During this period, Zhao Xianrang, the village head, investigated the situation in Shuixian Village and found no one suffering from typhoid fever.
To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, the village headman required everyone in the village to drink preventative herbal decoctions and wear sachets, all of which were paid for from the village's accounts.
After returning, Prefect Shen immediately conducted a search of the Qing'an Prefecture area and found no problems. However, he was still not at ease and expanded the search to areas outside Qing'an Prefecture, especially the areas along the route to the capital.
As expected, some patients suspected of being infected with typhoid fever were found in Liuqiao Village, more than 100 miles away from Wulitun.
Upon receiving the news, Lu Dinghai, the Imperial Censor of Qing'an Prefecture, immediately led more than a hundred soldiers to Liuqiao Village.
Liuqiao Village is a village with nearly a thousand people, and it was a large village in ancient times.
Imperial Censor Lu led his men to the outskirts of Liuqiao Village and immediately cordoned off the village, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving.
When asked why someone in Liuqiao Village had contracted typhoid fever, Imperial Censor Lu immediately launched an investigation into the area.
Soon, they discovered that last year, Li Guang led the army of Shuixian Village to fight against the barbarian troops here, eliminating tens of thousands of them.
The battlefield was near Liuqiao Village at the time, which basically explains why some people in the village contracted typhoid fever.
Li Xue was traveling from the capital to Shuixian Village when she contracted typhoid fever. The odds of this are even lower than winning the lottery, but Li Xue was the one who got it. Perhaps this was fate.
Last year, the barbarian soldiers suffered heavy casualties here. The soldiers cleaned up the battlefield and disposed of a large number of corpses. Under normal circumstances, the possibility of a large-scale plague is not high.
However, it cannot be ruled out that some corpses fell into the water or were buried in the wrong place, polluting the water source. Over time, this could cause diseases and lead to epidemics.
Of course, this is just speculation, and the specifics remain unknown.
After sealing off Liuqiao Village, Prefect Shen continued to investigate the surrounding areas and found no other typhoid patients.
Prefect Shen breathed a sigh of relief, as his attention had prevented a major epidemic from occurring.
In ancient times, people did not engage in much activity. Unless there were special circumstances, people generally would not travel far. In large villages like Liuqiao Village, there was a small market in the village that met the needs of the villagers. They could buy things without having to leave the village.
This led to typhoid fever in the village, but it only spread within the village and did not spread outside the village. However, given enough time, it will definitely spread.
Ancient epidemic prevention and control measures were different from those of today. Once an outbreak was discovered in a village, the village would be immediately sealed off, and people would not be allowed to leave, leaving the villagers to fend for themselves.
There was no other way. Given the backward state of hygiene and medical care in ancient times, this approach was a last resort. If left unchecked, the plague would spread and cause a disaster.
In times of frequent wars and fragmented regional powers, the loss of effective local control made major epidemics all the more common.
Although Liuqiao Village was not part of Qing'an Prefecture, Prefect Shen did not relax his management of the area, which saved the Great Northern Dynasty from disaster.
Prefect Shen handled the problem in a humane way. He provided the village with a large amount of medicine for the prevention and treatment of typhoid fever, enabling the villagers to help themselves. At the same time, he wrote a memorial about the epidemic that had occurred in the area and submitted it to the imperial court, drawing the court's attention.
A few days later, Li Xue was much better. Staying in the inn for so long was torture for the active Li Xue.
"Sister, go stay at the farm for a while. There are many houses at the farm, the air is good, and Xiao Hei and Yu Hong will play with you. It's better than staying at the inn."
“Okay, then I’ll stay at the farm for a while. Staying at the inn these past few days has almost driven me crazy,” Li Xue said excitedly.
"Okay, I'll go back and tidy up my room first, and then I'll come pick up my sister later."
"Okay, go ahead. The first thing I'll do when I get to the farm is roast sweet potatoes. It's been so long since I've had roast sweet potatoes."
During the conversation, Zhao Xian came over with a bowl of cooked porridge. Li Xue had just recovered from a serious illness, and nutritious porridge was the best choice for her.
Hearing that Li Xue was going to stay at the farm for a while, Zhao Xian agreed. With Li Guang and Meng Yaoyao taking care of her, Li Xue would recover faster.
As time went by, the temperature began to rise, and Li Guang became busy with his farming work.
It was already the planting season for potatoes and sweet potatoes. Although it wasn't the season for sweet potato cuttings yet, the mother plants for sweet potatoes had to be planted first.
Now, Li Guang found the work in the fields very easy. He had 100,000 troops, 50,000 of whom were building the canal, and another 50,000 soldiers in the barracks. With these people working, even the most arduous farm work could be done in no time.
Li Guang inspected the seedling pots from the earlier planting; all the cotton seeds had sprouted and grown two tender leaves.
These seedling pots are just one part of the cotton planting promotion this year; most cotton seeds are planted directly in the ground.
The cotton seedlings in the nutrient pots will be used for transplanting, and some of the nutrient pots will be given to farmers in the village for trial planting, in preparation for the future promotion of cotton planting.
During her time at the farm, under the meticulous care of Li Guang and Meng Yaoyao, Li Xue's health has almost fully recovered.
That day, Li Xue and Li Guang talked about the martial arts examination that had been held in the capital recently.
Li Guang knew about this matter; it was a major event for the imperial court to select martial arts talents for the Northern Dynasty.
Li Xue smiled and said:
"Li Guang, you only know one side of the story. The military examination was indeed for selecting talent, and it was a measure the emperor had no other choice."
It is said that riots broke out in Louye and Lanwei, and the forces were preparing to rebel and establish their own kings.
The imperial court was preparing to send troops to quell the rebellion, but there was no one available in the capital. The emperor did not want to transfer troops from the border, so he directly mobilized troops from the garrison in the capital to quell the rebellion in the two places.
However, the garrison in the capital had run out of soldiers. The 100,000-strong garrison was a crucial guarantee for the security of the capital, so the emperor wanted to develop the garrison in the capital as soon as possible.
If it were through normal conscription, it would be difficult to develop the garrison in the capital into 100,000 troops in a short period of time, so the emperor transferred 50,000 troops from the border to be incorporated into the garrison in the capital.
There was still a shortage, so we used this military examination to recruit talented individuals for the garrison in the capital.
Li Xue's words greatly surprised Li Guang. He really didn't know about the rebellions in Louye and Lanwei.
How did the imperial court know that the forces in Louye and Lanwei were planning a rebellion?
"This news seems to have come from rumors among the common people. After hearing this news, the emperor was not sure whether the news was reliable, so he sent people to Louye and Lanwei to investigate."
The rebellion was confirmed; the local forces arrested all the officials, imprisoned them, and blocked the news.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
