My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

Chapter 154 Smallpox

At the last morning court session in March, Li Longji listened to the reports of the ministers below the stage as usual. The Dali Temple Minister also reported the results of the investigation into Liu Lu, which also included the names of several ministers present.

After listening to the report, Li Longji narrowed his eyes, looked at the ministers who had embezzled money, and asked in a low voice:

"Is it true?"

"Your Majesty, I have also ordered people to investigate, and everything Liu Lu said is true."

As soon as these words came out, the ministers whose names were called by the Dali Temple Minister all knelt down with a plop, and each of them shouted:

"Your Majesty forgive me."

"I dare not..."

"It's unfair, Your Majesty!"

There are even people like this, who are so shameless as to say that they are being wronged.

Li Longji snorted coldly and said, "You can leave and wait for the people from the Censorate at home."

Now, those ministers knew that they could not escape and could only kowtow and leave.

Those ministers left, but at this time there was a man walking in the opposite direction from them and trotting directly into the Xuan Zheng Hall.

At this time, the eunuch standing next to Li Longji asked, "Who is this person in the audience? Why is he so rude?"

"Your Majesty, I bow to you. Long live the emperor." The official knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am from the Imperial Medical Bureau and I have important matters to report, so I offended you. Please forgive me."

Li Longji waved his hand and said, "I'm sorry, you are innocent. Please stand up and report."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The official stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the governor of Hejian County in Yingzhou has sent an urgent report that a county under his jurisdiction has been hit by a plague. As of yesterday, a total of 87 people have been infected."

"what!"

"Report!"

At this time, another person ran in, and Li Longji asked, "Is he from the Imperial Medical Bureau?"

"Your Majesty, that's right." The official said, kneeling on the ground.

"No need to be so polite. Just tell me what you want to report right away!" Li Longji said.

"Your Majesty, the governor of Changshan County in Zhenzhou has sent an urgent report that a plague has occurred in one of its counties, and as of yesterday, a total of 130 people have been infected." said the official.

Afterwards, dozens of people from the Imperial Medical Bureau came one after another, all reporting reports of plague.

The more Li Longji listened, the deeper his frown deepened. He took a deep breath and then ordered: "Send an order to the Secretariat to draft an imperial edict to conduct a comprehensive investigation of plague patients and set up sheds to isolate patients. Anyone who neglects this will be executed!"

"Yes!"

Then Li Longji asked: "What kind of plague is it? What are the symptoms of the patients?"

"Your Majesty, the epidemic has just broken out and we don't know what the disease is yet. Some people have high fever and headaches, while others have rashes on their bodies. But less than 30% of them died from the epidemic," replied an official from the Imperial Medical Bureau.

"Investigate! Isolate the patients first, and then find out what disease it is!" When he heard that someone had died, Li Longji's face became very solemn.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Li Longji thought for a moment: In the past, there were prisoners in these counties who were sent to Beijing because of money corruption. Some of them might have been infected with the disease. So he ordered:

"In the city of Chang'an, we will also conduct an investigation. Soldiers and bad people will be stationed at the 108 entrances to the wards to investigate everyone who enters. Then, we will set up tents outside the city. If there are people with the disease or suspected of being sick, they will be quarantined."

"Yes!"

……

After school, Chang An felt the carriage stop at the gate of Anrenfang. He frowned slightly, and then heard a voice coming from outside the carriage:

"Who's in the car? Routine check!"

Chang An opened the curtain of the carriage and revealed his figure. Only then did he see a group of soldiers standing in front of the gate outside the carriage, and the leader stood in front of the carriage, followed by a doctor.

"My name is Chang An. What can I do for you?" Chang An said.

The soldier naturally knew who Chang An was, but he still said, "Mr. Ji Kang, there has been a plague recently. Just in case, please get off the car and be examined."

Chang An nodded, and then he and Huaiqin got off the carriage. At this time, the doctor said, "Mr. Ji Kangbo, I'm sorry."

Chang An and Huai Qin stretched out their hands, and then the doctor stretched out his hands to feel their pulses. After feeling their pulses, he nodded to the soldier, and the soldier said:

"Jicombo, you may come in."

Huaiqin got on the carriage first, but Changan did not follow him and asked, "I wonder what this plague is. Can you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Lord Jikang. I was just following orders and I don't know the details."

Chang An didn't make things difficult for him. He turned around, got on the carriage, and went straight into Anrenfang.

When she returned to her home, Gu Li was still standing at the door, but she covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief. When she saw Chang An, she raised her empty hand and shouted:

"Chang Lang! Come in quickly."

Chang An walked forward, not knowing what Gu Li was going to do. As soon as he got in front of her, she pulled his hand away, and then heard her say, "Huaiqin, come in quickly!"

Only after everyone entered the mansion did Gu Li remove the handkerchief from his mouth and nose, and the doorman closed the door.

"I heard that there was a plague outside. Chang Lang should be okay, right?" Gu Li asked nervously.

"It's okay. Where's Mother Gu?" Chang An asked.

"I've been at home all day, so I should be fine." Gu Li shook his head, then took Chang An's hand and walked towards the room. "Chang Lang just came back, did you find anything unusual?"

"There are soldiers stationed at the gate, and everyone entering the block must be inspected," said Chang An.

"Have you heard what the situation is?" Gu Li asked again.

Chang An shook his head again and said, "No, I asked the soldiers at the gate, and they were just following orders and didn't know the inside story. I think there will be news in the next two days."

Gu Li nodded, and then took Chang An into the room. Chang An had just put the desk aside when Huai Qin walked in and said, "Sir, Sanniang, Prime Minister Song is here."

"Please come in and take us to our yard." Chang An clapped his hands, then walked out with Gu Li.

From time to time, Song Jing walked into the yard.

"Sir." Chang An raised his hand and saluted.

"Yonghe." Song Jing walked into the pavilion and said directly, "Yonghe, did you know that there is a plague during this period?"

Chang An nodded and said, "The students know."

"That's good. When we went to court today, dozens of urgent reports were sent to Xuanzheng Hall, all of which were about the plague." Song Jing said, "There have been outbreaks of plague in more than a dozen prefectures, and the source is unknown."

"Has it flowed into Chang'an City?" Chang An frowned and asked.

"Thinking in the worst direction, there should be some. Because a while ago, a lot of officials were arrested for the evil money issue, and several of them were from those plague areas."

This is dangerous!

Chang An glanced at Gu Li beside him and found that the other party was also looking at him nervously.

"Not only that, when he was in court, the current emperor had already issued an order to arrange soldiers at each gate to check the pulse of everyone entering and leaving the block." Song Jing continued, "If anyone has a fever or vomiting, they will be sent to the shed area outside the city."

"Since the order was issued, some people have been sent out of the city. It is estimated that there are no less than a hundred people."

Chang'an's expression became even more solemn. Chang'an City was so prosperous and there were many residents in the city. If there was one patient, there would inevitably be ten or a hundred patients.

"Do you know the symptoms of this disease?"

"I just mentioned it when I went to court..." Song Jing twisted his beard and thought for a while, then said, "The people from the Imperial Medical Bureau said that this plague has two symptoms. One is fever and headache; the other is rash and pus on the body. I heard that some people died from the disease."

"We still need to wait for the Imperial Medical Bureau to come and diagnose what kind of plague it is. During this period of time, Yonghe, you should stay indoors as much as possible. I will ask for leave from the Imperial College for you."

Chang An didn't listen to what Song Jing said later, but began to think about it - fever, that is, fever, accompanied by headache. Some people also have rashes on their bodies. Why does this disease sound so familiar?

Chang An frowned, and then two words suddenly popped up in his mind as if there was a display screen -

smallpox!

"This is smallpox!" Chang An blurted out.

Song Jing and Gu Li were both a little confused. The former asked, "Smallpox?"

"Sir, don't you know about smallpox?"

"I know that smallpox patients have pus-filled rashes on their bodies, and three out of ten die," Song Jing said. "But Yonghe, you haven't even seen a patient, so how do you know it's smallpox?"

Chang An explained: "Smallpox has no obvious symptoms at the beginning; but after about half a month, you will start to have headaches, back pain and fever; finally, a rash will appear, and then death will occur."

"The two cases of which you have heard, sir, are probably different attacks of smallpox."

But Song Jing was a little skeptical: "Yonghe, have you studied medicine?"

"Study medicine?" Chang An was stunned for a moment. This is common medical knowledge known to everyone in later generations. "Not really studied, but I know a little bit."

Song Jing shook his head and said, "Forget it. This is a plague. It's a serious matter. It's better not to talk nonsense."

"Sir, please believe me, this disease is definitely smallpox." Chang An said with certainty.

Song Jing looked at Chang An's firm and confident look, and couldn't help but believe him. The last time he saw him so confident was when he was discussing the treatment of evil money last year.

"Are you so sure?"

Chang An took Gu Li's hand and said, "I swear on my wife's behalf that this disease is definitely smallpox."

When Song Jing heard this, he believed it to a point - he even dared to swear an oath on Gu Li. He boldly asked: "Does that mean, Yonghe, you know how to cure smallpox?"

Chang An shook his head and said, "Smallpox cannot be cured."

Chang An knew that from the time smallpox was discovered until it completely disappeared, no one had been able to find a cure for it.

When Song Jing heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but then Chang An said:

"but......"