Chapter 810 Epidemic

Chapter 810 Epidemic

Chapter 810 Epidemic

Pingyang was quiet, at least for the gathering place of the Yellow Head Army soldiers.

However, the epidemic was far away in Hebei, and had only now spread to parts of Sizhou, Bingzhou, and Yanzhou. As for the Bingzhou counties closer to them, Yanmen County, which was controlled by the Xianbei people, had heard of the epidemic. Xinxing County was sparsely populated, with few people and little contact with the outside world, so there seemed to be no news, although they were facing a great enemy.

The situation in Leping County seemed to be more serious, making Taiyuan, Shangdang and other places nervous and tense.

But after all, it's still a bit far from their Pingyang.

So, just move around, it’s no big deal.

After November, a leap month arrived. At this time, Hedong County suddenly suffered from an epidemic, which was said to have been brought back by the Wei and Liu clans who had fought against the bandits at Pujin Pass.

Hedong prefect Xiahou Cheng sent a doctor to examine the patients, but the symptoms seemed different from those in Hebei and it was not the same plague. He was immediately panicked and ordered the sick to be driven into abandoned villages and left to fend for themselves.

Hedong has it, can Pingyang, Xihe, Hongnong, Hanoi, Henan and other places escape? The possibility is very low.

Therefore, after the twelfth lunar month, everywhere was deserted. During the slack season, people stayed at home and stopped going out, and even the atmosphere of the New Year faded a lot.

"Captain, Qi Lai from Nancun is dead." Someone shouted outside the fence and left quickly.

Zeng Yi went out and saw a figure in the distance, carrying a large bundle of firewood on his back and walking hurriedly.

He sighed, and kicked the big tree in the yard angrily, but unexpectedly he was covered with frost and snow.

The little girl sat on the doorstep, giggling, and then continued to eat the cheese in her hand.

Zeng Yi walked over and rubbed her head hard, and the little girl ran away laughing.

Lan carried a frozen musk deer into the yard and looked at it carefully.

"This was caught during Kelan's hunting. I gave the silk cloth rewarded by the king to my comrades and bought this item. The skin has been taken away, leaving only the meat." Zeng Yi came to the well and said softly.

Lan nodded slightly, and then said: "If you want to eat meat, you don't need to spend money. I will go hunting in the mountains. If you are lucky, you may get something."

Although I had heard that my wife could ride horses and shoot arrows, I was still a little surprised to hear her say it herself.

Seeing Zeng Yi's silly look, Lan chuckled and said, "Liu Yuan and Liu Cong, father and son, once ordered all men and women in the palace to draw bows and arrows. Those who couldn't shoot would be punished. In the tribe, even women had to draw bows and shoot arrows. After settling in Pingyang, this custom gradually disappeared, but I can do it."

Zeng Yi was speechless.

What kind of life did the grassland tribes live in? Even women and children had to learn horse riding and archery, and they lived in fear of being attacked or robbed every day.

"Who shot this musk deer? His archery skills are quite impressive. He shot it directly through the eye." Lan asked while stroking the prey.

"King Liang shot it in the forest." At this point, Zeng Yi's face was filled with admiration, and he praised: "He raised his hand and shot, and the target fell at the touch of a string. It was truly miraculous."

Lan nodded and said, "Raising your hand and shooting is the practical method in the army. You can't shoot after aiming for a long time. If you want to learn, I can teach you."

Zeng Yi blushed and shouted, "I am a sword and shield fighter. We can talk about this later."

After saying that, he turned and went to the kitchen.

There was a bowl of warm milk in the kitchen. Zeng Yi felt warm in his heart and picked it up to drink.

At the beginning, he just couldn't drink cow's or goat's milk. After a long time, he seemed to get used to it and had no problem drinking it. He even found it quite refreshing.

The grassland herdsmen rely on this thing to survive.

When the nobles organize hunting in autumn, perhaps they can get some meat.

Before winter, some livestock would be slaughtered due to lack of fodder so that we could have some meat.

As for normal times, they can only survive on the milk of cows, sheep, horses, and camels, plus wild vegetables, mushrooms, wild fruits, and perhaps a little saved cheese and cherry, but that's all, unless they also grow some land that "relies on the weather for the harvest."

After drinking the milk, Zeng Yi felt refreshed. He then walked to the door and looked at a cow tied in the cowshed and chewing hay.

I didn’t have it last year, but I bought it this year because some people were relocated to Hongnong and were forced to sell their property.

"Did Zhou Da and the others from the team come to help this year?" Zeng Yi asked.

"Coming." Lan was boiling water in the yard and answered casually.

"If I don't go to war next year, I will have to go to their farm to help." Zeng Yi nodded and said, "I heard that Queen Hui is training calves in Shanglin Garden. She will sell more than 2,000 grown oxen next year. Maybe I can buy one. It's not convenient for several families to share one."

Lan responded.

Zeng Yi sighed secretly, this woman is good, but she is too wasteful.

If you have money, you can buy a working ox. Why buy a beef cattle?
Or is it that the legacy of the Huns is too strong, and that we often rely on manual labor to till the fields, and the harvest is too low, so do we really have to rely on nature's will?

Zeng Yi went back to the kitchen, opened the steamer and checked how the pancakes were steaming.

When he first came here, his family was so poor that they could barely afford to eat. The first meal Lan cooked was so thin that you could almost see your face in the porridge. He had to go to his comrade's house and exchange a pheasant and some steamed buns for them, so that he could finally celebrate the New Year.

This year seems to be better.

The government did not come to their house to collect grain, so after harvesting one season of wheat and one season of millet, the family gradually had enough money.

After exchanging part of the grain for a cow, the remaining grain plus the milk from cows and sheep could barely last until the autumn harvest next year.

Zeng Yi was looking at the fire and thinking.

The days in Xihe and Kelan seemed to have improved, and the Hu chieftains had more faith in King Liang.

With winter crops, many livestock were no longer slaughtered in late autumn, but sold to merchants heading south.

Zeng Yi had heard people mention that the caravans of Empress Hui, Princess Xiangcheng and Guanqiu clan were the three most active in buying and selling livestock.

Empress Hui built ranches in Guangchengze, Anping in Jizhou, and Shanglinyuan in Pingyang. She now specializes in collecting calves for training and selling them as draft cattle when they grow up.

Princess Xiangcheng had a ranch in Runan, and recently, encouraged by Queen Hui, she sent people to Loufan to build a ranch. When the Huangtou Army returned with King Liang, they camped outside this ranch for a time.

Guanqiu clan was purely engaged in business, which was the most dishonest. They even asked their Yellow Head Army to help escort a batch of livestock from Lishi to Hedong. When the tribal chiefs who cooperated with Guanqiu clan along the way were short of fodder, they even borrowed the hay stored in the county granary, and their arrogance was very arrogant. However, the existence of these three families did not seem to be a bad thing. Both sides could benefit from business, which was better than fighting and killing.

"Team leader." Someone shouted again from outside the fence.

"What's the matter?" Zeng Yi glanced at the steaming steamer and asked as he walked out.

"Don't go out. Two more people died in Nancun this morning, and dozens of people were sent to the mountains." Sergeant Zhou Da shouted from far away on the road.

Zeng Yi's heart tightened.

The plague is invisible and intangible, so no matter how well he practices sword and shield, it is useless. It is really terrifying.

"Sent to the mountains? Why?" he asked subconsciously.

"We are afraid that others will be infected." Zhou Da said, "The county's thief catcher personally led a team to capture the people and took them to the abandoned village in the mountains. General Yuan Xiyuan issued a strict order, and those who disobeyed will be punished by military law."

Zeng Yi nodded with a grim expression.

He didn't want to be sent to an abandoned fort in the mountains to fend for himself; that would be too hopeless.

Moreover, is this really useful? There are so many infected people, and only a few can be found and arrested.

This year is not easy.

"Captain, take care." Zhou Da said again and disappeared.

Zeng Yi sighed.

The sun was shining brightly in the farmyard, making people feel warm, but their hearts were chilly.

Locust plagues, droughts, floods, earthquakes, and epidemics have struck one after another, not to mention the endless wars. It is not easy for people to survive to this day.

Lan also heard this, and she subconsciously looked at the man with a terrified expression.

The little girl was feeding livestock in front of the cowshed and sheepfold. She didn't understand what was being said and just blinked her eyes.

"Don't be afraid." Zeng Yi looked at his wife and daughter and said, "The world was already in ruins, but it was King Liang who turned the tide. He is the spirit of Taibai Star who has descended to the earth. Gods and ghosts are afraid of him. Some plague ghosts will definitely flee far away."

Lan nodded slightly, hope in his eyes.

******
A team of knights rushed out of Ningshu Palace, galloped to the bank of Fen River, and threw burning torches into the frozen river.

The torch burned quietly for a moment and soon went out.

The knights immediately cheered, as if the plague in the palace had disappeared in the cold wind along with the torches.

Liu Fang, the former traitor and law enforcement officer and current Pingyang magistrate, stood by the river and waved his hand, saying, "Drive away the plague."

The executioners immediately stepped forward, held down the three death row prisoners wearing plague masks, and beheaded them on the spot with their swords.

"The plague ghost is dead!"

"The plague ghost is dead!"

The onlookers cheered loudly.

Liu Fang's face darkened, and he pointed at them and said, "The king does not allow the people to gather in groups, why are you disobeying his order? Quickly disperse them and order them to return home."

"Yes." The thief-catching official and the military official immediately led their men forward, beat and scolded the onlookers with their scabbards, and drove away the people who were watching the fun.

There was still steam coming out of the prisoner's broken neck. In Liu Fang's eyes, that was plague. He subconsciously took a few steps back.

According to folklore, Zhuanxu had three sons, all of whom died and turned into plague ghosts: one lived in rivers and was a malaria ghost; one lived in water and was a monster ghost; and one lived in the corners of people's palaces and was good at scaring children and was a little ghost.

It sounds a bit ridiculous, but many people believe in it.

Just yesterday, Hedong governor Xiahou Cheng submitted a memorial: requesting that the three plague ghosts be appointed as generals and that a shrine be built to worship them. King Liang kept the memorial and did not send it out, and did not give a response.

Today, Prime Minister Yu Chen, Zuo Junshi Wang Yan and others have again requested and begged to confer a title on these three ghosts to avoid disease and epidemics.

Liu Fang knew that King Liang probably didn't really believe these things, but the people of the state and the scholars believed them, so he actually believed them a little as well.

He didn't know if it was because of anxiety or something, but last night he actually dreamed of the little ghost among the three plague ghosts. The little ghost was hiding in the Ningshu Palace, staring at the princes and princesses with bared teeth.

He couldn't tell this to anyone, let alone King Liang. If something really happened, King Liang might not blame him, but what about the ladies?

I hope the Taibai star spirit can suppress the plague ghost?
"Oh!" He sighed and led his men back to the city.

As the days passed, various rituals to drive away the epidemic were performed, but the effect did not seem to be very good.

People died one by one.

By the first month of the seventh year of Shengui (323), funeral activities in Pingyang and Hedong counties reached a climax.

This kind of thing cannot be banned, and with the government's management capabilities at the time, it is even less capable of banning it.

At this time, news from other places also came in intermittently: Jiangnan, Henan, Hebei, Bingzhou, and Guanzhong were all hit by a major epidemic, with countless deaths.

The plague in Hebei and Jiangnan was probably caused by floods.

The Henan virus might have been transmitted from somewhere else.

Bingzhou has both possibilities.

As for Guanzhong, no one knows what the epidemic is.

Some people with quick thinking vaguely guessed that this epidemic might involve more than one disease and more than one source of disease.

No wonder the belief in ghosts and gods is so popular. It is because this era is too difficult and it is rare in history.

(End of this chapter)