There were dust rising from the official road, and the horse galloped past, and the soldiers on the horse showed a strong and slaughterful aura.

Zhu Cilang in the middle of the team had a pale face and had not spoken for a long time.

Today is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. It has been five days since I left the capital and headed south. The brigade of troops has walked more than 500 miles, passed Tianjin Wei, entered Hejian Mansion, and there is more than one day before we can reach Zhengding Mansion.

Zhu Cixuan took great pains to choose the road south. The army led by Li Zicheng had already passed Tongguan and came towards Shuntian Prefecture. The north and northwest directions of the capital were full of dangers. If he encountered a large army under Li Zicheng, the 100 Jinyiwei were not qualified to resist. Therefore, Zhu Cixuan chose the southeast direction, passed Tongzhou, Xianghe, Wuqing, Tianjin Prefecture, and entered Hejian Prefecture.

There is definitely no problem with choosing the marching route. This route completely avoided Li Zicheng's army and was relatively safe. However, the situation in the late Ming Dynasty was extremely chaotic, and Zhu Cixuan had to worry about the bandits from all over the country. If the bandits were raided, the Jinyiwei would suffer a certain loss, and the subsequent itinerary would be even more difficult.

However, after leaving the capital, the scenes I saw along the way shocked Zhu Cilang and couldn't believe it.

"Your Highness, you have never laughed along the way, so don't think too much."

Zhu Cilang turned his head and looked at Cao Huachun beside him, and sighed a long time.

"Mr. Cao, the plague is so serious. Gu really didn't expect that nine out of ten rooms were empty. There were pedestrians along the way. The villages on both sides of the official road were empty. Some corpses did not have time to restrain them. Just on both sides of the official road, the plague was to spread on a large scale. The plague was impossible to disappear completely. This is the capital of the capital, and what are the local governments doing? In such a serious situation, why didn't the court report it? If the plague spreads to the capital again and many soldiers are infected, wouldn't it give the thief Li Zicheng a chance?"

Cao Huachun sighed.

"Your Highness, you don't know what happened in the plague in the capital. Shuntian Prefecture has secretly reported to the emperor. The emperor transferred the memorial to the cabinet. After the cabinet discussed it, it was suppressed and not made public, so as not to cause panic in the capital. The plague in the capital was rampant, and too many people died, and even those who restrained the corpses could not be found. These corpses need to be buried, but it would be good if the local government could manage the city well. There was really no way to deal with the matters of villages and towns."

Zhu Cilang shook his head helplessly. No wonder Li Zicheng's army was able to directly reach the capital city with unstoppable momentum. Where are there people in this capital? The people are like this, how good can the soldiers stationed in the city be?

Local governments have no money to recruit soldiers, but still follow the system of garrison. This system of garrison has long been in name only. The commander of the guard nominally controls more than 5,000 soldiers, but in fact, it is amazing to have 1,000 elderly, weak, sick and disabled soldiers. Moreover, the soldiers in the guard station are exactly the same as ordinary people, and they are called military households. Many people's main task is to farm, pay rent, and they have never touched weapons in their lives, and their combat effectiveness is extremely low.

Everyone knows that the Ming army and garrison had the worst combat power. These soldiers bullied the people with vicious spirits, fled the fastest and surrendered the fastest.

The army has no combat power and cannot resist the attack of Li Zicheng's army. The plague is still raging in the capital. It can be said that this is the last straw that the Ming Dynasty fell in a bang in history.

"Mr. Cao, I don't think so. If the governments at all levels in the capital really think about the affairs of the people and treat the people as their parents for food and clothing, they would not have reached such a point."

Cao Huachun nodded and looked at Zhu Cilang speaking tentatively.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, otherwise you would write a memorial and report the situation of the capital to the emperor."

Zhu Cilang shook his head with a wry smile.

"Forget it, writing memorials to the father is useless. Such a situation will not happen overnight. It can only be corrected slowly. The most critical thing at the moment is how to resist the thief Li Zicheng."

"Gu originally thought that he might encounter bandits along the way. If the Jinyiwei suffered a great loss, his subsequent itinerary would be even more difficult. Now it seems that Gu is thinking too much, there are not many people in the capital, and the bandits can't survive."

Cao Huachun held the reins in his hand and saluted Zhu Cilang.

"What the Prince said is that I think today is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. I am eager to leave the capital these days and have no rest. Is it time to rest for half a day? Not far ahead is Jinghai County."

Zhu Cilang thought for a moment. He didn't want to rest. As the crisis approached, he would have arrived in Nanjing one day earlier and would be able to take the initiative this morning, not to mention that he had to go to Shandong to deal with Liu Zeqing's affairs. However, he had to travel for several consecutive days. Not to mention Li Banghua, who was already 70 years old, even Fan Jingwen showed signs of fatigue. Everyone was gritting their teeth and persevering.

The Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is also a very important festival. It is reasonable to have a rest for half a day.

"Okay, let Lord Wu send Jinyiwei to Jinghai County. But there is one thing, I don't want to bother the local government. Jinyiwei is looking for a place outside the city to station, and the others try to rest outside the city. If someone wants to go into the city and take a look, it's fine, but you have to inform him in advance and ask Lord Wu to send Jinyiwei to escort."

Cao Huachun hesitated for a moment and spoke still.

"Your Highness, when you arrive at Jinghai County, it may be difficult if you don't see the local magistrate. After all, there are more than 100 people. Even if you are stationed outside the city, it will attract the attention of local people. The county government will soon get the news. I think it's better to take the initiative to meet the magistrate of Jinghai County..."

Zhu Cilang turned his head and looked at Cao Huachun again. He did not bother the local government along the way. When he asked the Jinyiwei to arrange his itinerary, he would pass by the city directly without stopping. The same is true for today's arrangements. It is not bothering the local government to save time and be able to travel as soon as possible. Besides, Zhu Cilang doesn't like those meaningless welcomes and sends.

However, since I arrived at the city, Zhu Cilang, as the crown prince, did not see the local officials, which seemed inappropriate. What would local officials think, whether there was something wrong with doing, whether he was not favored by His Highness the Crown Prince, etc.

Zhu Cilang, who had traveled through time, had this experience. After all, many subtle things exist in the officialdom.

"Okay, Lord Cao reminds me that if Gu could not think of these things, he would have thought about rushing to leave the capital and forgot these things. Gu would like to thank Lord Cao for his reminder. Please give me more attention and remind me in these aspects in the future."

...

Jinghai County, county government office, three halls.

Zhu Cilang sat upright in the first place, and the magistrate stood opposite, lowering his head to report many matters about Jinghai County.

The banquet has been arranged, and it is in the county government office.

The magistrate reported the situation in Jinghai County, and said a lot of nonsense, such as the emperor's grace. Zhu Cilang had long been impatient, but he could not interrupt them. These words were praised by the magistrate and the court. If he interrupted impatiently, he would turn his head and be impeached.

It took half an hour for the magistrate to finish his speech.

Zhu Cilang was confused when he heard this. The magistrate did not say any of the things he cared about, which means there must be something wrong with it.

After looking at Li Banghua, Fan Jingwen, Cao Huachun and others, Zhu Cilang spoke.

"Mr. x, you have worked hard with the officials of the county government. In recent years, the capital of the capital has been rampant by the Later Jin Tartars, and last year, I encountered plague again. You can stabilize the place and do a good job. I have a few questions. Please answer it."

"The first question is, how much grain is stored in the county government now, all the charity warehouses in the treasury are included."

The magistrate shivered for a moment, lowered his head and spoke.

"The grain stored in the charity warehouse of the treasury was prepared according to the requirements of the court..."

Zhu Cilang sighed.

"How much money does the county government still have to deposit money?"

"Report to His Highness the Crown Prince, the county government still has 325 taels and six cents of deposit."

"How many people died in Jinghai County during this plague? Is there any number in the county government?"

"Report to His Highness the Crown Prince that 237 people died in the county town. The following figures are still counted and are still reported."

"How many soldiers are there in the garrisons around Jinghai County and the garrisons in the city."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, there are 1,200 soldiers stationed in the county, which belong to the three guards of Tianjin. As for the soldiers stationed in the southern guards of Jinghai County, I did not receive the order and dared not to overthrow it. I don't know how many soldiers there are."

Zhu Cilang's face was not very good, so he stood up and walked to the magistrate.

"The number of grain storage is inaccurate. The county government has only 325 taels and 6 coins of deposited silver. There are 1,200 soldiers in the city. It is unclear how many soldiers are stationed outside the city. It is unclear how many people died in the plague last year."

"After listening to what you said, can you infer this way? The county government cannot provide food and money to ensure the expenses of the soldiers. The soldiers stationed outside the city have no relationship with the county government. It is good if the county government can know the number of people who died in the city due to the plague. The county government does not need to pay attention to how many people died below."

"The army of treacherous soldiers has approached the capital. There are battlefields everywhere in the capital, and they are going to fight with treacherous soldiers. As the magistrate of Jinghai County, you are very unaware of the flexibility and conservativeness. You don't even know how many soldiers outside the city are. If this continues, when the treacherous army attacks Jinghai County, how should you deal with it."

"The father was working hard and couldn't sleep at night. He always thought about how to resolve the crisis. You are a county magistrate, and you have to share the worries for the emperor at critical moments. You must do your best to do everything well. If the magistrates in various places have the same idea as you, then what do the court still need so many magistrates to do."
Chapter completed!