Chapter 86 Return to Beijing
Jizhou is about to enter the rainy season.
Song Yuzhu looked at the weather forecast on the map. It will be sunny tomorrow and cloudy, and there will be light rain the day after tomorrow. Once it rains, the germs from the rotting corpses will be washed into the river by the rain, polluting the water source. It is unknown how many people will be infected by then.
So be sure to burn all the dead before it rains.
Before they came, Zheng Da'an had led his subordinates to burn a lot of corpses, but the firewood was limited and the corpses were extremely difficult to burn. It was difficult to burn them cleanly without enough wood.
Although there were a lot of soldiers brought with them, they were stretched a little as they had to chop wood and burn corpses.
"This won't work. We must get the local people to come out and help," said Song Yuzhu.
Ren Qingshan scratched his head and said in a somewhat awkward manner: "Your Majesty, the people are very afraid of this disease. Those who are already sick have no strength to work, and those who are not sick dare not come out to deal with these corpses."
Song Yuzhu was so angry when she saw him. If it weren't for the delay, the epidemic wouldn't have been so serious and so many people would have died!
"Then let them go up the mountain and cut down trees! If they don't save themselves, everyone will die, and even gods can't save them!"
"Yes!" Ren Qingshan was so scared that he quickly ordered his men to go door to door to call people and ask them to go to the mountain to chop firewood.
At night, orange-red flames shot up into the sky. Cartloads of firewood were pulled down from the mountains. The soldiers stayed up all night and burned all the corpses piled up in the suburbs.
The next morning, the sky darkened and the air was very humid; it looked like it might rain at any time.
After the bodies that were visible were burned, the soldiers still had to search for the bodies from house to house.
There were many families where all the members died and there was no one to help collect the bodies, so the bodies were left at home and rotted beyond recognition.
These corpses must also be dealt with before the rain.
Zhao Xiao took his personal guards to help. He had collected bodies of his comrades on the battlefield before, but the two were simply not comparable.
The battlefield is full of corpses that have just died. There is no smell other than blood.
This is different. People here don’t know how long they have been dead. Sometimes when you open the door, you are startled by the miserable scene inside. People who have been dead for many days have already rotted and are no longer recognizable. The stench makes people dizzy and even blocking their mouths and noses can’t block the smell. It is so stinky that it is outrageous!
They found the bodies and piled them up at the intersection. Special soldiers pushed wooden carts to collect them and then took them outside the city to burn them.
After searching the last house on this street, Zhao Xiao clenched his fist and knocked on the door, but still no one answered.
No one answered the phone, which meant that no one was home or no one was alive.
The guard next to him skillfully picked up a stone and went forward to smash the door. The wooden door was quite strong and it opened with a creak after more than ten hits.
The yard was not very big. In addition to the three main rooms, there were two side rooms on the left and right. After walking a few steps inside, the stench of corpses came out.
The two guards skillfully checked the neighboring rooms separately, while Zhao Xiao went straight into the main house.
The house was clean and neatly furnished, and it looked as if the people at home were cheerful and cheerful.
Zhao Xiao held his breath as he walked through the main room to the bedroom at the back. Usually, bodies were found here.
When he pushed open the bedroom door, he smelled an unpleasant stench. Zhao Xiao glanced at the bed and saw that it must be a woman. The body had been dead for many days and had begun to rot.
He used his sword to pull down the curtain on the bed, covered the person, and pulled him out.
After taking a few steps, he seemed to hear a sob. People who practiced martial arts had much better hearing than ordinary people. He was sure that the sound came from this room.
There is only a dressing table and two small cabinets in the bedroom. Where can someone hide?
He bent down and found a little boy of four or five years old hiding under the bed.
Zhao Xiao didn't expect to find a living person. How did such a young child survive these days?
The child was frightened by the stranger and screamed, hiding under the bed and not daring to come out.
Zhao Xiao had never coaxed a child before, so he imitated Song Yuzhu's way of coaxing her sister and forced a smile: "Good boy, come out and follow me."
"Wow!" The child was even more frightened and cried heartbreakingly.
There was no other way Zhao Xiao could do but crawl under the bed and pull the person out.
He picked up the child and looked him up and down. He saw that he was holding half a moldy steamed bun in his hand, looking as pitiful as a puppy.
Zhao Xiao touched the child's head and said, "Your mother is dead. Come with me."
"You're talking nonsense! My mother is not dead, my mother is not dead!" The boy was crying with snot and tears all over his face, and he didn't forget to kick him with his little feet.
Zhao Xiao sighed, held him under his armpits, and carried his mother's body out of the house.
The guards found five bodies in the yard and estimated that this was the only child who survived in the family.
*
On the other side, many tents were temporarily built next to the county government office as isolation points.
Seriously ill patients or those without family members can be treated here.
The most important thing about cholera is to stop diarrhea. People with long-term diarrhea are very likely to become dehydrated, leading to organ failure and death. Many people die from shock after dehydration, so replenishing water is very important.
Song Yuzhu ordered people to boil several large pots of sugar and salt water in front of the county government office, so that the people could bring their own cooking utensils to get water for drinking.
Sugar was a rare commodity, and one ounce of sugar cost dozens of coins. Ordinary people seldom put so much sugar in boiling water, so everyone lined up with pots and pans to fetch water to drink.
Some of those who received the water drank it immediately and then went back for a second round.
Those who didn't get any water were shouting and cursing anxiously, and they were almost getting into a fight.
"Don't worry, there's plenty of water, come one by one!" The soldier in charge of fetching water shouted, pinching his waist. He had brought several carts of sugarcane from Shangjing, enough for them to boil water.
Song Yuzhu changed into a dark-colored short-sleeved outfit today, covered his face with a cloth, and wore simple gloves on his hands. He was checking the condition of the patients in the tent.
Bai Ning followed him, holding a board in his left hand with a piece of rice paper on it, which recorded the conditions of the patients.
"Did you give them the old mustard stew yesterday?"
Bai Ning said, "According to your majesty's instructions, we first cut their wrists and tested the drops. Except for the two people who had rashes, the rest of them tried it."
Song Yuzhu walked up to a young man and touched his forehead with her hand. His temperature had dropped.
"How are you feeling today?"
The young man recovered well, and said in a brisk tone: "I don't poop anymore, but I'm just very hungry."
Song Yuzhu knew that the mustard greens stew had taken effect. "It's good that you're hungry. I'll have someone bring you food later."
"Hey, hey." The young man bowed and thanked gratefully.
Song Yuzhu asked the old man next to him. The old man was old and his recovery was slow, but he was already better than a few days ago.
Hearing that he still had some old headaches, Song Yuzhu helped him with his treatment.
The old man had a headache due to a problem with his cervical spine. I treated him with acupuncture at several acupoints, which helped relieve the pain.
After the diagnosis, he took Song Yuzhu's hand and said, "Young Master, you are such a kind-hearted person. What's your name? When I recover, I will make a longevity tablet for you."
Bai Ning next to him was so scared that his eyes almost popped out. The old man hasn't recovered yet. What if he infects the emperor?
"Uncle, my last name is Song, so you can just call me Doctor Song."
"Oh!" I thought my old bones would not be able to hold on, but I didn't expect the government to send so many people to treat them. They not only gave them medicine but also food. It was really a great favor!
I asked a few more people and found that their diarrhea had stopped. The ancient people had very low drug resistance, and this simple penicillin had a very great effect on them.
Coming out of the tent, Song Yuzhu saw several medical officers lying in a mess under the willow tree. They were sleeping on the straw or leaning against the tree.
The medical officers have been very tired these days. There is a shortage of staff and many patients who need care, so they have to work almost around the clock.
Song Yuzhu couldn't help but sigh: "Thank you for your hard work these days."
Bai Ning yawned, quickly covered his mouth and said, "It's not hard, this is what we should do."
In the evening, lightning flashed in the sky, followed by rumbling thunder, and soon a light rain began to fall.
Zhao Xiao washed twice in the backyard before he dared to go into the house, but there was still a lingering stench on his body.
Song Yuzhu brought a towel to help him wipe his hair.
"How is the body being handled?"
Zhao Xiao said: "All the houses in the county and the surrounding areas have been cleared out and burned."
"That's good."
"Oh, right. When I was searching for corpses in the city today, I found a boy, only four or five years old. All his family members died and he was the only one left."
Song Yuzhu asked, "Do you want to keep him by your side?"
Zhao Xiao smiled and shook his head: "How can I raise a child? I gave it to Old Zheng. He has never married and wants to adopt a son to take care of him in his old age."
Song Yuzhu leaned on him, and the two of them listened to the sound of rain outside. It was a rare moment of peace and quiet.
The epidemic has been brought under control for the time being, but we cannot be careless as cholera may strike back at any time with the arrival of the rainy season.
Song Yuzhu cannot stay here forever, as there are many things waiting for him to deal with in Beijing.
He left Bai Ning here temporarily and asked him to pay attention to the epidemic here, discover it early and take prevention measures to prevent it from spreading again.
Two days later, Song Yuzhu and his party left Yongning County. The epidemic in Changshun County and Bai'an County was also under control, and Song Yuzhu and his party prepared to return to Beijing.
Many people who had recovered from their illnesses spontaneously walked out of their houses to see him off.
The old man who had recovered from his illness chased after the carriage and shouted, "Doctor Song, I will make a longevity card for you!"
Song Yuzhu lifted the car curtain and waved at him with a smile: "Go back, everyone please don't see me off."
The people stopped walking only after the carriage disappeared. Bai Ning from the Imperial Medical Court walked up to the old man and asked, "Do you know who the Doctor Song you just called is?"
"I don't know."
"That's our current emperor."
"Ah?!" The people were all stunned. They didn't expect that the emperor was personally treating their illnesses these days? !
*
Ren Qingshan was dismissed from office. He had committed such a serious crime, and it was merciful for the emperor to spare his life. He thanked the emperor with gratitude and returned to his hometown in Jiangnan with his family.
On the way back to Beijing, Song Yuzhu deliberately took the newly built official road. The cement road surface was as clean as a large stone slab after being washed by rain, and the carriage did not feel bumpy at all when driving on it.
However, the road has not been completed yet. It has only been built to Pingshun so far, and it will take another two years to build it to Shangjing.
Song Yuzhu leaned against the carriage and opened the map to check. There were already businesses open on the streets of Yongning County.
Pancake stalls, rice and flour shops, as well as teahouses and restaurants all started to open for business one after another.
Yongning County originally had a population of more than 30,000 people, but after the epidemic, there were less than 10,000 people left.
However, as long as there are people, there is hope. The people are like the grass in the wild. Although inconspicuous, they are the most tenacious. I believe that they will soon regain their vitality.
(End of this chapter)
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