Chapter 512 The Great Disaster of Mankind Has Come

The East China Sea Governor's Office has moved from Sanji Island to Kyushu Island, and now the Ryukyu Governor's Office is located on Keelung Island. The layout of one south and one north completely controls the East China Sea.

Since the fleet of the Ryukyu Governor's Office can rush to the East China Sea at any time, Xu Shiying no longer has to worry about the Japanese anti-Ming coalition army coming to die.

While the East China Sea was ravaged by the artillery fire of the Ming fleet, the situation in the Nanyang countries was not optimistic, and even seemed more severe.

In this era of low productivity, labor is actually the greatest wealth, otherwise there would not be a very active slave trade in the Age of Navigation.

The smallpox plague is like an invisible undercurrent.

Since the second half of this year, this epidemic has been raging on every inch of land in Nanyang. It does not distinguish between rich and poor, noble and humble, and it willfully destroys people's lives.

It is precisely because of this characteristic that the nobles of Kalimantan Island, facing smallpox from the Indian Ocean, chose to flee far away, and even gave up their official positions and left.

"Sumatra, more than 20,000 people died of smallpox in July!"

"Sulawesi, more than 30,000 people died of smallpox in August!"

"Mindanao, more than 50,000 people died of smallpox in September!"

...

Unlike any previous disease, the spread and death toll of this smallpox epidemic are unprecedented, and there are even cases where more than half of the deaths in a region occur, and the highest mortality rate is 97%.

Of course, the information of this era is very closed, and no one will do statistics, so when the people of Sumatra are talking about flowers, Sulu still doesn't know what smallpox is?

Wen Xiangming is a businessman in Sulu. He has been wandering overseas for many years, but has gradually accumulated a certain amount of wealth and reputation. He has just returned from the Indian Ocean trade.

Although the Governor-General of the Indian Ocean can no longer engage in spice trade after the military control of Malacca, the pearls of Sulu are very popular in Tianzhu.

The trade went very smoothly. He accidentally collected a group of cattle in the Indian Ocean, and sold them to Ming merchants when he returned to Nanyang, making a lot of money from them.

Cattle were of little value in Sulu, but they were regarded as treasures in Ming. Even Ming laws did not allow private killing of cattle, and even kings and princes were punished.

When he just returned home, he did not notice anything unusual at first, but soon after, he began to feel unwell. First he had a headache and fever, and then a dense red rash appeared on his body.

Wen Xiangming thought he had caught a cold, but he thought that his body was still strong and he could get through it as long as he gritted his teeth. But the red rash soon turned into pustules, which were extremely painful.

At this moment, he also realized his own fragility, but he would rather exchange a large sum of money for health.

The family hurriedly invited the most famous local wizard. After carefully examining Wen Xiangming's condition, the wizard confidently prescribed medicine for Wen Xiangming to take.

Wen Xiangming's physical condition was getting worse and worse. The wizard's treatment did not work. Instead, when his family wanted to invite the wizard again, they found that the wizard had contracted the same disease and died.

"The wizard is dead?"

"What kind of disease is so serious?"

"It's over. If you get this disease, you will probably die!"

...

When seeing that the most powerful wizard in the country could not heal himself, many people began to pay attention to this strange disease that had recently become popular, and a panic spread rapidly.

Some wealthy nobles gritted their teeth and actually took their families and treasures and left the country by boat.

Wen Xiangming's condition deteriorated rapidly, the pustules broke, pus flowed out, and his body became weaker and weaker. Fortunately, the pustules began to shrink and dry, the redness around them disappeared, and gradually dried and formed a thick yellow-green scab.

The mortality rate of smallpox virus is 30%, and Wen Xiangming is undoubtedly a lucky man in front of the virus.

"What are you doing?" An armed team suddenly broke into Wen's house, causing panic among Wen's family members and servants.

The leader was the captain of the guard of the Eastern King, one of the three kings of Sulu. He pointed at Wen Xiangming lying on the bed and said, "The national master has divined that he is an evil pagan who brought disaster to Sulu. Today, he must be burned to death in exchange for the protection of the gods!"

"No!" When the wife heard that they wanted to burn her husband to death, she was shocked and stepped forward to stop him.

Wen Xiangming noticed that the captain's eyes were not right, and he immediately realized that something was wrong.

Puff!

The captain of the guard stabbed Wen Xiangming's wife with a sharp blade, and then ordered coldly: "This is an evil family, kill them all, no one will be left alive!"

Wen Xiangming was naturally going to be burned alive, but none of Wen Xiangming's family members would be left alive, but they would all be killed.

With an order, the massacre started immediately.

No...

Wen Xiangming, who was lying on the bed, saw his youngest son being killed with his own eyes, and immediately shouted with bloodshot eyes.

"Search!"

After killing all the members of the Wen family, the captain of the guard immediately ordered a search for Wen Xiangming's wealth.

Now there are rumors in Sulu that Wen Xiangming is the most business-minded businessman in Sulu. He has made a lot of money in maritime trade over the years, and his house can't hold all the money.

Although Wen Xiangming is not as rich as a country, his wealth must be considerable. In fact, the purpose of the national teacher's divination this time is not only to find the root cause of the new epidemic and explain it to the people, but also to swallow up Wen Xiangming's personal wealth.

"My goodness, these are all silver dollars!"

"Look, there is a lot of gold in it!"

"Haha... This is really a fat sheep!"

...

As the money hidden by the Wen family was unearthed one after another, the people present seemed very excited, as if the fat pigs raised in the family had finally come to be slaughtered.

The participants needed not to get a share of the meat, but they also got a little bit of soup, so they were very excited.

puff!

Wen Xiangming had felt that his health was getting better these days, but at this moment, his energy and blood surged, and then he fainted.

He finally overcame the illness and came back from hell, only to see his family members die tragically in front of his own eyes. Everything seemed so cruel.

Although Wen Xiangming's wealth has been found, and this amount of wealth appears to be considerable, the "crime and punishment" against him in the Sulu Kingdom will not stop.

East Palace, square in front of the gate.

Since the National Preceptor had found the culprit of the epidemic, especially when he turned out to be an evil heretic, a large number of people gathered to watch.

"Burn him!"

"He has brought disaster to our Sulu!"

"Burn him and burn away all his sins!"

…

When they saw Wen Xiangming being brought up, many people voluntarily denounced him, as if they wanted to kill Wen Xiangming, an evil heretic, with their own hands.

Wen Xiangming is now devastated. Faced with the condemnation of a large number of people, he is more of a self-mockery. It not only mocks the ignorance of these people, but also mocks one's own stupidity.

As a shrewd businessman, how could he not know that the main cause of his illness was not that he had made too much money through maritime trade over the years, but he had no protection in the country?

Even if he didn't come back from the disease this time, these greedy people would have already killed him. At my own expense, I made fun of Yan Tu, a maritime merchant from Malani country, who spent so much money to buy a Ming Dynasty certificate. It turned out that he was the sane person in the world, and the clown turned out to be me.

"Tie him up and prepare for execution!" the escort captain said coldly with a wave of his hand.

Originally, he planned to extract more wealth from Wen Xiangming. After all, there was no guarantee that the other party would hide the money elsewhere, especially Wen Xiangming's eldest son, who was missing, but burning Wen Xiangming to death was the order of the Imperial Master.

Wen Xiangming was tied to a log stake with bundles of firewood at his feet, intending to burn him alive. It's just that when things got to this moment, he was also despairing.

Being born in such a country, even if I was lucky enough to escape this time, I don't know what kind of crime I would be charged with next time. What's more, his heart was broken when his whole family was killed.

"set fire!"

With a crash, a torch was thrown towards the pyre.

The firewood at this time of year is very dry, and the pile of firewood burns quickly. The dry firewood crackles and makes people's hearts tremble.

"The evil is removed!"

"We are safe!"

"Thank you, Imperial Master, for helping us to resolve the disaster!!"

…

Seeing that the fire was already burning, the people around him were also happy, and many people even thanked their trusted national advisor.

Woo...

The conch horn sounded, and when the fire completely surrounded Wen Xiangming, the weirdly dressed National Preceptor led a group of people to sing and dance to ward off the disaster.

Seeing that the fire was about to devour him, Wen Xiangming felt an incomparable hatred for this country: "Take away my family's wealth and destroy my whole family! Even if I die now, Sulu will be plagued by the disease for three years!"

"Huh? Is he cursing us?"

"Damn, this is indeed an evil pagan!"

"It's over, I seem to feel uncomfortable too!"

…

The people watching heard Wen Xiangming's last curse. Although most people condemned Wen Xiangming, some people suddenly found that something was wrong with their bodies.

Wen Xiangming was not the only maritime trader in Sulu. The smallpox virus that was transmitted back to Sulu was not just one channel. The smallpox virus had actually been transmitted back to the country through multiple channels recently.

Today's maritime trade is not between the Ming Dynasty and other countries. In fact, there are also exchanges between countries, and some maritime traders coming from Kalimantan are also carriers of the smallpox virus.

Wen Xiangming was more like the amplifier of the epidemic. More and more people began to find themselves feeling unwell, and the initial symptoms of smallpox, fever and rash, gradually appeared.

Smallpox is a highly contagious and highly fatal disease.

Although the official data given is a mortality rate of 30%, the medical conditions during this period were worse, so the mortality rate was actually higher, with the highest record reaching 97%.

In fact, what is even more frightening is that even if your body produces antibodies and successfully survives it, it will leave marks on your body and even cause blindness in your eyes.

What's more, once you contract the disease, some external factors cannot be ignored, and Sulu's practice of burning Wen Xiangming to death is not an isolated case, it is even a very common practice among the ruling classes in Southeast Asian countries.

In fact, Nanyang businessmen also live at the bottom of society. Their wealth has been coveted to begin with, and now is the best time for those in power to loot it effortlessly.

"Let me go!"

"I really don't want to die!"

"Master, please save me!"

…

The number of abnormal deaths in Nanyang is rising steadily. Nanyang in this era has limited knowledge of infectious diseases, and they seem to be in a slave society, so many people are even killed directly by their masters.

Although this method seems very bloody, directly killing all infected people is actually the most effective solution to the current backward medical situation.

If every infected person was killed, the spread of the smallpox virus would naturally be completely blocked.

Of course, the scary thing about smallpox is that the virus is highly resistant and can survive in dry and low-temperature environments for several months to a year and a half. This is also one of the reasons why it reoccurs in many areas.

As October approaches, this low temperature provides a breeding ground for the smallpox virus.

Naturally, the epidemic in Sulu will not end just because they kill Wen Xiangming, nor will it be stopped just because they kill a group of infected people. In fact, the situation is getting worse and worse.

More and more people were infected with smallpox, and then they were labeled as evil heretics.

It is very ironic that some people applauded when they watched Wen Xiangming being burned to death, but within a few days they were visited by members of the royal guard, and they became the new protagonist from a spectator.

Originally, the smallpox epidemic was terrifying enough, but now coupled with human factors, the population of Sulu is gradually withering like a sea of ​​blooming flowers.

In October, a smallpox epidemic in Sulu caused a direct 30% decline in the population, and the epidemic was far from over.

A relatively rare scene occurred in the Sulu Kingdom. When they saw King Dong contracting smallpox and dying, the East King and the West King chose to take their families northward. They went to the capital of the Ming Dynasty in the name of paying tribute.

Although this is the place where they rule, it seems so insignificant in front of life, not to mention that this trip is mainly to avoid disaster. If the Sulu Kingdom really became a hell on earth, then they would not mind settling in the Ming Dynasty like the Dongwang branch.

As the smallpox virus spread to the Marani country on Luzon Island, the entire Southeast Asia was under the clutches of the smallpox epidemic, and a large number of people died every day.

Even if there is no treatment for smallpox in future generations, the current global vaccination plan is destined to be impossible to succeed, and the current epidemic in Nanyang may last for several years.

It’s just that in a few years, how many young people in the labor force will die, and how will their national strength be reduced, everything seems so bleak.

Facing this smallpox epidemic, not only ordinary people are very worried, but their rulers are also worried, and this year their willingness to pay tribute to Beijing is stronger than ever.

The Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia suffered from such a severe smallpox epidemic, and a large number of people died from the smallpox virus. Naturally, such an important matter was reported to the emperor. (End of chapter)