Chapter 918: Chaos
When December entered, there was no rain in Jiangnan, but one night, the temperature suddenly dropped, and soon it started to snow heavily.
Those unexcavated water channels were also frozen late at night. When the people went to dig through the snow the next day, the water channels were already covered by snow and they could not even be found.
The task of digging water channels was blocked by heavy snow, and the people were also hit by the weather that fell instantly, and many people died of the cold.
Most of them are old women and children with weak health and low immunity. Almost every day, ten or eight corpses are carried out from tents in various places.
The dead bodies were frozen and would not rot for a while, but Chu Jingqi still suggested burning all the bodies.
The people who had lost their loved ones were crying and howling like wolves and ghosts. They said they did not want their loved ones to be cremated, and they tried their best to drag the bodies of their loved ones to prevent the officers and soldiers from taking them away.
Later, this matter came before the magistrate, who also looked embarrassed. Chu Jingqi gave the order and he had to obey.
Just when the people were making a fuss, the heavy snow stopped and the sun came out.
The sun in winter is even hotter than in summer, and it pierces people's eyes and makes them hot. In just three days, more than a foot of snow melted, and the earth was baked dry by the sun.
Seeing that the temperature was not right, Chu Jingqi made a decisive decision and issued a death order to cremate all the corpses, and sent 10,000 officers and soldiers to enforce it.
The common people wanted to make trouble, but no matter how much trouble they made, it was no match for the swords in the hands of the officers and soldiers. In the end, the common people could only watch their relatives being burned into a pile of ashes.
On the day when the corpse was cremated, many people went to see the excitement. However, when the corpse was burned, a strong corpse smell was emitted, mixed with the smell of roasted carrion, which made everyone present cover their noses. Wail.
Chu Jingqi originally thought that this matter was done in a timely manner and would not cause any further trouble. Although she knew that a few days later, some people in some tent camps had vomiting and diarrhea.
He immediately sent his accompanying imperial physician to diagnose and treat the disease. Finally, the imperial physician diagnosed the disease as a plague caused by corpse poison.
After Chu Jingqi got the news, she looked shocked and immediately ordered all the prefects, "Isolate all the people who are infected with the plague, and other people must also be strictly monitored. Once anyone is found to be sick, they will be isolated immediately."
Then he told Chu Yuexi, "You and the three imperial doctors will develop an antidote as soon as possible. You must make the antidote before the epidemic spreads."
"Here is a prescription for antidote to the epidemic, which was left by Chu Yu." At that time, Chu Jingqi was busy digging water channels, so he took the prescription. He was so busy that he forgot to tell Chu Jingqi about it. .
It was because of the epidemic this time that he suddenly remembered that Chu Yu had sent a large number of medicinal materials and a prescription for the epidemic a few months ago.
"Aqi, I think I'll try Chu Yu's prescription first. If it works, we can save a lot of time and the epidemic can be controlled in time." Chu Yuexi suggested.
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
Xia Zihan would not give Chu Yuexi a prescription for no reason. Maybe she had expected something?
When Chu Jingqi thought of Xia Zihan, her heart felt soft, and her cold expression also gained a touch of warmth.
Time was urgent, so Chu Yuexi took three imperial doctors to work together.
After the prefects in various places took orders to isolate all the people infected with the plague, Chu Yuexi also experimented with the antidote.
Doctor Zhang said excitedly, "An old man who took the decoction the day before yesterday has stopped vomiting today and has gone to the toilet three times less."
"Master Chu, can we start cooking the antidote?"
If this drags on for a few more days, the patients infected with the epidemic will become more serious. If it drags on for a few more days, I'm afraid they will die.
"In the past few days, there have been many more patients. If the delay continues, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"Young Master Chu..." Several imperial doctors were so anxious that they had blisters on their lips, but as for the antidote, they had no choice but to do it before the experiment.
Now, finally, we have some good news.
"Then let's boil a few big pots first, and people who are not infected with the epidemic will also drink a bowl to prevent contracting the epidemic." Chu Yuexi also understood that there was no time to waste.
"I'm afraid there won't be enough medicinal materials." Millions of people need to drink decoctions. Where can they find so many medicinal materials?
Princess Chu Yu had consigned a lot of it before, but it was not enough for millions of people to drink.
Chu Yuexi said, "I have sent a message to the emperor by flying pigeons. I believe that the emperor will soon issue an order to search for medicinal materials across the country. You don't have to worry about the medicinal materials."
In this case, the three imperial doctors said nothing more.
After the antidote was confirmed, Chu Jingqi came forward and invited all the doctors in Jiangnan to help cook the antidote.
After it was cooked, it was first given to the people who were infected with the plague to drink. If there was too much, it was given to some of the people to drink.
The people who had not drunk the decoction were afraid that they would be infected with the plague, so they went to the local government to make a fuss.
"Everyone else is drinking the antidote, why don't I have a share? I am also a citizen of Dasheng."
"That's right, why don't we have a share? My husband, father-in-law, and brother have been digging water channels for you for several months, and they almost died in the ditch from exhaustion. Our family has a share of the work, so why don't we have a share of the antidote?" Share? ”
"Hmph, you are not taking the lives of the common people as your destiny. You have the antidote, but you don't give it to us. Are you all taking it secretly?"
"Go in and search. We must drink the antidote."
"Search, folks, in order to survive, we rushed in and searched."
……
In the crowd, there were obviously a few people with bad intentions who were trying their best to encourage the people to cause chaos. The people already felt that it was unfair, but after being incited by others, everyone felt that the fire was rising and it was unstoppable.
Heroes emerge from troubled times, and it is also easy to make a fortune in troubled times.
During the floods in Dasheng a few years ago, bandits hiding in the mountains took the opportunity to come out of the mountains and ran to the big cities. Taking advantage of the chaos, they stole gold, silver, jewelry, jades, antiques, silks and satins from countless wealthy families.
As for this year's drought, some ill-intentioned people wanted to repeat the same mistake, but the court had already made a decision and stabilized the people step by step. Not a single person died of hunger or thirst, and the people were united in their hearts. It took more than half a year to dig the water channel.
This made some people who wanted to get rich in troubled times hate the court and Chu Jingqi.
No, as soon as I see an opportunity, I can't wait to cause trouble.
If Chu Jingqi were here, with his sharp eyes, he would be able to spot at a glance those people in the crowd who are different from the common people. But the prefect who only knows how to eat Dasheng's laws and regulations would think so much and only think about the common people. It's because I'm afraid of death that I come here to cause trouble.
Finally, many government offices were rushed in by the common people and searched vigorously.
By the time the officers and soldiers arrived, the people who had received the news in advance had already fled back to the tent camp.
(End of chapter)