Chapter 530: The Haze of Plague

Jincheng.

Tiemuta sat twenty meters away from Mule Hongzhen.

Although he had never come within thirty meters while searching for smallpox patients.

For the sake of safety, he still had to maintain a distance from his Great Khan.

To avoid the great Khan being infected with the terrible smallpox.

After all, as far as he knew, an Emperor of a Central Plains dynasty had once died from a smallpox infection.

It was evident that even imperial physicians were helpless against this terrifying plague.

"Great Khan, your son has already driven one thousand slaves into the camp; they will soon be infected with smallpox," Tiemuta said.

Mule Hongzhen nodded.

He had finally waited for this moment, and this time, in addition to finding a person infected with smallpox on the Grassland.

He had also dispatched people from across the Northern Di who had once contracted smallpox and luckily survived.

Because Ivan had assured him that those who had contracted smallpox would not catch it again.

These people could come into contact with those suffering from smallpox.

"It will take ten days for them to fall ill, at which point the Khan can have them collect items the infected have touched and find a way to throw these items into Yanguan," Ivan said.

This was his entire plan.

Mule Hongzhen nodded in satisfaction and asked Wulanba, "Have the candidates for Yanguan been selected?"

"They have been selected, Great Khan; they were all archers in the Xiliang army before." Wulanba looked toward the south, smiling quite cruelly.

This time, he wanted to see how Yan Wang would respond.

As they were speaking, the surrounding Northern Di soldiers suddenly raised their heads to look at the sky.

Their faces were filled with terror.

They saw many slips of paper scattering down like snowflakes.

Above their heads, a black dot was moving slowly.

"Hot Air Balloon," Ivan said in great shock.

Seeing it with his own eyes, he finally believed that what Mule Hongzhen said was true.

The Yan Wang they spoke of could really build hot air balloons.

"Great Khan, be careful, hurry and hide," Wulanba shouted.

The soldiers immediately crowded around Mule Hongzhen and ran toward the house.

The whole Grassland now knew that Enke had been blown to death by this thing.

They would absolutely not let such a thing happen again.

Therefore, as soon as they saw this thing, they hid.

"Damn it." Hiding under the eaves and looking at the hot air balloon, Mule Hongzhen almost bit his silver teeth to pieces.

These days, these slips of paper drifting down from the sky had appeared one after another in the coastal counties.

The path had basically been from Yanguan northward, and now it was finally Jincheng's turn.

"Jincheng is too close to the coast," Wulanba frowned.

It was no more than thirty li from the coast to Jincheng.

When Yan Wang sent troops to attack Ningjin Dusi back then,

they had caused trouble near Jincheng several times.

He did not expect that Yan Wang's hot air balloon would now fly over Jincheng as well.

"What does the paper say? Is it the same as the other counties?" Mule Hongzhen asked.

Wulanba nodded and held the palm-sized slip of paper in front of him.

"Elders of Ningjin, the separation of over ten years has been too long, this hatred is endless; now Yan Wang has great ambitions, wishing to reclaim the ancestral land and return to you a peaceful and prosperous age. Do not lose your own will, refuse to yield even in death, break free from the cage, and restore your homeland..." Wulanba read in a low voice.

On the back of the paper were some pictures.

They depicted Yanzhou soldiers embracing the people of Northern Di.

"It is the same as the ones sent to other counties; this Yan Wang is truly delusional. This time, I only hope he catches smallpox and dies," Wulanba cursed viciously.

Mule Hongzhen thought the same in his heart, but he did not say it out loud.

"He thinks that with these few small slips of paper, he can stir up the Song People of Ningjin Dusi to resist us Northern Di? What a joke. I fear he does not know that back then, we used swords and blades to kill them into submission." Mule Hongzhen looked toward the south, "Let him be smug for a few more days; soon he will have reason to weep."

At the same time.

The fluttering slips of paper were also scattered toward the camp outside Jincheng.

In the camp, over a thousand Song People slaves looked blankly at the slips of paper scattering down from the sky.

A strong man over thirty years old picked up a slip of paper, and after just one glance, his face was covered in tears.

He had once been a scholar; when Ningjin Dusi was breached, he ultimately failed to escape and was captured by Northern Di soldiers.

Since then, he had been driven by the Northern Di people year-round to fell trees and mine, barely surviving until now.

But the god-forsaken Northern Di had ultimately not let him go.

After being driven into the camp, there were special Northern Di soldiers who escorted them into a tent.

After he entered, the first thing he saw was that the people lying on the ground were suffering from smallpox.

Forced to kiss the feet of these people, they were then driven out, and the next batch was brought in.

Now, they were just waiting for death in this camp.

He knew very well that of those who caught smallpox, nine out of ten would not survive.

"Is Yan Wang coming? It is a pity that I will not live to see that day." Zhuangai wiped away his tears.

His fair palms, which had once held a pen for study, had become blackened, full of cracks, and several of his fingernails had fallen off.

This wipe left a smudge on his face.

"It's coming down, it's coming down..." Just as he was feeling sentimental, the slaves suddenly pointed toward the sky.

They saw the black dot in the sky growing larger and larger.

At this moment, he saw clearly that it was something like a balloon.

Staring in astonishment for a while just like the other slaves, Zhuangai suddenly realized something.

The Northern Di drove them into this camp in order to infect them with Smallpox.

If they wanted these people to die, there would be no need at all to use such a troublesome method.

Moreover, the outside of this camp was heavily guarded, which made it seem more like the Northern Di were plotting something; in any case, it certainly wasn't anything good.

Seeing the Hot Air Balloon getting closer and closer, with people seemingly on it, he felt it was necessary to pass this news on.

After all, the paper scraps were thrown down by this thing, so it must belong to Yan Wang.

Thinking of this, he immediately leaned in and whispered a few words to the person beside him.

Those around him were all slaves who lived with him usually, and they were very familiar with each other.

He also told them about the Smallpox matter.

At this moment, these people were just as desperate as he was.

This kind of despair turned into monstrous hatred for the Northern Di.

Death was certain either way, so now they feared nothing.

After some exchange.

He led the familiar slaves to stand up and drove the surrounding slaves away, leaving only themselves.

Zhuangai then immediately had them stand according to his instructions.

The guarding Northern Di soldiers glanced at them, feeling it was strange, but not noticing anything unusual, they paid no more attention.

Like the other slaves, they just looked toward the sky.

At this moment.

On the Hot Air Balloon flying in the sky, three soldiers were observing the camp.

Today, they took off from a Warship on the sea east of Jincheng, specifically to fly over Jincheng to scatter leaflets.

This was the order given to them by the Propaganda Department.

At the same time, they also received another order, which was to observe the camp outside Jincheng at close range.

This order was from the Supervisory Court, the Four Courts.

At this moment, the movement below caught their attention.

The shape in which some slaves were standing in the open space seemed to be two characters.