Seeing her friend's serious expression, Yang Zhizhi knew that there must be something urgent going on. She didn't rush to ask any more questions. She stood up and led Xu Qinyu out, "Qinyu, follow me."
The Yang family lived with the county magistrate in the backyard of the county government office, but in fact the Yang family also had a house.
Mrs. Yang Wei owned a shop and land, and collected a lot of money in rent every year, so she was well-off, even wealthy, otherwise she wouldn't have spent twenty taels of silver every month to save money.
Yang Zhizhi didn't ask any questions on the way and led Xu Qinyu to her father's front yard.
The county magistrate was handling official business in the front yard, looking through case files, when he heard the yamen runner say that the young lady had brought the young lady from Xu's restaurant to see him. He invited the young lady in, and when he saw the young lady from Xu's restaurant had a serious expression, he asked in surprise, "Who is this, Miss Xu?"
Xu Qinyu immediately said, "Sir, I just saw some disaster victims outside the city heading towards the town."
The county magistrate knew that many disaster victims in the north had fled due to last year's snowstorm, but everyone thought they had fled to the south or the capital, and never expected to see them outside the town.
He thought for a moment and said, "Since they are disaster victims, it depends on whether they will enter the town. After entering the town, they can decide where to register. Although some places charge a high registration fee, some of the villages under their jurisdiction do not charge a registration fee. They can go there and let the government allocate some land for them to reclaim. If they have money, they can also buy houses, fields, and land."
Generally, disaster victims flee with all their belongings, so they may have some money left on them, which is enough to support them in settling down and making a living.
"Sir, no!" Xu Qinyu shook her head. "Sir, when I came back, I saw that many of the victims were extremely thin, with sunken cheeks and eye sockets. They were dehydrated, so they had dry rashes on their faces and cracked lips. They looked very sick. If only one person had these symptoms, it would be fine, but several people have them, so I'm a little worried."
It is common sense that major epidemics are more likely to occur after major disasters.
The border town was far away from the south and the capital, and many news were not delivered in time. We had no idea about the situation of the disaster victims there, or whether any of them were infected with the plague.
When she came back, she ran into a group of disaster victims. Except for the woman who was carried on the man's back, several others at the back had symptoms similar to the woman's. If it was just one person, it would not be a big deal. But if several people had the same symptoms, it probably meant that they had the same disease, and the same disease meant that it was contagious, so she was worried that these disaster victims had actually contracted the plague.
When the county magistrate heard this, his expression changed as well. He also wanted to understand the real reason.
He hurriedly stood up and ordered the yamen runners, "Quickly, go to the two town gates and tell the officers and soldiers guarding the town to set up wooden frames at the town gates, at least a hundred feet away, and tell them not to let the disaster victims into the town for the time being, and to stay outside the wooden frames. Hurry up and ride over."
After the two yamen runners left, the county magistrate was pacing around in the house in a panic. If it really was a plague, there was no way to deal with it. They could only lock up all the victims together and give them food and water. If they all got sick, they could only wait for them to die and then burn the whole place down. There was no way to cure the plague.
"What should I do? What should I do?"
He experienced a plague, although it was not in the village where he lived, but in a nearby village. In the end, the entire village was ordered to be sealed off, and after everyone in the village died of the disease, the village was burned down.
Xu Qinyu and Yang Zhizhi both looked pale, and Yang Zhizhi's body was trembling slightly. She had never experienced the plague, but she knew how terrible it was. No one here did not know how terrible the plague was.
Xu Qinyu took a breath and said, "Sir, the most urgent thing now is to have the doctor examine these victims to see if it is really a plague."
She knew that if she contracted the plague here, she would basically die, and there was no cure, but she didn't know how to protect herself and prevent it. Even if she recovered, she would be infected again. Naturally, there was no cure, and she could only wait to die.
She actually hoped that she was wrong. In fact, she was just overthinking it. But if the disaster victims were infected with the plague, then the victims who went to other places would probably be the same. If they brought the plague to people in other states and counties, many people would die.
The county magistrate was about to cry, "How could a doctor dare to diagnose them?"
If we keep the matter secret and let the doctor examine these patients, and it turns out to be a plague, and the doctor returns to the town, everyone in the town will be infected.
In the past, when there was an epidemic, doctors who went to diagnose patients would basically never return.
Xu Qinyu said, "Sir, I can prevent them from getting infected after they come into contact with the patients. If there is really a plague, these methods can also be applied to the patients and everyone else. As long as these methods are used, perhaps the plague can be controlled. In addition, perhaps I am worrying too much, and perhaps no one among the victims of the disaster has been infected with the disease."
Plague is mainly transmitted through contact, breathing, mosquito bites, food, etc. As long as you take good protection, it is not easy to be infected.
The county magistrate was stunned for a moment, "Miss Xu, do you really have a way to prevent the plague from spreading?"
Xu Qinyu said: "Cover your mouth and nose with gauze, wash your hands with strong alcohol after contact with the patient, and burn the clothes you change immediately. Also, be careful about what you eat and drink."
The county magistrate was very hesitant. If it was really a plague, his only choice was to believe that Xu Qinyu might be able to control the plague, or to imprison the victims and burn them after they all died of the disease, thus being responsible for the people of Yuanbao Town.
The county magistrate paced back and forth in the room, and finally gritted his teeth and called the yamen runners, asking them to invite all the doctors from all the pharmacies in the town to the yamen to discuss something.
After the bailiffs left, Xu Qinyu asked Yang Zhizhi if she had any gauze at home. Yang Zhizhi nodded with a pale face.
Only then did Yang Zhizhi take Xu Qinyu to the backyard and ask her mother for gauze.
Wei was curious about why Miss Xu suddenly came to visit. She asked the maid to fetch some gauze and asked with a smile, "What does Miss Xu want the gauze for?"
Yang Zhizhi glanced at Xu Qinyu, and seeing that she was not holding back, she whispered to Wei what had just happened, and Wei's face turned pale.
Xu Qinyu didn't care about anything else and just wanted to make the masks first.
In order to provide protection, at least ten layers of gauze were needed. This was easy to make. Even though Xu Qinyu was not very good at needlework, she managed to sew a few. Yang Zhizhi and Wei Shi were absent-minded and worried, but their hands were not slow. Together with the maid, they also finished sewing quickly. In total, there were about thirty pieces.
Xu Qinyu took it all and gave it to the county lord.
The yamen runners had also invited all the doctors in the town.
These doctors are all quite old, but there are also a few younger ones in their twenties and thirties.
The county magistrate told the villagers outside the town that they might be infected with the disease, and said that he had a way to protect the doctors who had come into contact with the patients from being infected. He hoped that the doctors could go outside the town to diagnose the patients among the disaster victims.
Before Xu Qinyu left, she told the county magistrate not to tell anyone else that this was her idea.
After all, she was the relative of a criminal. If she really accomplished something and it became known to the people in the imperial palace in the capital, wouldn't it bring disaster to the Pei family, herself, and her natal family?
The doctors present also changed their expressions when they heard this.
Several old doctors trembled and said, "Sir, don't you want us to die? Are you going to kill everyone in the town? If the higher-ups knew that the people in Yuanbao Town had come into contact with someone infected with the disease, I'm afraid they would send soldiers to guard Yuanbao Town and let our town fend for itself. Sir, no matter whether some of the victims are really infected with the disease, they should not be allowed in. They should be confined outside the town first. If they are really infected with the plague, they can only blame themselves."
The county lord frowned and said, "If it is possible to save them, why let them destroy themselves?"
The doctor said, "From ancient times to the present, no matter what kind of plague it is, there is no way to completely cure it. Even if there is a prescription to make the patient temporarily better, they will be infected by contact with the patient, and they will be infected again. There is no cure at all."
The county magistrate said: "So this method can prevent people around from being infected, and can also prevent patients from being infected again."
He took the gauze mask that Xu Qinyu handed over, put it over his mouth and nose, and fastened the ear rope before saying, "Cover the mouth and nose with gauze like this, and after checking the patient's pulse, wipe your hands with strong liquor, take off your clothes and burn them to stop the source of the disease. If the doctor who checked the patient's pulse really diagnosed the plague, he cannot return to the town for the time being, and must live under a wooden shed outside the town. He can return to the town only if there are no symptoms after two days."
The county magistrate also said that if anyone was willing to diagnose patients outside the town, they could receive 20 taels of silver each.
The huge reward made some brave men willing to go. Two younger doctors stepped forward and said, "Sir, we are willing to go."
The county magistrate took out 40 taels of silver from the public account and gave them to the two men. Only then did he allow them to go to the town wearing veils, linen clothes and strong liquor.
The disaster victims at the town entrance had been blocked off on wooden frames. The soldiers listened to the county magistrate and had no contact with the disaster victims. When they saw other villagers entering the town, they drove them away.
At this moment, the only people at the entrance of the town were those emaciated disaster victims.
The disaster victims stood at the entrance of the town at a loss. They were terrified. Even though people started dying along the way, they didn't know what had happened. They just wanted to find a place that could take them in and let them settle down.
The wealthy provincial government would not accept these disaster victims at all. They walked and walked until they got here, not knowing where this place was. They saw a town from afar and rushed over. Unexpectedly, they were stopped. The soldiers who stopped them said that they could not enter the town for the time being and needed to wait for the county magistrate's words.
So they waited.
Then two doctors in sackcloth came over, with a thick layer of gauze covering their mouths and noses. They came to take the pulse of the patient in between them. As they were examining, the two men's faces changed drastically. Finally, they retreated to a wooden shed at the entrance of the town, washed their hands with wine from the wine jar, took off their sackcloth, and burned it with a tinderbox.
The two younger doctors did not realize that these patients were really plague.
They shouted something to the soldiers guarding the town entrance. The soldiers' faces changed slightly and they hurried back to the county government to report.
Xu Qinyu, the county magistrate, and the doctors did not leave for a while, and all waited in the front yard of the government office. Xu Qinyu was a little worried and confused. She thought that if her fourth brother was here, with his great medical skills and her protective methods, any plague could be controlled and cured...
Just as he was thinking about it, a soldier guarding the town came over and said in a trembling voice, "Sir, some of the victims at the entrance of the town have diarrhea."
When they heard that it was diarrhea, all the doctors present changed their expressions.
Xu Qinyu knew that diarrhea was similar to cholera in later generations, both of which were caused by polluted water and food, with rice-water-like stools and vomiting, and eventually severe dehydration. It made sense that after the disaster, the victims did not eat or drink cleanly, and in summer, food was easy to rot, and the victims did not care whether these were edible or not, or whether the water in the water source was drinkable or not, and they could eat anything because they were hungry, so the most common disease was diarrhea. This disease could be avoided by improving hygiene awareness, boiling all drinking water, eating cooked food, and washing hands frequently.
She doesn't understand the treatment prescription, but these doctors should know it.
Xu Qinyu called the county master to the outside of the courtyard and whispered to him how to prevent the spread of diarrhea.
The county magistrate was so anxious at the moment that he was getting angry. After hearing what was said, he knew what to do. Naturally, he first reminded the townspeople of Yuanbao Town and the nearby villages that diarrhea had occurred. He told everyone not to go out in the next few days, to boil all water before drinking, not to eat raw or cold food, and to cook all food before eating. Raw and cold fruits were also not to be eaten, and to wash hands frequently with soap or soap every day.
In addition, he also had to send someone to Raozhou City to report to the governor of Raozhou. After all, there was a military camp guarding the border city near Raozhou City. If the diarrhea spread to the military camp, it would be a disaster. The border city would be easily destroyed by the enemy.
In addition to informing the governor that the victims had arrived in the southwest, he also wrote a letter with precautions against diarrhea and had the yamen runners deliver it as well.
There are more doctors in Raozhou City, and their medical skills are better, so they must have more prescriptions for diarrhea.
As long as we find a way to prevent the spread of diarrhea and treat the patients, this plague may really be stopped.
After Xu Qinyu finished speaking, she realized that there was probably nothing left for her to do here. All she could do was probably cook some food for the doctors who were treating patients outside the town and the victims of the disaster.
The prerequisite is that there is a doctor willing to go outside the town to treat patients with diarrhea.
The two doctors who went outside the town to diagnose the disaster victims will definitely not be able to come back, so they need to stay outside the town and treat the patients as well.
After Xu Qinyu left, the county magistrate talked to these doctors. As expected, no one was willing to go. They were also afraid of death. The county magistrate knew that he could not force them. The plague was too terrible. A narrow escape was the least of their worries. He sighed and said, "If the two doctors outside the town have not contracted diarrhea from treating patients in the past two days, I hope you can help them. Otherwise, it will be difficult for them to handle the work alone. I will reward each doctor who is willing to go out of the city to treat patients with ten taels of silver."
These doctors had no hope at all. They thought that the two young doctors from outside the town were too reckless. Diarrhea was highly contagious. Even if the patient got better after taking the medicine, he would be infected again in two days and would be dead.
Xu Qinyu went to Xu's Restaurant first. The mushrooms and wild vegetables she brought back were sent back to Guihua Lane by Cheng Ge'er, and the wild grapes were still in the backyard of the restaurant.
Xu Feng and his friends were also in the restaurant, and Wen went back to Guihua Lane first.
Xu Feng and the others didn't know what happened. Seeing Xu Qinyu's gloomy face, they couldn't help but feel a little worried. Xu Feng asked, "Boss, did something big happen?"
"Yes." Xu Qinyu said, "The restaurant will probably not be open for business in the next half month. There are disaster victims coming from outside the city, and some of them have diarrhea, so everyone should not run around recently. You should also stay in the restaurant and not run around."
The big utility room in the backyard of the restaurant was filled with rice, flour, and other grains that she bought, as well as dried goods, eggs, and some live poultry. These things were enough to feed the restaurant's diners for a month, and that was enough food for their family of six and Xu Feng's children for several months, so they didn't have to worry about the convenience of eating and drinking.
She was just worried about other things. She was very uneasy. She was not a doctor and knew how to treat patients. Even if she knew some protective measures, it was unknown whether they would be effective or not and whether everyone would follow them.
Moreover, this is different from later generations. Not to mention that the one who ascended the throne is a useless person, the queen mother is also ruthless. If there are really disaster victims going to the capital, and the court knows that there are patients with diarrhea among them, it is estimated that they will not lock up the victims and wait for them to die of the disease, but will directly kill and burn them.
Although Xu Feng and the other children were young, they knew what diarrhea was. After hearing what it was, their faces turned pale and they were terrified.
Xu Qinyu could only tell them not to worry, and she and a few other children washed and stemmed the wild grapes, so that they could be used to make wine tomorrow after drying them.
She had wanted to make wine some time ago, so she ordered a number of large wine jars.
After washing all the grapes, she cooked some noodles for herself and Xu Feng and the others. She told the children to lock the door and get some sleep, as she would come back tomorrow.
That night, the county magistrate personally led the yamen runners to the town entrance. He comforted the victims and told them the truth that they had diarrhea. The victims panicked and wanted to run away, fearing that they would be imprisoned and left to die.
The county magistrate stopped them and told them, "I have asked doctors to diagnose your illness. Both doctors live outside the town. What are you worried about? If you run away, you will die. Now there are doctors willing to treat you. As long as you are willing to accept the treatment and take precautions, you may still have hope of survival. Do you really want to run away and wait for death?"
The victims really stopped and looked at the two doctors wearing strange masks under the wooden shed in the distance, shouting at them from a distance, "Are you really willing to heal us?"
In fact, the two doctors were also panicked and regretful.
At first they just thought it was such a coincidence. These disaster victims came from the north. If it was really a plague, they would have died long ago. If they went out to diagnose their pulses, they could get 20 taels for free, so they went.
Now that things have come to this, the county magistrate will definitely not let them enter the town. Their families are all in the town. If they run away like this, the county magistrate will definitely arrest their families. Now they can only bite the bullet and nod their heads to agree to the disaster victims.
The victims finally calmed down.
The county magistrate began to give orders that in uninhabited areas outside the town, an area could only be marked off halfway outside the town for the disaster victims to stay and not run around. They would be given food and water, but other than that, they were not allowed to eat anything casually outside. Excrement was also marked off in designated areas and was not allowed to be defecated everywhere.
The victims all obeyed and went over, and the place where they were originally staying was also sprayed with strong liquor.
The medicinal materials and the stove for boiling the medicine that the two doctors wanted were also delivered to the town gate.
…
It was already 12:00 when Xu Qinyu returned to Osmanthus Alley. Everyone in the family had eaten and gone to bed. Wen was still waiting for her. She was relieved to see her return. "Mrs. Yu is back. Have you told the county magistrate? What is his plan? Will he find a place to confine these disaster victims first?"
Since ancient times, all places infected with plague have been fenced off, and even if there are people to treat them, it is of no use.
Their final fate is to be burned after death.
Wen also thought that her daughter-in-law went to report to the county magistrate in order to prevent the disaster victims from entering the town.
Xu Qinyu nodded, "I've already said it, don't worry too much, go to bed early. The restaurant will definitely be closed tomorrow, and you don't need to go there."
Wen sighed, feeling sorry for the victims.
Xu Qinyu still couldn't sleep, so she took some gauze from home and sewed some masks to cover her mouth and nose.
Seeing this, Wen Shi also did not sleep, and helped Yu Niang sew these strange things, and asked her, "Yu Niang, why are you sewing this?"
Xu Qinyu briefly explained the reason. She did not tell Wen that the county lord had already planned to treat the disaster victims. Wen also thought that Yu Niang was afraid, so she sewed this thing covering her mouth and nose.
The two of them sewed a lot before going to bed, but they didn't sleep well at all.
The next morning, the county magistrate sent runners to post notices in the town and nearby villages. Not only that, the runners also beat drums and gongs, and then shouted in every street and alley, informing the town that the disaster victims outside the town had diarrhea and telling them how to prevent it. They told everyone not to go out recently, stay at home, and sew some gauze masks to cover their mouths and noses. The method of sewing gauze masks was already written on the notice, so everyone was asked to go and read the notice first.
The yamen runners who posted notices and went to various villages and towns to spread the message also wore veils.
All the people in Yuanbao Town were terrified. They went to read the notice and were shocked. They learned that the disaster victims were left outside the town. They began to complain to the county magistrate why he kept the disaster victims outside the town and why he didn't find a place to confine them. But they complained, they had no choice but to stay at home. They were afraid of death and dared not drink raw water anymore. They boiled it before drinking. They also dared not eat raw or cold food. They cooked everything. In this respect, they were quite obedient.
Although the county magistrate had arranged everything properly, he was still worried and his cheeks were swollen from being so anxious.
Xu Qinyu arrived at Xu's a little late today. When she got there, the three waitresses and the two girls, Da Niu and Er Niu, had also arrived. However, the doors and windows of all other shops in the market were closed, and there were few pedestrians on the street. They had already learned that some of the victims had diarrhea.
Everyone stayed in the restaurant, and when they saw Xu Qinyu, for some reason, they all seemed to have found their backbone.
Xu Qinyu discovered that not only had everyone come, but there were also fish and milk in the backyard.
Xu Fengcai told her that it was delivered by Uncle He. It turned out that the people in the village below did not know that there was diarrhea among the victims, so Uncle He naturally did not know about it. He came every morning as usual to deliver fish and milk, as well as the snails and eels that were requested on weekdays.
However, Xu Feng told Mr. He to stay at home for the next half month and not to come again for the time being.
I believe that by tomorrow, people in the nearby villages will not have the courage to run to the town.
The fish were still half alive, so Xu Qinyu found a wooden basin and put them all in it. But the milk was no good, as it had to be drunk on the same day. It was hot, and if they were not finished drinking it, it would go bad tomorrow. Besides, everyone couldn't finish all the fish. Even if they were put in a wooden basin, there was not enough oxygen, so it would be good if they could survive until tomorrow. They still had to be killed in the next two days.