Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

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 cannot be 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 this 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 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 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 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.

The 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 vaccination, the original nervousness and fear gradually subsided and were 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 after working for a few days, looking at the scalper who had died of illness.

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 scalpers had 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 spread to 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, especially for those who had contact with overseas or had strong circulation, smallpox did not cause much harm in the Ming Dynasty.

In many places, only a small area was found, but under the effective measures of local officials, it did not cause a large epidemic in the Ming Dynasty.

In February, the court also issued the "Smallpox Forecast Guide", and a product called masks also appeared on the market.

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

After the great geographical discoveries, not only did the Ming Dynasty have more contact with the American continent, but the European fleet had also begun 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 was getting worse and worse.

This mighty smallpox epidemic actually originated in India. On the one hand, the smallpox epidemic was introduced into the South Seas through the maritime trade line, which in turn affected the Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, the epidemic spread rapidly in India.

India is surrounded 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 engage in maritime trade.

India is now the Lodi Dynasty, the fifth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and its founder is Bahrul Lodi.

Bahrul Lodi was originally the governor of Sindh in the Sayyid Dynasty. In the second year of Jingtai, Bahrul Lodi took advantage of the fact that Sultan Aram Shah was unable to control the situation and seized Delhi and established the Lodi 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 have been restored to a certain extent, this regime is not stable.

Now this sudden smallpox epidemic is undoubtedly a huge test for the young regime of the Lodi Dynasty.

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

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

"What's wrong with these rashes?"

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

"It's okay, just hold on for a few days and it will be fine!"

...

At first, the villagers only noticed that several young people had unusual red spots on their faces, accompanied by a slight fever, but holding on is a common practice to fight diseases now.

No one paid too much attention to it, thinking it was an ordinary rash. But soon, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and the rashes on these faces spread rapidly, accompanied by high fever and severe pain.

When the physical condition of several young people deteriorated sharply, the villagers began to realize that this was not an ordinary disease, and panic quickly spread in the village.

"What disease is this?"

"They must have offended the gods outside!"

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

...

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

It's just that in their fixed thoughts and cognition, they soon unanimously determined that they had done something illegal outside, and thus were "punished" by the gods.

"They are all sinful souls, and only holy water can wash away their sins!" The village priest is an elderly elder who claims that only holy water can drive away the diseases of these young people.

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

According to past experience, not only these young people need to pray, but they also need holy water to relieve their souls that may be polluted.

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

However, the epidemic did not ease, but became more and more severe.

As the smallpox epidemic spread, more and more villagers were infected, and large areas of red rashes appeared on their bodies, and even deaths had begun to appear.

"Another person died!"

"The holy water has no effect at all!"

"It's so painful, who will save me!"

...

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

Unlike the effective method of the Ming Dynasty, the Indian village can only wait for the arrival of death.

The village that was once full of laughter and joy is gone. Now there is only silence and sadness. Every day, villagers are killed by smallpox.

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

Although some people did not die from the disease, their faces were 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 ruined by the ravages of the smallpox epidemic, and even the last person was left.

If it was just one village, it would be fine, 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 had slowly spread throughout the entire Indian region.

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

In the nearly one year since the outbreak, the population of the Lodi Dynasty has actually dropped significantly, and the population known to have been infected with smallpox alone has exceeded 20% of the total population.

Someone in the Delhi King recorded: Don't ask how many people died during the day, the sun was bleak and the clouds were gloomy, three people walked, and before ten steps, two people died and crossed the road.

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

Unfortunately, facing this smallpox epidemic that had no medicine to treat it, a large number of nobles chose to flee their homeland, and most people chose to flee to the Arabian Sea.

Compared with Nanyang, India and the countries on the Arabian Peninsula seem to be closer. For a long time, they were even connected to the Middle Sea through the Arabian Peninsula.

Whether it was the refuge choice of Indian nobles or the maritime trade line on the Indian side, this smallpox epidemic was destined to reach the African continent and would also spread to Europe through the Arabian Peninsula.

However, people familiar with history know that there was no way to prevent smallpox in Europe during this period. Once they were infected with the smallpox virus, they could only wait to die.

However, the Lodi Dynasty in India could not resist the disaster of the smallpox epidemic. What could Europe use to resist it? Do they really have to rely on their Catholicism?

Human history seems to be unable to avoid natural disasters.

Since Zhu Youtang ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty has experienced droughts, floods, typhoons, locust plagues, etc., and it has been tested by a natural disaster almost every year.

If the smallpox epidemic is counted as one, then the main theme of the eighth year of Hongzhi is destined to belong to smallpox.

However, it is different from the past. The previous disasters were almost borne by the Ming Dynasty alone, but the disaster of this smallpox epidemic will belong to people all over the world.

The smallpox epidemic in the Indian Ocean, South China Sea and East China Sea will only get worse, and the smallpox epidemic in Europe is actually on the way. (End of this chapter)