Several imperial physicians agreed on the formula, completely ignoring Xue Yao's proposal to isolate the patients.
This time, the problem was obviously much more severe than Offer Shu Road and raising food.
Although it is not certain that this plague is the bubonic plague, it is clear that it is also a virulent disease with a near 100% fatality rate.
If these eunuchs and the local people didn't cooperate with the quarantine, there was nothing Xue Yao could do.
Plague this plague really is the existence of the level of massacre, incubation is extremely short, once infected, almost three to seven days, onset of violent death.
The plague of the 14th century alone killed more than half of the English and more than 70% of the French.
It was also introduced into the country in 1910.
Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, it was generally recognized that the plague was transmitted from rats to humans, rather than from person to person.
In ancient China, the plague bacillus was not known, and Wu Xuan-chong, the physician who wrote the Plague Treatment Method, believed that the pathogen of plague came from the earth's qi.
In modern times, it seems to be a matter of common sense. In ancient times, we crossed the river by feeling our way, and there was no concept of antiseptic protection at all.
Under such circumstances, Xue Yao had only one option - to notify the local court postman, and request the Crown Prince to urgently appoint him as the person in charge of epidemic prevention, and to give him the right to temporarily mobilize the troops in the three counties.
It can only be enforced by force.
In fact, the Crown Prince didn't have that much power, if he did, Xue Yao would have made these requests to the Crown Prince long before he came here.
Wanting these rights must make the Crown Prince ask the Emperor for them, and the Crown Prince intends to conceal and quickly resolve the outbreak so that the natural disaster will not fall into disrepute.
But now things can't be hidden, and if it is the plague, at least half the deaths in the next three counties will be.
The reason why it didn't continue to spread outward was probably because the three counties were not easily accessible to the outside world, and this plague struck so quickly that the refugees with the plague died locally before they could get out.
As soon as the doctor's meeting was adjourned, Xue Yao wrote an expedited letter and had Zhang Si send it to the post station, after which he went back to the house to fetch the masks that he had prepared in advance and distributed them to the eunuchs and doctors.
He seriously and repeatedly pleaded with the doctors to always wear masks during their visits and to wash their hands with soap immediately after their visits.
For several days afterward, Xue Yao did not follow any other doctor's visits.
Now they were waiting for the Crown Prince's reply, and if they got the military power, Xue Yao would immediately force the isolation of the patients.
If the Crown Prince still hides it and is unable to mobilize his troops, Xue Yao will depart for the capital.
Keeping it would only lead to death, and he still had little fat cubs to feed.
However, after six days had passed, before the Crown Prince's response, Xue Yao waited for the bad news--
The people of Hiranyu Prefecture intend to gather and perform the "Pestilence Delivering God" ritual.
From the local government officials, Xue Yao learned that this kind of sacrifice required the sick to sit collectively in the altar.
It is surprising that the sacrificial process involves such acts as passing on and drinking the ash water of the incense, which is a mortal death.
The sense of despair and powerlessness was something Xue Yao hadn't felt in ten years.
If such a "large-scale contagion ceremony" were to take place, the entire Pingyong County would be doomed.
Xue Yao immediately called on the governor of Ping Rong County and showed him a personal letter in the prince's seal, asking him to cooperate with him to stop the popular assembly.
This made it very difficult for the governor.
Sending the plague god this kind of sacrificial activity, does not violate the king's law, in the sense of reason, there is no reason for the government to step in to suppress.
Ping Rong County has just experienced a natural disaster and a plague, the people are already suffering a lot, and if we don't let them invoke the gods to expel the plague at this time, we may have to make a big problem.
Xue Yao saw that this governor was looking around and guessed that he was trying to politely shrug it off.
"Lord Governor, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has specially sent me to Ping Rong County to control the epidemic, and will also send me a military talisman in a few days, so I won't need your help at that time, it's just that the military talisman hasn't arrived yet, and the situation is urgent, so please be sure to cooperate."
The magistrate smiled curtly, but still refused to let go, "Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked you to get rid of the epidemic, why not let the people send the plague?"
Xue Yao: "......"
At such a time to talk to him about contagion, it is completely talking about heavenly books, eloquent to heaven can not fool.
That would be ......
"Do you know who my foreign grandfather is?" Xue Yao's face sank as he fiercely asked the magistrate.
It's time to spell Grandpa!
Spell father spell grandfather this kind of thing, regardless of ancient and modern times, which era is quite effective.
The governor froze and said nervously, "My humble servant is ignorant ......"
"Zhou Chong." Xue Yao said it outright.
"Lord Zhou ...... Zhou?" The magistrate was incredulous: "It's the one ......"
"That's right." Xue Yao pursed her lips and smiled, "Cabinet Undersecretary and Minister of Appointments, Zhou Chong."
*
The magistrate brought the magistrates and followed Xue Yao to the sacrificial site to stop the common people from building the altar.
Unsurprisingly, there was fierce resistance from the people.
The old people waiting to save the lives of their children at home have cried and knelt at the feet of the county governor, begging the Grand Master to leave the people a way out.
The governor, with a difficult face, picked up the old man and pushed the idea that it was from the top.
He said that the "higher-ups" did not allow the people to offer sacrifices in private, because the capital had already invited a celestial master to perform the rituals, and the god of pestilence would soon be gone.
Knowing that the "God of Pestilence" could not be sent away quickly, Xue Yao said to the people, "This kind of sacrifice will not send away the God of Pestilence, but those who take part in it will attract the God of Pestilence.
Of course no one believed the ravings of his aristocratically dressed teenager.
But the people do not dare to make trouble with the government, see the county governor soft and hard, also obediently removed the altar.
However, presumably because there were latent patients among those who built the altar, when they returned that day, seven more families had patients with plague symptoms.
Some speculate that the original sacrifice to send the plague god was canceled and the altar was torn down, causing the plague god to descend to take more lives.
So the people were on fire and began to prepare for the sacrifice all over again.
Xue Yao rushed to the Yamen again and asked the magistrate to intervene again to thwart it.
This time, the people were not so easy to fool, and the government used force to disperse the people, and arrested a few leading troublemakers into jail before they calmed down again.
The eunuchs arranged by Xue Yao to monitor their wearing of masks and washing of hands every day when the eunuchs went out to the clinic.
This move for the sake of their lives, however, caused many of the eunuchs to hold back their anger, feeling that Xue Yao, this eccentric teenager, was intentionally teasing and humiliating them on the basis of the Crown Prince's face.
When Xue Yao came to Ping Rong County, he never attended clinics or explored formulas, and apart from forcing the doctors to mask their faces and wash their hands, the only thing he did was to suppress the local commoners who wanted to gather for rituals.
As you can imagine, the eunuch's private impression of this young man had been poor to the extreme.
Xue Yao couldn't explain this, and could only calmly eat and sleep as he should, lying at home and waiting for the military talisman.
On that very night, Xue Yao, in the midst of his deep sleep, vaguely felt a cold chill going down his neck.
Confused, he pulled the covers upward when the back of his hand suddenly hit something cool.
Xue Yao's body tightened and slowly opened his eyes.
In the middle of the night, the windows were not opened, the moonlight did not penetrate, but in the darkness, a pair of eyes reflecting a few points of luster could be seen, gazing at themselves with murderous anger.
Xue Yao's blood went to his head for a split second, and his scalp went numb.
"Be quiet." A strange man's voice with a country accent.
Xue Yao held his breath as his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness - beside the bed stood a plainly dressed burly man, kudzu scarf covering his face, revealing only a pair of eyes, holding a scythe used for farming at his neck.
"Calm down." Xue Yao tried to make his voice as soothing as possible.
"Calm the hell down!" This strong man was trembling all over, not knowing whether it was fear or excitement, "My father just left three hours ago, and I'm letting you, the murderous dog official, bury him with him! It's all because you dog official forbid us to send the god of pestilence!"
"Don't get excited." Xue Yao lay motionless on the bed and locked eyes with him, "I'm not an official, and I'm not preventing you from sending the plague, but I don't want you to invite the plague."
"Bullshit!" The burly man looked shocked and furious, panting and rebuking, "If you're not an official, then why did the county magistrate listen to you! You're the one who let the altar be torn down, and my father pissed off the God of Plagues! You dog official! You bastard!"
He said, getting more and more emotional, gripping his scythe tightly, his eyes glaring menacingly.
Xue Yao could see that he was preparing to make an effort to slit his own throat and immediately spoke, "Think of your wife and children!"
The strong man who was about to commit the murder froze, stopped his scythe and asked him, "What's wrong with my wife and children? What are you going to do with them!"
"Kill me and your whole family dies."
"Who knows I killed him? I'll kill you, you dog official, and then climb over the wall to get out!"
Xue Yao bluffed him, "As soon as the coroner looked at the cut, he knew that it was your family's scythe that had killed the man."
The burly man shuddered at his words, looked down at his scythe, and then back up angrily, "I'll throw it in the river!"
Xue Yao tried, "Buy a new scythe?"
"Right! Buy a new one, who can tell?"
"The sheriff took one look at your house for a new scythe, how could he not know that it was you who killed the man?"
Where was it so easy to solve a case? But Xue Yao felt that this man seemed simple-minded and should be easy to fool.
The strong man was really bluffed by him, and he couldn't stop shivering in his grip on the scythe.
Inside the room, apart from the panting of the burly man, the sound of Xue Yao's beating heart was all that was left.
The mind was in turmoil at the moment, what with all the nonsense going around.
Never expected to die so unexplained at the hands of strangers.
He tried to save lives, but was misunderstood by his rescuers.
If this scythe cuts down, what is the point of his re-living this life?
The Prince's position was not preserved.
The Dragon Pride pups were also raised as huskies by him.
What to do?
So reluctant.
"Calm down a bit, I'm not an official, I came all the way from the capital to Ping Rong County just to come and save you guys."
Xue Yao gazed frankly at the burly man, ''Last time I came back, the low-interest grain that was distributed to you was the grain that I desperately raised from Jiangzhe from a distance of thousands of miles. Did you borrow the grain? Do you remember? I sat by the coffee table at the back of the yamen when I registered it, so that the yamen wouldn't get their hands dirty and take advantage of the people."
The burly man gradually opened his eyes wide, carefully recognizing Xue Yao's face.
But the truth is that Xue Yao supervised the release of grain and was not always present, and most of the farmers had never even seen him.
Xue Yao felt something in his heart, a farmer who risked his life to avenge his father's death, how bad could it be? With a little more fooling around, maybe his life would be saved.
"My grandfather was a high-ranking official in the capital and had a heart for the people. I'm originally from Jiangsu, and I've had nothing to do with Ping Rong County in my eight lifetimes. There's no grudge, so why would I want to harm the people here?" Xue Yao continued to reason, "On the contrary, I lent millions of grains to the three counties affected by the disaster, and to put it bluntly, if the people have any problems, I'll be left with no return on my money."
The burly man probably couldn't find any words to retort, frowning as he stared at Xue Yao, "Then why don't you let us send the God of Plague!"
"Because your kind of sacrifice actually invites the plague."
Talking about scientific reasoning was unlikely to work, so Xue Yao could only restrain superstition with superstition and blurted out, "We have invited a real Heavenly Master to our capital, and he is the one who predicted that you have been deceived by the Plague God's lies, and that you want to do something to grow the Plague God's magic power, which is why he sent me to stop it."
The burly man huffed, "What kind of bullshit celestial masters are you! This sacrifice has been a tradition in our county for hundreds of years! How can it be a lie from the God of Plague!"
Xue Yao fell silent and looked at him quietly.
The heart actually panicked.
What to do? Can't think of an excuse.
"No more sophistry!" The burly man could see that he was running out of words.
"You don't believe me." Xue Yao said, "Then are you willing to make a bet with me? If you're willing, I'll let the governor allow you to make sacrifices."
The burly man queried, "What bet?"
Xue Yao took a deep breath and spoke, "You can make the sacrifice, but you are not allowed to allow all the villagers to be present, you are only allowed to identify the five representative villagers who are not afraid of death and insist on holding the sacrifice, hold the ceremony according to your rules, and dispersed to go home immediately after the end. I'll make a bet with you - at least three of the five villagers' representatives who participate in the ceremony will incur the plague and will surely die a violent death within five days! If it is fulfilled, it will be enough to prove that this ceremony is inviting the plague rather than sending it, right?"