"Pestilence?!" Guo Zhiyuan and Liu Guangxian exclaimed at the same time, in this era, plague is definitely a term that everyone fears, and later generations summarized that there were three objective factors in the demise of the Ming Dynasty, one war, two famines, and three plagues, but if it is about the degree of fright, the order will be reversed, because once the plague breaks out, more people may die than wars and famines, and for the government, the importance of plague is also higher than that of famine and war, because the main victims of war and famine are ordinary people, and those who starve to death from famine are ordinary people, The dignitaries and nobles will definitely not starve to death, and the dignitaries and nobles are well-informed in the war, and there are many ways, so they can avoid disasters in advance, but this plague is no matter whether you are an ordinary person or a dignitary, as long as you are infected, it will be over, and this plague is invisible, and it is not known if it is infected, and it is often too late to treat it when it is found, and the plague is usually extremely contagious, spreads very quickly, and the destructive power is also great, so the government does not pay attention to it.

But in fact, even if the government attaches great importance to it, there is no effective means of prevention and control of the plague, and sometimes we can only watch the plague raging, because the plague is sudden and violent, and once it breaks out, it will lead to a large number of deaths, corpses and bones all over the field, and the wailing is endless, and the tragedy is unbearable. The history books record that in the sixth year of Jingtai, there was a plague in Nanjing and other places, "the dead pillow each other, and the living cry in Yingcheng." Abandonment of family and bankruptcy, abounds; In the thirty-third year of Jiajing (1554), there was a plague in Beijing, and Gong Zhong'an, a man of the time, once described the tragic situation when the plague occurred: "The epidemic is too bad, the death is blocked, and the villagers are innocent." There are floating corpses and bones everywhere, but there is no family in the bundle of salaries. The tragic scene is terrifying!

You must know that the medical level of this era is very low, and it is not like modern antibiotics, vaccines or something, people's body resistance is relatively weak, so people's life span is relatively short, and they can basically resign themselves to fate when they encounter plagues, and people in this era are more afraid of plagues than floods, and naturally no one is willing to study ways to prevent and control plagues, and their understanding of plagues is also very limited. For example, an influenza that may be common to modern people may have evolved into a plague that killed tens of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty.

And this time is often the time to test the courage and administrative efficiency of the local chief executive, when encountering those unscrupulous and afraid of death corrupt officials may run away first, who cares whether the people live or die, and when encountering the kind of mediocre officials who are in the corpse position and vegetarian meal, they may have already been frightened and at a loss, and they can do nothing but hide in the official residence to pray to God and worship Buddha.

Of course, Guo Zhiyuan is not such a mediocre official, so although he was shocked when he heard the news, he was very calm, waved his hand to Shen Lingyu and said, "Let's go, let's go and see ...... together"

Shen Lingyu hesitated for a moment and said: "Childe, if it is really a plague, I am afraid that it will be difficult to cure the disease for a while, this disease is very contagious, the body of the child's daughter, it is not appropriate to risk his life, it is better to sit in the county office, just tell me how to deal with it......"

Guo Zhiyuan waved his hand and said in an unquestionable tone: "If I don't go to the scene to understand the situation in person, how do I know how to deal with it?" And if it is really a plague, the people will panic, I, as the commander of Gutian County, if I can't shrink in this county, the people will be even more panicked, and the situation will be even more difficult to control, you don't have to say, since you can get along with the sick without fear, why can't I?! ……”

Liu Guangxian, who was on the side, glanced at Guo Zhiyuan appreciatively, and suddenly said, "This official will also go to ...... together."

Guo Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and hurriedly persuaded: "My lord, don't you go, don't you still have official business to deal with?" While the plague has not yet spread, you might as well leave quickly! ……”

Liu Guangxian glared at Guo Zhiyuan, and said unhappily: "As a patrol of the imperial history, it is the responsibility of the official to observe the people's feelings, and now there may be a plague in Gutian, how can the official leave, you can go, why can't the official?!" ……”

Through this period of time with Liu Guangxian, Guo Zhiyuan was already very familiar with Liu Guangxian's temper, and knew that it was impossible for him to leave at this time, so he had to smile bitterly: "Okay, then go together, there are adults in charge, and the lower officials are more down-to-earth......"

followed Shen Lingyu to the medical hall, and heard the sound of violent coughing one after another outside the door, Guo Zhiyuan was also stunned after entering the medical hall, when the medical hall was built, Guo Zhiyuan was going to provide free medical care to the people of Gutian as a welfare, so the scale of the construction is really not small, and a large courtyard was built with four entrances before and after, and there were dozens of wards, and now not only the dozen wards are all full, but even the corridors and aisles are crowded with patients, and the beds are not enough, and some simply only lay a straw mat and sleep on the ground, There are hundreds of people in the situation, and the situation is far more serious than Guo Zhiyuan imagined!

The patients were also very shocked to see Guo Zhiyuan's arrival, knowing that although they had not yet been diagnosed with what kind of disease they were suffering from, the contagiousness of the disease had been basically confirmed, and the neighbors avoided walking when they saw them, and even the family members of some patients were very disgusted with them, and they threw them to the hospital and ran away, and Guo Zhiyuan, as the county magistrate, came to visit them in person regardless of the danger of being infected, which shocked and moved them, and they struggled to get up from the hospital bed and straw mat to salute Guo Zhiyuan.

Guo Zhiyuan hurriedly waved his hand and said loudly: "You fellow villagers are not so kind, you just have to recuperate with peace of mind, Dr. Shen's medical skills are excellent, and he will definitely be able to cure your illness!" ……”

Those patients were worried that they would not be cured of the plague, they were a little desperate, and their mood was also very low, but when Guo Zhiyuan came to visit them in person, regardless of his own safety, they all shed tears of emotion, and their emotions were also a lot more stable.

To calm the patient's emotions, Guo Zhiyuan hurriedly pulled Shen Lingyu aside, lowered his voice and said: "Doctor Shen, this can't be done, although I don't know medical skills, but since this disease is extremely contagious, let so many patients crowd together, wouldn't the condition be more serious?" ……”

Shen Lingyu said with a bitter face: "I can't help it, the medical hall is only so big, I can't turn patients away!" ……”

Guo Zhiyuan thought for a while and said, "This won't work!" I'll figure out a way, so let's let the regimental training army vacate the barracks first, and transfer all these patients to the regimental training barracks, so that they can also avoid contact with the outside world and infect more people! ……”