Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 76 Relief
Beijing in early October has become a terrifying city of despair.

At this time, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was not only suffering from severe cold, but was also swept by the plague.

Since August, thousands of corpses have been released from the Nine Gates every day, and the number is still rising, causing panic in the entire capital.

The description of this plague in the history books is: "The children in the neighborhood are absolutely haunted by it. There are coffins and no coffins. There are more than [-] people in the nine gates."

At this time, a candidate county assistant who came to the Ministry of Officials to fill in the vacancy, with a round face and broad shoulders, was frowning, looking at the capital like a ghost town, shocked and speechless.

Seeing his hesitation, the subordinate staff of the Ministry of Officials hurriedly waved and said, "Go quickly, you will be infected with the plague if you stay on the street for a long time."

"Don't be afraid, I'm a doctor."

Chen Yanfu shook his head and said with a foolish smile.

"Doctor? The doctor can't save him, he can only die."

The subordinate staff was helpless, and said sadly: "In the end, I can only add business to the coffin shop."

Chen Yanfu hesitated for a moment, and then said: "I have been in the capital for more than a month, I observed carefully, it seems that there is a way to cure the disease."

"It's just that it's not mature yet."

"Cure the plague?" The petty official said in amazement, "Then you go quickly. A dead horse is treated as a living horse doctor. It's going to die anyway, so why not treat it?"

"Right."

Chen Yanfu smiled: "It can be regarded as doing good deeds and accumulating virtue."

As he said that, he walked back to the rented courtyard. There were originally five or six families, only him and the landlord's family.

"Cough-cough-"

At this time, the landlord, who was like a wild monkey, was begging a certain doctor: "Doctor, save my son, I only have this one seedling, I can't cut off the incense."

"It's hopeless." The doctor sighed and said, "It's hard for Hua Tuo to be alive. While there is still time, let's choose a better coffin. It's hard to find a coffin in the capital now."

Saying that, he shook his sleeves and left directly.

When Chen Yanfu saw it, he patted the landlord on the shoulder and said, "I'm also a medical student, let me try!"

"You?" The landlord was taken aback for a moment, then said helplessly, "Just try."

As he said that, he looked tired and began to rummage through boxes and cabinets, as if he was looking for money.

Chen Yanfu looked at the child, panting slightly, raised his armpit: "It really is pimple plague."

After contemplating for a moment, he found a wooden basin, and took out a strap from his pocket. A row of silver needles was particularly eye-catching.

"呲——" Aim at the pimples and lumps, pierce directly, press the meridian, squeeze the blood,

"呲呲-"

Black blood sprayed continuously, and there was a bit of stench in the blood.

After a while, a shallow layer accumulated in the wooden basin, and the blood gradually returned to normal, so he gave up.

Looking at the lump of flesh, he wanted to cut it off, but if one was bad, he would die more easily, so he had no choice but to give up.

"What's going on?" The landlord raised his head, looked at the wooden basin, and the pale-faced child, his face paled in shock.

"The poisonous blood has been released, it should be fine."

Chen Yanfu narrowed his eyes and said softly.

"It's so hot!" I saw that the child's whole body suddenly became hot, he kept pulling his clothes, and shouted that he was thirsty, and his movements became obvious.

"Is this all right?"

"It should be fine."

Chen Yanfu said in a deep voice: "I was weak before, but now I am hot and thirsty. I must have regained my vitality. Let's talk about it after two or three days!"

After a few days, the child was really well.

For a while, a famous doctor in Fujian was rumored to be able to cure the plague.

Immediately, more than [-] people were diagnosed by him every day.

The plague in the capital has been alleviated.

Emperor Chongzhen, who lived in the imperial city, also heard the news and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief:

"It's good that the plague can be brought under control."

Apparently, the emperor still didn't understand that the plague that had swept across the entire north had seriously injured his capital, and even the already decayed capital had no soldiers to use.

Chen Yan, the first assistant, had to remind: "Your Majesty, from April to August, there is no rain in the south of the Yangtze River, and the locusts cover the sky and invade Jiangzuo, Zhejiang."

"It was accompanied by the plague, and the tragedy was astonishing. In Tongxiang County, Jiaxing Prefecture, maggots crawled from the house to the street. People died of vomiting blood from their mouths without disease. Many people committed suicide by throwing themselves into the river, crying loudly..."

Hearing these words, Emperor Chongzhen could not help but shudder: "How difficult is the people's livelihood!"

"Then exempt Jiaxing Mansion's arrears from previous years!"

"Saint is wise."

Chen Yan twitched his lips, but he couldn't say the words of exempting Jiangnan, so he had to bow down.

"My lord—" At this moment, Wang Chengen ran over in panic, his expression pale.

"what happened?"

Emperor Chongzhen put down the memorial, raised his eyes and asked, "Where is the disaster again?"

"It's the news from Tongguan."

"Tongguan?"

Chen Yan's eyelids twitched and his heart panicked.

"What?" Chongzhen took the memorial in his hand, looked closely, and his face was also pale:

"Is this true? Sun Chuanting wouldn't have fled from the army, found a place to live in seclusion, and escaped by feigning death?"

Hearing this, Wang Chengen bowed his head and remained silent.

Chen Yan was shocked.

Sun Chuanting is dead?Isn't Tongguan lost?
"Your Majesty, Governor Sun should not be here."

Chen Yan couldn't stand it anymore, these words were too mean.

"That's not even possible."

Emperor Chongzhen sneered and said, "Zhou Yanru watched from the sidelines, eating, drinking and having fun, and reported my success every day. Wu Chen was busy for two or three months, and finally said that he was powerless."

"Sun Chuanting may also point to the same."

Hearing this, Chen Yan sighed in his heart, bowed his head and remained silent. Next, there might be some ugly words!

It is really sad that the monarchs and ministers are so untrustworthy.

"As for his posthumous title, let's talk about it after we get some solid news!"

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hands, and once again buried his head in the memorial, as if he was diligent in serving the people.

Chen Yan had to leave.

Since the emperor got the news first, it might spread throughout the court after a while, so let's take a closer look at it then!

After he left, Chongzhen's indifferent face changed instantly, and he was even extraordinarily ruthless:
"Sun Chuanting is a piece of trash, he can't even defend Tongguan, so what do he do for food?"

"The one hundred thousand army is gone, and Tongguan is gone, so isn't Shaanxi also gone?"

As he spoke, he seemed to be aware of its political influence immediately: "Qin Fan, Qin Fan—"

"The number one vassal in the world, if he is captured, where will my face go? How should I explain to my ancestors?"

Wang Chengen lowered his eyebrows and was pleasing to the eye, and had already sent the other court ladies and eunuchs away.

After venting for a while, Emperor Chongzhen calmed down, panting heavily: "This intruder is becoming more and more difficult to control."

"My lord, take care of the dragon body!"

Wang Chengen said with a distressed face.

"Fengyang was burned before, and Qin Fan was captured today. My Majesty, in the eyes of the clan of the world, is losing face even more."

Chongzhen took a deep breath, raised his spirits and said: "It's okay, there is still chaos outside the pass, as long as we find another capable minister to put down the intruders, there is hope for everything."

ps: The blood pricking method, combined with heavy snow, delayed the plague in the capital. This is true, but the name of this Fujian doctor is unknown. Unfortunately, he was later killed by the army.

In addition, after the death of Sun Chuanting in history, Chongzhen suspected that he was not dead or even captured, so he never bestowed a posthumous title.

(End of this chapter)