Chapter 20: The Source of the Plague

  Thanks for the reward from Qingqing Guolin friend!

  Han Yanzhi couldn't help but pause, and followed Yue Yun's gaze to look over. He saw that about 5 or 6 zhang away from the riverbank, a branch as thick as an arm was slanting downwards. The leaves on this branch were still green, clearly indicating that it had been broken off just two or three days ago. Since it wasn't by the riverbank, everyone had missed it during their search.

  "Brother Yue, is there something wrong with this branch?" Han Yan asked curiously.

  "Hmm, I was thinking, how did tree roots end up being stuck in this canal? Why weren't they washed away by the water?" Yu Yun furrowed her brow and said.

  "It's probably stuck in the riverbed, this canal water isn't deep, even in the middle of the river it's only about one zhang, like the position of this tree branch, the water surface is probably only waist-deep." Han Yanzhi obviously had experience navigating the canal before, and immediately judged the depth of the water.

  "Hmm! Yoshinobu, you seem to be quite familiar with this area. But I was wondering: who would be so bored that they'd go into the river and stick a tree branch in?" asked Yue Yun in a condensed voice.

  Yue Yun said this, and Han Yan also suddenly found something wrong. Even if it's a child who often plays in the water by the river, at most they would splash water or something, but they wouldn't be bored enough to pull down thick tree branches and insert them into the waist-deep river bottom.

  Han Yanzhi immediately stood up and prepared to dive into the water to pick up that branch.

  Yue Yun hastily stopped him and said: "Wait! This river water may be the source of the epidemic, you'd better not get in the water."

  Han Yan was taken aback: "Brother Yue, how can I pick up this branch without getting in the water?"

  Yue Yun thought for a moment and asked, "Is there a small boat? Drive the small boat or wooden raft closer, and use a water-resistant leather glove to pick it up and take a look! I guess there should be something under this branch, otherwise how can it stand in the water."

  Han Yan Zheng thought for a moment, then smiled awkwardly and said: "I remember that the original canal inspection had several small boats to collect taxes from passing cargo ships. However, they have been idle for a long time. Now I'll go get someone to push them into the river! Brother Yue, wait a minute, I'll take care of it right away!"

  More than half an hour later, a horse corpse that had been soaked and swollen, emitting bursts of foul odor and had already rotted was pulled ashore.

  Yue Yun and Han Yanzhizhi, Xu Shuwei, the three of them, wearing masks and gloves, frowned as they approached the horse's corpse and began to examine it.

  "Brother Yue, this horse doesn't seem to be from our local area. Judging by its height, it should be a horse from the north! Only the horses used by the northern Jurchen people are as tall and large as this one. The horses we use are mostly Sichuan horses and Jiangnan horses, which are shorter in stature, suitable for carrying loads and long-distance travel, but lacking in impact force and explosive power when charging into battle compared to the Jurchen horses." Han Yan was also a young general who had fought against the Jurchen army many times, and he immediately recognized the origin of the horse.

  Yue Yun also knew that in this era, good horse pastures were mostly on the territory of Western Xia, Jin Dynasty and Mongolia. Therefore, the Song army was seriously lacking in cavalry, and having a thousand-man cavalry was already a big deal, and it was impossible to compare with the Jin army's cavalry, which often had tens of thousands of people.

  The reason why the Song army repeatedly suffered defeats in front of the Jin army, apart from poor command and inferior soldier quality and bravery compared to the Jin army, was most importantly due to a lack of cavalry. In this era, only cavalry could counter cavalry, and without it, they were always at a disadvantage. This is not unrelated to why the Song army was always on the defensive when fighting against the Liao, Jin, Western Xia, and Mongol nomadic tribes in the north.

  "General, this matter is somewhat suspicious! In our army, such tall and majestic horses are rare, and the few we have are still being fed in the stables of the mansion. Not a single one has died!" A personal soldier of Han Yanzhi's couldn't help but say beside him. He was specifically in charge of taking care of Han Yanzhi's warhorses, so he was naturally very familiar with the situation of the horses in the army.

  Han Yan was also very suspicious in his heart. In this era, due to the lack of war horses in the Song army, all the horses that could be gathered from the civilians were gathered into the military. The livestock used by civilians and merchants for transportation were almost all donkeys and mules. If a horse like this tall horse died, it would be a big deal for an army. But there was no report in his own army. From this, it can be seen that this horse must have been transported from outside the city. Who would do such a thing and transport a dead horse?

  Yue Yun thought for a moment and suggested: "Yan Zhi, Xu Xueshi, why don't we split up now?"

  "Brother Yue, how are we going to split up?" Han Yan asked with a puzzled expression.

  Yue Yun said seriously: "Yan Zhi, I want to ask you to go and ask the city gate guards who are on duty these past few days whether they have seen anyone bringing in a dead horse or other animal carcasses into the city."

  "Alright! No problem!" Han Yanzhi suddenly understood.

  Yue Yun continued and, after making a slight bow to Xu Shu, said: "Xu Xiansheng, I'd like to ask you to soak the horse's corpse in a water bucket for some time. Then, let's give the water from the bucket to the cats and dogs to drink and see if they will have any abnormal reactions."

  "Alright! I'll go and take care of it!" Xu Shu also replied with a nod.

  The two of them immediately set off in different directions and started taking action.

  Yue Yun, however, remained standing in the same spot, not leaving. He gazed at the slowly flowing river water, thinking about the origin of this epidemic, and an extremely frightening thought involuntarily emerged in his mind.

  A moment later, Han Yan came back after finishing his investigation. His gaze towards Yue Yun was even more respectful.

  Han Yan was overjoyed and said, "Brother Yue, you are truly a god at predicting things! I went to the South Gate Guard Station to ask questions first, but got nothing. Later, when I asked at the East Gate Guard Station, one of the guards said that three days ago, a merchant caravan from Shandong came by with over ten fine horses and more than ten large carts, claiming they were going to Lin'an to sell horses. But when the guard searched the cargo on the carts, he found a dead horse..."

  He paused for a moment, then continued: "Under his inquiry, the leader of the merchants claimed that the horse had died from exhaustion due to pulling carts on the road. He found it somewhat strange at the time. Although it was not uncommon for northern merchants to smuggle horses south and sell them at inflated prices, there were not many who could afford to use horses to transport goods. It was just that our great Song Dynasty lacked horses, so we treated these northern merchants who smuggled in fine horses very favorably, which is why the guard did not ask too many questions and let them pass. Now it seems that this horse corpse thrown into the river is probably the corpse of the horse brought in by those northern merchants."

  "Hmm!" Yue Yun did not show a happy expression, but instead said in a serious tone: "Yanzhi, if my guess is correct, something might happen in Chu State!"

  "Ah! Brother Yue, apart from this plague, what other trouble has occurred?" Han Yanzhi immediately widened his eyes and asked.

  "Let's go catch those northern merchants first! As I expected, no doubt! These horse merchants are probably nine out of ten Jin army spies, Chu state is in big trouble!" Yue Yun said worriedly.

  At this time, he remembered that in 53 BC, when Caesar was on a campaign to Gaul, he had used the corpses of people who died from the plague to throw into the water sources of the enemy's city, causing a plague to break out in the city and surrender without a fight. And if the plague that broke out in Chu State this time was indeed man-made, then the motive of the person who created this plague would be self-evident.

  "Ah......" Han Yan's eyes widened in shock as he followed him towards Wei Suo.

  Yue Yun and Han Yanzhi arrived at the East Gate Guard, counted a few soldiers who had seen those northern horse merchants, and then led his personal soldiers to capture people.

  They soon surrounded Yue Lai Inn where the horse merchants were staying.

  The fellow lodgers and guests inside the inn saw that so many soldiers had surrounded the inn, they didn't know what had happened, all of them were anxious and uneasy.

  The innkeeper was a middle-aged fat man in his forties, who rushed out after hearing the news. When he saw that it was Han Yan and his soldiers who had arrived, he couldn't help but shiver with fear, thinking to himself what kind of big deal this must be for General Han to come personally.

  He hastily stepped forward with a smile and said, "General Han, I don't know what's going on in our small shop? We are law-abiding citizens! Absolutely no crime or evil!"

  Han Yan had also met him a few times before, and seeing the situation, he asked directly: "The northern horse merchant who stayed in your inn a few days ago, is he still inside?"

  "What about those horse merchants? They left the city yesterday!" The inn owner replied with a busy smile.

  "What? Ran away?" Han Yan was furious as soon as he heard it, and he walked forward, grabbing the old boss's collar: "Do you know? They are spies sent by the Jin army, and the plague in the city is caused by them!"

  "Ah!" The fat boss was so frightened that his soul was gone, he never thought that a Jin army spy would live in his store, and even more unexpected was that the plague that caused such a big disturbance in the city was triggered by this spy.

  He immediately cried and wiped his tears, saying: "General Han, I'm a law-abiding citizen! I've been running a shop in Chu State for over ten years, and I really didn't know these horse merchants were spies..."

  Han Yanzhi raised an eyebrow and waved his hand at his subordinates: "Go in and take a look!"

  Although the boss said the horse trader had run away, he still didn't quite believe it.

  Before long, the soldiers who went in to search came out one after another.

  "Report to General Shao, there are no guests from Beidi found in the rooms!"

  "Report to General, no horses were found in the stable, only a few mules!"

  "Reporting to General, nothing was found inside..."

  Hearing report after report from one soldier after another, Han Yan's face turned iron-green, with a look as if he was about to devour someone.

  The old boss looked at Han Yan's expression and was even more frightened, his two legs trembling with fear. If it wasn't for the partner next to him holding him up, he would have fallen to the ground.

  Yue Yun and Yan Yuese asked the innkeeper with a smile: "Don't panic, boss. We didn't say you were an accomplice. Just tell us the truth. When did those northern horse merchants come, and when did they leave? What did they do along the way?"

  The inn owner, after hearing this and seeing that Yue Yun was handsome and had a gentle attitude, calmed down somewhat. His chubby face trembling, he told Yue Yun and Han Yan everything he knew.

  Originally, there were seven or eight northern horse merchants who brought more than ten horses to stay at the inn. They claimed they were passing through Chu State and going to Lin'an to sell horses. However, he saw that most of these horses were so thin that their skin was wrapped around their bones, their eyes were lifeless, and their limbs were weak. Among them, there was even a dead horse. He asked the leader of the horse merchants about it, but others told him it had died from exhaustion from pulling carts.

  These horse merchants, after moving into the store, would take out three or four horses every day, saying that it was too far to go to Lin'an, so they simply sold them locally. Once, they even took away a dead horse, claiming to sell it to a butcher. And each time they returned, they came back empty-handed.

  The inn owner and the shop assistants all thought they had sold the horse, so they didn't pay much attention, but they were a bit puzzled in their hearts. A horse that was so skinny it was almost just skin and bones, how long could it live? Who would buy such a horse?

  A few days later, the plague broke out in the city. Those northern merchants were immediately afraid of contracting the plague and wanted to leave to escape it, so they left the city yesterday. Due to the spread of the plague over the past two days, many citizens and merchants have left the city. Therefore, no one suspected these merchants.

  The inn owner said with a nose full of snot and tears: "General Han, I really didn't know they were Jin army spies! Otherwise, even if you killed me, I wouldn't have dared to let them stay in the shop, I would have reported it to the guards long ago..."

  "Alright! Stop crying. Which city gate did those northern merchants leave from?" Han Yan asked somewhat impatiently.

  "It seems like they went towards the North Gate!" The boss hastily replied.

  "North Gate?" Yue Yun and Han Yan exchanged a glance, their hearts even more certain.

  A group of people rushed to the North Gate and inquired with the guards who were on duty at the North Gate yesterday.

  The guards at the North Gate said that a group of horse merchants from the north did leave the city yesterday, claiming that someone in their party had contracted an illness and needed to return home for medical treatment. The horses they brought were sold on the spot to several carriage and horse shops inside Chu State City. Since these merchants showed no signs of panic and their story was reasonable, they were not questioned further and allowed to leave. Now, with the North Gate being just outside the Huai River ferry terminal, it's likely that these merchants have already gone deep into the northern shore of the Huai River tens of miles away.

  Yue Yun and Han Yan couldn't help but smile wryly when they heard the news. The situation was now clear: most of these dozen or so horses were plague-ridden, and their corpses must have been submerged in the canals at various water intake points, brewing a massive epidemic that affected the entire city.

  "Yanzheng, let's head back to the Han manor first! It's likely that Chu State will make preparations early on!" said Yue Yun.

  Now that things have come to this point, Han Yan also understood the pros and cons, and he hastily followed Yue Yun back to the Han Mansion.