Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 101 Ten Years' Plan
Upon hearing that there was a fear of an epidemic in the army, the prime minister contributed his experience in dealing with epidemics in the army before the emperor could decide how to deal with it.

The first thing to do is, of course, order the soldiers to screen out those in the army who may have been infected with the disease.

Secondly, all people with symptoms of the epidemic and those who shared the same tent with them were moved from their original residences and relocated to concentrated areas downstream of the water source.

Finally, a kind of "epidemic-repelling powder" that can drive away epidemic diseases is distributed, and people with symptoms of epidemic diseases are asked to wear it and smell it.

This "epidemic-repellent powder" is made of realgar, borax, saltpeter, atractylodes, and ginger powder. It is not expensive and is said to be effective.

Military officials with a salary of 600 dan or above were given extra musk and bezoar in the anti-epidemic powder and were required to wear it day and night to prevent the disease.

In addition, add the fumigation of mugwort, and the patient drinks ginger herbal soup every day. That's basically it.

There are many miasma in the south, and these are the valuable experiences accumulated by the Prime Minister during his expedition to the south.

In this era when people generally have a very idealistic understanding of epidemics, knowing that you need to be isolated if you have an epidemic is already beyond the reach of most people.

There was no way around it. At that time, people's understanding of the plague was still very primitive.

The vast majority of people at the bottom of society believe that this is the work of the plague god.

So those who had some extra money at home would go to the most authoritative Taoist priest of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect to ask for talismans.

Either hang it in front of the door, or burn it directly into talisman water and drink it.

Those who were cured said it worked.

As a result, the concept of the "plague god" became more and more deeply rooted, and the Five Pecks of Rice Sect became more and more authoritative.

It even surpassed the traditional "Nuo dance to drive away the epidemic" ritual, and more and more people began to believe in the Five Pecks of Rice Sect.

However, some knowledgeable people believe that whether or not one gets the plague is determined by one's wealth or poverty, and that the cause of the plague is the imbalance of yin and yang and abnormal cold and heat.

Cao Zhi lamented his misfortune in his work On Epidemics:

“Some people believe that the plague is caused by ghosts and spirits.

“But if you look closely, you’ll find that most of those who died from the disease were poor people who wore coarse clothes, ate wild vegetables, and lived in shabby houses made of thorns and thatch.

"But those aristocratic families who live in grand mansions and enjoy the luxury of luxury rarely suffer.

"This is clearly a disaster caused by the imbalance of yin and yang, and the abnormality of cold and heat. Yet, foolish people are trying to suppress it by hanging talismans. This is ridiculous."

Like Cao Zhi, there are many people who hold the view that "imbalance of yin and yang brings about epidemics."

Most of them also vaguely knew that they should not come into contact with people infected with the disease.

However, this non-contact is only limited to direct contact with the limbs, but people do not know that the disease can also be transmitted through the air, saliva, and contaminated water.

Sima Lang, Sima Yi's elder brother, also died in the Jian'an epidemic.

When there was a major epidemic in the army, he personally inspected the situation, delivered medicine to the sick soldiers, and died of the disease himself.

Then Cao Cao, who was personally leading the expedition to Huainan, saw that there was a serious epidemic in the army and that they could no longer fight, so he brought the plague-infected troops back to Yecheng.

Then this terrible plague began to sweep across the north.

When the plague ravaged the world, all administrative intervention measures became ineffective.

Isolation does not exist.

The poor people have to chop wood, fetch water, and farm to exchange for daily necessities. They cannot be quarantined even if they want to. They either starve to death or die of illness. They have no choice.

People with a strong conscience, perhaps out of filial piety and family affection, regard isolation as an inhumane scourge.

Even if parents and children were infected with the plague, they were unwilling to isolate them. Instead, they personally provided them with medicine and food, and eventually the entire family died of the disease.

When people have no other options, they turn to ghosts and gods for help. Eight years ago, a major epidemic broke out in Shu. An official wrote to Emperor Zhaolie, begging him:
Please appoint the plague ghost as a general, build a temple to worship him, so as to avoid the disease.

What's the use of it?
Therefore, striving to control the plague at its source is the only solution to reduce losses.

Soon, doctors confirmed that several of the beaten laborers were indeed sick, and most likely had contracted some contagious disease.

Liu Chan, the prime minister and others suddenly felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

At nightfall, all the laborers and slaves near Wuzhangyuan returned to their respective camps.

The military officers brought by the Prime Minister from Longyou were quite experienced in dealing with epidemics, so the Prime Minister arranged for these military officers to organize soldiers and go to the camp to check for sick people.

Liu Chan was frightened and hurried to stop him.

The army brought by the Prime Minister is still in relative isolation from the people on Wuzhangyuan who may be carrying the disease.

If the Prime Minister's military officers were allowed to walk around the Wuzhangyuan epidemic camp, and if it turned out to be a highly contagious disease, then we would be doomed.

Liu Chan then first ordered that the people brought by the prime minister from Longyou should not have any contact with the people on Wuzhangyuan.

All the soldiers who had been in charge of guarding the prisoners for the past five days were gathered together, and military doctors were ordered to question and observe them to see if they had any symptoms of the epidemic.

Fortunately, not yet.

Afterwards, he ordered these soldiers to cover their mouths and noses with cloth soaked in strong liquor, and wear anti-epidemic medicine bags on their chests, and then go to each camp to check.

If we hadn't checked, we wouldn't have known that there were nearly two hundred prisoners suspected of being infected, with symptoms mostly including sudden high fever, chills, and headaches.

Twenty people were extremely weak.

And without exception, these extremely weak people have all experienced the first stage of sudden high fever and chills.

what is this?
This is truly a plague!

Everyone's expression changed.

Liu Chan hurriedly ordered all officers to return to the camp to check whether there were any sick Han soldiers.

Only then did they go to check the laborers and slaves brought from Shu and Hanzhong.

Finally, there is good news. Since the prisoners were originally confined and isolated, the epidemic does not seem to have spread to the Han side and is confined to the prisoner camp.

"Your Majesty, kill and burn those who are suffering from the plague!" Wei Yan was the first to make a suggestion in the emperor's camp.

Prisoners have no human rights to speak of, and many people agreed with Wei Yan's proposal to solve the problem at the source more quickly and efficiently.

Liu Chan immediately shook his head: "No, if we kill them, anyone else who gets sick will hide themselves. Once the disease spreads on a large scale, we won't be able to control it even if we want to."

Liu Chan estimated that there were probably many people in the prisoner camp who did not dare to say that they were sick for fear of being buried alive and burned.

In some places, epidemics are dealt with in such a simple and crude way.

Seeing that the emperor opposed his foolproof plan, Wei Yan looked displeased and fell silent.

Liu Chan seemed not to see it, and only said based on the experience of later generations in epidemic prevention:
“Move all those who are sick and their companions to the downstream of the water source, set up a separate village, and settle them together.

"All the soldiers who had guarded the prisoners within the past ten days were moved to other camps to rest. They were told not to panic, given some rewards, and given meat every day to appease them.

“In addition, all quarantined people’s eating and drinking utensils, daily clothing and bedding must not be mixed with others.

"All the toilet pits in Wuzhangyuan were filled with lime and re-dug.

“Those who are moved to another camp for isolation must go a hundred steps outside the camp to use the toilet and be buried immediately after use.

"Select capable personnel from the camp and order them to maintain order within the camp. Food, drink, and medicine will be delivered to the camp, and they will be allowed to collect them themselves. "Also, from today onwards for half a month, each army will increase their firewood collection. Cooks will boil water, let it cool, and drink it. No one is allowed to drink raw water. Anyone who disobeys this order will be punished with five strokes of the cane, and the punishment will be doubled for subsequent violations."

Liu Chan gave orders one after another.

All the officials in the camp were surprised.

I didn't expect that the emperor would attach so much importance to epidemic prevention, and I didn't expect that the emperor could come up with such detailed handling methods.

Liu Chan could only explain that he had seen similar records in the books in the palace and remembered them.

Regarding the quarantine, the ministers who had accompanied the Prime Minister on the expedition to the south had nothing much to say, it was just that the emperor was more meticulous and extreme in his approach.

What made everyone quite suspicious was the last one: all soldiers were forbidden to drink raw water.

In fact, Liu Chan began to promote the idea of ​​not drinking raw water in the army in March, but encountered great resistance.

First, firewood is a rare resource and collecting it is very labor-intensive. If more people do this job, there will be fewer people doing other things.

The second reason is that there is a real lack of containers to store cooked water. Drinking raw water is much more convenient. You can just scoop it up from the river and drink it. You don’t have to share a bowl with others. It seems cleaner.

Third, many people have been drinking raw water all their lives and don’t feel any harm from it. Instead, they resist cooked water and think it is unnecessary.

When Liu Chan was a child, he lived in the countryside. When he was tired of playing, he would scoop a ladle of raw water from the jar and drink it. At school, he would drink tap water directly from the faucet and would not listen to the adults and drink boiled water at all.

At that time, the Patriotic Health Campaign had been over for fifty years, and he had not yet formed the concept, let alone now.

Even when conditions were not favorable, the thirsty soldiers would scoop up the water from stinking ponds, muddy ditches, or raw water with animal carcasses floating on the surface and drink it without hesitation. They had no idea that the water could not be drunk or that it had to be boiled briefly to sterilize it before drinking.

Therefore, Liu Chan's proposal of "not drinking raw water" was hardly understood by his subordinates.

The soldiers cursed and complained that the matter was just for no reason. The military officers had a lot of things to do every day and were unwilling to spend time and energy on it, so it soon came to nothing.

Liu Chan could do nothing about it.

The policy is good, but the lowest-level administrative military officers do not understand it.

If you force them to do something, they will over-enforce your laws and be passive about other more important things.

By then it will be too late to regret, and it may even damage the emperor's prestige.

But now the epidemic has really come, and it is brought by people from Cao Wei. We must be extremely cautious. Even if the people below are unwilling, we must strictly implement it for a period of time.

Liu Chan originally wanted to organize a decent banquet in the camp to reward the civil and military officials who came back victorious from Longyou and relax their nerves that had been tense for a long time.

But now that the epidemic has broken out, there is no mood to hold a banquet. We just gathered together to have a simple meal and drink a few glasses of wine, and then everyone left and got busy.

The next day, those who needed to move to camp moved to camp, and those who needed to be isolated were isolated.

Anyone feeling unwell in the prisoner camp must report it immediately.

If someone is found to be sick but conceals the fact, he will be executed immediately. There is nothing to say.

The hygienic campaign of boiling water for drinking was also carried out in an orderly manner in the army.

This time the resistance was not as great. After all, the war was over, and the soldiers did not have much annoying things to do except daily training, so it was easier for them to accept it.

Furthermore, the prestige of Emperor Liu Chan had been greatly enhanced and consolidated in the past two months through victories in wars and the use of both kindness and force. The soldiers liked what he said and did not dare to easily sing against him.

Fortunately, other hygiene problems in the military are not serious, and there are special people to clean up domestic garbage and feces every day.

Although there are lice, fleas, flies and rats, they are kept as low as possible to an acceptable level.

The dirtiest ones were indeed the captives from Cao Wei, so it was no wonder that an epidemic broke out.

On the banks of the Weishui River.

Liu Chan walked side by side with the Prime Minister.

More and more land was reclaimed.

These places used to be farmland, so there are no big rocks or tree roots. It is not real land reclamation. As long as they are managed well, they will become a large piece of fertile farmland in three to five years.

"Guanzhong, once home to millions of households and boasting thousands of miles of fertile fields, is now deserted, with thousands of acres of fertile farmland reduced to barren hills. This is truly lamentable."

The Prime Minister couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the wasteland that was turning back into farmland.

Liu Chan smiled and said pragmatically, "By the time my father-in-law takes Chang'an, thousands of acres of farmland will have been reclaimed along the Wei River.

"If we plant beans and millet, the yield per mu will be equivalent to that of a small piece of land, and we can still get more than 100,000 yuan in grain in the autumn harvest."

A thousand hectares of land is equivalent to one hundred thousand acres.

Now there are 40,000 to 50,000 captives in Guanzhong. If all of them were mobilized, they could dig out 100,000 acres of land by hand.

By September, there would be no problem in reclaiming 500,000 acres of land.

Unfortunately, the loss of transporting grain from Hanzhong to feed so many people is too great. We cannot afford to feed so many people, and at least half of them have to be transferred to Hanzhong.

Otherwise, there is more to cultivate.

Liu Chan continued:
"The Prime Minister cultivated land and stored grain in Hanzhong in order to take Guanlong. Now that Longyou has been pacified, Guanzhong will soon be secured.

"If 50,000 men were stationed at Weibin, farming and defending, and wheat was planted in October, the harvest next summer would yield a million dan of wheat for military supplies.

"If you plant bean paste in May and harvest it in autumn, you can get another million bean pastes.

"In this way, we will no longer need to transport grain from Hanzhong, and we can transfer another 50,000 captive laborers to this place to cultivate wasteland and establish farms.

"After two or three years, the barren land will be transformed into fertile farmland, and we can generate a surplus of more than two million tons of grain a year. After another two or three years, we can store six or seven million tons of grain in Guanzhong.

“This is enough food for a hundred thousand people for three or four years.

"If we attack Wei with this method, we will be able to conquer everything we do. Within ten years, the world will be at peace."

After Liu Chan finished speaking, he had already walked to the bank of the Wei River.

There was a dragon-bone waterwheel over there. Just now, two servants were working hard on the pedals to draw water from the newly plowed land to improve the soil moisture. When Liu Chan was talking to the prime minister, they were driven away by Longxianglang.

The waterwheel was empty, so Liu Chan rolled up his skirt and stepped on it without caring about his image. As he started to push, the water from the Wei River quickly flowed into the ditch.

Rushing sound.

The Prime Minister looked at the emperor's increasingly broad back, and his expression became somewhat complicated.

Then he looked at Dong Yun who was standing behind him, as if asking Dong Yun whether he had secretly replaced the emperor.

Dong Yun also smiled with a complicated expression.

He didn't know what was going on. Who knew why His Majesty suddenly changed his personality?

The two looked at each other, smiled, and finally looked at the emperor together.

The emperor pedaling the waterwheel was still facing the Wei River with his back to the crowd. It was unknown whether he was really experiencing the experience of drawing water or thinking about something else.

The eyes of the ministers who accompanied him also became deep at this moment. It was unclear whether they were watching the emperor pedaling the cart to draw water, or thinking about the ten-year plan that the emperor had just mentioned.

(End of this chapter)