Denghuaxiao

Chapter 225 Sunan’s Dilemma

At the city gate, the desolation and loneliness of the past few days was somewhat broken up by the noisy carriages and horses.

The medical officers in cotton robes got off the vehicles one after another and put on face masks to cover their mouths and noses. There were about a hundred people in the Imperial Pharmacy and the Medical Officers' Institute, along with the guards escorting the convoy.

These hundred people have become the hope of southern Jiangsu.

Cai Fang excitedly stepped forward and started chatting with Chang Jin, but Li Wenhu looked at the group of medical officers critically.

Most of the medical officers were in their early forties or fifties, generally older and looked quite frail. Among them, three people stood out: two young women and one young man, who looked young. Li Wenhu frowned slightly.

The doctors at Sunan Medical Clinic, no matter how young they are, are almost all standing tall. Calling a few children over is just a joke.

This group of people live a life of luxury. Given Su Nan's current situation, how many days can they really hold out?
The young woman walking behind was looking worried. She raised her eyes and met Li Wenhu's gaze.

Li Wenhu thought that his rude behavior would immediately displease the other party, but he didn't expect that the other party was stunned for a moment and then looked away, looking indifferent.

Li Wenhu was stunned, scratched his head, and turned to talk to Cai Fang.

Lu Tong withdrew his gaze.

She knew this man.

Once, she was looking at corpses for Yunniang at the execution ground in southern Jiangsu, and she accidentally bumped into Li Wenhu. He didn't see the bloody objects in her jar, and thought she had gone the wrong way, so he stuffed a candy into her and told her to leave quickly.

I didn't expect to meet you again here.

She walked forward with the medical officers and heard the conversation between Chang Jin and the two men coming through the wind.

"Mr. Cai, I was in a hurry to get on the road and couldn't receive the letter. What is the current situation of the epidemic in southern Jiangsu?"

The man named Cai Fang sighed and replied, "To be honest, the current situation is really bad. The epidemic is serious. In the past two days, nearly a hundred people have died every day. Everyone in the medical profession has fallen ill. If the doctors hadn't come, Sunan would probably have just sat there and waited to die."

"No medicine shed?"

"Previously, the city distributed herbal medicine, but recently the herbs have run out and the medicine shed has been demolished."

Chang Jin nodded, his expression becoming serious: "We did bring a lot of medicinal herbs with us when we came to southern Jiangsu this time, but..." He looked around at the empty streets, "Why don't we see anyone with the disease?"

The long streets and alleys here are sparsely populated. Occasionally, one or two passers-by wrapped tightly pass by, cast a gloomy glance at the pedestrians, then quickly turn into the house on the corner and slam the door shut.

"The doctors said that people with the disease should not move around to avoid infecting others. So no one wanted to go out," Cai Fang explained. "People with better financial conditions and spacious houses would set up a room in the house and live alone if they got sick. But there were many poor people who lived in small houses. If they stayed in the house, they were afraid of passing the disease on to their families, so they took the initiative to go out and go to the plague place to avoid the plague."

At this point, Cai Fang hesitated and said, "If the doctors are not afraid, I can take you to see the plague center where the patients are..."

"What's there to be afraid of?" Lin Danqing said, "We are here to treat the epidemic. If we don't see any patients, are we here to eat, drink and have fun?"

Cai Fang choked, and Li Wenhu looked at her and said, "Little girl, don't speak too early. Let's talk about it when we get there."

Chang Jin asked a few medical officers to go to the county government office to drop off the supplies and carriages, and he took the remaining medical officers and Cai Fang to the treatment center where the patient was.

As we walked along, the city looked more and more desolate. The further we went, the stronger the burning smell became. In the distance, there were large clouds of gray and black ash, as if something was burning, and the smoke and dust gradually choked us.

Lu Tong looked at the direction Cai Fang was leading, and his heart moved slightly.

This is……

Cai Fang stopped in front of a wasteland.

"Everyone, this is the plague hospital where the patients with the plague live."

Everyone looked up.

This is a dilapidated temple.

The dilapidated temple was spacious, but the surroundings were barren, with no farmland or streets. It stood alone in everyone's sight. The temple door seemed to have been repaired. Two people wearing face scarves and looking like guards stood in front of the door. When they saw Cai Fang and Li Wenhu, they hurried forward a few steps, glanced at the medical officers, and said in a surprised tone: "County Magistrate, are the medical officers from Shengjing here?"

Cai Fang nodded, then turned to the medical officers and said, "All the sick patients are here. There are people guarding them on weekdays to prevent the spread of the disease."

Chang Jin nodded, asked everyone to put on their face masks, and then he walked in first.

Everyone followed closely.

As soon as they entered the temple, everyone was suddenly shocked.

There were beds filled with bedding and blankets on the ground, with people lying on them with blackened faces, some looking painful, some looking numb. Even if they heard someone approaching, they would just raise their eyelids, take a tired look, and remain indifferent.

The temple was originally very spacious, but at this moment, under the half-collapsed clay statue, it was densely packed with groaning sick people, and the heavy aura of death was overwhelming.

Ji Xun frowned and whispered, "This place is cold and empty, not a good place to recuperate. Why would the plague be placed here?"

Cai Fang said nothing. He led everyone outside, looked back into the temple, and then sighed deeply.

"Medical officer, you don't know," he said, "Southern Jiangsu has been plagued by locusts for several months, and then there was famine. The city has been in turmoil for several times, and then... the documents sent to the court have not seen any results, and the county magistrate has also run away." At this point, Cai Fang was a little embarrassed, "The backbone is gone, the county government is just a decoration, and people inside are dying or running away. Lieutenant Li and I gathered the remaining ten or so people to barely maintain it, but with such a small number of people, it is really a drop in the bucket!"

He said painfully, "Many people die in southern Jiangsu every day. Hundreds of people have died in the past two days. The bodies are placed outside, and the disease may spread. However, the dozen people in the county government cannot burn all the bodies."

Cai Fang pointed behind him and saw in the distance, vast tracts of wasteland were dead silent under the gray sky.

"That's the execution ground," he said. "There's a large open space. This temple is next to the execution ground. The new patients who come in every day will die within a month at most. When they die, they are taken to the execution ground to be cremated. If they can't be cremated these days, they are taken to the execution ground to be buried. This is the most convenient way to deal with them."

Lin Danqing frowned: "He will die within a month... But in this case, what is the point of setting up a plague center?"

"There is no plague hospital anymore." Cai Fang smiled bitterly. "Sunan can't save these people. The doctors in the medical clinic were the first to be infected with the disease and all died. In fact, the people who came here for treatment knew that there was no cure and they were just waiting to die. We also knew that we couldn't save them, but we just wanted to give them a place to stay before they died and give their families hope."

Although it is called a plague center, it is more like another kind of charity cemetery.

He spoke so sadly that he didn't notice that Li Wenhu beside him was winking at him desperately.

Li Wenhu was secretly anxious. He had described the epidemic in southern Jiangsu as so serious from the beginning. What if this made the medical officers decide to quit and go back after a few days?
After all, the last official who came here and vowed to control the locusts returned home before even half a month had passed.

Chang Jin nodded, already having an idea of ​​Sunan's current situation. The letter received by the Imperial Medical Academy did not clearly state the situation, and it was more serious than they thought.

"Medical books say: Plague begins with heavy snow, breaks out at the winter solstice, grows during the Lesser Cold, grows during the Greater Cold, peaks at the Beginning of Spring, weakens during the Rain, and ends during the Waking of Insects."

The doctor said: "It is now the dead of winter. The key to the epidemic is to control the spread of the disease before next spring, otherwise..."

Otherwise, southern Jiangsu will become a dead city.

He looked at Cai Fang and said, "It is right to separate the sick from others, but the accommodation here is simple and cannot protect us from the cold. You have too few people, so we can only take over this place for the time being. But from today on, we will make soup for the patients in the plague center, and at the same time make medicine bags for the remaining people in southern Jiangsu who are not infected with the plague."

"All bedding used by patients in plague hospitals must be steamed and boiled, and a little Atractylodes lancea is added to remove the bad smell..."

He said a lot in a row, and Cai Fang and Li Wenhu listened carefully. After Chang Jin finished speaking, he waited for Li Wenhu and Cai Fang to leave before saying to the rest of the people, "There is no time to lose. Follow me to the plague center to check on the patients."

The medical officers all agreed.

Lu Tong also wanted to go in, but was stopped by Chang Jin.

Chang Jin looked at Lu Tong, Lin Danqing and Ji Xun and said, "You three don't have to go in."

Lin Danqing: “Why?”

"The epidemic is coming fiercely. The situation in southern Jiangsu is more dangerous than I thought. Right now, the plague is the most serious. You should not come in for the time being."

Chang Jin also has selfish motives.

The medical skills of these three men are among the best in Shengjing, perhaps in the entire Liang Dynasty, and they are still so young. These middle-aged men had made preparations before they came, but they did not want to see young people take risks.

"The three of you should develop a new way to avoid the plague at the place arranged by Cai Fang. Do not set foot here."

"Doctor, you're not old yet, why are you so confused?" Lin Danqing asked incredulously, "We haven't even seen the patient yet, and we can't diagnose the disease ourselves, so how can we develop a new prescription? Do we have to make it up ourselves?"

Often choke.

"Who is the doctor looking down on? Besides, before I left, I took with me a book called "Treatise on Plague" that was passed down by my ancestors. We, the Lin family, are very experienced in treating plague. If people in Shengjing ask about it, you guys worked so hard in the plague center, and we are so afraid of death. Would it be fair to tell others about it?"

She raised her head and said, "Don't disturb my path to promotion." She stepped into the gate of the plague center.

"Hey——" Before Chang Jin could call Lin Danqing, Lu Tong had already walked up to him and nodded to him, "Doctor, I'm going in."

Just walk in.

Chang Jin: “…” He looked at Ji Xun.

Ji Xun bowed to him, nodded slightly, and followed closely.

Chang Jin was speechless.

It's all in vain.

He looked at the backs of the three young men, scolding them lightly, but secretly, a sense of pride and relief arose in his heart.

These are the three youngest medical officers in the Imperial Medical Academy, and also the three medical officers with the best medical skills.

With such a kind heart and medical ethics worthy of his medical skills, the Hanlin Medical Academy will have a bright future.

Hearing the urging of the doctors from the plague center, Chang Jin responded, lifted up his cotton robe, and hurried into the temple.

"coming."

……

County government.

The cold wind was biting, and it made the broken window flap violently. Li Wenhu reached out to close the window and sat down at the table.

The county government office, which used to be quite impressive, was now empty, as if it had been completely looted. There were only two chairs left. At first glance, it looked extremely miserable with only the walls in the house left.

After the magistrate left, the people who learned the truth were outraged. They cried and howled that the government no longer cared about the lives of the common people. Some people stirred up trouble and took advantage of the chaos when the county government was smashed and looted to carry away valuables from the government office. Of course, money is no longer useful in southern Jiangsu nowadays, and the epidemic is always equal, regardless of status.

The governor of Pingzhou sent troops over, but not to provide relief, but to seal the city gates and prevent people from the epidemic area from leaving the city.

People who are not sick cannot go out, and if they stay with sick people, they will die sooner or later. Everyone in Southern Jiangsu has given up hope, but today, the medical officers from Shengjing seem to have brought hope out of despair, giving people a glimmer of hope.

Cai Fang smiled and said, "This group of medical officers is pretty good, right?"

He hadn't been as happy as he was today for a long time. Li Wenhu glanced at him and said, "Don't speak too soon. Let's see how long they can hold on."

"Anyway, we have a lot of extra manpower here, so you don't have to go to the execution ground every day." Cai Fang said.

The guards who escorted the medical officers to southern Jiangsu helped to burn and bury the bodies. It was very difficult with only the few people in the county government and the spontaneous efforts of the people in southern Jiangsu.

Li Wenhu didn't say anything. Suddenly he saw a basket of steamed buns on the table and was stunned for a moment: "They didn't eat it?"

"The doctors said they brought their own food, so the county government doesn't need to worry about their meals."

Li Wenhu narrowed his eyes: "Dislike?"

Cai Fang was helpless: "Why do you always judge others by your own standards?"

"How am I a villain? Tell me why?"

Cai Fang said: "The doctors who came from Shengjing brought their own food. Doctor Chang just told me that the food was handed over to the county government, and a porridge stall was set up for the people of southern Jiangsu to collect the medicinal porridge every day."

"Why do these things if people dislike it?"

Hearing this, Li Wenhu remained silent. After a while, he muttered quietly, "He's quite a nice guy."

"The doctors at the Imperial Academy of Medical Officers are different from the adults who came to treat the locusts before." Cai Fang looked out the window. "Perhaps doctors are compassionate and can empathize with us. Don't always be hostile to them. They are here to help with the epidemic. Our Sunan City is now almost impossible to get in and out. Look, how many people are willing to come here in March?"

He sighed: "Don't be ungrateful."

Knowing that he was telling the truth, Li Wenhu lowered his head and was silent for a moment before saying, "I just... was a little panicked."

The tall man then looked out the window. The sky in southern Jiangsu was gloomy and the sun had not been seen for a long time. His voice was deep.

"Fangzi, how long will the food these medical officers bring last?"

Cai Fang was stunned. "If you give out porridge every day and save it, it will only last for three months at most."

"Look," Li Wenhu said, "we won't have enough food until March at most."

There had been a locust plague in southern Jiangsu before, and famine had occurred.

The imperial court's disaster relief funds were delayed, leading to a famine. When they finally arrived, they turned out to be moldy and stale rice.

By now, there is almost not enough Chen rice.

The medical officers in southern Jiangsu can indeed help with the immediate problem, but what will happen in the long run? The epidemic is so fierce that it is a pipe dream to solve it in March. When March comes, will they leave?

Is Su Nan going to be abandoned again?
Cai Fang also fell silent.

Before old problems are solved, new ones come one after another. Troubles never go away.

Suddenly, he remembered something and looked up and asked, "Da Hu, didn't we hear that the court had recently sent people to Qiping to quell the rebellion?"

The Qishui banditry has been going on for a while. A few days ago, I heard from someone outside that the officers and soldiers from Shengjing were handling the Qishui banditry case. The leader of the troops was brave and good at fighting. In just a few days, all the bandits were killed, the leader was captured, and the bandits were wiped out.

Cai Fang said: "Can we ask him for help?"

Qishui is very close to southern Jiangsu. Those officers and soldiers who came here to quell the rebellion must have brought a lot of supplies. Even if there are no supplies, Qishui is not plagued. If some medicine and food can be transported from Qishui...

"Will it work?" Li Wenhu hesitated. "We asked Qishui for help before, but they ignored us."

Southern Jiangsu is like a hot potato with no bottom in its grasp, and no one wants to get involved.

"I don't know either." Cai Fang thought for a while and said with determination, "Let's give it a try."

"The medical officers are here now. We can't just sit there and do nothing."

……

Outside the plague center, there were piles of Atractylodes lancea and Angelica dahurica.

The book "Epidemic" says: "This disease is caused by unhealthy air, or headache, fever, or neck swelling, parotid swelling, this is the epidemic from heaven. If one person is sick, the whole room will be infected, and if the room is sick, the whole town or city will be infected."

Atractylodes "can remove bad air. In ancient and modern times, when there were epidemics and New Year's Day, people often burned Atractylodes at home to ward off evil spirits, so it is often used to treat epidemics."

All the patients lying on the ground were called up and temporarily took shelter in the long tent at the door. All the blankets on the ground were taken out and boiled in boiling water. Cai Fang had new blankets brought in. Atractylodes lancea had to be burned in the plague area for half an hour to remove the bad smell.

The patients who came to the plague center were all poor people, ready to die. They were still confused when they were suddenly called by the medical officers. An elderly woman gently tugged at the hem of Lin Danqing's skirt. When she saw Lin Danqing looking at her, she quickly retracted her hand, wiped her hands on her clothes, and asked in a low voice: "Girl, what are you doing..." She was a little uneasy and looked in the direction of the execution ground, "Are you going to make us, us..."

In the past, when there was a major epidemic, I heard that the government burned the sick people to death on the spot.

"No, ma'am," Lin Danqing understood and consoled her, "This is fumigating the Atractylodes lancea. I asked you to come out and hide for a while. You can go back in half an hour later."

The old woman was at a loss: "Burn some Atractylodes?"

Lin Danqing nodded: "We are the doctors from the Imperial Medical Academy who are here to treat the epidemic. From today on, we will be the ones to treat you."

"Imperial Physician?" The old woman was startled.

All the doctors at Sunan Medical Clinic had died of illness. There were no medicines and no people. No one had any hope anymore.

"Are you here to save us?" she asked in disbelief, almost kneeling down to express her gratitude.

"Yes."

The female medical officer supported her and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid, everyone. Everything will be fine."

Outside the window, one could hear the sobbing of the crowd. Those were the tears of joy from the desperate people who suddenly got hope.

Lu Tong knelt down and placed the copper basin filled with burning Atractylodes lancea and Angelica dahurica in a corner. There were many people in the temple, so everywhere needed to be fumigated.

When she stood up, her forehead accidentally hit the corner of the table. She rubbed the red forehead and looked up, stunned.

Above her head, the half-collapsed statue was just like it had been in the past, quietly looking down at the weak her.

The dilapidated temple at the execution ground in southern Jiangsu and the clay statues of gods in the past seem to still look the same as before.

She once stayed here to avoid the snow, but she never expected that she would return to the same place today.

　I wish all the students taking the college entrance examination success!
　　(End of this chapter)