Mr. Zhang, the governor of Shuntian, grabbed the few remaining strands of hair and had to compete with the wealthy in the city in a battle of wits and courage, while also crying poor and begging for food from the court. He had not slept well for several months and was very thin. He looked no different from an ordinary citizen.

But his disappeared "rich belly" now appears on the bodies of poor people.

When Lord Zhang heard his subordinate's report, he initially dismissed it as unimportant. "It's normal for the people to feel unwell since they can't eat fresh vegetables."

"But the snow is getting heavier, and more and more people are entering and leaving the city. They don't collect firewood or look for food, but come back empty-handed from outside the city. There must be something fishy going on, sir!"

Master Zhang frowned, "How many people like this are there?"

“Hundreds of people every day.”

He put down the letter crying poor in his hand and thought quietly.

"Tomorrow we'll find two new yamen runners, disguise them as ordinary people, and follow behind to investigate."

"Yes, sir!"

Within a day, the news brought back by the yamen runners made Lord Zhang feel absurd.

Two Taoist priests suddenly appeared out of nowhere, put on Taoist robes, and dared to call themselves masters. The Taoist priests refined the elixir for 49 days and the elixir they obtained was called "Baofu Pill".

Just eat a pill the size of a finger and you will not feel hungry for a whole day.

After 49 days of refining a furnace of elixirs, how many pills are left? Now they can actually be sold in large quantities to the people. Which Taoist temple can refine so many pills? It's obvious there's something fishy going on!

Lord Zhang summoned the doctors from Zheng's Clinic and threw two round, brown pills in front of them. He gave them three days to find the medicinal ingredients contained in the pills.

Several doctors were confused, but intimidated by the prefect's authority, they had no choice but to agree and search day and night.

Three days later, they still hadn't found it.

Zhang Daren's face darkened even further. Several doctors were trembling.

"Sir! Although we haven't found everything, we are sure that there must be cinnabar and Guanyin soil in it!" Sir Zheng is young and fearless.

"Oh? What happens if I eat too much of this? Will it satisfy my stomach?"

"Cinnabar can be used as a medicine, but it shouldn't be taken for long periods of time, as it's toxic. Guanyin soil itself is non-toxic, but after consumption it hinders digestion and can cause a feeling of fullness..."

The doctor didn't need to explain the second half of the sentence; Zhang Daren understood it. Because it hinders digestion, the abdomen becomes enlarged, which will eventually lead to death. In other words, people who often take this pill will either be poisoned or die from excessive abdominal distension.

"Bang--"

Lord Zhang slammed the table so hard that the whole house shook.

Several doctors were so frightened that they fell to their knees, shaking like sieves.

Lord Zhang had them sent back, and then ordered the yamen runners to investigate the changes in the number of deaths in the city before and after the appearance of the belly-filling pills.

Due to the severity of the disaster, there is no time to report the number of people who died of starvation or freezing.

When the yamen runners finished their investigation and reported to him, he was shocked. Three hundred people had died in just one month! There were only about nine hundred households in the city! That meant one person died every three households every day, and it was still unknown whether the cause of death was the elixir.

But he had already tacitly assumed that it was related to the elixir.

Furious, Lord Zhang posted official letters at the gates of the government office, the grain stores, and crowded areas like the East and West Markets. These letters detailed the dangers of the pills and included a statement from a doctor at the Zheng Clinic. They demanded that the city residents stop buying or taking the pills, arguing that violators would be punished as if they had violated the law.

In addition, all citizens entering and leaving the city must undergo a body search, and any satiety pills found must be destroyed!

For a moment, the people in the city were talking about it. Those who had never eaten the full stomach pills were so scared by the harm they saw that their legs were weak. But those who had eaten the full stomach pills were cursing the government and scolding Mr. Zhang for meddling in other people's affairs instead of going to rescue the disaster.

"This is a pill that the masters have painstakingly forged over 49 days! How could it possibly harm anyone?!"

"Ugh! The masters are so kind and compassionate. They used good herbs but only charged me ten cents per bean. I can't even buy ten small beans with ten cents!"

"Exactly! I took that satiety pill and I didn't feel hungry all day. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all, except that going to the toilet was a little harder."

"Master said that this is because the herbs in the pill circulate in the stomach, curing the hunger problem. Once the problem is cured, you will naturally not feel hungry anymore!"

"I think the government is probably just worried that everyone will buy the expensive grain and they won't be able to make any money, so they're angry!"

The people seemed to have found an outlet for their days of depression. They cursed the government officials and their runners every day, and even had violent clashes at the city gate.

The yamen runners wanted to arrest the Taoist priests and put them in jail, but the common people tipped them off. As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows, so no one knew what the two Taoist priests looked like.

At this point, Lord Zhang was truly furious. He could arrest one person, but not a hundred. If he couldn't appease the public anger, his career as an official would be over.

In desperation, Lord Zhang had to withdraw the ban. The dangers had been made known to the people, and there was nothing he could do if they insisted on going their own way.

When Jiang Yue learned about this, he felt it was absurd just like Lord Zhang.

But on second thought, I can understand it. Just like some people choose a belief when they are desperate. You don't believe it so you can say it is superstition, but for those people, faith is the only way to survive.

Having endured hunger and cold for a long time, and still in fear of the unknown, the emotions of the people in the city have become like a taut bowstring. If you let go even a little, the arrow will fly out and cannot be retrieved.

Mr. Zhang may not be very talented, but his actions were neither good nor bad. At least he prevented ignorant and timid people from continuing to buy satiety pills and endangering their lives.

The timely withdrawal of the ban also quelled an impending civil riot.

You know, in history, many changes of dynasties were triggered by disasters, which incited the emotions of the anxious people. At this time, as long as someone gave the order, the uprising army would be formed.

——Wang Family——

The eldest master of the Wang family looked at Mr. Zhang's letter with a serious expression.

It is almost impossible for him to protect himself.

However, he was a businessman, he wanted profit as well as allies. If he was the first to take the lead, those who followed would surely resent him. He had to take the lead, but how and when to do so was a matter of some importance.

He sighed deeply, thinking that heroes are made by the times, but they are all forced into it.

He lowered his head and wrote a few lines on the paper.

The butler, who was so fat and blessed that he seemed to be overflowing with good fortune, was still white, but no longer fat, and his big belly had become a small one. He stepped forward respectfully and took the letter from the master.

The next day, the Wang family announced that they could not bear to see their fellow villagers starving, so they were willing to empty their family savings and donate 500 shi of grain to the government to do their best to rescue the people in the city.