People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 3 Leading by Example
The hair on our body is given by our parents. Even for the common people like the Yellow Turbans, hair and beard are very important.

If a man has no beard, he will be laughed at. If he has a bald head, he will be ashamed to face others.

As for things like not drinking raw water, not eating raw food, and not cleaning the body, they also find it baffling, simply because in the minds of these ordinary people at the bottom of society, the concept of hygiene does not exist at all.

So when Wang Dang made such a request, the Yellow Turban soldiers under him were all very resistant and no one obeyed his orders at all.

Xu Chen had no choice but to come before everyone and persuade them in person.

"Recently, there have been many people dying of diarrhea and vomiting. Can't you see that this is a plague? If you are unwilling to obey even this little thing, then when the plague spreads, you can only wait to die!"

After hearing this, the Yellow Turbans fell silent. They were indeed afraid of the plague.

They all remembered vividly the tragic conditions of those who had died of illness in the past two days.

But although they were afraid of the plague, they did not think those messy demands were of any use.

"If the plague is coming, we can only leave it to fate. You little Taoist boy, please stop bothering us. Can these weird things really drive away the plague?"

Some Yellow Turbans started grumbling in the crowd, and the other Yellow Turbans all nodded along, and it was obvious that they all had the same opinion.

Xu Chen naturally understood that, after all, the Yellow Turbans just didn't trust him.

"Do as I say, and you can really drive away the plague!"

Xu Chen knew that the more the Yellow Turbans distrusted him, the more he could not show weakness.

Under so many disdainful and suspicious gazes, he just sat cross-legged on the ground and responded with a very calm attitude.

This appearance has a sense of being indifferent to fame and fortune.

“You may not know that I am the disciple of the Great Sage Master, and also the new leader appointed by the Great Sage Master.

What I am asking you to do now is the method for me to obtain revelations from heaven. As long as you follow this method, you will be able to drive away the plague and save your lives!

Now I have passed down the Dharma, life and death are all in your mind, do it or not, it is up to you to decide!"

After Xu Chen finished speaking, the Yellow Turbans looked at each other, all looking at Xu Chen with great suspicion.

It was hard for them to believe that such a young boy could be the new Heavenly Master of the sect. No matter how they looked at it, he didn't have the demeanor of the original Great and Good Master.

Even Wang Dang on the side was a little confused.

Regardless of whether this story is true or not, even if it is false, this kid must have a strong heart to be able to deceive people so easily in front of thousands of people.

"I will follow the example of the Dharma that I have passed down. Please, General Wang, shave my head for me!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was cooling down, Xu Chen looked at Wang Dang, intending to set an example for others first.

At least after you have done it yourself, the psychological barriers will not be so great when others follow you. Many times people always need someone to take the lead.

Wang Dang's face darkened. As a commander, how could he shave other people's hair? This guy was good at taking advantage of others.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, in order not to delay things, Wang Dang finally cooperated after glaring at Xu Chen.

The cold blade scraped against his scalp, giving Xu Chen goose bumps on his back. But when his long hair fell to the ground, his first feeling was one of comfort and relief.

The ancients' growing beards and hair was not as cool as people in later generations think. For ordinary people, it was not a pleasant thing.

Without good hygiene conditions, most people's hair is shiny and scabbed together. This is not only hair, but also home to countless lice.

In this state, the smell emitted by most people is indescribable.

The ancients were accustomed to this, but Xu Chen had long been unable to bear it. He didn't care about decency or not. He just used this as an excuse to shave his head. How could he feel comfortable like that?

The Yellow Turbans all widened their eyes. In their eyes, hair was not something that could be dealt with casually.

Just like when Cao Cao trampled on farmland and violated military law, he could cut off his hair as a punishment instead of beheading. In this situation, hair was given special meaning.

The reason for this is the difference in the ancient people's worldview. Their understanding of the world often has an extra layer of mystery.

In their opinion, Xu Chen's act of shaving his head undoubtedly required great courage, so when there was no more hair on Xu Chen's head, they were all moved.

"If you remain sincere and follow the teachings of this path, you will be able to overcome the disaster!" After Xu Chen said this, he turned around and left calmly.

His actions really worked.

The Yellow Turbans were not really as indifferent to life and death as they appeared to be; they were simply despairing of the terrifying existence of the plague.

In the face of the plague, no matter how hard you try, it is meaningless. Instead of making a fuss, it is better to wait for death quietly.

This is just their negative attitude towards the plague.

But once they have a little hope of survival, they immediately become energetic.

Now that they see Xu Chen speaking so confidently and setting an example himself, they will naturally begin to believe it.

The art of ghosts and gods is mysterious and unpredictable, maybe it's true?
Moreover, that boy was indeed a Taoist child beside the Great Sage, and it is very likely that he really inherited the Taoist tradition of the Taiping Dao. At first, only a few Yellow Turbans followed his instructions, but soon the trend spread. Once the trend of following the crowd began, those who insisted on not shaving their heads became outliers.

So in the end everyone was rushing to do as they were told, fearing that if they were a step slower the plague would find them.

While they were doing these actions, the plague began to spread, and more and more people began to show symptoms. Xu Chen could only continue to arrange isolation measures.

The mountains are continuous and the forest is large enough that thousands of people were spread out far apart to minimize close contact.

Xu Chen personally led a small team to travel around various areas to supervise the progress of various tasks.

Whether it was boiling water for cooking, preventing fires and repelling insects, or cutting down trees to build a camp, all the tasks were tedious and troublesome, making him busy and dizzy.

Maintaining such not-too-strict prevention and control measures is a very difficult task for Xu Chen and the Yellow Turbans.

But their persistence finally paid off with good results, that is, the plague seemed to be under effective control!
After five or six days, when the initial fierce outbreak of the plague had passed, although hundreds of people still showed symptoms, the scale of the plague did not expand again.

Everyone felt it, and as Xu Chen's method continued to be used, the number of subsequent relapses decreased.

If this trend continues, as long as other people avoid contact with infected people, perhaps the plague can be eliminated within its current scope!

All the Yellow Turbans were shocked. The spread of the plague was only getting worse and worse. They had never heard of it getting less and less. This showed that Xu Chen's method was really effective!
All of a sudden, no one thought it was troublesome to do these things anymore. There was nothing wrong with being naked. None of this mattered when it came to one's life.

As a result, the way they looked at Xu Chen became more and more strange.

Ordinary people's thoughts these days are so simple and direct. If what you say is useful, they are willing to believe you.

In his eyes, Xu Chen's claim to be the Heavenly Master of the Taiping Dao seemed more and more true, and some Yellow Turbans even began to call him "Leader".

But something unexpected happened. The "leader" himself seemed to have been infected with the plague.

When Xu Chen was patrolling the forest, he fainted in public. When everyone looked, they found that Xu Chen also showed symptoms of plague.

All of a sudden, everyone around him stood several feet away from him, for fear of getting contaminated.

While Wang Dang was worried, he also asked from a distance: "Aren't you a heavenly master? Why did you also get infected with the plague?"

Xu Chen endured the discomfort and complained in his heart, the great and virtuous teacher Zhang Jue could also cast talismans to save people, didn't he also die of illness?
Of course, it was impossible for Xu Chen to respond like this openly. Instead, he had to find excuses for himself to maintain his image as a Taoist priest.

"General, you don't know that communicating with heaven and earth to seek a way to transcend the calamity will inevitably lead to heaven's punishment.

Even so, in order to save the followers of my sect, I have no choice but to do it. Now I am just responding to the disaster..."

When the Yellow Turbans heard these words, they were all stunned. They never expected that the Heavenly Master would end up like this in order to save them!

For a moment, they felt touched and guilty, ashamed of their action of taking a few steps back.

The Heavenly Master got sick because of us, but we despise him for it!

Although this excuse was used to evade the question, Xu Chen was not very happy. He was more concerned about his own life.

I had planned so much, but I didn't expect that I would be the one to fall for it. Could I be gone just like that?

Being sick is not a pleasant feeling, but Xu Chen still isolated himself. If he himself did not follow the rules, all the previous measures would be in vain.

Fortunately, there is a real master of Qihuang in the army.

When Zhang Ji came here with the medicine box, Xu Chen felt relieved.

Although Zhang Ji doesn't know about epidemic prevention and control, he knows how to treat diseases. Many people who have been infected with the disease have been saved by Zhang Ji these days.

"Ahem, I had an argument with you a few days ago. I was young and ignorant and was just joking. Mr. Zhang, please don't get angry with a junior. I leave my life to you."

When Xu Chen thought of his ridicule of Zhang Ji in the military tent that day, he wanted to slap himself twice.

You can offend no one but the doctor. Now, retribution has come!
What if someone holds a grudge against me, then I’ll be dead.

There was no other way, Xu Chen had to soften his words and start saying nice things, hoping that the other party would forgive his mistakes.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Zhang Ji put down the medicine box and then saluted Xu Chen solemnly.

"If anyone really wants to apologize, it should be me, Zhang Zhongjing, who should apologize to you. You are right. There are always people better than you. I shouldn't question others casually. Now it seems that I am indeed narrow-minded.

I have never heard of your methods of epidemic prevention and control, but they are so effective and really beneficial.

If this method is promoted in the future, I don’t know how many lives will be saved. For such merit, Zhang Zhongjing should pay tribute to you!”

Xu Chen did not listen to this long speech, because he was stunned at this moment. He only remembered a name in the speech.

"You are Zhang Zhongjing!"

After a scream, Xu Chen almost jumped up from the straw mat. He looked at Zhang Zhongjing and his eyes began to light up.

(End of this chapter)