The full name of Henan Ming Dynasty was Henan Provincial Administration, abbreviated as Henan Provincial Administration or Henan Province. Its capital was Kaifeng, and it had eight prefectures, twelve states and ninety-six counties under its jurisdiction. Most of the county names have been used to later generations.

At present, the scope of the plague is mainly spreading from Kaifeng Prefecture to Nanyang Prefecture.

Whether it is the number of deaths or the size of the plague, except for a few counties where the situation was extremely serious, there were no major sources in other places.

Zhu Ying's destination was Runing Prefecture.

It was about six hundred miles from the capital to Runing Prefecture. There was no infantry to delay them, only cavalry troops. With normal marching, they arrived in less than three days.

Zhu Ying was relatively comfortable. He spent the entire journey in a luxurious carriage. On the way he was either reading books or reviewing memorials.

A large box of memorials was left to him by Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, the memorials here are basically from Henan Province.

If there are any problems with the memorial, they can be solved at the same time.

The 40,000 cavalry troops were still very majestic when they were marching. At a glance, they covered the mountains and plains and were extremely terrifying.

Zhu Ying himself did not expect that his proposal to travel to Henan would result in such a grand event.

In fact, the plague itself is a bit mysterious.

Of course, the plague did not just appear once, it has been plaguing the world for many years.

Even in later times when Zhu Ying lived, the plague had not been eradicated and still existed. It was only because of timely prevention and control measures that large-scale plague outbreaks rarely occurred.

However, even in later China, small-scale plague still existed, and many people lost their lives as a result.

"Uncle Zhang, inform the soldiers to exterminate the rats ahead."

"Yes, sir."

About ten miles ahead is the camp where Zhu Ying will be stationed.

After Zhu Ying gave the order, tens of thousands of soldiers began to take action and started to exterminate rats near the camp.

This time, Zhu Ying came here to carry out a large-scale massacre of rats.

When they set out from the capital, they had already arranged for the Chamber of Commerce to mobilize a large number of cats to enter the disaster-stricken areas of Henan to carry out large-scale rat extermination operations.

In the Han Dynasty, dogs were trained to catch mice, and in the Tang Dynasty, cats were trained to catch mice.

These are all natural enemies of mice.

But dogs are very likely to spread plague, but cats are not.

Cats themselves carry the plague virus and have natural antibodies against the plague.

Zhu Ying also began to prepare a large amount of things, including rat poison.

At the same time, the role of lime in killing pests was promoted.

The main source of plague transmission is rat fleas.

Flea bites are the main route of transmission of plague, which is the pathogen.

Not all rats carry the plague; most are healthy.

The reason why you see dead rats and then people start dying the next day is that they are actually bitten by rat fleas.

It is easy to imagine the sanitary environment in ancient times. People had basically no idea about fleas, let alone their origins.

Lime can also kill rat fleas to a large extent.

The plague was actually not that scary for Zhu Ying.

The infection can only be transmitted from person to person through close contact.

But the incubation period of the plague is very short, basically killing people within two days, and people will immediately stay away from people who have the plague.

"Yueqing, you don't have to come with me."

Zhu Ying raised his head and looked at Ye Yueqing beside him and said.

Knowing that his boss was going to Henan to control the plague, Ye Yueqing volunteered to go with him with a firm attitude.

Zhu Ying agreed without much hesitation.

The ancients were extremely afraid of plague because they did not know its source and it was full of unknowns.

It seems that the farther away the better.

Even among the 40,000 cavalrymen, many felt uncomfortable about coming here.

However, these 40,000 elite soldiers are all extremely loyal veterans, so enforcing orders is not a problem.

In the Ming Dynasty, cavalry were naturally a professional branch of the military, so military discipline had to be stricter.

From another perspective, Zhu Ying's personal presence was somewhat of a show.

At least this time his behavior could be seen in the army and won the admiration of many soldiers.

At the same time as Zhu Ying set off, a large number of arrangements had already been initiated through the Qunying Chamber of Commerce.

After hearing what the boss said, Ye Yueqing fell silent.

She was in the Gunpowder Department at the time. After hearing the news, she turned around and left without hesitation, headed straight for the capital, and then waited quietly for her employer.

There are not too many thoughts, only life and death.

Seeing that Ye Yueqing didn't say anything, Zhu Ying also understood what he was thinking.

I felt a little touched.

Ye Yueqing in front of him had her face covered with silk cloth, similar to the masks used in later generations.

In fact, the use of masks was already very popular during the Yuan Dynasty.

Mainly in the palace.

"Li Shu" records: "Cover your mouth, for fear that your breath will offend others."

In the Yuan Dynasty, officials who served food in the palace all covered their mouths and noses with silk cloth to prevent their breath from touching the food.

Zhu Ying also issued an order to prevent plague infection, requiring people in plague-affected areas to cover their mouths and noses with silk cloth when going out.

The silk cloth used after coming back from going out must be boiled in boiling water for half an hour, that is, more than half an hour, before it can be used again.

The silk cloth did not filter out viruses in the air. Zhu Ying's intention was to prevent people who had already been infected with the plague and reduce the possibility of transmission.

The area where Zhu Ying was stationed was soon built up by the soldiers.

This place is located near Ruyang County and is considered to be the most prosperous area in the entire Runing Prefecture.

Today's Runing and Ruyang are Runan County in Henan Province in later generations. Although they are called differently, they are the same place in reality.

This area is mainly plains, which makes it more convenient to feed war horses.

Water resources are also relatively abundant.

The nearest plague county is about two hundred miles away, and the news can spread quickly within a day.

"Your Highness, the Magistrate of Ruyang County wishes to visit Your Highness."

The eunuch Guo Zhong, who was in charge of writing, came over to report.

The arrival of 40,000 troops was undoubtedly an earthquake for Ruyang County. If the reception was not good, a major accident would easily occur.

As soon as the army began to station, the magistrate of Ruyang had already boarded his carriage and came to visit in person.

"Forget about it today. Let him come tomorrow. Oh, and tell Ruyang County and the surrounding areas to make lime to prevent the plague."

Zhu Ying instructed.

He arrived here today and has a lot of arrangements and plans.

Forty thousand cavalrymen, this is the most elite cavalry force of the Ming Dynasty.

Now that the situation is in Zhu Ying's hands, it is naturally more than just dealing with the plague.

Some other ideas can also be put into action.

Especially the handling of corrupt officials and unscrupulous businessmen at the local level.

The reason why he did not meet the county magistrate was because Zhu Ying had already arranged personnel to further arrive in Ruyang County and begin investigation.

Look at what Ruyang County looks like on the brink of this plague.