It's early in the morning of June. A hazy drizzle fell from the sky, and the rain continued for days, turning the dirt roads into muddy. The decomposing corpses littered the sides of the muddy road are shocking and disgusting. There was a foul smell in the air, it was the rotting stench of corpses.

Wu Shangshu sat on the back of a black steed and quietly looked at the decomposing corpses. Although the stench of decay made him feel intensely nauseous, he did not cover his nose with his hands. His expression was particularly complicated, as if he was suffering extremely painfully.

"Lord Shangshu, the epidemic has spread to many nearby villages, and hundreds of people have died in just a few days." On Wu Shangshu's side were the local officials who followed him. One of the officials who was a little older said: "If the epidemic is not controlled, I am afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable!" Not only is it the death of people in this area, it is very likely to spread to the entire imperial capital, and if you don't think about it, I'm worried about the ...... of Wei."

Wu Shangshu didn't turn his head to look at the official beside him, he said, "How could I not know the severity of this plague? It's just that the plague came so suddenly, and I'm helpless now. And the emperor didn't give me a well-controlled imperial doctor! His voice was a little hoarse, which showed the heaviness of his heart.

He knew that the emperor was deliberately giving him a problem, but this couldn't be a joke with the lives of all the people!

The rain was still falling, soaking the bodies of everyone present.

The middle-aged man who had been holding an umbrella for Wu Shangshu suddenly said, "Lord Shangshu, this rain seems to be getting heavier and heavier, look at your body is soaked, let's go back?" ”

Wu Shangshu turned his head to look at the middle-aged man, his face showed a wry smile, and said, "Compared to these dead villagers, what can I count if I Wu is drenched in a little rain here?" ”

"Lord Shangshu, I understand your feelings." The middle-aged man said, "But now, even if Lord Shangshu gets drenched in the rain here for a day, he can't change anything, can he?" ”

"Yes, Lord Shangshu, let's go back." A local official next to him spoke. He was a fat man, at least two hundred pounds. His bulky body weighed down the brown steed under his crotch as if it were uncomfortable.

The fat official seemed reluctant to stay here, covering his nose with a towel in one hand and patting the rain on him with the other. Next to the fat officer was the servant with an umbrella, perhaps for fear of being scolded, and the servant gave the umbrella completely to the fat man, while he himself was soaked in the rain. But at this scene, the fat official turned a blind eye, but still did not reprimand the servant: "Can you hold an umbrella and don't see the rain drifting on me?" ”

Wu Shangshu obviously hated the fat man, he frowned and said, "If you don't want to stay here with me, you can go back now." "Before he came, the emperor had already said that he was not the only one who could not control the plague!

The fat official smiled and said, "Lord Shangshu has seen the outside, I'm not worried about your body." ”

"Then I appreciate your kindness." Wu Shangshu didn't pay any attention to the fat man, turned his head to the elderly official next to him and said, "According to the current situation, I am afraid that this plague will be difficult to control...... Since the beginning of the epidemic, you have been investigating, so you must be familiar with the situation of the epidemic, right? ”

The old official Yaoyao looked at her head and said with a bitter expression: "Lord Shangshu, please forgive the old man for being incompetent. The old man has lived here for decades, and he has never seen such a terrible plague. In just a few days, he has lost control. ”

"According to the latest investigations, most of the infected patients were caused by drinking water from the nearby river, so the plague is supposed to be caused by contaminated river water." Another official next to him said: "If it weren't for this polluted river, the epidemic would not have spread so quickly." ”

Wu Shangshu nodded solemnly and said, "Why don't I know this?" I thought that if I controlled the polluted waters, I would be able to stop the spread of the plague. But I didn't expect that this plague was extremely infectious, and it couldn't be solved by just controlling the water of the river. ”

The crowd fell silent.

Wu Shangshu pondered for a moment, then turned his head and asked the old official next to him: "Your Excellency, I don't know if you have any good buildings?" ”

"If you want to stop the spread of the epidemic right now, you have to control the infected villages," the veteran official said. ”

"What do you mean......" Wu Shangshu understood what the old official meant, he knew that the old official wanted to purify all the villages infected by the plague. That is, kill all the people in the infected village, and then set fire to all of them.

The old official nodded and said, "Yes, that's what old decay means." ”

Wu Shangshu was a little hesitant because he felt that this practice was too cruel. Not all the people in the village are infected, and it would be unfair to the innocent people to sentence the entire village to death just because someone in the village was infected.

Just when Wu Shangshu was hesitating, the middle-aged man next to him spoke: "Lord Shangshu, the top priority is to control the epidemic and avoid the spread of the epidemic." I know it's cruel, but it's the only way to control the spread of the virus right now. ”

After a pause, he said, "Adults should know the horror of this plague, if the infected people are scattered elsewhere and the epidemic continues to spread, it will really be out of control." ”

Wu Shangshu's face looked particularly ugly, after all, the next decision made him suffer a lot. After thinking about it for a long time, he said: "This matter involves the lives of too many innocent people, and it has to be considered in the long run." ”

"Lord Shangshu, this matter can be ......"

The old official next to him opened his mouth to persuade, but before he could say a few words, he was interrupted by Wu Shangshu: "I have made up my mind, so I don't need to say more." ”

The middle-aged man understood Wu Shangshu's mood very well, and said, "Then what should be done here now?" ”

"For the time being, all the infected villages will be isolated." Wu Shangshu said: "As long as they are displaced elsewhere, there should be no big problem." ”

"Then let's do as Lord Shangshu wants." The middle-aged man nodded, then waved his hand to the soldier next to him and said, "Isolate everyone in the village...... Drag the corpses to a pile, douse them with oil and burn them. ”

……

Days passed in the blink of an eye.

Wu Shangshu thought that the epidemic would be controlled, but he didn't expect it to become stricter and stricter. In these days, the epidemic has spread from villages to cities on the border, infected tens of thousands.

Dead people can be seen in every corner of the city, and the decomposing corpses are piled up on top of each other and then ruthlessly burned by the crowd. The air was filled with the smell of rancidity, mixed with the pungent smell of burning.

The rain had stopped a few days ago, and the weather was getting drier.

Whether it is a village or a city, it is burning everywhere, and the sky is covered with a layer of haze, and the light of day is not visible.

Wu Shangshu stood on the balcony and looked at the hazy sky with a melancholy expression. After this period of time, he knew that the epidemic had completely lost control and could no longer do anything.

I don't know how long it took, he suddenly turned his head to the attendant behind him and said, "Feige sent a message back to Wei to tell the emperor about the situation here." ”

The attendant looked strange and said, "Lord Shangshu, do you want to truthfully explain the situation here?" ”

Wu Shangshu naturally knew what the attendant was thinking, after all, the emperor sent him here to control the epidemic this time, and he obviously betrayed the emperor's trust in him. If the emperor knows about the situation here, I'm afraid that he will be blamed at that time. Still, he nodded affirmatively and said, "Yes, tell the truth!" ”

……

In the upper study, Emperor Xue Tianao frowned and looked at the imperial doctor in front of him, "Aiqing must have heard of the epidemic in the frontier, right?" ”

The imperial physician nodded and said, "If you go back to the emperor, the minister has indeed heard about this matter. ”

"I just received a flying pigeon biography from Wu Shangshu, saying that the epidemic situation in the frontier has been extremely strict and has completely lost control." Emperor Xue Tianao's expression was stern, and he said: "You are the most outstanding imperial doctor in the court, I wonder if you are sure to end this epidemic?" ”

The imperial doctor seemed to groan for a moment and said, "The minister is willing to give it a try." ”

Emperor Xue Tianao's face showed an imperceptible smile, and said, "Okay, you rushed to the frontier overnight to help Wu Shangshu." ”

The imperial physician saluted and left: "The minister's decree." ”

Seeing the imperial doctor leaving, Emperor Xue Tianao also breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to himself: "I hope this epidemic can be controlled." ”

A few days later.

The imperial physician finally rushed to the frontier and joined Wu Shangshu.

After a short rest, the imperial doctor went to the ward that had already been prepared under the leadership of Wu Shangshu. It was a specially prepared ward, which was cleaned and almost spotless. And there was only one patient in the entire ward.

The infected person's face turned pale, as if he was dehydrated. Not only that, but he also had extremely disgusting patches of color on his body, which looked like rotting flesh.

When he saw the infected person, the imperial doctor's face was a little unpleasant. Obviously, the Imperial Physician had no idea that the plague would have such a severe impact on the human body. In other words, the Imperial Doctor was afraid, after all, the plague was extremely contagious, and close contact with the infected person was likely to be infected. Despite this, the physician walked over to the bedside and grabbed the infected person's hand and began to probe the pulse.

"The patient's pulse is extremely confused, and the old man has been practicing medicine for many years, and he has never seen such a strange condition." After a long time, the Imperial Doctor let go of his hand and spoke.

Wu Shangshu's face was extremely ugly, and he said, "Is there nothing Your Excellency can do?" ”

The Imperial Physician sighed helplessly, "There is nothing I can do about this disease. ”

……

Xue Tianao thought that if he sent the best imperial doctor in the palace, the epidemic in the frontier would be controlled, but it didn't take long for him to receive a flying pigeon from Wu Shangshu again, saying that the imperial doctor was helpless against the epidemic and wanted to find another way for him.

Even the best imperial physician in the court was helpless, so how could he do anything?

The plague in the frontier has become more and more severe, and hundreds of thousands of people have died, and as time goes by, the epidemic will become more and more severe. Faced with this matter, Emperor Xue Tianao can be said to be sitting on pins and needles, anxiously walking around the upper study.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the door.

Emperor Xue Tianao looked up at the door, only to see the eunuch hurriedly walking in, holding something in his hand. When I looked closely, I realized that it was a letter.

The eunuch almost half-ran into the upper study, and he didn't have time to salute, so he handed the letter to the emperor Xue Tianao, and then said breathlessly: "Your Majesty, this is ...... It's a letter from a mysterious man who says it can help solve the Frontier Plague. ”

As soon as he heard this, Emperor Xue Tianao almost snatched the letter from the eunuch's hand.