Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Mao Shi.

Shen Zheng directly sent Xu Zhijie to Zhuque Gate. The rain was still falling, but it was much lighter than before. Zhuque Gate was located on high ground and could not be flooded.

Before leaving the imperial city, she secretly rejoiced.

Fortunately, her official rank was low at the moment, so she didn't have to attend court, but it was different for Xu Zhijie and others.

Despite working in fear all night, they still had to kneel in the Golden Palace and shout "Long live the emperor" when the sun rose in the morning.

"Flat body."

It gets dark when the sky is low. Today, the candlelight in the Golden Throne Hall is twice as bright as usual.

After all the officials stood up, the emperor glanced around the hall, asking someone, "Why didn't Prime Minister Cui come to court today?"

Eunuch Hong immediately followed up, "Your Majesty, Lord Cui contracted an acute illness yesterday and is ill. At 3:00 AM, Deputy Lü sent someone to the palace to report this to Prime Minister Cui."

He did not deliberately lower his voice, and the officials had different expressions after hearing it.

Is there such a coincidence?

As soon as the Huihe Dam was completed, Prime Minister Cui fell ill?

Could it be that he was angry?

Gee...

This guy is really something. Seeing that it is a done deal, why bother to get angry with Your Majesty?

Yu Shizhang had been in the printing house for the past two days, busy printing criminal books. When he heard this, he immediately discovered something was wrong.

He first looked at Ji Benchang - his expression was unchanged, but upon closer inspection, he saw only a hint of gloating.

He looked at Yue Zhenchuan again - he was holding the report in his arms tightly, with a look on his face that said, "I'm so annoyed. Let's not talk about anything else. I want to submit a report to the Ministry of Works to reward people for their merits."

It seems that these two people are probably unaware of this.

His gaze shifted slightly, slid across Xu Zhijie's face, and then suddenly turned back.

——It’s you!

He coughed lightly, took a half step back, and motioned Yue Zhenchuan to change places with him.

Yue Zhenchuan didn't understand why, but he still moved to another seat obediently.

As soon as he stood still, Xu Zhijie chuckled, "What does Uncle want to ask?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Yu Shizhang knew he had found the right person.

"This uncle sees that Lord Xu looks haggard, as if he hasn't slept all night." Yu Shizhang pretended to raise his sleeve to cover his mouth. "Could it be that Prime Minister Cui is seriously ill and Lord Xu is worried?"

The probing words were met with an ambiguous sneer.

"My Lord, you are joking. Prime Minister Cui is ill, and there are doctors to treat him. I have no reason to worry about him."

After saying this, he wanted to turn to Shen Zheng again and took the initiative to say, "Perhaps it's because of the sudden torrential rain last night. Lord Shen and I went out of the city to open the sluice gates. We didn't sleep all night, so you look haggard. If you still have questions, why don't you ask Lord Shen after the court session?"

Yu Shizhang's eyes narrowed, and a sour smell emanated from him, spreading throughout the hall.

Shen Zheng is such a good girl, she is doing great things quietly again!

Hearing what Xu Zhijie said, the two of them might have already reached a consensus!

Suppressing his sour displeasure, he snorted softly, "Shen Zheng would certainly not hide these little things from me, but I still want to say one thing: Lord Xu has been an official for many years. Don't bully Shen Zheng just because she's young and inexperienced."

Xu Zhijie tilted his head, looking serious: "Of course not."

It’s okay if it doesn’t.

Yu Shizhang raised his eyebrows and secretly switched back with Yue Zhenchuan.

Without Yu Shizhang's harassment, Xu Zhijie's gaze fell back on Lu Fugong.

"Your Majesty," he said, "I examined Lord Cui last night. He had an acute illness caused by being caught in the rain. Although it was quite serious, he is recovering after taking medicine. However... for some reason, everyone in the Cui Mansion is saying that Lord Cui has smallpox."

smallpox!

All the officials gasped.

"If you are not careful with your diet, you may get sick. If you speak carelessly, you will definitely cause disaster! How can you talk about a serious disease like smallpox so casually?"

"In my opinion, how could anyone in this mansion have such audacity? This statement...is probably not groundless."

"What do you mean, Lord Chu? Could it be that the Prime Minister has really contracted smallpox? If so, I'm afraid all my colleagues will..."

"Ridiculous! In my opinion, could it be that Commander Lu heard it wrong?"

Everyone looked at Lü Fugong, who held the scepter in his hand and said sincerely, "Don't worry, my Lords. I have just made it clear that Lord Cui is suffering from an acute illness, not smallpox. As for the rumors in the Cui Mansion, I have heard them with my own ears and would never dare to deceive Your Majesty."

The topic was brought back to the emperor.

He went with the flow: "Prime Minister Cui has fallen ill, and I am deeply worried. However, the smallpox epidemic cannot be underestimated. Looking back on last year, when the people of Xingning Prefecture were infected with the epidemic, how tragic it was. Jiang Zhiming, tell us about it."

Jiang Zhiming had been worried all day and busy for most of the night. Now that he was suddenly called out, he was still confused.

"minister......"

He looked troubled, as if trying to decide his words. Suddenly, an idea struck him, his eyes gleaming. "I believe that while smallpox is terrifying, there are methods to prevent and treat it! Last year, when Xingning Prefecture was in dire straits, it was Doctor Li from Tongan County who invented the cowpox vaccine, saving tens of thousands of Xingning Prefecture residents from dire straits! So, why not promote the cowpox vaccine and completely eradicate smallpox?"

After he finished speaking, he felt complacent.

I am really a genius. After a little thought, I guessed the purpose of His Majesty and acted like a flatterer.

The emperor nodded in satisfaction, but all the officials were terrified at the mention of "pox".

"Your Majesty! I think this is inappropriate!" Lu Shenglin, Junior Secretary of the Imperial Guards, stepped forward and said, "It is unwise to allow the people to be infected prematurely for a plague that may arrive at any time!"

Although he did not know Lu Fugong's plan, he knew that cowpox was invented by a doctor under Shen Zheng. If cowpox was promoted, Shen Zheng's status in the hearts of the people would naturally rise.

This is really disadvantageous to them.

Looking at today, since Prime Minister Cui is not here, he must step forward even more. When Prime Minister Cui recovers from his illness and returns, his contribution will be credited to him!

As he expected, his words were echoed by many officials.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I agree. It would be better to keep the cowpox and wait..."

"Wait for what?" Yu Shizhang interrupted ruthlessly, "Wait until smallpox makes a comeback and leaves you bedridden, then vaccinate you with cowpox?"

The official didn't dare to challenge Yu Shizhang. Lu Shenglin was filled with fighting spirit. "My Lord, I don't understand. Why is this wrong? As the saying goes, if you have an illness, treat it. Since you and I are healthy, why should we treat it in advance?"

This statement again attracted the approval of many officials, but Yu Shizhang just laughed out loud.

Lu Fugong, Ji Benchang, Yue Zhenchuan, Xu Zhijie and others also looked at Lu Shenglin as if he were a fool.

Lu Shenglin was secretly shocked and immediately recalled what he had just said, but he didn't find anything wrong.

He straightened his expression and asked, "Why is your Excellency laughing at me?"

"What a good Junior Minister of the Imperial Guards." Yu Shizhang's smile faded, his eyes sharp. "Cowpox has been treated for over half a year, and you don't even know what it is!"

After saying this, he immediately turned around and shouted to the emperor, "Your Majesty! This old minister wants to report the Junior Minister of the Imperial Guards Temple for dereliction of duty!"

Lu Shenglin looked at the emperor in panic, only to see that the emperor had a stern expression and his eyes were full of displeasure towards him.