Chapter 1471
The Final Battle: To Burn or Not to Burn?
Chapter 1471 The Final Battle: To Burn or Not to Burn?
Not only the group of suicide soldiers and medics from yesterday, but also many Wei soldiers who delivered supplies and messages, and Wei people living near the first ward, were all included in the ward after they woke up from their sleep, and no one could get out.
Boom boom boom!
As the war drums sounded, General Chu's personal guards called out, "Master Physician Xun, please come to General Chu's new command tent for a meeting!"
After the enemy poisoned the city, apart from the Wei soldiers who were willing to die for their cause, the Chu general, the Qi envoy, and most of the thousand-household commanders retreated into the city from the east city tower.
Today, it is located on Xiangzheng Street in Dongcheng District, and half a kilometer away is Zhongcheng District.
"Hey, hey, the old man will be here soon." As Old Man Xun spoke, Xiao Mutong and Xiao Chenhao helped him up and took precautions against the plague.
Si Pei then fed him his own breakfast: stewed eggs with wheat germ and goat milk: "Grandmaster, open your mouth and drink a few sips, you'll have energy all morning."
The old man slurped down his drink and exclaimed, "Delicious! The wheat flavor is so rich. No wonder it's breakfast for a young master like you!"
He then gave the remaining eggs and wheat germ soup to Xiao Mutong and Xiao Chenhao to share before going to the new command tent wearing a large overcoat stained with medicinal juice.
It was called a large tent, but it was actually the study of a large house. When the old man arrived, the room was already full of military doctors, physicians, commanders, laborers and stewards from the camp, as well as the head of the pharmacy.
The head stewards of Changji Pharmacy, Zhao, Wen, and Xiang, were very dissatisfied... They were brought here on the second day after the outbreak of rat plague in the city. Were they trying to force them to go to the ward?!
The three were devastated and wanted to assassinate General Chu and the Qi envoy, and then see if they could negotiate with the enemy.
With a clang, the gong sounded, and General Chu informed everyone present about the situation in the North City ward: "The servants and porters have been running around a lot, and we don't know when they caught the germs. In short, there is a plague in the North City."
“It’s spreading very quickly. Yesterday, there were only patients within a hundred meters of where the servants lived, but now patients have appeared on Jin Gui Street, which is half a mile away. The plague has crossed the street, and that family is from Liangjia Weimin…”
“The family was relatively well-off and owned a mule cart. The patient was examined carefully and found small mosquito bites on his body, with the wounds on his scalp, but no live fleas were found. The elderly righteous men then searched the mule shed and found dead fleas.”
Chief Steward Zhao glanced at Manager Zou.
Shopkeeper Zou immediately accused Old Man Xun: "Old Doctor Xun, your insecticide and plague-killing medicine is no good. It didn't kill the fleas carrying the bacteria, causing a plague outbreak in the North City!"
"Write it down. General Chu, please continue." Qi Tianshi spoke, while his servant Sasha behind him was taking notes, though it was unclear what she was writing down.
“We have already checked the infected family on Jingui Street. They have been Wei people for generations, and their relatives are also Wei people. They haven’t encountered any unusual people or things recently, and they haven’t made any fortune, but they still fell ill… This germ is very strange; it’s spreading in places we can’t see.”
General Chu continued, "Currently, within a mile of the affected area, there are 261 cases. The number of patients is not large, but the affected area is expanding. It is evident that a large area in the northern city will see many more cases of infection."
This is not General Chu's deduction, but what Dr. Zheng and his colleagues wrote in the "Plague Handbook" yesterday when they entered the North City ward.
"No one showed cough symptoms, but they had chills and high fever, lumps, and the lumps were very painful even when not touched... The lumps mostly appeared in the armpits, groin, and neck."
General Chu looked at Elder Xun: "Dr. Zheng and the others asked if it's possible to remove the tumor from the patient's body now?"
The old man said, "Don't cut it open randomly. If you do, the military doctor who performs the surgery will most likely get infected... Have them give the patient a fungal solution first, and then a decoction to strengthen the body and expel the pathogens, so that the bacteria are contained in the neck area and do not enter the lungs. As long as the patient doesn't cough, it will be fine."
"Imperial edict!" Qi Tianshi suddenly shouted, startling everyone... Wait, you have His Majesty's imperial edict? Just how many imperial edicts did you bring to the Northeast?!
Chief Steward Zhao and the others instinctively knelt down: "Your servants, uh, this humble subject respectfully listens to Your Majesty's instructions!"
Ha, you seem quite used to kneeling.
"This humble general respectfully listens to Your Majesty's instructions!" General Chu led the Wei soldiers present to rise and bow in the Wei military salute toward the scroll of imperial edict.
Si Pei also helped Old Man Xun bow, waiting to hear the imperial edict. But many people already guessed the contents of the edict.
Sure enough, when they heard the words "a major epidemic broke out in the wartime capital city, and it was immediately burned down," everyone held their breath for a few seconds.
After reading the imperial edict, Qi Shitian handed it to General Chu: "Please examine it, General Chu."
It's been verified; it's real, not a forged edict.
The imperial edict also stated that those who died from burning would be credited with merit, and their families would receive compensation from the court, including gold, silver, land, and tax exemptions.
"We will obey His Majesty's decree!" Manager Zou was the first to shout.
That's right, it was Chief Steward Zhao who gave the instruction.
Manager Zou asserted confidently, "His Majesty is wise. He knows that spending time treating those infected is an evil act that would kill the entire city, so he delivered this imperial edict to the envoy Qi in advance to save us, the uninfected citizens of Wei!"
"You're nothing but a Wei citizen, a mere slave!" the one-armed manager of Wuze Pharmacy shouted angrily... Wuze Pharmacy belonged to Emperor Wuxing, and Manager Pang was a veteran and a loyal subject of Emperor Wuxing, but he was still very sad and could not immediately carry out the imperial decree.
"What should we do with Dr. Zheng and his team, the Wei soldiers who delivered supplies and information, and the Wei civilians in the ward?"
Once the area is sealed off, those infected are burned, and the Wei soldiers who carry out this order, as well as the nearby Wei civilians, will also be burned.
Unless they are allowed to stay for half a month, and unless they do not have any cases of infection after half a month.
Manager Zou was a loyal follower of Chief Steward Zhao, so he retorted, "Once they entered the ward, they should have jumped into the fire to obey the imperial decree so as not to implicate other Wei citizens!"
"You, surnamed Zou, are you even speaking human language? If you dare utter another utterance of such a vile word, I could strangle you with one hand!" Manager Pang roared.
Manager Zou seized on his words: "You surnamed Pang, are you dissatisfied with His Majesty's decree? You're defying the imperial edict! Envoy Qi, General Chu, quickly arrest this rebellious traitor!"
"Guards, drag him out." Qi Tianshi actually gave the order.
Manager Zou, smug, shouted, "Your Majesty is wise; Envoy Qi is Your Majesty's loyal subject... Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? I didn't disobey the imperial decree, it's Manager Pang who disobeyed the decree, go and arrest him!"
But the angel's servant ignored him and grabbed him, quickly subduing him, dislocating his jaw, and dragging him outside while he was groaning.
Chief Steward Zhao's face was grim. He bowed and asked, "What does Envoy Qi mean by this? Our Manager Zou of Changji Pharmacy has not done anything wrong, has he?"
Qi Tianshi stated that he had committed a crime, the charge being: "A mere attendant repeatedly caused a disturbance during the meetings of the esteemed officials, and according to the law, he could be imprisoned for one month."
He then rebuked Chief Steward Zhao: "Your Changji Pharmacy has made great contributions in resisting the enemy and has a bright future. However, you must manage your servants well and not let unruly servants ruin the future of the pharmacy."
Ha, the enemy is besieging the city and poisoning it. It's hard to even survive, let alone talk about the future.
Alright, you're Emperor Wuxing's angel, you're amazing, we'll just kneel down and not argue with you.
Chief Steward Zhao had to swallow this bitter pill.
But Wen Da and Xiang Er were still at Changji Pharmacy. Xiang Er rubbed his reddened eyes and asked General Chu, "General, when will His Majesty's decree be implemented? Our Changji Pharmacy also has a branch in the north city. If the decree is implemented, we will send elderly righteous men into the ward to deliver meat and rice to them and give them a guarantee so that they can leave with peace of mind."