Before you know it, February has arrived.

Thanks to the scientific epidemic prevention policy adopted by the imperial court in later generations, the eradication of a square will unseal a square, resulting in the effective control of the smallpox epidemic in the capital.

Although the most serious day of the day is still under lockdown, everyone knows that the smallpox epidemic is isolated in the day of the festival, which makes people feel more at ease.

As more and more Jingfang was unblocked, and the imperial court encouraged everyone to wear masks when they went out and wash their hands with soap when they returned home, the streets of the capital gradually returned to their former prosperity.

"Haha...... It's finally time for the exam! ”

"I thought it was going to be postponed until March!"

"This time it is still the imperial court, and this epidemic prevention policy is immediate!"

……

Originally, the imperial court decided to postpone the date of the examination, but now the Ministry of Rites has officially finalized the examination to be held on February 14, causing the attention of all the candidates to quickly shift to the meeting.

"My neighbor died of smallpox!"

"Fortunately, the measures of the imperial court, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable!"

"It's strange to say, as soon as the epidemic in the capital appeared, the imperial court quickly closed all the squares!"

"What's so strange about this, the efficiency of the current court is high, and those officials who are vegetarian have been dismissed by the emperor!"

……

Although the smallpox epidemic has not completely ended, the people in the capital are becoming more and more confident in the Hongzhi Dynasty, but they know that the end of the epidemic is not far away.

It's just that many people don't know that it was Zhu Youzhi who first discovered the smallpox epidemic in the palace, so he quickly arranged for the Shuntian Mansion and the Ministry of War to adopt a closed house policy.

There is no Yi Palace, and sandalwood rises.

After Zhu Youzhu was carefully cared for by Yang Zisu for several days, there was an extra mark on his arm, and the few sparse beards under his chin grew a little, and his eyes looked more resolute.

After a trench, grow a wisdom.

In his previous life, he had always mistakenly thought that as an emperor, he could run rampant, but after experiencing all kinds of battles, he found that the emperor was far from being as stable as everyone thought.

At the end of the dynasty, they faced the prying eyes of those careerists or foreigners. Even emperors in peacetime are also difficult to guarantee that they will encounter intrigues and tricks, and even a bowl of soup or a piece of white silk can change the dynasty.

Although many days have passed since the Ma Wensheng incident, he knows that he still has to be careful, especially the powerful people in the capital may not really be honest.

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, this matter should not be rushed. Cowpox can certainly break smallpox, but its cost is by no means affordable for the imperial court! "Hubu Shangshu Li Si stood near the door, obviously persuading in a serious manner.

Zhu Youzhu looked up at this shrewd little old man, but asked seriously: "Li Qing, no matter how much money you spend on this matter, it is worth it, how much is the budget?" ”

He was not satisfied with this isolated and passive smallpox epidemic plan, and during this period, he also made a bold attempt to finally "find" the best way to prevent smallpox.

Since a person infected with smallpox once will not be infected with smallpox again, based on this principle of immunology, the imperial court successively adopted the pox clothing method, the pox slurry method, the dry seedling method and the water seedling method.

The method of the ancestors was to actively infect smallpox, which had low symptoms, so that the body could produce smallpox antibodies and thus avoid the damage caused by smallpox.

Like the pox clothing method, it is actually borrowing the clothes of mildly infected people, so as to actively infect themselves with the smallpox virus, so that the body can produce smallpox antibodies.

Although there was one fatal case in several trials conducted by the penal department, the remaining 49 prisoners tested were successful in obtaining smallpox antibodies.

It is said that the mortality rate of 2 percent is already relatively low, but the population base of Daming is too large after all, and 10 million people can die 200,000.

After many experiments, it has been proved that the optimal solution is to use the active vaccinia infection regimen, which produces smallpox antibodies with the same effect by infecting this non-lethal cowpox.

It's just that in the face of this optimal practice of vaccinating cowpox, Li Si, the head of the household department who is in charge of the money bag of the Ming court, stood up to stop it and pointed directly at the core money.

"Your Majesty, what is needed for cowpox prevention and control is ploughing cattle, which not only causes very huge losses to ploughing cattle, but also affects spring plowing and autumn harvest, and the loss of agricultural production will be immeasurable. What's more, it is difficult to achieve upward and downward effect on this matter, and I am afraid that the local gentry and people will not seriously implement it. To put it mildly, the lives of the people in some of our places may not be worth a cow! Li Si knew that the emperor in front of him really wanted to save the people of the world, but he also dutifully pointed out the loss and shortcomings of this matter.

Not to mention how many ploughing cattle are needed, and how many places will be affected by agricultural production.

Ploughing cattle is the lifeblood of the people, and letting their ploughing cattle actively infect them with cowpox and produce a considerable risk of death, which is a plan that many people will not accept, not to mention that this kind of expensive ploughing cattle is usually in the hands of the landlord.

In addition, the number of cowpox per cow is limited after all, but it is difficult to achieve one pox per person in the country, so this prevention and control method cannot be implemented throughout the country.

Hey?

Liu Jin originally thought that vaccinating cowpox was a trivial matter, but now after hearing the analysis of this household secretary, he silently turned his head to look at the emperor.

Zhu Youzhi has never been a paranoid person, and realized that it is indeed an almost impossible plan to plant cowpox across the country, so he asked seriously: "According to Li Qing's opinion, what method should the imperial court adopt?" ”

After Li Si's analysis, combined with the practical results of later generations, he also realized that he had made a mistake.

Although smallpox was eradicated through cowpox in later generations, it is more accurate to say that smallpox was eradicated through vaccinia vaccine, rather than cowpox as many people mistakenly believe.

At that time, Huaxia already had the technology to breed vaccinia virus through small animals such as newborn calves, that is, a large amount of vaccinia could be obtained without using ordinary people's cultivated cattle, thus greatly reducing the cost of producing vaccinia vaccine.

Even in 1950, the government explicitly eradicated smallpox due to traffic conditions, but it encountered various incoherences in the promotion process, and it was not until 1961 that smallpox was completely eradicated.

In fact, the current scientific and transportation conditions are far inferior to those of later generations, so it can be said that the imperial court wants to eradicate smallpox by planting cowpox, which can be said to be a fantasy.

It's just that cowpox can't be promoted, but the pox coating method, pox pulp method, dry seedling method and water seedling method may not be impossible to implement.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the current imperial court does not have the conditions to implement the law of curing the root cause, so he can retreat and adopt the method of curing the root cause!" Li Si's eyes flashed with a glint of wisdom, and he seemed to express it seriously.

Zhu Youzhu actually did not advocate compromise, and asked quietly: "How to cure the root cause?" ”

"The imperial court set up a pox department in each prefecture, and the pox department learned the method of prevention and control, and promoted the method of pox prevention in the local area. If there is a smallpox epidemic in a local area, follow Beijing's epidemic prevention method to control the smallpox epidemic! Although smallpox outbreaks sometimes occur in local areas and inevitably cause casualties, local governments can prevent and control the spread of smallpox outbreaks on their own. Li Si knew that things needed to be trade-off, and immediately put forward his own plan.

Liu Jin's eyes lit up slightly, and he found that although this plan was not perfect, it was the best effect with the minimum investment, and he couldn't help but silently prepare to add tea to the emperor.

Zhu Youzhu couldn't help but smile bitterly, knowing that he really couldn't save the people of the world, but he said actively: "Since we can't cure the outside, let's prevent the outside!" ”

"Your Majesty, what is the defense of the outside?" Li Si looked confused.

Zhu Youzhu took a deep breath and directly took out the emperor's spirit and said: "All those who go to the South China Sea or the East China Sea need to be vaccinated before they can go to sea, so that they can be prevented from returning home with smallpox!" ”

It is true that with the current resources, it is impossible to achieve the national pox, but the imperial court can let all the people who go to sea to get pox, which can effectively prevent smallpox from entering China.

In addition, if they are required to get pox before going to sea, this can also improve their ability to survive overseas and prevent them from contracting smallpox and dying overseas.

"Your Majesty, the minister will handle this matter, and you must implement Your Majesty's anti-foreign policy!" The eyes of the head of the household department Shangshu Li Si lit up slightly, and he looked very admiring.

Zhu Youzhu knew that Li Si was a rare capable minister, so he also made a statement: "There is Lao Li Qing for the matter of preventing the outside, and as for the internal defense, it is according to what Li Qing said: The imperial court has set up the post of pox Lang, but how to select the pox Lang and what kind of treatment, your household department will come up with a specific plan!" ”

"Obey the order!" Li Si was also excited when he saw Zhu Youzhu adopt his suggestion.

When Zhu Youzhu saw that the smallpox matter had been discussed, he earnestly advised: "The day after tomorrow, the Supreme Council will be convened to discuss the specific terms of the extravagant tax, and your household department must make full preparations to strive for the smooth introduction of the extravagant tax!" ”

Now that the epidemic has been controlled, there have been no major casualties in the capital, and there have been no major casualties, so the extravagant tax is naturally on the agenda.

In fact, the epidemic helped the imperial court, because the magnates experienced a thrilling smallpox epidemic, and the imperial court's epidemic prevention measures were appropriate, which caused the prestige of the imperial court to rise to a higher level.

Now, with the prestige of the imperial court, the introduction of extravagant taxes will definitely be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

"The ministers and household colleagues will live up to Your Majesty's expectations!" Li Si now pointed to the extravagant tax to consolidate Taicang, and immediately looked very confident.

Zhu Youzhu sent Li Si away, and then summoned Wan An, the first assistant of the cabinet.

Power makes people young, and this is not false at all when it is put on the internal head assistant Wan An.

Although Wan An is a year older this year, he looks more energetic than last year, his face looks very ruddy, and his eyes seem to be a little less cloudy.

Although the authority of the cabinet has been greatly reduced, the throne of the first assistant of the cabinet has been more secure, and Wan An is still the nominal head of the hundred officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Wan An is very satisfied with his current identity and status, and is even glad that he decisively burned down the house last year, and respectfully greeted Liu Jin when he came in.

"Elder Wange, the Criminal Department just came to report!" Zhu Youzhu gave Wan'an a seat, and then said in a complicated mood.

Wan An is an old fox who is good at observing words and feelings, and immediately caught the change in Zhu Youji's expression: "Your Majesty, but what is the bad news in the prison of the Criminal Department?" ”

"Ma Wensheng and several other important backbones have been infected with smallpox, and several people have died in prison!" Zhu Youzhu sighed secretly and shared the news.

When he wiped out Ma Wensheng and others through Imperial Doctor Cui, he thought that the forces hiding in the capital had been completely eradicated by himself, but now it seems that this is not the case.

First of all, there is a person called "Pao Shou" behind this force, and secondly, Ma Wensheng and others are infected with smallpox, which is more like someone killing Ma Wensheng and others.

In addition, it was learned from Imperial Physician Cui that they had a laboratory for secretly cultivating smallpox, but when Jin Yiwei arrived, it was already empty.

Now that Ma Wensheng and other important backbones are infected with smallpox and die, the mysterious cultivation of smallpox laboratory people has gone to the empty building, which fully shows that there are people behind Ma Wensheng.

Zhu Youzhi originally thought that he would clean Jinyiwei, but judging from the feedback from this operation, it is likely that Jinyiwei still has someone else's shadows.

If he had known that this was such a result, he would have directly used the search hall of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, instead of this brocade guard that had been entangled with various forces earlier.

When Wan An heard the news of Ma Wensheng's death, he seriously guessed: "Your Majesty summoned the old minister because of this matter, I'm afraid you want to listen to the old minister's opinion on the handling of this incident, right?" ”

"That's right, that's exactly what I mean!" Zhu Youzhu knew that Wan An had never been a papier-mâché elder, so he nodded seriously.

Ma Wensheng naturally could not escape death, whether he was infected with smallpox or pushed to the guillotine, it has become unimportant, what matters is how to characterize things.

In this epidemic, there is actually a big difficulty.

Although the source of this epidemic has been investigated clearly, it is actually not suitable for the public, especially the methods used by Imperial Doctor Cui to create the smallpox epidemic cannot be known to the world.

It's just that if the court doesn't make the truth public, then it will be difficult to determine the guilt of Ma Wensheng and others, and even let Ma Wensheng and others escape the condemnation of history.

Now Ma Wensheng and other backbones suddenly died of smallpox, which made Zhu Youzhi even more hesitant to make this man-made disaster public.

Wan An thought seriously for a moment, and then seriously expressed his opinion: "Your Majesty, the old minister has a way!" ”

"What a method!" Zhu Youzhu immediately came to the spiritual dao.

Wan An didn't say it directly, but deliberately sold a Guan Zi and said: "Your Majesty, do you still remember Ni Yue, the right attendant of the original Ministry of Rites?" ”

"Naturally, I remember, I will win the door in three years!" Zhu Youzhu thought of the farce of the early dynasty, and his eyes flashed with a touch of resentment and mockery.

Wan An met Zhu Youji's gaze and immediately made a suggestion: "Your Majesty has no heirs today, and Ma Wensheng and others secretly plotted with the intention of murdering Your Majesty, and Ma Wensheng and Imperial Doctor Cui also exchanged letters as evidence, so they can be convicted of rebellion!" ”

Zhu Youji's eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately realized that this method of dealing with it was indeed exquisite.

After this incident, he also understood why the rulers of later generations wanted to conceal the truth, and indeed there were some criminal facts that should not be made public.

For example, Ma Wensheng is known as a righteous man and gentleman of the current dynasty, if the world knows that the most important thing for this virtuous minister is actually his own interests, it will not only affect the good image of the officials, but also discredit the current imperial court.

Of course, the most important thing is that the smallpox epidemic can spread artificially should not be spread, and this event is likely to induce some people to follow suit and local epidemics appear.

The Ming Dynasty is like a giant ship, under the helm of Zhu Youji, sailing through the smallpox epidemic in the capital in early spring, and is heading towards the spring season.

(End of chapter)