It was already late at night when they returned to Xianyang. The two of them returned to the palace and fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Ying Zheng ordered Zhang Yong to take "our army" to Jing Kiln, load all the firecrackers stored there onto the carriage, and ordered Jing Fan to continue making a large number of firecrackers.
Although the news had been blocked before, the news of strange beasts in the city still spread like wildfire. The people did not dare to discuss it publicly, but they also whispered in private.
"Have you heard? A monster appeared in the city a few days ago. After killing a few people, it hid. Maybe it will come out to eat people."
"Yes, I've heard about it too. It's said that the monster has a huge mouth and fangs, eyes like copper bells, and a pair of wings on its back."
"Don't talk nonsense. The person ate it, but it didn't have wings. Otherwise, it would fly in the sky and not everyone in the city would see it."
"That's true, but I heard that the officers and soldiers have driven the monster out of the city. We shouldn't be in any danger."
"Are you sure that there is only one monster? Maybe it's a male and a female."
"That's right, there might be a few cubs left."
"So, it's better not to go out these days. Safety is paramount."
…
There were such discussions everywhere in Xianyang City. In the more than a day before Ying Zheng went to Lishan, various rumors spread rapidly, and they became more and more outrageous. The more outrageous they were, the faster they spread.
Sima Jie, who controlled Wen Lei Ju, was the most well-informed. After all, the thousands of customers under him were not just ordinary people.
After Ying Zheng returned to the palace, the Sima father and son and the Meng family father and son had been waiting for a while.
Sima Jie said directly: "Your Majesty, there are rumors of strange beasts appearing in the city, and people's hearts are unstable. Please tell me how to calm down."
Ying Zheng shook his head slightly and said, "I also hope this is a rumor, but the facts are facts. Let Li Si tell you the specific story. I need to think of countermeasures."
Ying Zheng really wanted to leave immediately to pursue Na Xi, but with this situation in Xianyang, how could he leave immediately.
If all the people fall into panic, not only will the court be unstable, but it will also become a joke to other countries.
After listening to Li Si's narration, everyone was secretly surprised.
Unexpectedly, there are such ferocious beasts hidden in Lishan Mountain. How many secrets does King Qin have?
Meng Wu was always outspoken and said directly: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, it is better to insist that the strange beast incident was maliciously spread by someone, and then arrest a group of them, so that no one will dare to talk nonsense again."
Ying Zheng shook his head and said: "This method will not work. Even if we quell the rumors here, we will go to catch the Xi beast ourselves. If the rumors spread again elsewhere, it will be obvious that we are fooling the people, and we will not be able to A good ending.”
Indeed, if you said there were no strange beasts and then led others to catch them, wouldn't this be a slap in the face to yourself?
Meng Yi followed up and said: "We can't hide it, so tell the truth. Just say that the Xi beast has gone to South Korea and has nothing to do with us anymore."
Sima Hong said: "I'm afraid that even if you say this, the people won't believe it. There are already rumors in the city that there are a large number of these strange beasts. The one who appears is just to stand in front and explore the truth."
Ying Zheng frowned and looked at Sima Jie who had been silent. Knowing that he was thinking about countermeasures, he asked, "Sima Jie, what do you think?"
Sima Jie cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think it is not appropriate to suppress them now. We should try our best to guide the people to accept the fact that strange beasts have appeared."
"Tell me and listen." Ying Zheng said.
Sima Jie stood up and said: "What the common people are afraid of is not the accidental appearance of a strange beast or a group of strange beasts they have never seen before, but whether such strange beasts will harm themselves. As long as we can shovel
Just get rid of this strange beast so that the people will not be harmed. "
"The best way is for the king to personally come forward to clarify the facts and boost morale. Mobilize the people to actively explore the whereabouts of the Xi beast, and then dispatch the army to encircle and suppress it. Only in this way can the morale of the army and the people be stabilized and the enemy can be united."
"That's right." Li Si took over the words and said, "The king also promised Yazui before that he would name the nine guardian beasts 'Nine Sons of the Dragon' in the future, but now there is an opportunity."
Taking advantage of Xi's incident, it is indeed a good choice to reveal the secrets of the guardian beasts and keep Yazu and other mythical beasts alive in folk legends.
Ying Zheng thought for a while, and then sent an order to Zhao Gao: summon the people to the military training ground in the city and bring all the firecrackers there.
The common people did not dare to neglect. After receiving the notice, they all flocked to the training ground.
In less than an hour, it was already dark below the training ground, and those who arrived late could only squeeze into the streets and alleys.
Ying Zheng adjusted his posture slightly and stepped onto the general platform.
Before he could stand still, there were whispers in the audience.
After all, only a few people have seen Ying Zheng, and most people have never seen the current King of Qin with their own eyes.
After calming down his mind, Ying Zheng raised his voice and said loudly: "Subjects, I am the current King of Qin - Ying Zheng!"
Wow...
The discussion in the audience became even louder.
After a few breaths, Ying Zheng raised his hand to signal the people to quiet down.
"Today, I have called everyone here. I have something important to announce."
The audience fell silent instantly.
Ying Zheng continued: "I know that the incident about the strange beast has caused panic in the city recently, and now I have investigated the matter clearly."
After a slight pause, he raised his voice a little more: "Since ancient times, China has been favored by the sky, and has also been protected by the true dragon, which ensures that our country has good weather and is not troubled by natural disasters."
"The way the true dragon protects me, China, is to set up several dragon veins under the earth."
As soon as this statement came out, the discussion started again.
There have been folk legends about dragon veins for a long time, but most of them come from ancient times, and they are limited to the concept of this word. It is not known what role this dragon vein plays.
Ying Zheng signaled everyone to be quiet again and continued: "The strange beast that suddenly appeared is the guardian beast of one of the dragon veins. Its name is Xi."
"Perhaps the construction of the royal tomb by the widow invaded its territory, so it felt resentful and took revenge."
"But I have sent troops to drive it to the border, so you can rest assured."
After saying these few words, the people no longer discussed, but each thought about King Qin's words. Most people's faces showed doubts.
Ying Zheng waved his hands back and saw Sima Jie walking forward with a huge scroll.
The scroll was opened, revealing Xi's appearance inside.
Ying Zheng pointed to the portrait and said, "This is what the Xi beast looks like."
Everyone looked at the scroll with wide eyes, as if staring at the portrait to make it bleed.
"I will post this portrait on all notices. If anyone finds any trace of it, report it immediately. There will be a heavy reward."
Many brave young people in the audience immediately cheered.
"This evening beast is afraid of fire and sound. Those involved in the search had better bring torches and gongs and drums."
"And for safety reasons, I will also give everyone an object."
After saying that, Ying Zheng waved back again.
Only saw Meng Yina
Carrying a firecracker and a firecracker, he came to an iron bucket.
Ying Zheng took the firecracker and held it up high: "This object is called a firecracker. It is used by people to explode ore. There is black fire powder inside this bamboo joint. If the fuse is ignited, the bamboo joint will explode. , resulting in a loud noise.”
Ying Zheng handed the firecrackers back to Meng Yi. Meng Yi squatted in front of the iron barrel, lit the fuse, and threw the firecrackers into the barrel.
Not long after, a loud noise was heard inside the iron barrel, and a flame appeared on the barrel for a moment, and then a wisp of white smoke rose up.
The common people had never seen this scene before, and they were all shocked for a moment.
Ying Zheng walked to the iron barrel, looked at it, and then said: "This thing is very powerful. Do not let it come into contact with fire when storing it. Don't use it if you don't see any trace of the Xi beast."
"Once the Xi beast is discovered, use it immediately. Even if it cannot be hurt, it will be frightened away and will not hurt anyone. At the same time, after our sergeants hear the noise, they will go as fast as possible to hunt it down."
"So, as long as you use these firecrackers properly, I promise that the Xi beast will never harm you at all!"
The people in the audience immediately cheered, and many young men were eager to go outside the city to search for traces of Xi Beast.
Ying Zheng asked Meng Yi to talk about some precautions when using firecrackers, and then began to distribute firecrackers.
However, the number of firecrackers did not seem to be sufficient, so one firecracker per person was replaced by one firecracker per household, and some large houses were allocated an extra firecracker.
The common people felt strange when they held this new object, but after seeing its power with their own eyes, they did not dare to neglect it. They carefully put it away in case of emergency.
The public sentiment has stabilized and the panic has been temporarily resolved, but for the court, there are still many things facing it.
The people in Xianyang distributed firecrackers, but with so many cities in Qin State, the demand was not as high as usual.
Ying Zheng ordered Jing Fan to quickly send more manpower to purchase raw materials and make every effort to make firecrackers.
In the evening, Tanma sent back news again, saying that he still couldn't catch up with Shang Xi, that he didn't hurt anyone along the way, and that he had disappeared.
It seemed that Xi had discovered the team following him and deliberately hid his tracks to get rid of them.
After all, it is a highly intelligent divine beast, so it is not that easy to deal with.
Ying Zheng had no choice but to pass on the order, send additional teams to investigate, and expand the scope of the search. At the same time, he ordered the border defenders to step up vigilance and pay attention to whether Xi had really gone to South Korea.
There was no other way. Before grasping Xi's exact movements, Ying Zheng could not rashly lead his team to follow her. He could only wait for news from the front, and at the same time wait for Jing Kiln to produce a sufficient number of firecrackers and take them with him.
Han Fei has not yet been buried. In order to block the news, Ying Zheng parked his coffin in a secret house.
After paying homage, Ying Zheng returned to Hu Yu's palace.
Looking at the sad look on Ying Zheng's face, Hu Yu comforted him: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much about the Xi beast. As President Zhao Gao said, if you turn around and look at anything, it may turn from a bad thing to a bad thing." Good thing."
Indeed, Zhao Gao is alert and has a good attitude. He views everything as "not necessarily a bad thing."
Ying Zheng has been busy outside these days, and he really hasn't had time to listen to Zhao Gao's opinions.
Thinking of this, Ying Zheng immediately stood up and called Zhao Gao to the inner room of the study alone.
"I would like to hear your opinion on the matter of Xi Beast." Ying Zheng said bluntly.
Zhao Gao cupped his hands, bowed and said politely: "Back to the king, in the eyes of the servants, the king has encountered an excellent opportunity to win over the people of the world this time."
Ying Zheng raised his eyebrows, wondering what Zhao Gao was up to.
