Changsheng County is almost about to change its name to Smallpox County.

Throughout August, Changsheng had two rains, and all production in the county was stagnant except for the Beiyang Army stationed in the camp, and the military hospital made every effort to take pox seedlings, most of which were used directly, and a small part was retained to be made into mature seedlings.

The people of the county, the leaders of all walks of life, and the two large tribes outside the county, the aborigines who need to be vaccinated are divided into batches, and the first ones have not been cured, the second ones have already developed pox, and a new batch of pox has begun again, so that the whole area is submerged in smallpox.

For a month, only 800 Beiyang infantry served as garrisons, and the Oriental military government concentrated all its forces to treat the people, the military doctors collected seedlings and treated the sick, and the soldiers opened the guard to strictly check the people for evading vaccination, which was even more tense than in wartime.

This matter is not over, Chen Mu's heart has been hanging until the third day of September.

Zou Yuanbiao led the military doctor Chen Shigong and the county officials to report: "There are 14,322 people in Changsheng County, 10,073 leaders and entourages of various departments, 19,920 of the bull riding department in the south of the county and the white horse department in the north of the county, and 3,455 people from the white horse department who escorted slaves for sale, all of whom have been planted with pox. ”

Zou Yuanbiao held the official document and read it aloud with his face raised, the pride on his face was very familiar to Chen Mu, and he was sure that he was an expression when he killed Haikou Zeng Yi in the surging waves at the critical juncture of his life.

Although he felt that he was much more handsome than Zou Yuanbiao now, the emotions in his heart should be similar.

In fact, the two of them looked like they were in a general mess at different times and in different scenes.

Zou Yuanbiao's face plate in the past was very rich and noble, but now it is only a month, and he has lost at least fifteen pounds, and he forcibly pulled out a horse face from the fat face plate, looking a lot more handsome, and he is capable.

Chen Mu was busy compiling the local terrain and news reported by hundreds of villages with Yang Tingxiang, looking at Zou Yuanbiao's expression, the corners of his mouth slowly hooked, and then calmed down, just holding the pen and asking, "How many people died?" ”

Zou Yuanbiao's pride was like a fire, and he was so puffed out by this sentence that he didn't even have any sparks left, he put down the official document, lowered his hand and said: "At present, there are more than 200 people who have died of smallpox...... There will be more deaths, handsome. ”

More than 200 people.

The three people in the room all knew what smallpox was all about, and they knew even more about what was going on, but in fact, they had planned for the number of people who would die of smallpox if they failed to plant pox, and this expected number was very terrifying - three thousand five hundred.

But the number is expected to be different from the feeling of the death that really happened in front of the eyes, especially for doctors, Changsheng County Military Hospital originally had more than 100 military doctors, and this time 200 military doctors were selected from the second phase of Beiyang as a supplement to carry out their war pox.

Of these more than 300 people, everyone knows the number of 3,500, which is enough to shake any firm heart.

What made them firm was another possibility, that is, there was no pox, and at least 20,000 people would have died in this plague on the scale of Changsheng County.

Even so, Zou Yuanbiao was still at a loss for what to do.

The day before the smallpox was heard, he was still drinking wine, and the groom was wearing an official robe and a black veil, and his spirit was flying; The bride wore a red phoenix crown, and everyone was beaming.

During the feast, the young brother of the groom pretended to have the courage to toast him, and he remembered that the child was dark-skinned, worked in the sawmill, saved up for nearly two months' wages and changed into a Jinghai suit in the tailor's shop, and did not wear it until his brother got married.

At that time, the magistrate also smiled and said that the dark to the depths is purple.

The child said that when he got married, he would also borrow an official robe from the government, and Zou Yuanbiao responded with a smile.

Who knew that only half a month had passed, and the young man had failed to get pox, and he had not been able to get better from smallpox, and the last period of time was very painful.

He could no longer borrow an official robe from himself.

Zou Yuanbiao has been thinking about why the groom came to tell him the news, leaving only one sentence of 'my brother is unlucky, don't blame the government' and left.

But Zou Yuanbiao knew that he had killed the child, and if they had only isolated the people who had brought smallpox from the north, the child would not have died at all.

Chen Mu put down the pen he was holding, leaned over to the back of the chair slowly, calmly looked past Zou Yuanbiao, who opened his mouth but didn't say anything, turned to Chen Shigong, and asked softly, "Will a thousand people die?" ”

This is the smallest casualty in their estimates, the best case scenario.

"It's not yet known at this point."

Chen Shigong is much calmer than Zhixian, he has experienced many things that are more terrible than death, and said in a calm tone: "Most of the people vaccinated in early August have recovered, and there are still more than 800 people who have not recovered; More than 3,000 people who were vaccinated in the middle of the year have not been cured; In the second half of the year, there are acne, but at the current scale, 800 is better than 1,000. ”

"That's right." Chen Shigongyu reported: "The marshal asked the military hospital to focus on recording the characteristics and complications of smallpox, which has been recorded, and more than 40,000 words have been recorded in detail; In addition, there are six quarantine books, why did the marshal do this, and the next step will the military medical battalion be distributed to various places to continue to plant pox for the people? ”

Chen Mu raised his eyebrows, nodded slowly, pushed the book on the table in front of him and said, "I guess you can see it too." Finally, let's hurry up and make mature seedlings during this time, with enough mature seedlings and a large number of experiments on dilution levels, the mortality rate can be reduced in the future. ”

"Migrants have established nearly 1,000 villages within a 500-mile radius, received more than 400 returns in August, and there are traces of natives in many places, and they will also be vaccinated in the future."

"It's a war. Don't be sad, don't be compassionate, there is no real compassion except to win the war, perfect the pox seedlings, and save the people of this land from smallpox. ”

Chen Mu raised his hand and arched towards Chen Shigong, and said, "Then return to China with the best and most mature means to make smallpox disappear!" ”

"We should be glad it's smallpox, and we're not afraid of it, but what if it's another plague? Physician Chen, think about this, you are a person in the medical Tao, with the hands of a living person, think about this, what if a catastrophic plague occurs in the Ming Dynasty in the future? ”

He knew there would be a plague, but he didn't know when it would come, in the past, he could see the problems of the huge empire but there was no way to solve it, and now he tried to patch it economically, militarily, but this time the smallpox that happened in Changsheng County gave him a wake-up call.

It is not only the New World that needs to face the plague, but the Ming Dynasty also has to face the plague.

And it is a plague more terrible than smallpox, at least smallpox can inoculate the vaccinia, and those who have been vaccinated are not afraid, but what about the plague?

Changsheng County is a perfect demonstration of the towns and suburbs under the plague epidemic, production is completely stagnant, currency is out of circulation, the economy is close to collapse, and law and order is extremely chaotic, all thanks to tens of thousands of vaccinated King Kong not bad.

If it weren't for the Beiyang Army, Chang Sheng would have collapsed long ago.

No matter how strong the army, no matter how great the system, no matter how prosperous the economy, the emergence of a plague that swept the whole country was all in vain.

"There will be a plague in the Ming Dynasty, yes, there will be a plague in the Ming Dynasty."

Chen Shigong still looked as usual, but in the process of his nod, Chen Mu saw extra firmness in the doctor's eyes.