After donating 3,000 taels of silver to Pan Fusuo, the porridge shed at the entrance of Mei's mansion was erected, and Cao Wei walked in the name of Mei Gongbo among several large families, and after some prevarication, he finally bought a lot of brown rice at a relatively low price.

There are many people waiting at the gate of Meifu every day to receive porridge, and there are even many poor families who live in simple tents at the door. Cao Wei has to go to the rice shop every day to get back the day's rice grain, and his life is busy but meaningful.

As usual, he went to Liu's grain store to transport back rice grain, and today Cao Wei felt that it seemed to be a little different, there was no one on the street, most of the merchants were closed, and there seemed to be a lot of errand soldiers on the left and right sides along the way.

Cao Wei was suspicious in his heart, he hurried his steps, and when he was about to approach the rice shop, he was intercepted by several messengers from afar, and the messengers wrapped their mouths and noses in coarse cloths, led by the horse catcher of the prefect's yamen. Seeing that Cao Wei was not dressed and behaved like ordinary people, Ma Zhutou didn't dare to be rude, so he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Where is this son going?" ”

Cao Wei also took a few steps forward, arched his hand towards Ma Zhutou and said, "I want to go to Liu Ji Rice Store to buy grain, dare to ask what happened to the messenger?" ”

"I can't go." Ma Zhutou looked like he was about to speak and stopped, and his face looked solemn: "Yesterday evening, there was an accident in a dilapidated land temple, and there was an epidemic, which seems to have been infected from a beggar who had been dead for several days.

Now, the prefect has ordered the bodies of the recently deceased to be burned and the streets and alleys in the area to be cordoned off to prevent the epidemic from being infected. No one inside is allowed to go out, and no one outside is allowed to enter. ”

Cao Wei secretly said in his heart Sure enough, when he saw the appearance of the errand officer early, he felt bad, and then asked: "There is not much food at home, and there are many grain stores in the city in this section of the street, can you ask someone to be accommodating?" Below is Mei Yushi's mansion, who came out to buy food and porridge for the victims. ”

Ma Zhutou was in awe when he heard this, now who in Yangzhou City does not know the life of Mei Yushi, and many people have built a shrine for him at home, but Ma Zhutou still shook his head and said:

"This son, really can't go in, otherwise the son won't be able to come out, the son knows, just twenty years ago, there was an epidemic in the whole Jiangnan, the houses and streets were full of corpses, every family was doing funerals, the whole Jiangnan was a white silk, everywhere there were cemeteries and graves, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was purgatory on earth, and finally liquidated, and more than 200,000 people died of illness in the entire Jiangnan.

It took 20 years of recuperation to reach the state it is today, but an epidemic will ruin a prosperous ......

Therefore, in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic and control the spread of the epidemic, the prefect issued a death order, even a fly, and I asked my son not to embarrass us, otherwise our lives will not be guaranteed. ”

Cao Wei heard Ma Zhutou say this, and also understood that even a simple epidemic is not tantamount to a thunderbolt for this era, panic and escape are the first things normal people want to do after hearing about the epidemic.

In ancient times, when medical treatment was backward, the control of diseases and plagues was very weak, and the most common and effective way to deal with them was to gather infected people together, and wait for the dead to be cremated and buried in a group.

Whenever an epidemic occurs, the emperor will feel that God is punishing him, so he sends a plague god to poison the world, so the emperor can only lead the ministers to sacrifice to the heavens and sin themselves, and then try to control the scope of the epidemic.

In the next few days, the streets near the edge of the land temple were also infected with the people, and the matter could not be covered, and the Zhou prefect hurriedly reported to the imperial court, and the people of Yangzhou Mansion were all in a panic.

Even more terrible than the plague are panic and rumors, which are more devastating than disease. The people of Yangzhou Mansion were scared, and dragged their families to Yangzhou City, wanting to leave Yangzhou City, which was about to become hell, and the old people who had experienced the epidemic 20 years ago left Yangzhou City with a more resolute attitude.

It's just that the gate of Yangzhou Mansion was firmly guarded by the soldiers who had just been transferred early, warning the people not to approach, and if anyone approached, they would release arrows. Disasters are like mirrors in the sun, shining people's hearts brightly, and pain and fear are infinitely magnified in Yangzhou City.

In the capital, a letter was handed to the desk of Emperor Zhu Youzhi of Hongzhi, and the whole dynasty was shaken, everyone knew what the epidemic represented, and the shocking numbers represented by the vivid human lives. Immediately, Zhu Youzhu convened the cabinet scholars and the six scholars and squires to hold a court meeting.

Zhu Youzhu sat on the dragon chair with a pale face, without saying a word, and the ministers saw that the boss was unhappy, and they were all silent, for fear of touching the mold.

The emperor did not move, and the court fell into a short silence, and after half a sound, the scholar Xie Qian stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, there is an outbreak of epidemic in Yangzhou Mansion, and the minister thinks that it is better to make plans as soon as possible and try to control the scope of the epidemic...... The people are innocent, why is it so bad, but if the epidemic cannot be controlled, extraordinary actions must be done in extraordinary times......"

Xie Qian couldn't go on when he said this, the court scene was still silent, the ministers, including the emperor, knew what the extraordinary act represented, it represented the abandonment of the people of a city, and even the massacre.

However, everyone knew that Xie Qian was right, it was the wisest to sacrifice a small number of people for the sake of more people, but this was very inconsistent with the morality of scholars to govern the country and secure the people, so Xie Qian was very painful when he said this.

"The minister seconded the proposal."

"The minister seconded the proposal."

"Minister...... It was also seconded. ”

As the ministers expressed their positions one by one, Emperor Zhu Youji's face became even more ugly, he was originally known all over the world for his benevolence to the people, and now he wants to give up or slaughter his own people, even if it is just possible, Zhu Youji will not be able to issue this holy decree.

After a long time, Li Dongyang took a step forward, bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, without further ado......"

Zhu Youzhu took a hard breath, opened a piece of yellow silk, and wrote: "...... Yangzhou epidemic, I have also made mistakes, I please fast for a month. and all sins shall be inflicted on me, so that I shall not harm my people. Today, officials from the hospital immediately rushed to Yangzhou to treat the epidemic. In addition, Jin Yiwei commanded Mu Bin to personally supervise the medicinal materials of the world and transport them to Yangzhou Mansion......"

After Zhu Youzhu finished writing the holy decree, his hands trembled and stamped the jade seal on the holy decree, and then it was issued by the cabinet, and the whole country ran at high speed like a machine.

Before Jin Yiwei commanded Mu Bin to rush to Yangzhou, Zhu Youzhi summoned him to the front and said: "The people of Yangzhou, entrust Mu Qing, when Wan Wangqing's family returns to Beijing, give me an explanation......"