Liu Chuanhai clenched his teeth, clearly recalling some unpleasant memories. Zhao Zhili, Sun Wei, Du Kangyong, and the other officials didn't look too good either. Their past wasn't that pleasant either.
Xiao Ruxun's northern land reform killed many people, but it also gave many a chance to make a comeback.
Most of the current officials were outstanding during the land reform and became local officials. Many of them came from ordinary or even poor families. Being bullied and starved was the most vivid memory of their childhood.
The doctor's words struck a chord in their hearts.
Now that they had made a comeback, they had food to eat, clothes to wear, status, and power. But when they dreamt of the past at night, their hearts were filled with sorrow and tears often flowed down their cheeks.
For thousands of years, precious herbs and tonics had never belonged to the common people. When they fell ill, they would either grit their teeth and endure it, or boil something they could find and drink it to try their luck. A small cold could kill a person, and many people did not receive any medical treatment from birth to death.
That was why longevity was so sought after, and there was even a saying that one would mourn for happiness.
There were medical centers and doctors, but to most of the poor people in the country, it was beyond their reach. Medical services did not belong to them, and they could only wait for death.
When the people prosper, the people suffer. When the people die, the people suffer.
Xiao Ruxun had personally written more than a hundred of these eight words. She had ordered people to mount them and hang them at the main entrance of every government office in and out of the royal court. Every official would see these words before they went to work every day. They would see these eight words that spoke of the vicissitudes of life and the sorrow and helplessness of the people.
Thinking of the sadness, Liu Chuanhai could not help but shed a few lines of tears. He quickly wiped them away and said, "Let's go down and take a look first. I will report to His Majesty after I understand the specific situation. His Majesty said that if we do not eradicate the locust plague, Daqin will never have a peaceful day."
The officials nodded, a sense of mission welling up in their hearts.
As soon as Liu Chuanhai arrived, he immediately brought the order of 'not touching water bodies' to the local government, and had the officials spread it out, telling them that if there were any local people who were suffering from Big Belly Disease, the local officials must absolutely not touch any water bodies, boil water to drink, and wait for instructions from the imperial court for everything else.
Everything could be chaotic, but not the government and the army. The local government must first protect the government and the army so that they could carry out the order. Once the government and the army were in chaos, it would be extremely difficult to carry out the order.
After carrying out this idea, Dantu County immediately entered a state of emergency. Liu Chuanhai brought the emperor's order to mobilize less than a thousand troops to assist in errands. He mobilized three hundred regular troops to Dantu County and escorted them all the way to Xiangyang Village in Shiqiao Village.
After arriving at Sunward Village, the group first visited every household in the village and saw several families with big bellies. These people had been treated by the doctors sent by Zhao Zhili with medicinal materials, and they began to recover slowly. Their abdominal distension was obviously reduced. When they saw Zhao Zhili, they all knelt down and kowtowed to him in gratitude.
Zhao Zhili hurriedly helped them up and asked if they had the habit of drinking raw water and playing in the water. They said that they did.
The officials looked at Liu Chuanhai, and Liu Chuanhai immediately ordered the officials beside him to carry baskets around the village. Under the guidance of the farmers, they went to the farmlands and small river ditches to check.
"It's these places. Fish with the nets. Pay attention, don't touch the body of water. You guys catch him, don't let him fall."
Liu Chuanhai ordered the officials to fish with nets along the river and in the paddy fields. At the same time, he set up a stove and began to boil water. When the water was boiling, the officials also fished out a large number of snails.
"There really are so many!"
Du Kangyong and the others' expressions changed.
However, the chairman of the Xiangyang Village Farmers' Association said that there were many of these things. They could be found everywhere in the paddy fields and the river. When there was not enough food, the villagers would fish these things out and cook them.
Liu Chuanhai immediately threw these snails into the boiling water. He fished out a lot of them and cooked them for seven or eight pots.
"His Majesty's order said that in order to find the snails that can spread poisonous insects, we should collect as many of these snails as possible, and then put all of them in boiling water for half an hour until they are all cooked to death. The poisonous insects can't withstand the high temperature and will all be cooked to death."
Du Kangyong asked again, "What should we do if we find those snails? There are so many snails, what should we do? "
"His Majesty said that only those kinds of snails can make the poisonous insects grow, so as long as all the snails are eliminated, the poisonous insects will naturally not be able to survive and will all die. In this way, this disease can be stopped."
Liu Chuanhai replied.
"But according to what you said, the whole middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are densely covered with these kinds of snails. How many are there? How many people will be affected? How should we deal with it? At present, there is only one Xiangyang Village, but what if we find more villages with the same disease? What should we do? "
Du Kangyong was very aware of the crisis. He suddenly remembered that when he was carrying out the land reform, he had seen patients with the same big belly in several villages.
Those were in different places in Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian …
He realized the seriousness of the problem.
"His Majesty already knew. Otherwise, why would he put the plague of locusts and the plague of insects together? His Majesty has already made long-term preparations to deal with this. Once the appearance of the snails is confirmed, His Majesty will immediately order all the counties and villages along the Yangtze River to immediately mobilize to carry out mass extermination of the snails. "
"Mass extermination of snails?"
Du Kangyong's expression changed greatly. "That is not a small matter. It will take a lot of time and a lot of people to organize."
"So we will carry out investigations in many places to find out where the big belly disease has affected and how big it is. Then, we will report to His Majesty to make preparations. After the court has come up with a feasible strategy, I guess we will have to invite you local officials to the capital for a meeting to discuss the specific details of this problem."
Liu Chuanhai revealed the specific information to Du Kangyong. Du Kangyong thought for a while and indicated that he knew everything.
"I understand. Everything after that will depend on Doctor Liu. We will do our best to support you."
Du Kangyong expressed his support for Liu Chuanhai. Liu Chuanhai expressed his gratitude and put forward his own request to Zhao Zhili.
"County Magistrate Zhao, from the current situation, Dangtu County is a pest disaster area. We need to immediately start propaganda to prevent the insect disaster. We need to inform the local people of all the currently known methods. Every household must know.
Go door to door and tell them that if they encounter patients with big belly disease, they must register them. The county will arrange for medicinal herbs and doctors to treat them. If the medicinal herbs are not enough, we will need Magistrate Sun and Du Futai's help. If there is a gap, we must report to the central court as soon as possible and let His Majesty know. His Majesty will allocate the funds and medicinal herbs accordingly. "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
