Zhang Fu nodded repeatedly after hearing this and said, "I'll organize the villagers to go up the mountain and dig for other plague herbs. I'll ask them to look for them together." Tong Wenyao had been to their back mountain before and had noted down the sage she saw. She didn't know if there were other herbs there, so she didn't say anything. She just said to Zhang Fu, "Just let the villagers dig for sage. I'm worried they'll dig the wrong ones and poison someone to death, which would be a serious crime."

Zhang Fu nodded repeatedly in agreement. Tong Wenyao handed the sage to the village chief and got on the carriage. "Uncle Fu, we're leaving now. Remember to make arrangements."

Zhang Fu waved his hands and couldn't help but sigh: "It turns out that the world of the rich has a long-term vision." If he knew the prescription for treating the epidemic, would he buy a large amount of medicinal materials now, and then sell them when the epidemic spreads among the people, so that he can make a lot of money?

Holding the secret recipe in his hand, it was hard for him not to be tempted. But even so, Zhang Fu still kept a clear mind. He was not blinded by money. After he regained his composure, he looked down at the sage in his hand and said with a smile, "I won't make a fortune from you, don't worry."

After saying that, he turned back to the room, picked up the drum, and started beating it at the entrance of the village. He usually didn't beat the drum, but this was an important moment, so he started beating it. The villagers gathered one after another. Zhang Fu looked at the crowd, coughed, and then said, "There's a profitable business. After thinking about it, I decided to tell you! You can go up the mountain to pick the fruits, and I'll arrange for the villagers to sell them. Don't think about trading privately. If I find out that the price is four or five times higher than usual, don't blame me for using the clan rules to punish you."

The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment after hearing this, and began to discuss among themselves, "What do you mean by business? Private transactions are still subject to clan rules. Does the village chief want us to dig up graves?"

Another person shrugged and said, "If that's the case, I won't do it. I'm setting up a stall in the ceramic workshop every day and can make dozens of coins."

"That's right, if it's a dead person's money, I won't do it."

Zhang Fu looked at the villagers, each one acting like this, and said, "Listen to me first, then decide whether to do it or not." He held up the sage in his hand and said, "This one is the main herb for treating the plague. You can take advantage of this time to dig it up in the mountains, keep some for yourselves, and give the rest to me. I'll send people to the county to sell it. Firstly, I want this to accumulate merit for our village, and secondly, I want to add some money to the village patrol team. The plague has recently spread to Cangzhou, so we have to make plans early. I will arrange two patrol teams, each of which will be divided into four teams. Each team will patrol for six hours at a time, and then rest."

When the people heard this, they began to talk about it, "Oh my God, there is an epidemic in Cangzhou, so many people will die!"

"What should we do if the disease spreads to us? I heard that if someone with the disease is found, the entire village will be surrounded and burned to prevent the disease from spreading. But how did it spread to Cangzhou now?"

Another person who frequently went to Cangzhou spoke up, "I heard that the epidemic broke out in the south, and then there were riots in the south, which is why the epidemic couldn't be stopped in time."

"That shouldn't even reach our Cangzhou. There are so many cities blocking the way." Hearing this, he said sarcastically, "Oh, the guy in the capital was afraid of being infected by the plague, so he sent troops out to drive them away before they even reached the capital, and even drove them all the way to Jijiang City."

Zhang Fu watched the discussion below become increasingly heated. He frowned, knocked on the drum, and said, "I believe that the refugees will arrive in a day or two. When the time comes, you should store the food in your homes and don't show it off every day. If you have a cellar, store it in the cellar. If you don't have a cellar, put it in the back mountain!"

If you encounter refugees, don't interact with them. Tell them from a distance that they are going to Yuguan County and that they will take them in. If there is an epidemic and you bring it back home, your entire family will die. In serious cases, the entire village may even be wiped out. Remember this!"

Those of them who were older had experienced epidemics before. It was during a time of war. They had finally enjoyed peace for decades, but now the epidemic has come again. I wonder if war will break out then!

At that time, an epidemic caused the annihilation of almost the entire village, and they were able to survive only because they followed a doctor. Recalling the scene at that time, the stench of corpses was everywhere, and wild dogs were gnawing on the corpses, with thick and smooth hair.

The whole village was filled with a dead atmosphere, with no livestock or living people to be seen.

After Zhang Fu finished explaining everything, he went to several neighboring villages and told their village chiefs about the situation. As for how to deal with it, he didn't care. If he wasn't worried that his village would become the target of public criticism, he really didn't want to make this trip. After all, one of the villages would not end up well.

On the other side, after Tong Wen Yao left in a carriage, they also returned to Changjiang Village. On the way back to Yuguan County, Tong Wen Yao seemed to see a familiar person, but she couldn't remember it for a while, so she didn't take it to heart.

This matter still needs to be discussed with the village chief! Fortunately, in the past six months, the villagers have made a lot of money following them, so when they heard that the donation money was for the village's strong men to patrol, they started donating without saying a word.

Wu Qing looked at his men and couldn't help but sigh secretly, "If it were last year, they would have been so stingy if they had handed over ten coins, but now they are following the Tong family and some of them can even donate one or two taels of silver."

The Tong family donated the most money, fifty taels of silver. Their family did not participate in patrols, so the money they donated was more than others. Landlord Wu, Wu Zhu's father, saw that the Tong family donated fifty taels and followed closely behind, donating forty-five taels, but also did not send anyone.

They suffered a lot of losses when they went to the south this year, but fortunately their son followed the Tong family and got a lot of money.

Thinking of the epidemic in Cangzhou, his eyes darkened. He had now returned to Changjiang Village, hoping that the refugees would go to Cangzhou instead of coming here! Although he wanted to think so, he still knew clearly that this was impossible. Perhaps the refugees would come faster than them.

With the silver given by the two families taking the lead, several people in the crowd gave two or three taels of silver, and even Qiu Zhen gave two taels of silver.

Wu Qing called Tong Bo and asked him to write down the numbers of every family that gave money and make a statistics. The villagers were illiterate, so they usually asked the students from the neighboring village to write it down. Since the Tong family came, they asked Tong Bo to write it down.

Tong Wenyao squatted under a large elm tree, watching the extremely heated scene below, her mind preoccupied with the epidemic. She had even brought back a cartload of lime from her trip to Changzhen Village as a precaution. Seeing that he was no longer needed for oversight, Wu Qing approached Tong Wenyao and said, "There's an epidemic in Cangzhou now. I'll drive the cart to notify the villages." Tong Wenyao glanced at him and nodded. Now, solidarity was indeed the key.

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