Chapter 2068 Persuasion (Thanks to the reward from book friend "yeath001")
The old lady and young woman beside them also looked at them warily, but when Manbao tried to lift the quilt, they hesitated and did not stop him.
When the quilt was lifted, there was a shivering little girl with pimples all over her head and face.
Daji and the others were startled and took two steps back.
Manbao was also startled. He put down the quilt, took out a mask from his pocket and put it on, then he lifted the quilt again to check the girl's condition.
She was still having a fever, and her face, hands, feet, chest and abdomen were all covered with rashes. Manbao had never seen so many rashes on a person in his life.
After a careful inspection, she stood up and said to the young man, "It's getting dark, are you going to camp?"
The young man said cautiously, "We will make a fire to keep out the cold."
Manbao said to Daji, "Let's stay here for one night. Wear your masks and stay away. I'll take a look at her condition."
Daji and others agreed and went down to arrange a place to camp.
The young man's family stayed with a mixture of suspicion and caution, and also with hope.
Manbao opened her bag. She still had some medicinal herbs with her. She carefully picked out a prescription and gave it to the woman to boil.
Bai Shan went to collect firewood with the young man in their family. When they came back with two bundles of firewood, the young man had already opened his heart to Bai Shan and told him everything he knew.
According to him, his name is Wu Xiang, and his home is indeed in a nearby village, not far from Xiazhou City.
"Half a month ago, Xiazhou City was suddenly sealed off. They said there was an epidemic in the city. Goods from outside could be sent in, but things from inside couldn't be sent out, and people couldn't leave either." Wu Xiang wiped his tears and said, "We live in a village not far from the city. When we heard there was a shortage of vegetables in the city, we took the cabbages we had stored in our cellar and sold them. We handed them in through the city gate and someone would collect them. We thought it was just some vegetables and nothing would happen. But five days ago, the child suddenly developed a fever and then started getting pox."
"There's a notice in the city that if someone outside the city is also infected with smallpox, the village will be closed if there are many people there. If there are few, everyone will have to move to the city. Our child is so young, we can't bear to let her go into the city alone, but the village can't accommodate us anymore, so we have no choice but to leave."
Bai Shan asked, "Where can you go?"
Wu Xiang glanced at his wife and said, "We want to go to Dejing County. My father-in-law and his family are there, and the city hasn't been sealed off yet. We want to take the child to see a doctor, maybe they can save him."
Bai Shan asked calmly, "Smallpox is an epidemic, highly contagious. Even your village and clan can't take you in. How can your father-in-law take you in? Moreover, if you go there, the smallpox epidemic will spread."
As soon as these words came out, Wu Xiang looked at him warily, "You, you want to arrest us?"
Bai Shan shook his head, looking at him with pity, and said, "We just came from Dejing County. You may not know that the imperial guards have been sent from the capital. Not only Dejing County is sealed off, but also the roads to the prefectures and counties to the south and west. Now, those heading south are either taking refuge in the mountains or turning back to Xiazhou. It's just that they are walking, so they are not traveling as fast."
Wu Xiang exclaimed, "Impossible!"
"What's impossible?" Bai Shan said, "The capital is full of nobles, and there are more than a million common people there. Do you know how many people are more than a million?"
Wu Xiang's eyes widened.
Bai Shan said, "The population of ten Xiazhou combined is not as large as that of Chang'an. If just one smallpox patient enters, then over a million people could be infected with smallpox. That's why the imperial court takes this matter very seriously and has already sealed off the road."
Facing Bai Shan's calm gaze, Wu Xiang had to believe it. He couldn't help crying out loud, "The court is asking us to die."
The old woman and the other woman were also overcome with grief and burst into tears.
Manbao and Bai Jilang: ...You said it as if it were true.
Bai Shan said seriously: "So we are here."
Wu Xiang looked at them, teenagers of sixteen or seventeen years old, what was the point of them coming?
Bai Shan said, "We are all from the Imperial Hospital, and we are followed by the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Hospital's convoy."
Wu Xiang and his mother and wife couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the official road.
Bai Shan sighed and said, "Don't worry. We were young, so we rode away at full speed. It only took us five days to get here from the capital. The doctors who stayed behind are old, and they are carrying several carts of medicinal materials. Even with a large army escort, they can't move fast. It will probably take another three or four days to arrive."
He softened his expression and said, "Xiazhou's Yang County Magistrate has written a petition for help. Your Majesty is concerned about the people in the affected areas and has ordered the Ministry of Revenue to purchase a large amount of medicinal herbs. The first batch of herbs has arrived with the imperial physician, and there will be more to come."
He looked at the cart and lowered his voice, "I'm telling you this in advance because we're getting along well. These herbs are for the people in the epidemic area. If you stay in Xiazhou City, you can get free medicine and see the imperial physician. But if you continue south, you won't even be able to enter the city, let alone see a doctor. Without local household registration, the county town won't be able to accept you. Are you going to sleep out in the wild?"
The fire had been lit and it was not so cold anymore, so Manbao had someone push a cart to the side of the fire, and then he took a needle and gave her a few pricks to reduce her fever so that she wouldn't feel too uncomfortable.
But she didn't dare give her antipyretics, because smallpox can only be cured if it breaks out. If it is covered up, it would be fatal.
She no longer paid attention to Bai Shan who was still deceiving people, but rolled up her sleeves and looked at her pimples carefully.
It took her a while to find a pimple that she had rubbed open. She must have rubbed it open because she couldn't help it. Her wrists had been tied before, probably to prevent her from scratching.
After finding the broken pimple, Manbao took out a piece of white paper and carefully removed the pimple with a needle...
The old woman and the woman beside her stared blankly, completely unaware of what she was doing.
Manbao took the paper and left, using the excuse that he wanted to study smallpox and asked people not to get too close. He then sent the paper to the teaching room and used it as a teaching material, and asked Keke to contact Teacher Mo as soon as possible.
Teacher Mo, who was online but received seven reminder messages in a row, silently looked up from a pile of books, received her pathogen, and went offline to conduct research.
There was no need to look for other research institutes for this kind of thing; he could figure out the order in his own small laboratory.
At night, the little girl couldn't help crying. It was so itchy that she couldn't stand it at all.
The old woman and the woman could only hold her hands and comfort her constantly. Seeing how distressed she was, they couldn't help but cry.
Manbao picked and chose in the bag and finally put together a prescription of medicine. After boiling it and letting it cool down, he asked them to wipe her with gauze dipped in the medicine.
"It can only barely relieve the itching and may also help with the rash. I'm not sure how effective it is, but you guys should give it a try."
She looked at the two of them, frowned, and then found two masks and gave them to them. "It's better than nothing, right? You haven't had acne, have you?"
The two of them took it with profuse gratitude and put it on as they were told. Although they didn't know what it would do, since the nobles and the imperial physicians did the same, it should be useful.
See you tomorrow
Sprinkle flowers and be happy
(End of this chapter)
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