Chapter 319 The Emperor Is Faced with Two Things He Cannot Help but Do

Unconsciously, February has arrived.

Thanks to the court's adoption of scientific epidemic prevention policies of later generations, the smallpox epidemic in the capital was effectively controlled by eradicating one block and unblocking one block.

Although the most serious Rizhong Block was still under lockdown, everyone knew that the smallpox epidemic was isolated in Rizhong Block, which made people feel more at ease.

As more and more blocks in the capital were unblocked, and the court encouraged everyone to wear masks when going out and wash hands with soap frequently when returning home, the streets of the capital gradually returned to their former prosperity.

"Haha... the exam is finally open!"

"I thought it would be postponed to March!"

"This time the court is still powerful, this epidemic prevention policy is effective immediately!"

...

The court originally decided to postpone the date of the joint examination, but now the Ministry of Rites has officially confirmed that the joint examination will be held on February 14, causing the attention of the candidates to quickly shift to the meeting.

"My neighbor died of smallpox!"

"Fortunately, the court took measures, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous!"

"It's strange that the court quickly closed all the districts as soon as the epidemic in the capital appeared!"

"What's so strange about this? The efficiency of the current court is high. Those officials who are in office for nothing have been dismissed by the emperor!"

...

Although the smallpox epidemic has not yet ended completely, the people in the capital are becoming more and more confident in the Hongzhi Dynasty, but they know that the end of the epidemic is not far away.

But many people don't know that it was Zhu Youtang who first discovered the smallpox epidemic in the palace, so he quickly arranged for Shuntian Prefecture and the Ministry of War to adopt a policy of closing the districts.

In Wuyi Hall, sandalwood rose.

After several days of careful care by Yang Zisu, Zhu Youtang had a mark on his arm, the sparse beard under his chin grew a little longer, and his eyes looked more determined.

Every failure makes a wiser person.

In the previous life, I always thought that being an emperor would allow me to do whatever I want, but after experiencing all kinds of struggles, I found that the emperor was far from being as stable as everyone thought.

If it was the end of the dynasty, I would face the prying eyes of those ambitious people or foreign races. Even the emperor in peacetime could not be guaranteed to encounter conspiracies and intrigues, and even a bowl of soup or a piece of white silk could really change the dynasty.

Although many days had passed since the Ma Wensheng incident, he knew that he still had to be on guard, especially since the dignitaries in the capital might not really be honest.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but this matter should not be rushed. Cowpox can certainly break smallpox, but its cost is definitely not something the court can afford!" Li Si, the Minister of Revenue, stood near the door and advised seriously.

Zhu Youtang looked up at the shrewd old man, but asked seriously: "Mr. Li, no matter how much money is spent on this matter, it is worth it. How much is the budget?"

He was not satisfied with this isolated and passive treatment of smallpox epidemics. During this period, he also made bold attempts and finally "found" the best way to prevent smallpox.

Since people who have been infected with smallpox once will not be infected with smallpox again, based on this immunological principle, the court has successively adopted the smallpox clothing method, smallpox plasma method, dry seedling method and water seedling method.

The method of the ancestors is actually to actively infect with low-symptom smallpox, so that the body can produce smallpox antibodies, thereby avoiding the harm caused by smallpox.

Like the smallpox clothing method, it is actually to borrow the clothes of mildly infected people, so as to actively infect themselves with smallpox virus and produce smallpox antibodies.

In the many experiments of the Ministry of Justice, although there was one death case, the other 49 prisoners tested successfully obtained smallpox antibodies.

It is said that the mortality rate of 2% is relatively low, but the population base of the Ming Dynasty is too large after all, and 200,000 people can die for 10 million people.

After many experiments, it was proved that the best solution was to actively infect cowpox, and produce smallpox antibodies with the same effect by infecting this non-lethal cowpox.

However, facing this optimal method of vaccinating cowpox, Li Si, the Minister of Revenue who was in charge of the purse of the Ming Dynasty, stood up to stop it, pointing directly to the core of money.

"Your Majesty, cowpox prevention and treatment requires oxen. This move will not only cause huge losses to oxen, but also affect spring plowing and autumn harvest. The loss of agricultural production will be immeasurable. Moreover, it is difficult for this matter to be implemented from top to bottom, and local officials and people may not seriously implement it. To put it bluntly, the lives of some people in our places may not be worth as much as a cow!" Li Si knew that the emperor in front of him really wanted to save the people of the world, but he also dutifully pointed out the losses and drawbacks of this matter.

Not to mention how many oxen would be consumed and how much agricultural production would be affected in many places.

Farming cattle are the lifeblood of the people. Many people would not accept the plan of letting their own farming cattle be infected with cowpox and have a considerable risk of death, not to mention that such precious farming cattle are usually in the hands of landlords.

In addition, the number of cowpox in a cow is limited after all, and it is difficult to achieve one cowpox per person in the country, so this prevention and control method cannot be implemented nationwide.

Huh?

Liu Jin originally thought that vaccinating cowpox was a trivial matter, but now after hearing the analysis of the Minister of Revenue, he turned his head silently and looked at the emperor.

Zhu Youtang has never been a paranoid person. Realizing that vaccinating cowpox nationwide is indeed an almost impossible plan, he seriously asked: "According to Li Qing's opinion, what method should the court adopt?"

After Li Si's analysis and combined with the practical results of later generations, he also realized that he had made a mistake.

Although smallpox was eradicated by cowpox in later generations, it is more accurate to say that smallpox was eradicated by cowpox vaccine, not cowpox as many people mistakenly believe.

At that time, China already had the technology to cultivate cowpox virus through small animals such as newborn calves, that is, a large amount of cowpox could be obtained without using the people's oxen, thus greatly reducing the cost of producing cowpox vaccine.

Even with the transportation conditions of later generations, the government clearly eradicated smallpox in 1950, but encountered various non-cooperation during the promotion process, and smallpox was not completely eradicated until after 1961.

The current scientific and transportation conditions are actually far inferior to those of later generations, so the court's desire to eradicate smallpox by planting cowpox can be said to be a fantasy.

It's just that cowpox cannot be promoted, but the smallpox coat method, smallpox plasma method, dry seedling method and water seedling method may not be impossible to implement.

"Your Majesty, I think the court does not have the conditions to implement the root cause method now, so we can take the next best option and adopt the root cause method!" Li Si's eyes flashed with a gleam of wisdom, and he expressed it seriously.

Zhu Youtang actually did not advocate compromise, and asked calmly: "How to cure the root cause?"

"The court has set up a smallpox officer in each prefecture, and the smallpox officer will learn the prevention and treatment methods, and promote the vaccination method in the local area for prevention. If a smallpox epidemic occurs in a local area, the epidemic prevention method in Beijing will be followed to control the spread of smallpox! Although smallpox epidemics occur in local areas from time to time and there are inevitably casualties, local areas can prevent and control the spread of smallpox epidemics on their own, which is enough to lose the small and save the big!" Li Si knew that things needed to be chosen, and immediately proposed his own plan.

Liu Jin's eyes lit up slightly, and he found that although this plan was not perfect, it achieved the best results with the least investment, and he could not help but silently prepare to add tea for the emperor.

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but smile bitterly, knowing that he really couldn't save the people of the world, but he said actively: "Since we can't cure the outside, then let's prevent it from outside!"

"Your Majesty, what is prevention from outside?" Li Si said in confusion.

Zhu Youtang took a deep breath and said directly with the spirit of an emperor: "All people going to Southeast Asia or the East China Sea need to be vaccinated before going out to sea, so as to prevent them from bringing smallpox back home!"

With the current resources, it is indeed impossible to vaccinate all people in the country, but the court can allow all people going out to sea to be vaccinated, which can effectively prevent smallpox from entering China.

In addition, if they are required to be vaccinated before going out to sea, this can also improve their ability to survive overseas, so that they will not be infected with smallpox and die overseas.

"Your Majesty is wise, I will take care of this matter and must implement your Majesty's defense policy!" Li Si, the Minister of Revenue, said with a smile, and saluted with great admiration.

Zhu Youtang knew that Li Si was a rare and capable minister, and he also expressed his position: "I will trouble Li Qing to take care of the external defense. As for the internal defense, I will follow Li Qing's words: the court has set up a smallpox officer, but how to select the smallpox officer and what kind of treatment will he receive? You, the Ministry of Revenue, please come up with a specific plan!"

"I obey your order!" Li Si said excitedly when he saw Zhu Youtang adopt his suggestion.

Zhu Youtang saw that the discussion on smallpox was over, so he earnestly instructed: "Hold the highest meeting the day after tomorrow to discuss the specific terms of the luxury tax. You, the Ministry of Revenue, must make full preparations to strive for the smooth implementation of the luxury tax!"

Now that the epidemic has been controlled, there have been no major casualties in the capital, and no major casualties have been caused, so the luxury tax will naturally be put on the agenda.

In fact, this epidemic has helped the court. Because the dignitaries have experienced a thrilling smallpox epidemic, and the court's epidemic prevention measures are appropriate, the court's prestige has risen to a higher level.

Now, with the prestige of the court, the introduction of the luxury tax will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort.

"I and my colleagues in the Ministry of Revenue will not disappoint your majesty!" Li Si now pointed to the luxury tax to consolidate the Taicang, and immediately said very confidently.

Zhu Youtang sent Li Si away, and then summoned the cabinet chief Wan'an.

Power makes people young, and this is not false at all for the internal chief Wan'an.

Although Wan'an is one year older this year, he looks more energetic than last year, his face looks very rosy, and his eyes seem to be less cloudy.

Although the power of the cabinet has been greatly reduced, the throne of the cabinet chief has become more stable, and Wan'an is still the nominal head of all officials in the Ming Dynasty.

Wan'an is very satisfied with his current identity and status, and even feels fortunate that he decisively burned the house last year, and greeted Liu Jin respectfully when he came in.

"Lord Wan, the Ministry of Justice just reported!" Zhu Youtang gave Wan'an a seat, and then said with mixed feelings.

Wan'an was an old fox who was good at observing words and expressions, and immediately caught the change in Zhu Youtang's expression: "Your Majesty, is there any bad news in the prison of the Ministry of Justice?"

"Ma Wensheng and several other important backbones have been infected with smallpox, and several have died in prison!" Zhu Youtang sighed and shared the news.

When he caught Ma Wensheng and others in one fell swoop through Cui Taiyi, he thought that the forces hiding in the capital were completely eradicated by himself, but now it seems that this is not the case.

First of all, there is a person called "Pao Shou" behind this force, and secondly, Ma Wensheng and others were infected with smallpox too strangely, and it seems more like someone killed Ma Wensheng and others to silence them.

In addition, from Cui Taiyi's mouth, they learned that they had a secret laboratory for cultivating smallpox, but when Jinyiwei arrived, it was empty.

Now Ma Wensheng and other important key members have died of smallpox infection, and the mysterious smallpox breeding laboratory has disappeared, which fully shows that there is someone behind Ma Wensheng.

Zhu Youtang originally thought that he had cleaned Jin Yiwei clean, but judging from the feedback from this operation, Jin Yiwei may still have someone else's hidden agenda.

If he had known such a result, he would have directly used the search office of the Metropolitan Procuratorate instead of the Jin Yiwei who had been entangled with various forces earlier.

When Wan An heard the news of Ma Wensheng's death, he seriously guessed: "Your Majesty summoned the old minister for this matter. I am afraid he wants to hear the old minister's opinion on how to handle this incident, right?"

"Yes, that's what I meant!" Zhu Youtang nodded seriously, knowing that Wan An had never been a paper-paste elder.

Ma Wensheng naturally could not escape death. Whether he was infected with smallpox or was pushed to the guillotine has become unimportant. What is important is how to characterize the matter.

In this epidemic, there is actually a big difficulty.

Although the source of the epidemic has been clearly investigated, it is not suitable to be made public. In particular, the means by which Dr. Cui created the smallpox epidemic cannot be made known to the world.

But if the court does not disclose the truth, it will be difficult to determine the charges against Ma Wensheng and others, and even allow Ma Wensheng and others to escape the condemnation of history.

Now that Ma Wensheng and other key members suddenly contracted smallpox and died, Zhu Youtang became even more hesitant about whether to make this man-made disaster public.

Wan An thought seriously for a moment, then expressed his opinion seriously: "Your Majesty, I have a way!"

"What method!" Zhu Youtang said immediately.

Wan An did not say it directly, but deliberately kept it secret and said: "Your Majesty, do you still remember Ni Yue, the former right minister of the Ministry of Rites?"

"Of course I remember, I want to seize the door within three years!" Zhu Youtang said with a flash of resentment and ridicule in his eyes as he thought of the farce in the morning.

Wan An met Zhu Youtang's gaze and immediately offered advice: "Your Majesty has no heirs, and Ma Wensheng and others are secretly planning to murder your Majesty. Ma Wensheng and Dr. Cui also exchanged letters as evidence, so it can be considered a crime of treason!" "

Zhu Youtang's eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately realized that this processing method was indeed exquisite.

After this incident, he also understood why later generations of rulers wanted to conceal the truth. There were indeed some criminal facts that should not be fully disclosed.

For example, Ma Wensheng is known as a gentleman of the current dynasty. If the world knows that this virtuous minister values ​​his own interests most, it will not only affect the good image of the officials, but also discredit the current court.

Of course, the most important thing is that the smallpox epidemic can spread artificially should not be spread. This incident is likely to induce some people to follow suit and cause local epidemics.

The Ming Dynasty was like a giant ship. Under the helm of Zhu Youtang, it sailed past the smallpox epidemic in the capital in early spring and was heading towards the season of warm spring flowers.