"Go find the county magistrate. He must know what's going on!" suddenly said a middle-aged man in luxurious clothes.
His words immediately attracted the attention of others, and they all echoed him.
"Yes, let's go to the county government office to find the magistrate here and ask him to let us out!"
"Okay, I'll go too!"
"Let's all go!"
In this way, the group of people did not make things difficult for the soldiers guarding the city, but instead went to the county government office in the city in a large number.
"What? The magistrate is not here?" asked the elegantly dressed man in surprise.
The county yamen runner nodded and said, "Yes, our county magistrate left the city early this morning, saying that the madam's father was seriously ill, and they went back to visit him."
Someone suddenly retorted, "Nonsense, the county magistrate's wife and I are from the same hometown, and her father died eight hundred years ago, how could he be seriously ill again!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of the people around him changed instantly.
"Doesn't that mean that the magistrate took his family and ran away in advance because he knew about the plague?"
"Bah, this black-hearted person, how can he be called a father and mother of the people? He ran away when there was danger."
"I was originally wondering why he informed us in advance about closing the city gates. Now that I think about it, maybe it was to cover up his own exit from the city?"
The county yamen runner listened to these people's words with a frown on his brow. He wanted to scold them, but when he heard the word "plague", he paused.
"My dear little brother, is there any news of plague anywhere in your county government?" asked an unlucky guy who had just entered the county town and heard about the plague.
The yamen runner shook his head upon hearing this. "No, it stands to reason that our county yamen would be the first to know about this kind of thing, unless..."
Unless the county magistrate blocked the news and prevented anyone from spreading it.
The bailiff suddenly remembered what his colleagues had said to him a few days ago.
"Old Li, I don't know what's going on in the slums to the west. There have always been deaths recently. I've been to the mass grave five times."
"I went to the slums again today. There seemed to be some really unclean things there. Many people looked half dead."
"Ahem, I seem to have caught a cold recently, and I always have a fever in the middle of the night. I took the medicine prescribed by the doctor but there was no improvement.
My wife said I might be tired, so I need to take a day off tomorrow to relax. "
The bailiff, Old Li, suddenly broke out in a cold sweat on his back. Could it really be there?
Then wouldn't his colleague Lao Zhao be...
When the onlookers saw the face of the yamen runner Lao Li change, they guessed that he might have thought of something, and immediately looked at him intently, wanting to get the detailed answers from him.
"It's... it's the slums in the west. The plague might have come from there, but now..."
Old Li didn't finish his words. If it was true as he guessed, the news would have spread throughout the entire county, because the majority of people living in the west were beggars.
In order to get more food, beggars might beg for food in all the taverns and restaurants in the county. These places are usually crowded with people, so it would be difficult for the plague not to spread.
What he can think of, all the smart people present can think of.
But there were also those who were driven mad by the plague, and they shouted loudly at this time: "The slums in the west? That's easy, just set fire to that place and burn all the houses and people.
This way other people in the county will be safe. What do you think? "
But no one agreed with him, and some even directly retorted.
"What's the matter? Are you the only one who has a brain? Can't others think of this trick? Those are human lives, real people!"
"At least half of the county's population lives there, and you burned them all to death in one go? How can you say such bullshit out of your mouth?"
"Tell me, are you really stupid or just pretending to be stupid? If the problem was so easy to solve, would the magistrate have fled with his family?
It is estimated that the plague is not only spreading in the west, but there are already many infected people in the city."
After hearing the last words of this person, everyone sighed, and the woman even started crying.
"So now we can only wait to die?"
The middle-aged man in fancy clothes who first said he was looking for the county magistrate came out first.
"Maybe it's God's will that we can't leave. To be honest, the first time I, Yang, did something that went against my moral principles, I was stopped by God.
It seems that this person still cannot do anything that would offend his conscience."
The middle-aged man smiled self-deprecatingly at everyone after he finished speaking, "Since it is God's will, I, Yang, will fight the plague with everyone to the end. I will donate all the medicinal materials in my home for the doctors in the county to develop prescriptions.
I also announced that if anyone could come up with a prescription that could temporarily alleviate the plague, I would give them 100 taels of silver. If anyone could develop a true cure, I would give them 1,000 taels of silver and a courtyard!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the onlookers looked at each other in surprise.
"Manager Yang is indeed the greatest philanthropist in Heyu County. If he continues to give away gifts like this, I'm afraid he will spend most of his wealth."
"We can't just take advantage of others. Since Shopkeeper Yang is so generous, I will join him. My Su Ji Pharmacy will also donate all the commonly used medicinal materials in the store. I swear to live and die with you all!"
"Yes, helping others is helping yourself now. Although my Li's Cloth Shop doesn't have any medicinal materials, we can't fall behind. So I'll add some bounty to give everyone a better chance."
…
In this way, under the leadership of Shopkeeper Yang, the wealthy people in Yu County donated generously.
Xu Jinhuan said to Ma Wencai and Xie Guangbai: "It seems that the people in this county still have some human touch, so it's not in vain to save them."
Ma Wencai looked at those people absentmindedly, and after a long while he said, "It would have been great if we had had people like this back then, or if we had met the boss at that time."
It was the first time that Xu Jinhuan and Xie Guangbai saw the heartless Ma Wencai like this. None of them said anything, but just waited quietly, waiting for Ma Wencai to speak his true feelings.
Ma Wencai sighed and said, "When there was a plague in my small village, due to lack of information, no one knew what the disease was and they just thought they could just take a rest as usual.
Until the son of the village head went out to seek medical treatment, he did not bring back a doctor or medicine, but instead brought back a group of officials and runners. "
Having said this, Ma Wen paused for a while before continuing, "The official that day did what the man said today, and burned down the village with fire.
I was naughty at that time and sneaked up the mountain to play, so I escaped the disaster, but my parents and brother died in the fire, even though they were not sick!"
Ma Wencai said the last sentence in a hoarse voice. His eyes were already red, and the burly man started crying in front of Xu Jinhuan.
Xu Jinhuan gently patted Ma Wencai on the shoulder and said in a gentle tone: "What we are doing today is not only for myself, but also for thousands of children who are in the same situation as you were back then.
Wencai, now you can help others. "
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