A wooden fence was erected on the road leading in and out of the village, guarded by people outside. Supplies were also stored there. At first, the villagers did not believe that someone had delivered food, but they believed it when they received the white rice. Zheng Boyuan saw some people kowtowing in his direction by the torches stuck in the roadside, and his heart ached and his eyes welled up with tears. He felt a little sad.
When Zheng Boyuan recalled the time when he heard his father-in-law and brother-in-law talking about some issues concerning people's livelihood, he didn't quite understand. Now, he does.
The common people ask for very little. They have to pay taxes every year, but they never complain. They are happy when the court reduces taxes, and they don't know how to resist when the court increases taxes. They just try their best to pay the taxes they are asked to pay. But if you do something good for them, they will remember it forever. Zheng Boyuan couldn't bear to see more and more people kneeling on the ground, so he turned around and left.
The steward grabbed Zheng Boyuan's arm and whispered, "Young master, this is the time when we need you. You can't just leave like this. Come on, stand here and address those people."
Zheng Boyuan asked in surprise, "Shout something? Shout what?"
The person in charge had been following Xu Rao and Xu Di for many years. Although he hadn't learned any great skills, he had learned a lot about judging situations and assessing circumstances.
The steward whispered, "Tell the villagers not to panic and not to wander around. The food supply here is plentiful. They should just stay home and live their own lives. There is a famous doctor from the capital in the village. He comes from a family of doctors and his skills are comparable to those of the imperial physicians. Tell them to trust that the doctor can cure all the sick people."
Having learned a lot from his time in Miaozhou, Zheng Boyuan understood such matters very well. He immediately stood imposingly in the middle of the road and shouted loudly.
After they finished shouting, the village head and the villagers bowed to Zheng Boyuan again before heading home one by one.
Zheng Boyuan suddenly felt very satisfied. The steward wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered, "Luckily, luckily, such a good opportunity, the young master caught it. If the young master hadn't come, it wouldn't have mattered who called him."
Ma Guang naturally heard Zheng Boyuan's shout. The ancestral hall was located at the very back of the village, covering a large area. Village affairs were usually discussed and resolved at the ancestral hall. At this moment, every room in the ancestral hall was lit up, making the rooms as bright as day. In the open space in front of the ancestral hall, a bonfire was burning. The bonfire was made from dry branches picked up from the nearby mountain. Next to it were several medicine cauldrons and medicine pots, each containing medicine. Several people wearing protective clothing were watching the medicine pots.
Chen Zhaoci was exhausted after a long day. He rubbed his lower back and said to Bai Wei and Bai Shu, "I'm getting old. It's only been a short time and my back is already hurting. When I was young, I could stay up for 24 hours straight without feeling tired."
Bai smiled and said, "Madam, you are truly remarkable. I doubt the three of us would have your energy even when we reach your age."
Chen Zhaoci waved his hand and said to Bai Mi, who was taking notes on medical records, "Bai Mi, after you've finished organizing the medical records, I'll go through them first. If there are no problems, we'll make another copy and send it to the capital."
Bai Mi gave a crisp reply and then lowered her head to write.
Checking the time, Chen Zhaoci went to the ancestral hall to see how the medicine was being prepared. An elderly lady saw Chen Zhaoci coming and quickly stood up to greet her. Chen Zhaoci waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities, no need for formalities. I should thank the ladies for coming to help."
The woman quickly shook her head and said, "Madam, we should be the ones thanking you properly. The people in that ancestral hall are all our relatives. We all know that if they are infected with the plague, nine times out of ten they will die. We have never met you before, yet you risked your life to come and treat them. As their relatives, how can we just stand by and watch?"
Another, slightly younger man quickly said, "Madam, our husband is also inside. He is the pillar of our family. We thought that if our husband were to die, we would have no way to survive and would just have to die. It is you, Madam, who gave our family a way to live."
Chen Zhaoci quickly said, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, let's skip the formalities. We have doctors and medicine now, and people outside are sending us food. So, what we need to do is take good care of those who are sick and protect ourselves. I'm sure you've heard me tell you that this epidemic started because of drinking unclean water. As long as we cut off the source and take good care of those who are sick, and they are cured, the epidemic will be defeated."
A woman said worriedly, "Madam, I heard my grandmother say that when she was a child, she heard that a place was hit by a plague, and in the end, the entire area within a hundred miles was wiped out before the plague was eradicated. Are we going to be burned too?"
Hearing these words, the people standing next to Chen Zhaoci looked at him with some fear.
Chen Zhaoci had naturally read about it in historical records. It was an epidemic that occurred during the chaotic period before the establishment of the Great Liang Dynasty. It also happened after a flood. At that time, several factions were fighting for control of the Central Plains. After the plague broke out, the various forces tried their best to control it. After all, the population had dropped sharply due to years of war, and manpower was the fighting force. However, they failed. In the end, in order to control the plague, they could only burn down the surrounding area for hundreds of miles.
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