscientific!
The three of them pondered his words, their eyes gradually brightening.

They all felt that what Wang Wen said made sense!
Zhao Zhiling glanced at Li Heng secretly with shining eyes.

Li Heng understood immediately and said, "Master Wang, I have something I don't understand. If gunpowder is effective against ghosts, why do we have to set that fire? Can't we get more gunpowder? You may not know that making gunpowder is actually not difficult. One stone, two saltpeter, three..."

Wang Wen impatiently waved his hand to interrupt the meat trumpet and turned his gaze to Cheng Xian: "You go ahead and say it."

Cheng Xian really knew what Wang Wen was thinking. He clasped his fists towards Zhao Zhiling and said, "Your Excellency may not know this, but my brother Erhu and I have just fought against a demon that can create a ghostly den. With the blessing of this ghostly den, the demon's strength will increase dramatically. If we don't break this ghostly den first, if the gunpowder can't be decisive, the consequences will be disastrous."

Wang Wen nodded: "My two stupid methods are both aimed at weakening the evil spirit inside. If we can kill it with one hammer, then everyone will be happy. But if we can't kill it with one hammer, we brothers still have some strength to fight..."

Zhao Zhiling put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth anxiously.

Take a step and take a look at the bloody ghost den that is three or four stories high.

He took a step and grabbed his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Wang Wen didn't urge him either.

He also knew that this decision was very difficult for Zhao Zhiling.

It was so difficult that even if this task was accomplished, Zhao Zhiling might not get any credit for it.

And if he fails, Zhao Zhiling might even die as an apology...

This is destroying the city!

But he really had no better solution, and it was impossible for him to just let it go...

In the end, Zhao Zhiling gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and squeezed out a word from between his teeth: "Done!"

"Zhonghe!"

Li Heng clasped his fists and said, "I'm here!"

Zhao Zhiling: "Go and collect all the gunpowder in the city... I mean the whole city!"

Li Heng: "I understand!"

After saying this, he turned around, holding his sword, and called a team of Si Tianwei, and left quickly.

Zhao Zhiling: "Zhengyong, go get some dry firewood. You know how big the government office is, and you know how much dry firewood is needed!"

Cheng Xian clasped his fists and said, "I understand!"

After saying that, he also turned around, holding the sword on his waist, and called a team of Si Tianwei, and left quickly.

Zhao Zhiling's eyes fell on Wang Wen and he opened his mouth...

Wang Wen spoke first, "Sir, you don't want me to take care of the temple fair and the opera troupe, do you?"

Zhao Zhiling was helpless and speechless: "Besides you, who else do you think I can find?"

Wang Wen thought about it, but...

He said helplessly and speechlessly: "Sir, this expense is not small. I am working for the court, so I can't have to pay for it myself, right?"

Zhao Zhiling nodded, then turned to face the blood-soaked ghost cave and sighed nonchalantly, "Yangzhou is a great place. It's prosperous and rich. The tax revenue from one state is enough to cover the entire northwest route... Erhu, what do you think?"

Wang Wen understood and was shocked.

He stared at Zhao Zhiling for more than ten seconds before saying in a muffled voice, "Sir, please don't harm me."

Zhao Zhiling sneered and gave him an admiring look. "I didn't ask you to take it all. Zhao Yiming even dared to collude with the White Lotus Sect. Isn't it normal for him to embezzle some tax silver?"

"As expected of an official!"

Wang Wen's eyes lit up. "If that's what you mean, sir, then since Zhao Yiming dared to collude with the White Lotus Sect, wouldn't it be reasonable for him to have the audacity to transfer all the tax revenue from Yangzhou to the White Lotus Sect as military funds?"

Zhao Zhiling frowned and said in a displeased voice, "Erhu, I thought you were a bit muddleheaded just now, but you still knew the importance of important matters and knew when to advance and retreat. How come in the blink of an eye, you've..."

Wang Wen quickly waved his hand, "Sir, please listen to me first... The city burned down. Should we rebuild it? We can't let the people pay for it themselves, can we? Even if they wanted to, I'm afraid they couldn't afford it. After all, there's no way to prove it. Why not take it from the people and use it for the people?"

Zhao Zhiling narrowed his eyes, stared at him, and chuckled, "Erhu, are you planning a rebellion?"

Wang Wen sneered, "Sir, don't pressure me with such words. I know what I'm doing!"

"Don't worry, this money will definitely not be distributed to the people in anyone's name."

"It will only serve as capital, first turning into cheap wood, cheap bricks and tiles, and then into cheap new houses."

"Just think of it as the folks spending a little money to renovate their old house."

"By doing this, Your Excellency will feel better, and I will feel better too. The people won't suffer much, and the blame will fall on the right person..."

"Isn't everyone happy?"

Zhao Zhiling pondered this for a long time, then suddenly laughed and said, "I was really wrong. You're not cut out to lead an army in battle!"

Wang Wen asked curiously, "What kind of person am I?"

Zhao Zhiling laughed heartily and said, "What a great material for a dog-headed military advisor!"

Wang Wen also laughed and said, "I was not wrong about you, sir!"

Zhao Zhiling: "Oh? What kind of person am I in your eyes?"

Wang Wen: "In my humble opinion, Your Excellency is not a good superior, but he is generally considered a good official."

Zhao Zhiling: "Flattery?"

Wang Wen: "The truth!"

Zhao Zhiling was silent for a long time before he patted his shoulder and said softly, "Enough!"

After saying this, he called a team of Sitian Guards and rushed to Yangzhou Jianyuan.

For such a big operation, he must first deal with those imperial censors!

(End of this chapter)