Dressed as a young lady, she became rich by relying on Pinxixi

Chapter 148 Plague

The situation is very bad.

The people who died in Lezhou were the elderly and the weak, and the impact on future productivity was not significant.

But in other places, those who lack food and wages will not survive this winter.

Many of them died one family at a time, and no one noticed their deaths.

The corpses were left to rot, causing disease and posing new threats...

The potato seeds that were spread in Xu Zhuang doubled the grain production in the entire southwest, preventing people from starving to death.

However, the Ming Dynasty had a large number of troops, and most of the grain harvested in autumn was used to supply the soldiers on the front line. Yicheng County also had to support the Yicheng camp. The colder the weather, the greater the consumption, and their reserves were not enough.

Now, they have to choose between the people and the army.

Asking for help from Lezhou is to get the best of both worlds.

According to the principle of "lips and teeth are cold", Xu Siyu should help Yicheng.

But Xu Siyu must give something in return.

This was also the advice given to her by Mr. Du - she must not let the court think that she was buying people's hearts.

The more practical the reward, the less suspicious Emperor Ming would be.

Even if those pedantic officials later accused her of being unrighteous, the problem could be solved by simply returning the reward to the court.

Xu Siyu proposed that General Cui of the Yicheng camp act as a guarantor, and that the Yicheng County Magistrate sign an IOU for one tael of silver for one stone of grain and one tael of silver for one catty of medicinal materials. With this as the base price, he proposed the request for the loan amount and asked the County Magistrate to take the letter back to Yicheng.

After Du Zhi left, Xu Siyu ordered the city to be closed.

There was no way around it. News from the outside world had already hinted that after the snow disaster, serious illnesses or even epidemics would occur, so Lezhou had to take precautions.

Xu Siyu asked Huimin Pharmacy to prepare various prescriptions for seasonal diseases and epidemic prevention and to take inventory of the city's medicinal material reserves, based on three months of reserves. If there was not enough, a list would be made and reported to the City Lord's Mansion.

Typhoid fever symptoms and food recipes were immediately posted at the city gates and on notice boards in various places in Lezhou. City guards were also asked to parade the streets to announce that if any symptoms arose, they should buy medicine and seek medical treatment in a timely manner.

It’s still the same old routine: if you have money, use it; if you don’t have money, use labor to pay it off.

Perhaps it was because Lezhou was well prepared and there were not many casualties, so the sales of medicinal materials in the pharmacy remained stable.

However, the medicinal materials stored in Lezhou are only enough for use in the city and cannot support the outer cities.

"Ephedra, apricot kernel, gypsum, licorice... you're using the recipe for Mahuang Shigan Decoction."

The magistrate of Yicheng was a man of courage and responsibility. He signed the IOU and directly asked for a thousand dan of rice and a thousand kilograms of herbs.

Yes, a mere two thousand taels is something a local magistrate can still afford.

Xu Siyu paid it readily.

Old Du knew that the grain came from the granary, but he was still a little confused about the fact that Xu Siyu took out the thousand kilograms of medicinal materials from her private warehouse.

The Xu family does not engage in the medicinal materials business, so how could Xu Siyu's private warehouse store such a large amount of not-so-precious medicinal materials?

You know, medicinal herbs are not easier to preserve than food.

Xu Siyu’s private library is, of course, Pinxixi!

She hadn't used this plug-in to make money for a long time. This time, she was worried that the typhoid fever caused by the snowstorm would trigger an epidemic, so she used the cheat to solve the problem.

Xu Siyu even thoughtfully sent a prescription to Yicheng.

"The prescription you're using is strong, primarily designed to induce sweating. Our doctors in Lezhou prefer warming treatments. The prescription they're giving you is one they suggested. It's pungent and cool, clearing away heat and detoxifying, and suitable for the weak. If conditions permit, patients should also eat more fish soup, tofu soup, and egg custard to strengthen their constitution..."

Xu Siyu didn't think she was trying to sell anything, but after her suggestion, Yicheng came back to buy eggs and honeysuckle, forsythia, platycodon, mint, bamboo leaves, raw licorice, burdock seeds...

They didn't bother to find out where Anlebo's things came from. They just cared that the things were real and usable.

In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, the snow stopped for a few days.

Just as the whole city was beginning to happily prepare for the New Year, heavy snow began to fall again.

This time, many huts collapsed.

Rescue during falling snow was extremely difficult. Even with all the city guards mobilized, Lezhou still faced a second wave of deaths.

Rebuilding homes will have to wait until the snow stops, and the homeless will be temporarily provided with assistance by Ci'en Church.

For a while, Ci'en Hall was crowded with people.

What Xu Siyu didn't expect was that there were disaster victims gathered outside the city gate.

"Most of these disaster victims are from nearby villages. Some belong to Lezhou, but most are from Yicheng County and Jincheng Prefecture."

Tents were set up outside the city, and Lezhou first took in these victims.

After all, if they are not taken in when heavy snow comes, they will only freeze to death or starve to death.

Xu Siyu sent letters to the leaders of the two places, and also wrote to the Southwest Palace to discuss the issue of treating the victims.

It may take quite some time to get a reply to these letters, but the sooner you send them, the sooner they will be replied to.

Xu Siyu saved people, but still wanted to do things within the safety line.

This year's New Year is destined to be not an easy one.

During the winter solstice, the city lord’s mansion held a full lamb banquet.

Xu Siyu arranged for people to set up large pots of mutton soup at the entrance of Ci'en Hall and the shelter outside the city, trying to get the people to feel like celebrating the New Year.

When people are suffering, they need to have courage.

On Chinese New Year's Day, Xu Siyu arranged for people to distribute Eight Treasure Rice Pudding.

This time, the son was sent outside the city and the daughter was sent to Ci'en Hall. They were the ones who came forward to contact the victims and win their hearts.

Lezhou is moving steadily towards the next year, but places outside Lezhou are still struggling to survive.

Unrest and casualties occurred in places unknown to the people of Lezhou, and all this exacerbated the outbreak of the plague, which eventually spread to the people of Lezhou.

March can still be described as warm and cold, which is enough to show that the climate is unusual.

The snow melted, and the dense forests in the mountains were very humid. When the sun shone on them, people felt even colder.

The typhoid medicine at Huimin Pharmacy is sold out.

Xu Siyu asked someone to bring two carts from the City Lord's Mansion.

More and more refugees gathered at the city gate. Xu Siyu put the first wave of refugees into the city gate and placed them against the city wall, while the shelter outside the city gate was left for the new refugees.

The reason for this arrangement was that the city guards reported that the newly arrived victims noticed something was not right.

"Some of them have persistent fevers, or persistent headaches, or sore throats that make them speechless, accompanied by nausea and vomiting... These may appear to be symptoms of typhoid fever, but their onset is fierce. After seven days, the patient is exhausted and even the best doctors cannot recover. City Lord, I am certain that this is a major plague."

Xu Siyu had sent doctors to treat the victims outside the city gates. The doctors had used medicine to gradually cure the earlier patients, but after two months, only half of the patients had been cured.

According to medical records, in addition to isolating the patients, the decision was immediately made to use fire to kill the poison.

The poison is in the human body, and killing the poison is killing the person.

This is a big decision, and the doctor at the pharmacy can't make it, so naturally he has to ask Xu Siyu.

The plague is finally here!

Xu Siyu thought about it and realized that there was no way to hand over antibiotics, immunoglobulins, etc., so it seemed that she could only follow the ancient methods.

"What are Yicheng and Jincheng Prefecture doing?" Xu Siyu asked his ministers, also asking for their opinions.

Everyone was silent...