Two days later, the first unfortunate man in Athens was killed by the plague.

Although he was only an old man, his resistance was certainly not as strong as that of a young man, but this had already given John a warning that the disease that caused this plague was deadly.

Today, Athens, the second most prosperous empire after Constantinople, is dead. Because of John's edict, the only thing the citizens of the empire could do every day to confine themselves to their homes was to lay bricks and seal the walls, plugging any visible holes in the courtyard walls to prevent the plague from entering their homes.

The distribution of limited food to residents along the streets in the early morning and the collection of filth from infected people in the evenings was a huge expense, and if the plague was not relieved, the tax revenues accumulated in the city of Athens would soon bottom out.

And that's not even the worst news.

The plague can make people feel fear from the depths of their souls, and in addition to his threat to life, there is also his ability to spread uncontrollably.

On the first day, several urgent letters sent by John and Latius were successively replied, and in Greece, Thebes and Thessaloniki had fallen, and the local consuls had already activated a state of emergency against the plague. Signs of the spread of the plague were already showing signs in parts of Epirus and Achaia-Morea.

In addition, not only in the empire, but also in Anatolia and the Western Balkans, there were already plague-stricken towns and villages in the Ottoman territories. Even the recent rebellion over the Sultan's throne has been temporarily extinguished by the plague. This is enough to prove how rapid the plague really is.

Obviously, at this time, it was no longer possible to allow the situation to continue to develop freely, and in order to prevent the empire from collapsing due to a plague, overnight, John sent dozens of urgent letters to the Hagia Sophia and the palace of Constantine in the monastery of Casariani, with only one purpose, that is, to control public opinion in all the areas of the empire.

In this era, the right to speak is always in the hands of the clergy and the aristocracy. The clergy, patriarchs, and ecumenical patriarchs are the spokesmen of God on earth, and the emperor is the divinely appointed ruler, and whatever decisions they make and whatever they say have absolute influence among the common people.

I am afraid that Constantine XI, who learned of the news of the plague, has also done the relevant work, and may even personally go to the Hagia Sophia to force Gregory III to make a proclamation that is conducive to stabilizing the people's hearts. After all, the Imperial Council in the service of the Emperor was not a dry meal, and John believed that they could make a rational judgment about the situation.

……

"The future in a few hundred years......"

Sophia did not express her strong displeasure with this absurd explanation, as John had imagined, but her eyes were full of curiosity: "So, what will the empire look like in a few hundred years?" What was the empire like at that time? Were the Ottomans driven out of the Balkans? Has the empire recovered Anatolia and Armenia......"

"Empire...... Imperial...... Sophia, when you get better, I'll talk to you slowly. Now you can only listen to stories for half an hour a day. ”

John reached out and probed Fiya's forehead, which was still a little hot, probably a low-grade fever. However, compared to the previous two days, my mental state is much better today. In the past two days, John can be said to have put all his energy on Sophia, even if he temporarily took over part of the affairs of Athens during the plague, he took care of Sophia.

He knew too well what it meant to hand over a patient to a doctor in the Middle Ages, even in the royal family, there were many children who died of a cold, and their so-called treatment methods were mainly bloodletting, smearing, enema, prayer, whipping, which was more like treating the sick with imagination.

Of course, not everyone in the monastery of Casariani has such good luck. Perhaps because of the inadequate treatment of the monks, the condition of some patients continued to deteriorate. There are also many people who are in a severe coma and unconscious.

The plague was far from a threat to Athens and to the Empire.

Sophia is probably a person who can't be idle. It's just getting better, because John forcibly stripped all the work she has in her hands, and the only thing she can do now except lie in bed and rest is to pester John and ask questions.

"Brother...... Why is there a plague? ”

John sat on the edge of Sophia's bed, looking at the latest report on the epidemic compiled by Latius and Brother Arion, while gently stroking Sophia's long hair that naturally drooped: "Plague...... Let me explain it to you. This thing itself has been hiding all around us, in those filthy and dark corners. It's just that he doesn't show his head at all, he just rests there. But one day, perhaps the surrounding environment changes a little bit, wakes them up, and they burrow into a person's body, and then spread through the various contacts of the first person with other people. At least, one person can infect two people, and those two people will infect four...... This is why the plague can spread so quickly. ”

"Then brother, aren't you afraid of being infected by me?"

John's hand paused, and then, he turned his gaze and landed on Sophia's slightly uneasy face: "You are the princess of the empire, my sister, and the only love of my life since I came all the way to the empire. ”

"Brother......" Sophia suddenly became cramped, her face was originally pale and half red, "My brother before would never talk like this!" ”

"You should think that your brother is asleep. Now, I'm John Palaioho. John pretended not to see the change in Sophia's expression, but smiled naturally and drew his gaze back to the outbreak report.

The increase in the number of infected people is not big news at this time, and the treatment that Arion is trying so far has not had an immediate effect. In fact, until the formation of epidemiology, modern pharmacology, and pathology, most of the things doctors could do was to control the epidemic and prevent the spread, not to complete the treatment. In the face of the plague, it only watched it dissipate safely after harvesting enough human lives.

The powerlessness of mankind in the face of this situation only strengthened John's desire for the completion of the Academy of Athens, and at the same time, some of the millennial traditions of the Roman Empire could be repaired. The sewer network, for example, is actually a very good means of keeping towns and cities clean. As for public baths...... Given that the "extroverted" Romans often saw it as another venue, there was no need to promote it for the time being.

"Your Majesty, reply from Constantinople!"