At the Shuowang court meeting on the morning of February 15, Chongzhen, who was already quite decadent, looked even more discouraged.

Sitting on the dragon chair of the high Jinluan Palace, Chongzhen raised the fold in his hand with a frown, and looked at the ministers in the hall with a sad gaze.

"Henan, Huguang, Hebei and other places reported the occurrence of a major epidemic, and all the secretaries should already know about it, I have no virtue, so that God has repeatedly sent disasters, but it has only suffered the people of the world."

"Your Majesty, this is the fault of the ministers!"

In the Imperial Palace, the ministers of the Ming Dynasty fell to the ground one after another, whether they were sincere or false, they all howled one by one.

Chongzhen's voice had become hoarse, and he couldn't help but laugh in his heart when he heard the ministers plead guilty.

"I'll talk about this later, the most important thing at the moment is how to control the epidemic.

Hundreds of courtiers in the Imperial Palace looked at Xue Guoguan and several other cabinet scholars standing in the front row, at this time, it is not you who will resist, who will resist.

Xue Guoguan is fifty and two this year, with thin eyebrows and a round face, and a pair of mustaches in a neat and orderly manner.

This person has no great talent, after the first assistant Kong Zhenyun left office, Liu Yuliang was able to succeed the first assistant, Xue Guoguan and Yang Sichang joined forces to frame Liu Yuliang together, and then sat on the position of first assistant.

Therefore, as soon as he heard Chongzhen ask such a question, and the courtiers all looked at him, Xue Guoguan suddenly panicked.

He stammered and said: "Your Majesty, the plague is a disaster from heaven, if you want the epidemic to be eliminated, please ask Your Majesty to sacrifice Emperor Wenchang, as long as we have a sincere heart, we can eliminate the plague." ”

According to folk rumors, it was the plague god who was surrendered by Emperor Wenchang, so Xue Guoguan had this saying.

Chongzhen was helpless after hearing this, but there seemed to be no other way at the moment, so he had to nod and said: "Sacrificing to the heavens is the proper intention, besides, what other ideas do you have?" ”

"The minister thought that the taxes of several provinces should be reduced and exempted to alleviate the suffering of the people."

"The minister thought that he could make the government come forward to collect good remedies for the people's epidemic relief, and then distribute medicinal herbs to the people."

"Where does the money come from?"

"This ......"

Above the court, a group of ministers talked a lot, some had bad ideas, some could talk about ideas but didn't know how to do practical things, and for a while, the chaos in the Jinluan Palace became a pot of porridge.

The more Chongzhen listened, the more frowning he became, how could these methods be more unreliable than the other.

Hey, where have all the powerful ministers of the previous dynasties gone, how come there is no one?

The more Chongzhen thought about it, the more sad he became, and then he suddenly saw that Liu Ximing, the Zhan Shi of Zhan Shifu, who was standing in the second row of the courtiers, also frowned and looked at his colleagues around him talking about it, but he didn't say a word.

Thinking of Liu Ximing's performance in the past, Chongzhen hurriedly waved his hand to signal the ministers to be quiet, and looked at Liu Ximing and said:

"The new Amber doesn't say a word, but he already has a good plan?"

The court suddenly fell silent, and everyone turned their heads to look at the political star.

Since Yang Sichang led the troops in the Central Plains, the Chu Party has vaguely performed for Liu Ximing's great momentum.

In addition, the previous first assistant Liu Yuliang was a native of Mianzhu, Sichuan, and he was close to Liu Ximing during his tenure, and Sichuan officials such as Yang Wenyue, Lu Daqi and others gradually moved closer to him, and Liu Ximing at this time was no longer comparable to the past.

Seeing Chongzhen asking questions expectantly, Liu Ximing straightened his mind and stepped forward steadily.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the epidemic is not a disaster from heaven, and the epidemic is not incurable, as long as the court responds to the law, and the local chief seal dares to do anything, the epidemic can be eliminated in a few months."

"I don't want Aiqing to understand medical skills, is there any evidence for such a statement? What about how to deal with it? ”

Compared with the prevarication of the courtiers, Liu Ximing's words were categorical, and immediately gave Chongzhen a feeling that he had already made a bamboo in his chest.

This situation lifted Chongzhen's spirits, and his gaze at Liu Ximing was even more excited.

With all kinds of eyes in the palace, Liu Ximing calmly bowed and replied: "The epidemic can be cured is not something that the minister got today, there was a famous doctor in ancient times who successfully saved the epidemic, so the minister will not say more." ”

"As for the epidemic itself, it is not that the world is doing something strange for the plague gods, and when the minister wrote the book, he mentioned many times that the key to the development of the world lies in the object, the person who is the object, and the opportunity to experience the world."

"Chen has studied the way of things, and has discovered through self-made magnifying glasses and microscopes that there are many small things in the world, called bacteria. There are many kinds of bacteria, and they are all over the world, and the epidemic is caused by one of the harmful bacteria. ”

Chongzhen listened to it again and again, and the other ministers who had not heard Liu Ximing's theory were like listening to the book of heaven.

Liu Ximing did not continue to explain divergently, and directly put forward his own suggestion:

"Now that we know that the disease is caused by bacteria, the way to prevent it is to cut off the contact between people who have not been sick and how to kill the bacteria in those who are already sick."

"The minister believes that if we want to block the epidemic, we must pay attention to isolation, and all those who are sick must live in isolation from those who are not sick, and several epidemic areas must also cut off transportation to prevent the epidemic from continuing to expand."

"Second, it is necessary to apply pesticides in a timely manner, and bacteria can attack them with herbs if they cause symptoms such as fever and high fever in the human body, and as for bacteria, new drugs need to be developed."

"Thirdly, we must prepare enough grain and grass for several epidemic areas, whenever there is an epidemic, the people are panicked, the gentry are frightened, and it is most likely to cause price hikes and other things......"

In the bright Imperial Palace, Liu Ximing's tall figure stood in the open space between the two classes of courtiers, and the group of courtiers behind him were stunned.

If you insist on describing the mood of these ministers, I am afraid that only the sentence "All Jinshi, He Duxiu" can express everyone's thoughts.

Compared with the jealous or shocked attitude of the courtiers, Chongzhen is much simpler for Liu Ximing, that is, extreme appreciation and excitement.

Although he has always liked those who can use empty words, it does not mean that he does not like courtiers who are in charge, but because of his limited level of knowledge, he is often easily deceived by others.

However, Liu Ximing is different, this young minister's ability has been tested many times.

In the Imperial Palace, I don't know that Chongzhen was excited, and a group of nobles led by Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, were also excited.

Since being severely pitted by Liu Ximing a year ago, Zhu Chunchen and other nobles have always wanted to retaliate, but unfortunately they were suppressed by Chongzhen several times.

Today it is an opportunity.

Zhu Chunchen and Xu Yunzhen, the Duke of Dingguo, and others next to him glanced at each other, and their eyes were full of smiles.

Without waiting for Chongzhen and a group of court ministers to react, Zhu Chunchen stepped out of the queue with an arrow step.

"Your Majesty, Xin Amber knows the epidemic well, it can be seen that his people must have prepared for this matter, the minister thinks that among the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, only Xin Amber is the most suitable to deal with this matter, and the minister wept blood and wrote a letter, willing to recommend the new Governor Amber for the epidemic."

"The ministers also recommend the new Governor Amber for the epidemic", without Zhu Chunchen's greeting, Xu Yunzhen and a group of nobles stood up and bowed.

I believe you are a ghost.

In the palace, Liu Ximing watched the performance of Zhu Chunchen and others, and scolded in his heart.

But then he got up again, and it was ridiculous that these nobles were treating others with their own lives, and that what he felt was extremely dangerous and unthinkable, he felt that others must be the same.

After silently mocking Zhu Chunchen and the others in his heart, Liu Ximing looked up and found that Chongzhen on the dragon chair really looked at him expectantly.

Chongzhen is also helpless, now that there is no one available in the court, so when he saw that Liu Ximing could talk eloquently, and what he said was orderly, he couldn't care about anything else at the moment, so he asked Liu Ximing directly in the court with a slight request:

"The Qing family has a good plan, how difficult it is today, I want to use the Qing family as the governor of the six provinces, and be fully responsible for epidemic prevention, I don't know what the Qing family wants?"

Hey, hey, hey

At this moment, the ministers of the court, who were originally a little jealous of Liu Ximing's treatment, suddenly became gloating.

This is an epidemic, no matter how light you say in Xinambo, we don't believe it, you can really control the epidemic in these six provinces in a few clicks.

Liu Ximing is already accustomed to it, and in terms of the virtues of this group of dumb officials in the Ming Dynasty, except for a few capable ministers, there are really not many people that Chongzhen can rely on.

Moreover, after several incidents, according to the feedback of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Liu Ximing suddenly found that his reputation in Shilin and the people is surprisingly good.

Of course, there is naturally the credit of the Military Intelligence Bureau in fanning the flames, but Liu Ximing thinks more far-reaching, and these reputations may not be able to be realized in the future.

Thinking of this, Liu Ximing made a righteous and awe-inspiring expression, and solemnly made a big salute to Chongzhen on the dragon chair.

"For the minister, it is indispensable to share the responsibility for His Majesty, since His Majesty is willing, the minister will never give up."