Rule over Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty is still a long way from vaccination for all the people. Even this is actually an impossible thing, but it has become the basic national policy of the Ming Dynasty.

In so many years of management, although local corruption problems have not been solved, yamen in various places have conscientiously implemented the imperial decrees, reflecting the cohesion of the country.

Ever since the Jiangnan gentry group blocked the imperial court's ban on silver and was hit hard, local yamen are now conscientiously implementing every imperial decree.

Jingshan County, a county where wonderful stories once happened, is a remote place where Wang Yue was lucky enough to leave his poems.

In a small village in the north of the city, the sun shines on a lush green bamboo forest, which reflects the emerald green luster. Life here is calm and peaceful, but today, an unusual tension hangs over the village.

The cow in villager Lao Huangtou's home was sick. The matter was quickly reported to the village chief through the clan leader, who quickly reported the matter to the county magistrate Liu Daoyuan.

"Chickenpox? Immediately notify Dr. Chen of Jimin Yuan and go to Xiali Village with the county!" Liu Daoyuan's eyes lit up slightly when he heard the news.

Xiali Village is five miles away from the county seat.

Old Huangtou looked at the sick big ox, his old face full of worry. In this era when cattle were the main labor force, it was undoubtedly a disaster.

"Old Huangtou, don't worry! If your cow really has cowpox, the county government will compensate you according to the price, and the court guarantees that you will not suffer a loss!" The chief's vision was obviously higher, and he immediately comforted you road.

Dr. Chen hurried to Xiali Village with the county magistrate Liu Daoyuan. He was a weather-beaten old man with wisdom and determination in his eyes. The thing that makes him most proud of is that he went to the School of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing for half a year.

After carefully examining the sick cow in Old Huangtou's family, he nodded solemnly: "Master Magistrate, this cow is indeed cowpox!"

"Okay, tell me, call the people around you immediately to get vaccinated against cowpox!" Liu Daoyuan suddenly felt happy and immediately gave instructions to the people accompanying him.

Thanks to Baihuayuan's launch of a national newspaper, which made him aware of the smallpox epidemic raging overseas, the imperial court attached great importance to the vaccination of cowpox.

Although promoting cowpox vaccination is the basic job of their grassroots officials, completing a cowpox vaccination at this time will definitely add points to their resume.

The current Ming Dynasty no longer values ​​background, but focuses on the hard-working spirit of local officials, which is more fair to children from poor families like them.

"What good is this cowpox?"

"Of course I don't have to worry about smallpox anymore!"

"Not only that, if we don't vaccinate with cowpox, it will be very difficult to build road diversions in the county!"

……

Although cowpox can effectively prevent smallpox has been publicized for several years, it is impossible for everyone to care about this matter, and some good people have also explained it.

In fact, in order to encourage everyone to vaccinate against cowpox, in addition to not being allowed to go to sea or enter the royal shop to work, it is also easy to be addicted to calories. Those who need to take exams, such as those who need to take the exam, all require them to be vaccinated with cowpox to prevent smallpox.

"I'll take it!"

"I'm willing to take it!"

"I'm willing to take it too!"

……

After knowing the cause and effect, villagers from all over the country came to vaccinate with enthusiasm, and they adopted a positive attitude towards vaccination.

Villagers lined up to wait for vaccination, each with a determined look on their face.

Although the vaccination process was slightly painful, the villagers gritted their teeth and persevered. After the vaccination, the tension and fear they had originally felt gradually subsided, replaced by peace of mind and trust.

As time went by, the news of vaccination spread throughout the northern suburbs, and even people in the city rushed over after learning that cowpox could be vaccinated.

The supply of cowpox cannot be infinite, but vaccination is related to everyone's business, schooling and travel, so the children of the official and gentry classes are more active.

"Okay, this vaccination is over, let's all disperse!" Mr. Chen said helplessly as he looked at the dead scalper after working for a few days.

Although he is not afraid of hard work and wants to inoculate all his compatriots with cowpox, the output of cowpox is limited, and many times the cattle will die after just a few days.

"I haven't picked it up yet!"

"Who wouldn't? I avoided it a few days ago!"

"I have to rush early next time. I heard that if you get vaccinated with cowpox, you won't be afraid of smallpox!"

……

People in the northern suburbs who had not been vaccinated against cowpox saw that the scalper had actually died of the disease. Although many people regretted their previous actions, they had no choice but to leave in droves.

Similar situations occurred across the country. Once cattle infected with cowpox were found locally, the government would arrange a nearby cowpox vaccination campaign.

Once it was discovered that a local government treated this kind of matter negatively, the court would even directly remove the black gauze hat from the head of the responsible official.

It's just that all places are restricted by the production of cowpox from scalpers. It would be fine if the scalpers can continue to supply cowpox. Once the scalpers die, the cowpox vaccination activity can only be temporarily stopped.

"Smallpox has reached Ningbo again!"

"Haha...I've been vaccinated against cowpox!"

"Farewell, I'm going to stay in seclusion at home for three months!"

……

Although the smallpox epidemic would inevitably enter foreign cities, the Ming Dynasty did not panic and even appeared to be very optimistic about facing the epidemic.

Since the Ming Dynasty had a relatively high vaccination rate, and vaccination with cowpox was compulsory especially for jobs with overseas contacts or high circulation, smallpox did not pose much harm in the Ming Dynasty.

In many places, it was only discovered in a small area, but due to the effective measures taken by the local government, it did not cause much epidemic disease in the Ming Dynasty.

When the time came to February, the imperial court also promulgated the "Smallpox Forecast Guide", and a product called a mask also appeared on the market.

The smallpox epidemic seemed to have come, but it seemed that it had never appeared before. It was always quickly controlled by local governments and spread to the mainland.

After the Great Geographical Discovery, not only did the Ming Dynasty have more connections with the American continent, but European fleets also began to bypass the Cape of Good Hope and set foot in the Indian Ocean.
Although the Ming Dynasty was not affected by the smallpox epidemic, the situation in other places became increasingly severe.

This massive smallpox epidemic actually originated in India. On the one hand, the smallpox epidemic was introduced to Southeast Asia through maritime trade lines, and then affected the Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, the epidemic spread rapidly in India.

India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. Although it is a traditional agricultural country, its special geographical advantages make it easy to get involved in maritime trade. India is now the Lodi dynasty, the fifth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. Its founder is Bahrul. Roddy.

Bahroor Rodi was originally the governor of Sindh in the Sayyid Dynasty. In the second year of Jingtai, Bahroor Rodi took advantage of Sultan Alam Shah's inability to control the situation and captured Delhi and established the Rodi Dynasty.

The jurisdiction of this dynasty includes Sindh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other regions. The current Sultan is Shikandar Lodi. Although the stability and prestige of the Delhi Sultanate were restored to a certain extent, the regime was not stable.

The sudden smallpox epidemic is undoubtedly a huge test for the young regime of the Rodi Dynasty.

In fact, a country's greatest wealth is its population. Once the population decreases on a large scale, it will not only reduce its national strength, but also be likely to be invaded by foreign enemies.

In an ancient village in India, life was originally peaceful. However, the sudden smallpox epidemic was like a nightmare, pushing the village into the abyss.

"What's with all these rashes?"

"It's so itchy, my body feels so uncomfortable!"

"It's okay, just stay up for a few days and you'll be fine!"

……

At first, villagers only noticed unusual red spots on the faces of several young people, along with mild fever, but enduring the disease is now a common practice in fighting the disease.

Everyone didn't pay too much attention to it, thinking it was an ordinary rash. But soon, the situation took a turn for the worse. The rash on these faces spread rapidly, accompanied by high fever and severe pain.

When the physical condition of several young people deteriorates rapidly, the villagers begin to realize that this is no ordinary disease, and panic quickly spreads in the village.

"What disease is this?"

"They must be doing something sinful to the gods outside!"

"Yes, they must have offended the gods, and the gods punished them!"

……

The villagers gathered together and started talking immediately. Everyone's face was full of worry, and they began to seriously explore the root cause of these young people's diseases.

However, in their fixed thinking and cognition, they soon unanimously concluded that they had done illegal things outside and were "punished" by the gods.

"They are all sinful souls, and only holy water can wash away their sins!" The priest in the village is an old man, claiming that only holy water can drive away the diseases in these young people.

At the call of the priest, villagers flocked to the temple, hoping to be protected by the holy water.

According to past experience, not only do these young people need prayer, but they also need holy water to relieve their possibly polluted souls.

They prayed devoutly and poured holy water on their bodies. Then the priest personally delivered the holy water to several young patients and asked them to drink the unknown liquid.

However, the epidemic has not been alleviated, but has intensified.

As the smallpox epidemic spread, more and more villagers were infected, with large areas of red rash appearing on their bodies, and even deaths began to occur.

"Another person died!"

"Holy water has no effect at all!"

"I feel so uncomfortable. Someone come and save me!"

……

When the holy water proved to be ineffective, even the priest himself died of smallpox. The entire village was filled with an atmosphere of sadness and despair. Every household was closed, but villagers kept groaning in pain.

Unlike the effective methods of the Ming Dynasty, Indian villages today can only wait for the arrival of death.

The village that was once full of joy and laughter has disappeared. Now there is only silence and sadness. Villagers are killed by smallpox every day.

Although the mortality rate of the smallpox epidemic is 30%, under current medical conditions, their mortality rate is actually higher, even exceeding 50%.

Although some people did not die after contracting the disease, their faces were already tortured by the disease, so some women chose an extreme way, or chose to stay away from their hometown.

In the end, the village was completely destroyed by the raging smallpox epidemic, and not even the last person remained.

It would be okay if it was just a village, but this smallpox epidemic swept across India, a large number of people died one after another, and more and more farmland was abandoned.

Although the Lodi Dynasty was very active in facing the smallpox epidemic, no matter how much holy water they found, the epidemic was not only not contained, but instead slowly spread throughout India.

Although the current population in India is far from being comparable to that of later generations, it is still a rare population of several million, but the number of deaths every day is in the tens of thousands.

In the nearly one year since the outbreak of the epidemic, the population of the Rodi Dynasty has actually declined significantly. The number of people known to be infected with smallpox alone has exceeded 20% of the total population.

Someone in the King of Delhi recorded: People died during the day, don't ask how many people died, the sun was gloomy and gloomy, and the clouds protected it. Three people were walking, and before they had taken ten steps, two people suddenly died crossing the road.

But this epidemic is not the end, but just the beginning.

Unfortunately, in the face of this smallpox epidemic for which there was no cure, a large number of nobles chose to flee their homeland, and most of them chose to flee into the Arabian Sea.

Compared with Southeast Asia, India is closer to the countries on the Arabian Peninsula. For a long time, they were even connected to the Central Mediterranean through the Arabian Peninsula.

Whether it was the refuge choice of the Indian nobles or India's maritime trade lines, the smallpox epidemic was destined to reach the African continent and spread to Europe through the Arabian Peninsula.

Anyone who is familiar with history knows that there was no preventive method for smallpox in Europe during this period. Once they were infected with the smallpox virus, they had no choice but to wait to die.

However, the Lodi dynasty in India could not withstand the smallpox epidemic. What could Europe do to resist? Do we really need to rely on their Catholicism?
Human history seems to be unable to avoid natural disasters.

Since Zhu Youtang came to the throne, the Ming Dynasty has experienced droughts, floods, typhoons, locust plagues, etc., and the Ming Dynasty has to withstand a natural disaster almost every year.

If the smallpox epidemic can be regarded as one, then the main theme of the eight years of Hongzhi is destined to be smallpox.

However, it is different from the past. In the past, the Ming Dynasty almost suffered the disasters alone, but the disaster of this smallpox epidemic will belong to people all over the world.

Smallpox epidemics in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the East China Sea will only become more serious, while the smallpox epidemic in Europe is actually on its way. (End of chapter)