The imperial envoy sent by the court came with a secret memorial. The imperial envoy was the Minister of Justice, whose surname was Ye and name was Jing. The Ministry of Justice was in charge of judicial affairs and prisons, and he was more ruthless than other officials in handling such matters. The new emperor then appointed the Minister of Justice as the imperial envoy to go to Raozhou.
Seeing that it was the Minister of Justice, Governor Zhu felt uneasy.
Zhu Taishou bowed.
Minister Ye waved his hand. "Sir, please first read the secret memorial from the Emperor."
The two entered the study. Minister Ye, a serious-looking man, was invited by Prefect Zhu to sit at the head of the table. His subordinates, holding a secret memorial in their arms, handed it to Prefect Zhu. Prefect Zhu opened it and, upon seeing its contents, his face paled. After reading it, he addressed the Minister of Justice, "Your Excellency, I actually wrote another memorial yesterday and had it delivered to the capital at full speed. Your Excellency may not be aware that the diarrheal outbreak in Yuanbao Town has been brought under control, and all the patients have recovered. So, diarrheal illness is not uncontrollable or incurable. The county magistrate of Yuanbao Town has devised some methods to prevent the spread of diarrheal illness, and they've been very effective. The patients in Yuanbao Town have been cured and their cases have been prevented from spreading."
The content of the secret letter was just as he expected. The new emperor ordered him to massacre all the disaster victims outside Yuanbao Town and burn them on the spot.
Not only that, in the southwest, any disaster victims who appeared were killed on the spot to prevent the diarrheal disease from spreading. If the disaster victims had already entered a town or village, the town or village would be sealed off and the entire village or town would be burned down. There was no need to wait for the entire village or town to be infected, and even those who were not infected would be killed.
How could Governor Zhu have the heart to do such a thing? Moreover, he now knew that diarrhea could be controlled, and it was even more impossible for him to massacre the people and the victims as stated in the secret letter.
Zhu Taishou even felt a sense of grief for the other party.
Since ancient times, even when a plague broke out, the emperor would send people to seal off villages and towns, but he would also send imperial doctors to treat the disease. If it was really impossible to cure and control the disease, he would completely confine the people, but he would not immediately massacre the confined people. He would just wait for them to fend for themselves.
Governor Zhu did not know how the victims discovered diarrhea after arriving in the capital, nor how the new emperor made decisions, but he guessed that it should be similar to the current situation. The new emperor and the empress dowager did not even think about treating these victims and patients, and chose to massacre them all directly.
He was afraid that even if the second memorial was sent to the capital, the new emperor and the empress dowager would not believe that the diarrhea could be controlled and cured, and would still ask him to kill everyone.
After hearing this, Minister Ye's face was expressionless. "The new emperor sent me here only to supervise the governor."
Zhu Taishou said in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, those people have already recovered. They are living people. Even though there are still three villages affected by the disaster, they are all recovering now. We should all have good news soon. Please reconsider. Can't you wait a few more days? If you wait a few more days, my memorial should have been sent to the capital. The emperor might even change his decision after reading it. Could you please wait a few more days?"
Minister Ye's face remained expressionless, but he spoke instead, "I am getting old, and the journey has been very tiring. I have felt unwell since arriving in Raozhou, and have suddenly fallen ill. I would like to ask Governor Zhu to find a place to stay and have a doctor come over to see me."
Zhu Taishou was stunned for a moment, then he choked out a sob and said, "Thank you, sir."
Since Minister Ye was an imperial envoy, he naturally would not believe the governor's words alone. So before "recuperating", he made a special trip to Yuanbao Town. He saw that the victims were living in oilcloth tents near a forest in Yuanbao Town. They lived quite well in the tents, with food and drink. Their complexions were much better than those of the victims he had seen outside the capital for two months. However, a few of the victims were still too thin, with sunken cheeks, but they looked energetic and had flushed faces. They should be patients who had contracted diarrhea before and had recovered.
Minister Ye was not wearing official uniform, so he went over to ask.
The victims told him that the county magistrate of Yuanbao Town was a very good man. He had thought of ways to protect themselves and had doctors come to treat them, so they were lucky to have met such a good county magistrate. They also said that Miss Xu from Yuanbao Town was also a good person.
In fact, these victims had no intention of going to the capital at first. They were all from the same village, but they went in the wrong direction and fled all the way to the southwest. They didn't know that the victims who had originally gone to the capital were found to have diarrhea and were directly ordered to be massacred. Many victims were scared and fled and wandered to other places, and were then hunted down by people sent by the new emperor and the empress dowager. In short, there was no peace in the capital either.
Minister Ye knew that it was the county magistrate of Yuanbao Town who had made great contributions, but who was the young lady Xu that the victims were talking about?
Ye Shangshu naturally asked, and the victims said, "Mrs. Xu is the owner of Xu's Restaurant. When we were sick, it was Miss Xu who prepared food for us. The food Miss Xu made was like what the gods would eat. We have never eaten anything so delicious. My wife wanted to continue living because she ate the food Miss Xu made. She didn't want to die here."
They had been eating Miss Xu's food for half a month and had already heard about her from the yamen runners and doctors.
Even they, after tasting such delicious food, have the urge to continue living, thinking that even though life is difficult now, it will definitely get better in the future.
In short, the food made by Miss Xu gave them hope.
Minister Ye hadn't expected the "Miss Xu" the victims were talking about was actually a cook. He wasn't particularly impressed. Perhaps the cook was kindhearted and had taken care of their meals. He doubted a rural woman's cooking skills could rival those of the imperial chefs. It was simply that these victims had never tasted good food, and having fled hunger all the way here, they naturally found everything delicious.
Minister Ye did not enter Yuanbao Town. After seeing the situation of the victims, he returned to Raozhou City.
After returning to Raozhou City, Minister Ye also wrote a memorial and had it sent back to the capital.
The memorial describes the conditions of the disaster victims and diarrhea patients. They have indeed recovered, and the diarrhea has been brought under control and is no longer spreading. I hope the emperor can reconsider and change his decision.
In the next few days, Minister Ye stayed in the prefectural mansion temporarily.
Prefect Zhu also breathed a sigh of relief. When he returned to the backyard, Old Lady Zhu came over tremblingly and called the prefect's name twice.
Old Madam Zhu is already in her early seventies, which is considered a long life, but her health has been declining in recent years. In the past two years, her eyesight has become blurred, and she needs the support of a maid when she goes out.
The old lady was also very worried about the conditions of the victims and patients. Now, almost the entire Raozhou City knew that there were victims in the southwest, and some of the victims had contracted diarrhea. Even if there was no diarrhea in Raozhou City, it was still using the method given by County Magistrate Yang to protect itself.
The people of Raozhou City have also learned that the diarrhea patients in Yuanbao Town have been cured. It was Prefect Zhu who posted a notice to inform the people in the city and to reassure them.
Therefore, Old Lady Zhu was also very worried that the imperial envoy sent from the capital would ignore the lives of the people and the victims.
At this moment, she heard her son's footsteps outside, and immediately asked her maid to help her out of the room.
Zhu Taishou hurried forward to support his old mother and said gently, "Mother, why did you come out? Please rest well in the room."
Old Lady Zhu asked worriedly, "Wenyi, the Imperial Envoy has arrived. How does the Emperor plan to accommodate these disaster victims and diarrhea patients?"
Zhu Taishou didn't hide the truth from his mother and told her everything. Old Lady Zhu couldn't help but stamp her cane. She wanted to scold the new emperor for his incompetence, but she was afraid of implicating her son. She could only sigh and say, "Wenyi, you must not do such a foolish thing. The patients have recovered, and the diarrhea has stopped spreading. Of course, you can't listen to the emperor and massacre the people who suffered from the disaster. You will be punished by heaven."
"Don't worry, mother." Governor Zhu helped my mother into the house. "Don't worry, son. The imperial envoy is a good man. He didn't force me to massacre the victims or blockade the villages and towns. He even wrote a memorial and sent it back to the capital. There should be room for improvement. So don't worry, mother. Just take care of yourself. You may find your sister again in the future. There will be a chance for you to meet her again."
Mrs. Zhu gave birth to two children in her life, a son and a daughter.
The son was naturally the prefect Zhu. The prefect Zhu also had an older sister who was three years older than him. When she was young, probably when the prefect Zhu was just over one year old, she was abducted by a kidnapper.
The Zhu family was just an ordinary family in the market. Old Lady Zhu had to take care of the younger ones, and the family could not afford maids and servants. The father of the prefect Zhu was out making money. At that time, the prefect Zhu's sister was only four or five years old, and would occasionally play in front of their house. As a result, she was taken away by the kidnapper that day. This was also the biggest regret of Old Lady Zhu's life. Since her daughter was taken away by the kidnapper, Old Lady Zhu cried day and night. Now when she thinks about it, she can't help crying, and her eyes have been blinded by crying.
Since he was young, Governor Zhu was advised by Old Lady Zhu to find the eldest sister of the Zhu family in the future.
Lord Zhu kept this matter in his heart, and thought about how difficult it would be for an ordinary family like the Zhu family to find someone, so he studied hard. After passing the imperial examination, he was transferred to the local area to be a county magistrate, and was gradually promoted to a prefect. Over the years, he has been inquiring about the whereabouts of his eldest sister, but there is no news at all.
When Mrs. Zhu heard her son's words, she smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for that day."
She was well aware of her own physical condition, which was at the end of her life, and she only had half a year left.
In fact, Governor Zhu knew it very well in his heart, and he felt uncomfortable.
Three days later, the letter from Governor Zhu was sent to the capital and entered the palace. It was still morning court at that time, and the court officials were worried about the victims and the plague. Some court officials wrote to the emperor that he should not have sent people to massacre the victims directly. He should have confined them first and found doctors to treat the diarrhea patients. If the situation could not be controlled, it would not be too late to make other plans. Why did he massacre the victims directly? Otherwise, the victims would not be frightened and fled everywhere. Diarrhea also occurred in other places.
Now they heard that some victims had already reached the southwest, and the court officials became even more worried. The southwest was a border area and was heavily guarded by troops. They were afraid that the diarrheal disease would spread to the military camp, and then the entire camp would collapse.
In the past few years, the eldest prince led his troops to defeat the Bi State in the southwest, which was severely damaged. If the southwestern military camp really fell due to diarrhea, the southwest would become a prey of the Bi State. Without a border, the Bi State would recover its damage. I am afraid that it would continue to attack the Great Sheng Dynasty, and the world would be in chaos again.
The court officials said they had no blame on the new emperor, but that was a lie. They all felt that the new emperor was too cruel and ruthless.
Even the court officials who had already submitted to the new emperor hoped to follow a wise ruler. The previous emperor had died in mysterious circumstances, and the eldest prince had been beheaded, without giving them a chance to investigate. When the new emperor ascended the throne and killed several of the most troublesome ministers, they dared not say anything. However, even though the new emperor later ascended the throne smoothly, the censors kept blaming him for exiling the royal princes, princesses, and queen, and scolded him harshly. In short, that period was a mess.
If diarrhea had not occurred among the victims, the censors would have continued to curse. When they were cursing, the court officials could feel the new emperor's anxiety and were really afraid that he would chop the censors off again.
Now that diarrhea has occurred, the court officials, seeing how the new emperor handles the situation, feel that the new emperor is incompetent. If it were the previous emperor or the eldest prince, the situation would definitely not have turned out like this.
At this moment, a letter from Raozhou City was delivered to the palace at full speed.
The new emperor immediately said, "Hurry and show it to me."
The eunuch hurriedly took the secret letter from the sweating officers and soldiers. It was written by the governor of Raozhou City. After reading it, the new emperor was a little bit unconvinced. Diarrhea could be cured? Could it be that the governor of Raozhou City had deceived him for the sake of credit?
The court officials below were a little anxious. "Your Majesty, this is a secret letter from the governor of Raozhou City. Has the diarrheal disease spread to the military camp?"
The new emperor waved his hand and asked the eunuch to read the letter to the court officials.
After listening to the eunuch's reading, the new emperor couldn't help but say, "Isn't this Governor Zhu trying to fool me? Since ancient times, diarrhea has always been treated by directly blocking the source. How can it be cured?"
The court officials looked at each other in bewilderment. Someone couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, perhaps the diarrhea patients in Yuanbao Town have truly recovered. Didn't the first secret letter sent by Governor Zhu mention preventative measures against diarrhea? I think we can give it a try. If it works, it would be a great deed. We could post notices wherever the victims are and send imperial physicians to treat them. I don't think Governor Zhu would dare to lie about such a thing."
The officials in the court had heard something about the character of Governor Zhu.
The new emperor was silent. If the diarrhea was really cured according to the methods prescribed by Governor Zhu, wouldn't it mean that he was a truly incompetent ruler who didn't think of any other solutions and just slaughtered the victims?
Seeing that the new emperor didn't speak, the court officials tried to persuade him and knelt down.
Among these court officials, some are from the eldest prince's lineage, some are from the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu's lineage, some truly love the people, and naturally some are more selfish.
They all knew very well that if the new emperor really killed the victims and the people affected at all costs, his reputation would be completely ruined.
Besides, without the people, what are the officials like them worth?
The people are like water, which can carry a boat but can also capsize it.
Finally, the new emperor got annoyed and said he was waiting for the secret letter from the imperial envoy.
Three days later, the secret letter from the imperial envoy was also delivered to the capital.
The imperial envoy also said that all the patients in Yuanbao Town have recovered, with only one patient dying from a serious illness. Although there were victims and patients in the other three villages and towns, they were all under control and the patients were gradually recovering. He also said that the protective measures adopted by Yuanbao Town did play an important role.
The new emperor had no choice but to allow the prefect and the imperial envoy to continue to massacre the recovered victims. He could only send people to the places where the victims went to provide disaster relief, announce protective measures and treat the patients.
The court was in an uproar, and every household in the capital was in danger.
In particular, Xu Qinyu's mother, Xue, was extremely worried when she learned that there were also disaster victims in Yuanbao Town. Even her brother Xue Liang came to find her, saying that he wanted to send a letter and some silver to his niece, worried that she would be affected by the disaster victims in the border town.
With the recipe Xu Qinyu gave to Xue Liang before, even if his small tea stall did not expand, he could still make a net profit of about sixty to seventy taels every month.
The grilled meat skewers and milk tea he made were quite famous in Beijing, and there was no shortage of people eating them. Many people would rather wait in line and wanted to buy a few skewers to eat. This month, summer came and the weather gradually became hotter, so he grilled some more vegetables and added some sour plum drinks, which also sold very well, and his business was even booming than before.
He had earned a lot of money in the past few months and wanted to send some more money to his niece, but he couldn't ask anyone to make the trip for the time being. There were no prisoners or criminals being exiled to the capital recently, so Ma Liu had no chance to go to the border town.
Speaking of Ma Liu, he got the recipe for wooden barrel fermented bean curd from Xu Qinyu, and asked his wife and mother to make a lot of it. Whenever he had time, he would let his father or himself carry the wooden barrel and sell it on the streets. In the beginning, he could earn an extra two or three taels of silver every month. Later, his family's wooden barrel fermented bean curd became famous, and more neighbors came to eat it, and he could earn five or six taels of silver every month.
Later, a restaurant used his wooden barrel fermented bean curd as a seasoning for cooking, and the taste was excellent, so they placed an order for wooden barrel fermented bean curd from him every month.
So now, thanks to this wooden barrel of fermented bean curd, his family easily earns more than ten taels of silver every month.
Ma Liu was extremely grateful to Xu Qinyu.
But he hadn't been to the southwest for a while, so he had no way to thank Miss Xu in person.
Xue Liang still prepared two hundred taels of silver notes and a letter and gave them to Xue, asking her to give them to Ma Liu later, and to give them to his niece when Ma Liu went to the southwest.
Mrs. Xue was worried about her daughter, so she added all the red envelopes her brother had given her in the past few months and prepared to send them all to her daughter. She listened to her daughter and brother and stopped doing the embroidery.
However, the disaster victims pouring in from the border town have made her uneasy recently. The disaster victims from the capital who came here two months ago and had diarrhea were all killed by the new emperor's order. Now there are new cases in the border town. She must be worried that Yu Niang will be implicated. If the new emperor orders the killing of all the disaster victims who have poured in from the border town and the people affected, what will Yu Niang do?
Xue had been unable to sleep these days, but fortunately, a notice was suddenly posted one day saying that the diarrheal disease in Yuanbao Town had been cured and that people would now be sent to other places to provide disaster relief and rescue patients.
Xue was relieved now and planned to go burn incense and pray in a few days to thank the Bodhisattva for blessing her daughter Yu Niang.
…
Xu Qinhui from the third house knew the fate of these disaster victims when she heard her maid talk about them a few months ago. They were found to have diarrhea before they even entered the city, and were finally killed by the new emperor's order. However, many of them escaped, and then the court officials made a fuss. Disaster victims appeared in several more places in the border town, and the new emperor continued to order the massacre. The court officials continued to make a fuss, thinking that killing everyone was too cruel. The new emperor was dizzy and didn't know what to do.
The new emperor hesitated, but the crazy Empress Dowager Fu did not hesitate. She sent people directly to the place where the victims fled and killed all the victims and the affected villages and towns.
Even the three villages on the border and Yuanbao Town were slaughtered in one night, leaving no one alive.
Xu Qinhui really didn't care too much about this matter, because these disaster victims didn't affect her in her previous life, and besides, it was resolved around this time.
However, in the past month, she was still very hesitant because she only found out a month ago that her second sister and Prince Shu's family were living in Yuanbao Town.
In the previous life, only King Shu and the Wen family were left in King Shu's lineage. It was probably because King Shu and the Wen family did not settle down in Yuanbao Town in their previous life and escaped the disaster.
But in this life, the Shu Wang lineage lived well, so their subsequent fate changed, and they chose to settle in Yuanbao Town.
It was only more than a month ago that she learned from her second aunt that her second sister and the Shu Wang family had settled in Yuanbao Town. After knowing this, she hesitated whether to send a message to her second sister, but she didn't know what reason to find. She couldn't just tell her second sister and the Shu Wang family that Yuanbao Town would be massacred because of the victims of the disaster and diarrhea.
Moreover, she was a little selfish. She didn't know whether Prince Shu had left home at this time. She hoped that Prince Shu could survive. After all, there was no hope for him to enter the palace. A few months ago, in order to avoid entering the palace for the selection, she broke her leg and disfigured herself. She definitely could not enter the palace.
She felt that Prince Shu was the future emperor who would inherit the throne, and he should not die from diarrhea this time. It was probably the same as in her previous life. The only bloodline left by her second sister, the sixth princess, the seventh prince, and the eldest prince would all continue the fate of the previous life. In her previous life, her second sister died of illness on the road, and the others died in the mudslide. In this life, for some reason, they avoided this fate from the beginning, but she was afraid that their fate would not change, but the way they died would be different, and they would die from this plague.
In this case, only Prince Shu and Wen will survive in this life.
If so, does she still have a chance to marry Prince Shu and eventually ascend to the throne?
After hesitating for a month, the matter was about to be settled and she had no choice but to accept it.
Just before dinner, the maid Ping'er suddenly came in and told her joyfully, "Miss, Miss, this is great! A notice was just posted outside saying that all the diarrheal patients in Yuanbao Town, a border town, have been cured, and a way has been found to prevent the spread of diarrheal disease. Now the court has sent people to various places to provide disaster relief and rescue people."
Xu Qinhui was stunned.
How could this be?
In their previous life, Yuanbao Town was completely massacred, and there was no way to prevent the spread of diarrheal disease. Why was it different in this life? They had avoided a fatal situation again.
Xu Qinhui was so shocked by this that she fell ill again.
…
Putting aside the various thoughts of everyone in the capital, Yuanbao Town has returned to its normal life in the past few days. Small vendors have come out to set up stalls and various shops have opened for business.
Xu's Restaurant was naturally open as well. Uncle He's place was far away from the other three villages affected by the disaster, so it wasn't affected much. As usual, he started delivering seafood and milk to Xu Qinyu.
Xu Qinyu knew that she could successfully cure diarrhea this time because although diarrhea was a plague, it was somewhat different from real cholera. It was actually milder than the various plagues in the world she lived in. This was mainly because the victims did not understand that diseases enter the body through the mouth and did not like to be clean, which led to the serious spread of diarrhea. As long as proper protection was taken to prevent the disease from spreading, it would be easier to treat than plagues such as cholera.
As soon as Xu Ji Restaurant opened, there were many more customers coming to eat breakfast and evening meals. They all came after hearing about her good deeds. It can be said that Xu Ji has become famous in the entire Yuanbao Town.
Speaking of this, Xu Qinyu was indeed afraid of wasting food at first. Later, the people of Yuanbao Town began to send her food and firewood, so she didn't lose anything. In addition, she knew that her good deeds could also bring good reputation to Xu Ji.
So, she does have some selfish motives.
She is just an ordinary person with good cooking skills. Ordinary people all have some selfish desires, and no one is an exception.
She doesn't think it's a big deal to be a little selfish. She doesn't do bad things and can do good things within her ability. Isn't that the case with most people?
In addition, Xu Qinyu could also guess some of the new emperor's actions. The new emperor and the queen mother were so cruel that they could poison their own father and husband. Diarrhea was a terrible and easily contagious plague here. In this era, the way to deal with the plague was to isolate themselves and let people destroy themselves.
The victims have spread to Yuanbao Town. The new emperor will think that the victims have come to the town entrance and must have come into contact with the people in the town. He will directly confine Yuanbao Town and let them destroy themselves. What if he is even more ruthless and directly massacres all the people in the town?
So in a sense, she was saving herself.
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