Chapter 299 Prescription Proof of Feasibility
The Cao family has 200 acres of land, and they need to plant 100,000 mulberry trees. It's a lot of work, and they need a lot of workers.
There were seventy or eighty people who planted trees. If the accounts were settled every day, the village head would be so busy that he wouldn't even have time to sleep. So, he decided to settle accounts every ten days, and none of the people had any objections.
He couldn't possibly settle accounts before the project had even started for ten days. How could this be considered defaulting on a debt?
Li Zhengqi, his beard bristling and eyes wide with anger, strode quickly to the village gate.
A dozen or so patrolmen blocked the entrance, keeping more than twenty people from Guihua Village outside the village. The people of Guihua Village were arrogant and domineering, but the patrolmen remembered the village head's instructions and held their breath, without retaliating directly.
"Your Guihua Village, send someone in charge!" the village headman roared. "You can't even speak clearly, what are you making a scene for?"
A man surnamed Sun from Guihua Village stepped forward. The group called him Uncle Sun the Second. He said in a rough voice, "There are twenty-three of us from Guihua Village who came to Dahe Village to plant trees. We've been planting for eight days, but we haven't been paid a single penny. Shouldn't Village Chief Zhao give us an explanation?"
The village head said coldly, "I sent someone to Guihua Village early this morning to explain the situation. What, didn't Village Head Sun tell you?"
"Just because someone in the village has a high fever, they won't let us come to plant trees? Doesn't Zhao, the village head, think that's a ridiculous reason? There are so many people in Ping'an County, and there are probably even more sick people. Why didn't the county magistrate close the city gates?" Uncle Sun cursed angrily. "Is it because they can't pay the workers, so they're trying to trick us into leaving?"
To lock down the entire village just because someone is sick is like playing with a three-year-old.
In all his years, he had never heard of anything so absurd!
They trusted Dahe Village so much, but they never expected to be scammed so badly.
"Zhao Lizheng, you have two choices now!" Uncle Sun held up two fingers. "First, let us continue planting trees; second, start the work now and get paid!"
When he spoke, spittle flew everywhere.
The village head hurriedly stepped back. "Old Lady Dashan has said that illness is transmitted from one person to another through the saliva in their mouth."
The old man adjusted his mask and said, "Alright, let's settle the wages now. But listen up, everyone from Guihua Village: no matter what kind of work Dahe Village has, we won't hire anyone from your village. So don't come here to bother us in the future."
Most rural men are short-sighted; who can see the future?
All they knew was that they had four or five hundred coins in Dahe Village, which was their hard-earned money, and they had to come back.
Furthermore, some of them have family members who are sick and need money for medical treatment.
The village headman had a table brought over, then called Zhao Tiezhu over to settle accounts, and then distributed wages to everyone one by one.
When Uncle Sun saw that Dahe Village could indeed come up with the money, he suddenly began to doubt himself. Could it be that he was wrong?
Could it be that this disease is really serious?
But the county seat wasn't even shut down, so why would a village be?
Forget it, as long as they get paid, that's fine.
The people from Guihua Village arrived in a haughty manner with several hundred coins in their hands, and left with a smug look on their faces.
Zhao Tiezhu blinked and asked, "Grandpa, who will plant the trees in the future?"
The village headman also had a headache when it came to this.
Forget it, let's focus on getting better first. Planting trees isn't urgent. Master Cao is magnanimous, and Miss Cao is beautiful and kind-hearted; they'll surely understand.
After everyone from Guihua Village left, the village head was preparing to return to the village when a carriage drove in. It was Zhao Ergou and his group returning, bringing back a carriage full of medicinal herbs, mostly forsythia, honeysuckle, and scutellaria, along with a small amount of isatis root and some auxiliary herbs.
“The three of you have just returned from the city, so you cannot enter the village for the time being,” the village head said slowly. “You will have to make do with living in the thatched huts outside the village for the next three days. Someone will deliver food to the village entrance, and you can come and pick it up.”
The thatched huts outside the village were cleared out from the cowshed and furnished with clean straw and tables and chairs; one could endure staying there for three or four days.
Zhao Ergou knew that this method came from his own mother, and as her son, he naturally cooperated with her instructions unconditionally.
He jumped down from the carriage and began to describe the situation in the city: "...The clinics are all full, and you can hear coughing all the time on the streets. It seems the plague has spread. Before we went to the city, we didn't see the magistrate take any action. I guess he doesn't think this disease will cause unrest. However, Shen Zheng has already gone back. Once he explains things clearly, the magistrate will definitely take some action..."
After he finished speaking, he turned and left. Zhao Anjiang and another person followed him. The three of them did not question him and headed towards the cowshed without hesitation.
"They're all good children..." the village head sighed, then ordered someone to lead the carriage inside. "Let Aunt Dashan inspect the medicinal herbs first, then have Doctor Zheng organize them all..."
These medicinal herbs were purchased with village funds, costing nearly one hundred taels of silver, which is currently the village's largest expenditure.
However, it's worth spending any amount of money to save lives.
Once the medicinal herbs arrived, the village bustled with activity again. The herbs needed to be processed, and the women spontaneously came to help.
Doctor Zheng prepared the medicine according to the prescription, while Cheng Wanwan and several women were responsible for decocting the medicine and then serving it to the patient.
Cheng Zhao was fully armed and stayed with the patients the whole time. He would ask the patients in detail about their current feelings, how they felt after taking the medicine, record their body temperature and symptoms... He recorded everything in detail. In just one day, he filled more than forty pages with neat handwriting.
By midnight that day, three of the people with high fevers had recovered.
The next morning, the number of people coughing had decreased by several, but at the same time, some of the women who had been helping to take care of the patients also fell ill.
Some people recovered, while others fell ill. Although the number of patients increased, it at least proved that the prescription was effective and feasible.
Cheng Wanwan asked Cheng Zhao to compile all the notes and hand them over to the village head. The village head went to the village entrance and called Zhao Ergou over.
"Go to Ping'an County immediately and give the prescription to the magistrate."
Zhao Ergou was well aware of the seriousness of the matter.
Yesterday, I went to the city and found that many people were sick, and the clinics were packed. As the day goes by, I'm afraid the situation will become even more complicated.
He drove the carriage alone to Ping'an County, which was not far away to begin with, and the carriage made it even faster. He arrived at the city gate in no time.
The city gates are already closed.
The displaced people in the city were driven out, and more and more displaced people continued to come in this direction. There were at least three to five hundred displaced people at the city gate, densely packed together, pleading bitterly. Fortunately, there were yamen runners maintaining order, so the scene was not too chaotic.
As soon as Zhao Ergou's carriage appeared, refugees rushed towards it.
He tightened the reins and drove the carriage straight ahead, but when he reached the city gate, he was stopped by the guards: "No one is allowed to enter or leave the city during the closure period!"
Zhao Ergou took the bundle containing the manuscript from the carriage and handed it to the guard: "This is something that Madam Sui instructed us to deliver to the magistrate. It is a matter of life and death, and there can be no delay. Please send it in as soon as possible, sir."
These guards were all wearing the masks that Shen Zheng had brought back to the city yesterday, which were said to have been sewn by someone at the request of Lady Sui. The young man in front of them was also wearing the same mask, so he should also be someone sent by Lady Sui. The guards took the bundle and quickly walked into the city, heading straight to the main gate of the county government office.
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