The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 465: Smallpox appears in the capital

But coming back, Prince Dai's Mansion has been a bit uneasy recently. At first, an eunuch in the Prince's Palace fell ill with a fever. No one took it seriously. Even the sick eunuch himself didn't take it seriously. He thought he just had a cold and took some medicine and would be fine in a few days.

The little eunuch went to the medical clinic to get some medicine to treat the cold. However, after taking it, the cold did not get better, but became more and more serious. Finally, he fell ill and fell directly into bed.

In the palace of Prince Dai, there were many young eunuchs like him doing odd jobs. Even if he was seriously ill and about to die, no one would call a doctor for him. The young eunuch's illness became more and more serious, and it was difficult to keep him in the Prince Dai's palace, so he was kicked out.

If the young eunuch died in Dai Wang's Mansion and the eunuch in charge of Dai Wang's Mansion knew about it, he would be punished.

Although the young eunuch was driven out of Dai Wang's palace, he was not allowed to live on the streets. Instead, he was driven to Zhuangzi in the suburbs, where he was left to fend for himself.

If the people from Dai Wang's palace drove the young eunuch to the streets, Dai Wang would be beaten by the imperial censor and end up with a reputation for mistreating his servants.

The little eunuch died of illness the day after he was kicked out of Zhuangzi. Before his death, he was still feverish and had many blisters on his body. However, the person who buried him didn't care.

The death of a young eunuch in Prince Dai's Mansion would not cause any ripples in Prince Dai's Mansion, and no one would take his death seriously. However, a few days after his death, the servants of Dai Wangfu developed fever one after another, and then blisters appeared on their bodies. At this time, the people in the Imperial Palace realized the seriousness of the matter.

Fever, headache, back pain, fatigue, and many blisters appeared on the body, which were clearly symptoms of smallpox.

After Fuzhong learned about it, he immediately asked the doctors in the palace to diagnose the pulses of several servants who fell ill, and found that they indeed had smallpox. At this time, the entire Daiwang Palace panicked.

When the king learned that smallpox had appeared in the palace, he was naturally very panicked. He originally wanted to hide the fact that someone in the house was infected with smallpox, but he couldn't hide the matter at all. If it was concealed and more people were infected with smallpox, it would be a serious crime to be found out later.

Not daring to hide it, Dai Wang wrote a letter telling the emperor that smallpox had appeared in his palace.

When the emperor learned about it, he was very shocked and immediately sent an imperial doctor to the palace of Dai Wang. Then, he ordered a strict inspection of every house in the capital to see if smallpox had appeared in other homes.

This investigation revealed that many families had symptoms of smallpox.

This is not the first time that smallpox has occurred since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. When the late emperor first ascended the throne, smallpox appeared in the capital and also in other places.

Da Zhou was quite experienced in dealing with smallpox. Even if you have no experience, you can refer to it if you have experience in the past. During the previous dynasty, smallpox occurred several times.

When they learned that smallpox had appeared in the capital, the people and officials were terrified, fearing that they would be infected with smallpox and die in despair. Fortunately, the court discovered it not too late and dealt with it relatively promptly, preventing smallpox from spreading further.

The method of dealing with smallpox this time was proposed by Zhao Yao. Previously, when Zhao wrote to the emperor about the prevention of cowpox, he also wrote about how to deal with smallpox after it was discovered.

Zhao Yao repeatedly confessed in his letter at that time that the emperor ordered masks to be made of cotton cloth in case of emergency. After the emperor saw it, he ordered the embroiderer in the palace to make many masks. The emperor also asked the ministers to make some masks. Fortunately, the ministers were obedient and asked the embroiderer at home to make some.

After the smallpox outbreak, ministers quickly put on masks.

All those who were found to have smallpox were placed in one place and quarantined. In isolated areas, lime is often spread and mugwort is burned. Of course, this should also be done in homes where smallpox has occurred and in homes where smallpox has not.

The emperor asked the imperial physicians and officials to record the number of people infected with smallpox, and found that none of the children who had been vaccinated with cowpox were infected.

Previously, when vaccination with cowpox was done, some people doubted whether it could really prevent smallpox. The occurrence of smallpox this time confirmed that vaccination with cowpox can indeed prevent smallpox. The people and officials were all thankful that their children were vaccinated with cowpox.

The people and officials were grateful to Zhao Yao for coming up with the method of vaccinating cowpox to prevent smallpox, otherwise their children might be infected with smallpox this time and die from it.

The people who contracted smallpox this time were all relatively weak. Most are older people. No young adults contracted smallpox.

After careful investigation, it was found that the source of smallpox was in the Western Regions. Smallpox appeared in the Western Regions, then spread to the northwest of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and then spread to the capital from the northwest. Fortunately, it was discovered when it reached the capital and was dealt with promptly, preventing smallpox from spreading from the capital to other places.

In the imperial study, Imperial Physician Lu was reporting to the emperor on the situation of smallpox in the capital yesterday.

A total of more than 200 people were infected with smallpox. Currently, more than 30 people have died of smallpox, which is not a lot. Also, the spread of smallpox has been controlled, and there have not been many new infected patients in the past two days.

After hearing this, the emperor's frown relaxed a lot, and his stern face softened a little.

"This time, Tai Hospital did a good job and controlled the spread of smallpox in time."

Doctor Lu said respectfully: "It's all thanks to your Majesty that you issued an order to deal with this in time, otherwise I wouldn't be able to control it if I waited."

The emperor asked: "No children contracted smallpox yesterday, right?"

"Yes, some children in Beishi have contracted smallpox and have been sent to quarantine." People living in Beishi are poor people, and most of their children are not healthy and cannot be vaccinated against cowpox. Most children who were not vaccinated with cowpox contracted smallpox. From the discovery of smallpox to the present, seven or eight children have died from smallpox.

The emperor also wanted every child in the capital to be vaccinated against cowpox, but this was impossible.

"Keep staring."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Dr. Lu did not participate in the treatment of smallpox this time because he was specifically responsible for the Emperor. However, he gave the prescription for treating smallpox to other imperial doctors.

"How is the situation in the Prince's Palace?"

"The Daiwang, Dai Wangfei, as well as the Crown Prince and other highnesses are all safe and sound." After smallpox appeared in Daiwang's Mansion, everyone in the mansion was placed under house arrest and quarantined in Daiwang's Mansion.

When the emperor learned that there was nothing wrong with Dai Wang's palace, he asked Imperial Physician Lu to retreat.

Sun Kui walked in hunched over and respectfully reported the situation in the palace to the emperor.

Previously, several eunuchs and maids in the palace were infected with smallpox. After they were discovered, they were moved out of the palace and placed in isolation in Yizhuang on the outskirts of the capital. After that, the entire imperial city underwent a major cleaning, and was disinfected by spreading lime and burning mugwort.

Now, the palace is disinfected twice a day, once in the morning and evening.

Except for those eunuchs and maids, there were no new infected people in the palace.

Although the ladies in the harem were not injured, they were quite frightened. During these days, everyone stayed in their own palaces.

"Your Majesty, now that smallpox is under control, you don't have to worry anymore."

"Thanks to Xiao Shi, otherwise I don't know how many people would have died this time." The emperor was very lucky. His youngest son had been vaccinated against smallpox before, otherwise he would not have known how many children would have died from smallpox this time.

"Your Highness, the King of Han, is really amazing." If His Highness, the King of Han, had not come up with the method of inoculating cowpox to prevent smallpox, many children would have died from smallpox this time. "When vaccination with cowpox was done before, some people still doubted that vaccination with cowpox could not prevent smallpox. Now it is confirmed that vaccination with cowpox can really prevent smallpox. Those people should no longer question His Highness the King of Han."

"When will that brat Xiao Shi come up with a cure for smallpox?"

"Your Majesty, this is unlikely. After all, smallpox has been a terminal disease since ancient times." It is already remarkable that His Highness the King of Han came up with the idea of ​​inoculating cowpox to prevent smallpox. If His Highness the King of Han can still come up with a way to completely cure smallpox, then His Highness is not a human but a god.

When the emperor heard what Sun Kui said, he smiled playfully: "Maybe that brat Xiao Shi will be able to come up with a cure for smallpox in the future and turn smallpox from a terminal disease into a common disease."

If Zhao Yao, who was far away in Marsh Mansion, knew that the emperor thought so highly of him, he would definitely think that the emperor was out of his mind.

When Sun Kui heard what the emperor said, he felt that it was not impossible. His Highness the King of Han was always able to do things that others did not expect. Since he could come up with the idea of ​​inoculating cowpox to prevent smallpox, he might also be able to come up with a way to treat smallpox in the future.

"Your Majesty, you have been worried about smallpox in the past few days and have not had a good rest. Now that smallpox does not have a tendency to become serious, you should go and rest as soon as possible."

"I'm not tired." After the emperor finished speaking, he continued to review the memorial.

Sun Kui did not dare to disturb the emperor anymore and quietly retreated, then went to Kunde Hall.

Liang Concubine learned that the emperor had not had a good rest, so she wrote a letter to the emperor and asked Sun Kui to bring it to him.

When the emperor received Concubine Liang's letter, he knew that Sun Kui had gone to find her.

"Who asked you to find Xiaoxiao?"

"Your Majesty, if you don't rest, I have no choice but to go find Concubine Liang."

The emperor kicked Sun Kui, then obediently went to warm up and rest. He thought he would wake up after taking a short nap, but he didn't expect to sleep until evening.

Not long after he woke up, Concubine Liang sent someone to deliver the soup she had specially cooked for the emperor.

Because the smallpox in the capital has not disappeared, and it is not known whether smallpox will appear again in the palace, for the sake of the emperor's dragon body, the emperor cannot go to the harem for the time being. During this period, the emperor's activities were limited to the Zichen Palace and the Imperial Study Room, and he did not go anywhere else.

After drinking the soup cooked by Liang Concubine himself, the emperor felt full of strength and went to the imperial study room full of energy to continue reviewing the memorials.

At this time, the secret guard appeared in the imperial study and handed the emperor a secret letter from the Marsh Mansion.

The secret letter was not written by Zhao Yao, but by the secret guard around Zhao Yao.

The secret guards around Zhao Yao have always reported Zhao Yao's situation to the emperor. The secret message sent by the secret guard this time was about the king of Han sending people to the Marsh Mansion to find Zhao Yao for business cooperation.

After reading the secret letter, the emperor raised an intriguing smile: "Lao Wu couldn't help it anymore."

Sun Kui on the side was wondering in his heart: Did His Royal Highness King Han do something? (End of chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like