Lu Tu took the golden spear from behind the door, put on his outer garment, and was sobered up by the cold wind.
He instructed Liu Yang, "Tell the brothers to be careful and avoid any physical contact with any outsiders for the time being. If anyone is found to have pimples or rashes, kill them without mercy!"
"Yes, sir!" Liu Yang said, and ran off to deliver the message. At this moment, Nie Yun and Liu Hong had already arrived with their men from the direction of the training ground.
Lu Tu looked at Liu Hong: "How many people were left at the brick kiln and clay workshop?"
There were 30 spearmen.
Lu Tu nodded: "That's enough. We should take in as many of these refugees as we can, and kill those we can't!"
"good!"
Nie Yun and Liu Hong were somewhat surprised to hear this. Judging from Lü Tu's previous behavior, he was quite welcoming of the refugees joining, since it would provide more workers and benefit long-term development.
But the fact that Lu Tu would say something like "if we can't control it, we'll kill them" shows that the situation is not simple. At this point, they still don't know about smallpox.
After Liu Yang told them about it, they immediately thought of some kind of plague. After all, Liu Hong was a member of the Southern Imperial Guard from the capital, and his knowledge far surpassed that of Nie Yun and the others.
When Lü Tu arrived at the village entrance with his 300 soldiers, the gate opened, and a large number of refugees rushed in.
But what awaited them was not the acceptance that Lü Tu had promised, but rather cold swords, spears, and arrows.
They panicked immediately, and countless people burst into tears. With red eyes, they looked at Lu Tu and pleaded, "Lord Lu, didn't you say yesterday that if we arrived here before sunset today, you would accept us?"
"Yes, Lord Lü, we haven't rested for a moment in order to get here. We've been asking around since you left and haven't even had a sip of water. How can you bear to lie to us?"
Countless women, children, and infants looked at Lü Tu and the soldiers beside him with pitiful eyes. Even though they had experienced several fierce battles and their minds were extremely firm, they still couldn't bear to see this scene and turned to look at Lü Tu.
Lu Tu, who was always kind to the people, showed extraordinary decisiveness, slamming his golden spear on the ground: "Everyone, step back and listen to me!"
"Lord Lü, why do you have to deceive us poor souls? Even if you don't give us hope, that's fine. We won't live for more than a few days anyway. But why do you insist on giving us hope, only to treat us like this after we've come all this way?"
"Yes, Lord Lü, if you were to admit right now that you are playing a trick on us lowly people, we would leave this place immediately and would never defile your place."
Lu Tu was extremely annoyed by this and shouted, "Everyone, leave the village now! Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy!"
Hearing this, all the refugees calmed down. After all, it's better to live a miserable life than to die. Even those who said they would rather die than tarnish this land ran away as fast as they could, fearing that Lu Tu would change his mind and order his men to kill them.
After everyone had retreated outside the village, Lü Tu led his soldiers out.
He glanced at them coldly and said loudly, "I, Lü Tu, always keep my word, but this is an emergency. I heard that there is a plague among you refugees, so I have to take precautions!"
At this point, he couldn't care less about anything else; he could only pin the blame for the plague on them and make them feel guilty.
Lu Tu was overthinking it. They couldn't even get enough to eat, so why would they care about the plague?
Everyone stared blankly at Lü Tu, waiting for him to continue.
Lu Tu announced loudly, "Therefore, anyone who wants to join the village must undergo a rigorous examination!"
Upon hearing that there was a chance to enter the village, which meant food and a place to rest, the refugees' eyes immediately lit up with hope.
"Sir, just tell us, as long as you'll give us a bite to eat, we'll do anything!"
Lu Tu nodded: "If anyone has red rashes, pustules, or bumps on their body, not only will they not be allowed to join my village, but I will also kill them to eradicate the plague!"
These words shocked the entire audience.
Along their journey, most of them inevitably had flea bites on their bodies; if that were included, they wouldn't have survived!
Those with a quick mind immediately knelt down and explained, "Sir, we commoners are covered in fleas, how could we not have any bumps?"
Lu Tu didn't care about all that: "It's an emergency, and I'll make my own judgment, but let me be clear from the start: if you feel feverish lately, leave as soon as possible. Don't let me find out, or you'll only face death!"
Right now, the only way to save more lives is through such a simple and brutal method. Not to mention that penicillin cultivation will take time, it's uncertain whether it will even succeed. Lu Tu has no choice but to be cruel this time.
Upon hearing this, some people immediately backed down and gradually shrank to the back of the crowd, while Lü Tu naturally ignored them.
Lu Tu waved his hand dismissively: "Line up one by one! Get inspected!"
At this time, in the open space outside the village, they were divided into two groups, men and women, and both men and women had to take off their clothes for inspection.
The only preferential treatment given to women was perhaps the curtain that covered their faces. Lu Tu called over a few village women, explained the precautions to them, and then sent Liu Hu to supervise them.
After all, Liu Hu is young and unlikely to cause too much dissatisfaction or public anger.
Only after checking that everyone was fine were they allowed to stay in an open area on the other side of the village, waiting for further arrangements.
But before long, Lu Tu heard Nie Yun shout angrily: "You're covered in scars, how dare you force your way in?"
Lu Tu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a skinny, naked man about to rush into the village. But before he could take two steps, Nie Yun arrived and was ready to kill him with a single blow.
But Lu Tu stopped him: "Wait, don't kill!"
Nie Yun kicked the man to the ground. The thin man cried with snot and tears streaming down his face, wailing, "Sir, this is a lump I've had since I was a child, it's really not a plague!"
When Lu Tu got closer, he saw that the man's body was covered in mottled patches. Just as he had said, the bumps on his body were not newly formed smallpox, but rather smallpox scabs that had already healed!
I was shocked. This person was one of the few survivors of smallpox.
"Brother, kill him! This guy is disgusting!"
The man was kowtowing on the ground, his head bleeding. "My lord," he pleaded, "I did have smallpox before, but I recovered many years ago and have never had it since. Please, my lord, see the truth!"
At this moment, the surrounding refugees looked over and were shocked by what they saw of his skin!
They all shouted, "Sir, kill him!"
But Lu Tu's eyes lit up. Perhaps there was a better way than penicillin to deal with the smallpox virus: the smallpox vaccine!
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