Chapter 673: Strange Disease
Chapter 673: Strange Disease
On the Tongji Canal, a fleet consisting of more than a dozen large ships was slowly moving northward under the escort of three thousand cavalrymen. The water flow was gentle, and there were trackers pulling the boats on both sides of the canal, constantly shouting slogans.
This fleet was the ship that carried Empress Xiao of the Sui Dynasty. After seeing off the eldest princess and attending the Xiao family sacrifice, it was time to return north as spring came and flowers bloomed.
Inside the cabin, Empress Xiao was sitting by the window reading a book. A guard outside the door reported, "Your Majesty, a cavalry force has arrived from the south, and they are numerous!"
Empress Xiao was startled. "Who is this person?"
Yang Feiyan smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. The cavalry is not something that the rebels can afford. They must have been sent by the third brother."
Empress Xiao felt relieved and stood up and walked out of the cabin. She saw dust flying in the distance. It was a large cavalry chasing them.
The fleet slowly stopped, and the three thousand escort cavalrymen were ready for battle. Not long after, a cavalryman with the news arrived first, holding up a command arrow and saying, "General Luo Shixin is here on the orders of the King of Jin!"
The leading general Li Gongqu then ordered the army to relax their guard. Not long after, 10,000 cavalrymen caught up with the fleet. The cavalrymen stopped, and Luo Shixin boarded the ship. He quickly came to Empress Xiao, knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, I am here on the orders of His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin."
He presented the letter from the Prince of Jin to Empress Xiao, who opened it and read it carefully. It said, "I have received an urgent military report that Li Yuan of Taiyuan Prefecture is leading a large army southward. I am afraid it will be bad for Luoyang. I suggest that you return to Jiangdu to rest and wait and see how the situation changes. It will not be too late to return to Luoyang after the situation stabilizes!"
Empress Xiao handed the letter to Yang Feiyan. Yang Feiyan was the mother of two children and was more worried about their safety. She said quickly, "Mother, the third brother is right. Now that our father is on an expedition to Bashu, Luoyang is empty and will inevitably be watched by people with ulterior motives. We should put safety first and don't rush back to Luoyang."
Empress Xiao nodded. Since her husband was not in Luoyang, there was no point for her to rush back now.
"Okay! Let's listen to the third brother's advice and return to Jiangdu!"
She said softly to Luo Shixin: "Thank you for your hard work, General Luo!"
Luo Shixin was overjoyed and said quickly: "This is my duty. Please rest assured, Queen. We will return to Jiangdu now."
The fleet began to turn around, and Luo Shixin immediately commanded the army to escort the fleet back to Jiangdu.
In Hanzhong, Wang Long, Dugu Huai'en, Yuan Min, Li Xiaochang, Yu Wenhuaji and five others were secretly discussing important matters.
Yuan Min and Li Xiaoji had just arrived in Hanzhong. Although Yuan Min was lacking in the overall situation, he was a good hand in planning mutinies and rebellions. He and Dugu Huai'en represented the Guanlong nobles to bring together the three forces and reconcile the interests of the three parties.
In fact, they had already reached a consensus in principle that Bashu would belong to Yu Wenhuaji, Guanzhong would belong to Li Yuan, and Luoyang would belong to the Wang family, but the details still needed to be improved.
Yu Wenzhi frowned and said, "Jiangge is a natural fortress. If my army fails to conquer it, how can I protect my interests?"
Dugu Huai'en took out a letter and said, "This is the message sent by my cousin Dugu Kaiyuan via carrier pigeon. It is confirmed that Wang Pu, the deputy governor of Jianmen Pass, is a man of Wei Wang Yangji. He can cooperate with the army to take Jianmen Pass at any time. Once our coup is successful, General Yuwen can personally command the army to seize Jianmen Pass. As for Chen Ling, there is no need to worry. We just need to block the news and deprive him of his military power with a little trick."
Yu Wenji nodded slowly. He was the key to the entire coup. If he could not control the army and the army mutinied, everyone would die without a burial place.
Yu Wenzhi himself had no special abilities, but his father Yu Wenshu had a very high prestige in the army. As long as he used his father's name, generals in the army like Wei Wentong would generally give him face.
Dugu Huai'en added: "The most critical part of all plans is confidentiality. Except for the five of us, all other people who know about this must be killed. Everyone must remember that the emperor died of an illness, and the truth must be kept secret."
Everyone nodded, and Yuan Min asked, "How is the epidemic going?" Wang Long smiled and said, "The epidemic among the Qiang people has not stopped in the past few years. Last autumn, the epidemic had already moved to Wudu County. It will be easy to deal with if we have the source of the disease. The Qiang people also have a kind of poison called epidemic poison. When the poison breaks out, it is very similar to being infected with the epidemic. In the end, people who died were all thought to have been caused by the epidemic. I can guarantee that there will be no mistakes. Who should die and who can live are all under my control."
These words sent a chill down everyone's back.
At night, General Sima Dekan, along with dozens of soldiers, secretly tied a dozen corpses to huge rocks and sank them into various wells.
Two days later, an epidemic suddenly broke out in Nanzheng City. The infected people suffered from vomiting and diarrhea and were severely dehydrated. They usually could not survive more than three days. The disease was highly contagious. Within just a few days, tens of thousands of people were infected. The patients could not be rescued in time and died in large numbers.
Although the emperor was not stationed in Nanzheng City, the water source was connected and it was difficult to avoid it. Soon, some guards began to fall ill and everyone was in danger.
Emperor Yang Guang was shocked when he heard the news and immediately summoned Pei Yang, the governor of Hanchuan County, to inquire about the situation.
"Your Majesty, the epidemic came very strangely. The last epidemic in Nanzheng County was thirty years ago. There has been no epidemic in recent years. How could it suddenly occur? I am puzzled."
Wang Long asked, "Are there any epidemics breaking out in the surrounding counties?"
"Yes, there was an outbreak in Jiangli County and Fushui County of Wudu County last fall, but after a winter, things have improved a lot. Besides, the outbreak in Wudu County is at least 300 miles away from us. How could the disease spread to Nanzheng County?"
Wang Long said to Emperor Yang Guang: "Your Majesty, you might as well ask the imperial physicians; they should have experience."
Yang Guang nodded, "Doctor Xuan is coming to see me!"
Soon, the chief physician Zhang Kai came hurriedly, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"
Yang Guang asked, "Pei said that an epidemic broke out in Jiangli County and Fushui County of Wudu County last year, but it got better in the winter. Moreover, the outbreak area is at least 300 miles away from Nanzheng. Tell me, how could an epidemic break out in Nanzheng?"
Zhang Kai bowed and said, "Your Majesty, if there is a source of disease nearby, then it makes sense. Once an epidemic breaks out, people will definitely flee. Nanzheng is a big city, and there will be many people fleeing to Nanzheng. Among them, there are people infected with the epidemic. Winter is generally the incubation period of the epidemic, so the epidemic will not be serious in winter. But once the weather warms up, the epidemic will become active, and the epidemic in Nanzheng will begin to break out."
Zhang Kai’s explanation made sense. It must have been the refugees who brought the disease to Nanzheng.
Yang Guang asked anxiously: "What should we do now?"
"Your Majesty, I suggest that you try to stay away from the source area of Nanzheng and see if the situation will improve."
"Can we avoid contracting the disease by leaving Nanzheng County?" Wang Long asked.
Zhang Kai smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency, generally, there will be a period of incubation after infection with an epidemic. For people with poor health, the incubation period may be only one day, while for people with strong health, the incubation period will be longer. During the incubation period, there will be no abnormality at all, and then the disease will suddenly occur, and it will be over in three days. Whether it is prevention or treatment, there is only a 50% chance of cure. The key still depends on each person's physical condition.
But your majesty does not need to worry, as long as you wash your hands in time, drink boiled water, avoid contact with the outside world, and take medicine every day for prevention and treatment, you will generally not be infected with the epidemic. "
Yang Guang was relieved a little. He was eager to leave Hanzhong, so he said to Wang Long, "Follow the method that Zhang Yizheng said to prevent and treat the epidemic. Pass on my order and move back to Chang'an."
(End of this chapter)