Chapter 2382 Replacement (April Monthly Ticket Plus 21)
The person whose hand Zhou Man grabbed was trembling. Manbao noticed his trembling and looked up at him with a smile. Unfortunately, she was wearing a mask, so the other party could not see her smile, but she saw her eyes curved. She thought it was a sly smile, so she trembled even more. She was completely limp and slid to the ground, saying with trembling lips: "Please spare me, spare me, sir, spare me..."
Manbao: ...Is she that scary?
Manbao turned around and looked at Xiao Yuanzheng.
Xiao Yuanzheng frowned slightly and angrily asked the steward beside him, "How did you choose the person?"
It’s okay if there are problems with the food and drinks, but now there are problems with people too?
The steward was sweating profusely and was about to have him dragged away when Zhou Man raised her hand to stop him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, stared at the shivering young man, and asked, "Have you listened to my instructions these past few days and gone out to bask in the sun and walk around?"
The young man was stunned for a moment, then swallowed nervously and nodded repeatedly.
Manbao asked cheerfully, "Have you seen the old soldiers and the remnant soldiers living in the house over there?"
The young man nodded. Manbao felt his body relax a little, so he continued to ask, "Have you spoken to them?"
The young man replied quietly, "I did."
Manbao: "Then you should know that they have all been vaccinated against smallpox. Have you seen the smallpox scars on their bodies?"
The young man hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
"Since you've seen it, you should know that the smallpox vaccine doesn't produce a lot of pox. Look at them. Some are so old their hair is gray, some are disabled with missing limbs, and even the healthiest have one or two scars. Although they are soldiers fighting on the battlefield, their bodies are not as healthy as yours. So if they can withstand the smallpox vaccine, it should be easier for you."
Man Bao said, "We at the Imperial Hospital don't vaccinate people to get smallpox, but to prevent more people from getting infected with smallpox in the future. So our goal is to cure smallpox, you can rest assured."
I felt that the young man was much more relaxed. Although he was still shaking, at least he was not so weak that he looked like he was about to faint.
Manbao quickly pricked the inside of his arm. He felt a brief pain, and then saw Zhou Man put something on his wound. The medical assistant Liu, who had been waiting, immediately took a piece of cloth and tied it up.
Manbao withdrew his hand and smiled at him, saying, "It's okay. The bleeding will stop soon. The bandage can be removed in a while."
It happened very quickly. After all six people in a room had been vaccinated, everyone waited in the room for a while before taking off the cloth strips and throwing the smallpox vaccines inside into a thin linen bag.
Everyone went along the way to vaccinate people. This was not a task that could be completed in one day, so Xiao Yuanzheng decided to complete it in two days.
The used smallpox vaccines were taken to a room for destruction. There was a stove inside, and the fire had been lit early. The temperature inside was at its highest at this time. Under the supervision of the imperial physician, all the used smallpox vaccines were thrown in and destroyed.
Before leaving, Xiao Yuanzheng instructed Zhou Man and Imperial Physician Lu who stayed behind, "This thing is a powerful weapon. You must keep a close eye on it. It can only stay within these three checkpoints. Not only can it not leave the imperial farm, it can not even leave the checkpoints."
Manbao and Doctor Lu agreed seriously.
Manbao immediately recalled Xiao Yuanzheng's actions and the various conspiracies and intrigues he had read in books before, so he lowered his voice and asked him, "Do you suspect someone is trying to steal the smallpox vaccine and frame our Imperial Hospital?"
Xiao Yuanzheng: "... Doctor Zhou is really smart. I wouldn't have thought of this if you hadn't mentioned it."
He was just worried that someone would steal this thing and harm others. As for harming the Imperial Hospital, there was no need to use such a method.
He just submitted a petition asking for money, his hatred was not that deep.
However, after hearing what Zhou Man said, he also felt uneasy, so he said, "I have already instructed the guards on duty. All belongings, including ours, entering and leaving the checkpoint will be searched. Anything suspected of smallpox vaccine is not allowed to be taken out. Also, our clothes, shoes, socks, etc. can only be brought in, not taken out."
Manbao shuddered and asked, "Then what about our clothes..."
"Burn them all." Xiao Yuanzheng said, "Do you think that room is only used for burning smallpox vaccine? There are too many things to burn."
Manbao felt bad, and after returning home he said to Xibing Jiulan, "I should have packed fewer sets of clothes. Two of them are really nice, and I was thinking of wearing them when I went out for an outing."
Jiulan: "My dear, at this rate, I'm afraid it will be difficult to catch up with the outing."
Manbao immediately said, "Pfft, pfft, stop talking nonsense."
Manbao sat on the couch, looking outside and sighing, "I don't know how the conversation between Fifth Brother and the Steward went. I'll ask Dean Xiao tomorrow. I wonder if the Steward will report to him."
Zhou Wulang and his group had already reached an agreement. They came here in the morning and were one step behind Xiao Yuanzheng and his group.
Because Xiao Yuanzheng had greeted them, they met the manager directly upon arrival. This time the conversation went much smoother than the last time. There was no longer a situation where the buyer kept raising the price and the seller kept lowering the price.
However, this was not normal bargaining, because the other party agreed as soon as Zhou Wulang opened the price, without any struggle. They neither raised the price nor lowered the price. They even did not dispute the quantity that Zhou Wulang and his team could provide. They agreed to it directly as soon as they mentioned it.
Then, in less than half an hour, they signed the contract and were done with it. The manager also paid them a deposit.
He personally escorted the man to the gate of the imperial manor, looked at Zhou Wulang with a half-smile and said, "I never expected that Master Zhou Wu's backers were so powerful. It's my fault that I didn't recognize the value of gold and jade, and I offended him before."
Zhou Wulang was puzzled, but he immediately said, "Your Excellency, you are joking. How can we, a small family, have any support?"
Zhou Lizhong, who was standing by, smiled and said, "No matter how powerful our backers are, they are not as useful as you, sir. As the saying goes, a county magistrate is not as good as the current one. From now on, we uncle and nephew still hope that you will take good care of us, sir."
The steward was stunned for a moment, then said sadly, "Young Master Zhou, you are too polite. I would like to take care of you two, but I'm afraid I don't have the chance anymore."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Lizhong were puzzled. Then when they delivered the first batch of eggs, broilers and vegetables as agreed on the third day, they found that the manager had been replaced.
And it wasn't just a change of manager. I heard that most of the managers in the imperial farm who were connected to the Imperial Medical Bureau had been replaced. The two looked at each other in confusion.
After Liu Sanniang returned, she told them, "This is a minor matter. The bigger issue is that the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been replaced. I heard that the eunuchs and stewards in charge of purchasing have been replaced from the outside to the inside. The lucky ones were just transferred elsewhere, while the unlucky ones were directly sent to various imperial farms to do hard labor."
Zhou Wulang opened his mouth wide and asked, "Why?"
Liu Sanniang didn't say anything. Why?
Of course, it was because the person in charge of purchasing was too greedy, which made Xiao Yuanzheng unhappy.
But she had heard her grandfather mention that this incident all started because of her master's boasting about how good the farm she ran in the village was, and then...
Liu Sanniang shook her head, clearing her mind of all distracting thoughts. She said to the two men, "Anyway, this matter has little to do with us. We shouldn't get involved. We should just deliver the goods honestly. However, I heard that the Royal Farm is planning to find a new supplier. The previous suppliers were overpriced, and Xiao Yuanzheng is not very satisfied."
Zhou Lizhong's eyes lit up slightly, and he seemed to be thinking about something.
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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