stubborn thief

Ten miles outside the east gate of Xi'an Fucheng, on the east bank of the Bahe River, is the marshal's army camp.

"This bastard!"

Liu Chengzong's cursing roar came from the Chinese military tent. Wang Wenxiu, Zhang Xianzhong, Shi Xiang, Zhang Tianlin and others stood outside the tent with frowning eyebrows.

Two days ago, Wei Qian'er's request for help from the plague reached Xianyang.

Liu Chengzong immediately put aside all his affairs and asked the gentry to wait in Xianyang and the army to stand outside Xi'an. All his remaining energy was devoted to collecting supplies to deal with the plague.

Even the school captains who went to various counties to clear the land put aside their farm matters and were busy collecting supplies in each county. They collected what they could, donated what they could, and bought what they could. In order to get things, they used all means Use every possible means.

Because of the lack of money, he even had people put up notices in 13 counties in six states, announcing that the plague had conquered Shanxi, Henan and Tongguan. Anyone in the states and counties who could provide help with material supplies and show their talents would be rewarded to civilians, tenants, servants, and craftsmen. Officials are registered as official officials.

Outstanding ones will be awarded crowns and belts in the field, and will be promoted to civil and military officials.

Even if the students who formed a group to train against the heavenly soldiers earlier can make a contribution, they will be exempted from the responsibility for the uprising.

Of course, if those people don't contribute, they will be punished even more.

Liu Chengzong believed that when the plague struck, the preparation of epidemic materials could play a decisive role in the small camp of Wei Qian'er's camp with 5,000 soldiers and the large one in the marshal's palace with 100,000 soldiers and horses.

Not only a huge amount of various medicinal materials, but also gunpowder, sulfur, realgar, shochu, masks, burqas, smokers, bedding, ropes, etc., to name a few.

These supplies were specially selected by Liu Shishi to prepare for this plague.

Based on the urgent reports from Yang Qi and Wei Qian'er, as well as Liu Chengzong's conjecture, he estimated that the plague that ravaged Shanxi and Henan was the Great Plague that had been prevalent for more than ten years in the late Ming Dynasty.

Because there are only a few types of large-scale plagues in this era, it is not difficult to guess.

The most common four-season epidemics are influenza and typhoid fever; tuberculosis, also known as tuberculosis, is very common; malaria and cholera are extremely contagious and painful, but their fatality rate is not so great that it would scare the army to collapse.

Even because the onset of these two diseases is painful and the course of the disease is long, sick soldiers need the collective strength of the military even more.

The only two plagues that can collapse an army are smallpox and plague.

The marshal's army was not afraid of smallpox, it could frighten the army to the point of mutiny, and there was no other disease except the plague.

As for plague, it is actually more difficult for rats to infect humans.

The first is that during famine periods, few people catch mice to eat, just as few people fish and hunt during famine periods.

It's all difficult physical labor, and the energy consumed to get that little thing is too much, far beyond the energy obtained from food. It is actually less consumed than sitting at the wall.

The second is that people generally do not have the habit of eating raw meat, especially raw rat meat.

This disease is transmitted from rats to humans, and the main mode of transmission is fleas.

Therefore, preventing rats alone will not eliminate disasters. Preventing rats and fleas at the same time is the key.

This is also the reason why the plague spread very easily in this era. When people see the strange phenomenon of rats moving out en masse and dying in large numbers, they usually take precautions against the rat corpses.

But fleas are so small and so pervasive that they can easily be ignored.

After a person is infected, the wound will ulcerate and invade the lungs, making the person a new source of infection.

So once discovered, it is difficult to suppress it.

The focus of Liu Chengzong's collection of supplies was also to prevent fleas.

Such as sulfur powder, realgar, and soju.

The Marshal's Army is casting cannons in Yaozhou and other places in the north of Xi'an Prefecture. Sulfur is one of the by-products of iron-making, and the output is very large. It has a very good effect on repelling insects.

Taking a bath with sulfur powder can make the body smell unpleasant to fleas for a short time.

The output of realgar is not large, and it is mainly used to mix into soju in trace amounts, which can make people smell from the inside out in a shorter time, and can kill bacteria in the body.

However, the consumption of this thing in actual use is not large. After all, it is poisonous. Adding it in a trace amount can kill bacteria in the body. Adding it in a large amount has another effect.

Kill the drinker.

Of course, in addition to this, the key point is to wear a mask and seal the cuffs and trousers with ropes to prevent fleas from getting into the clothes. At the same time, fumigate the clothes and bedding with sulfur in a fumigator and dry them in the sun.

The fumigation box is easy to collect. This thing is a multi-purpose tool in the Marshal's Mansion. The fumigation box for smoking bows and arrows was used by Mi Layin to smoke horse meat earlier.

The horse meat will now be smoked and can be sent directly to Huayin for use in smoking clothes.

Liu Chengzong made so many preparations that he ordered Yu Linlang to rush to Wei Qian'er's camp at night and convey his order: the supplies will be delivered immediately, and you are ordered to isolate the infected soldiers quickly and stay in place for three days. Fighting with the Tongguan garrison.

According to his thinking, not many soldiers were infected earlier. As long as this batch of supplies is delivered, it is estimated that the number of deaths can be reduced to 300.

Then his soldiers took sulfur baths, applied sulfur powder, drank realgar wine, tied ropes into their trousers and cuffs, wore masks, face masks, and protective burqas, and rushed into the epidemic area with the smell of hell.

Those sick men from Tongguan Guard cannot be their opponents, whoever comes will die!

No matter how well-prepared you are during this process, it is impossible to avoid contracting the disease 100%, so let’s relax the number by 200.

The treatment process of the infected soldiers also gave the Marshal's Mansion an opportunity to observe the plague, understand its course and symptoms, prescribe appropriate medicines and prescriptions, and at the same time determine its route of infection to prepare for the future.

After all, this plague will continue to rage in the Central Plains for several years or even more than ten years. This is only Liu Chengzong's first encounter with him.

In other words, the loss Liu Chengzong could accept psychologically was five hundred.

In his opinion, this number was already exaggerated. Five hundred of the elite of the three battalions of the Marshal's Mansion were killed in each battalion. This was a huge loss that had never been seen before.

Just thinking about it can make him cry.

As a result, just half an hour ago, the dusty Yu Linlang returned from the foot of Huashan Mountain and entered the Chinese military tent with a frown on his face.

Wei Qian'er didn't see the letter at all. Before the letter was sent, he had already led a large battalion to rush to Tongguan.

Lion Liu is going crazy!

How about a camp that big like me?

More than 700 officers and more than 4,000 soldiers, ranging from generals to generals, were sent away like this?

Liu Shizi vented all his anger on the commander-in-chief and the top chair in the tent, all of which were smashed to pieces by him. He also hurled all kinds of insulting and polite words in the tent.

Several generals outside the tent wanted to go in to persuade them, but they were all stopped by Wang Wenxiu.

How long has Wang Wenxiu been with Liu Chengzong? Ever since he and Yang Yao led Guyuan soldiers into Liu Chengzong's account, they have been working as close subordinates, and they know best the virtues of Liu Chengzong's anger.

As long as no one persuades you, the destructive power can be said to be very limited.

But if they go in to persuade you at this time, it will be like adding water to the frying pan, and things will be out of control. What's more, Wang Wenxiu listened to the angry curses in the tent and had no doubt in his heart that if Wei Qian'er appeared in the handsome tent at this time, his head would be torn off by Marshal Liu.

But it's not a problem for a few people to just stay outside.

After all, not everyone thinks like Liu Chengzong that Wei Qian'er's actions are impulsive and stupid.

In fact, everyone outside the account felt that Wei Qian'er did the right thing.

Just like Zhang Xianzhong, his face was unabashed and full of admiration for Wei Qian'er's march into Tongguan.

He whispered to Wang Wenxiu and Shi Xiang outside the tent: "General Wei did a good job. They are all infected anyway, so why not kill them while we can? The general is a bit too harsh. With this merit, he survived." Don’t you want to be made a count?”

"You'd better not mention this to the commander."

Wang Wenxiu psychologically understood Liu Chengzong's anger. After all, after all the preparations, Wei Qian'er's rush to Tongguan was basically in vain.

Wang Bearded asked himself, changing place, he could probably wait for Liu Chengzong's order.

But this is not because he is stronger than Wei Qian'er, it is simply because he can't come up with any ideas.

He is a prudent and upright person. Liu Chengzong has methods and orders, and he can execute them if they are sent to him.

But if Liu Chengzong had no better way, he would definitely miss the opportunity. If the Tongguan defenders came out, it might cause the plague to spread to Huayin County.

Wei Qian'er can't be so decisive.

So in his opinion, Wei Qian'er's approach was fine. It couldn't be said that he agreed with it, but was completely admired.

In the final analysis, Wang Wenxiu could understand that Liu Chengzong was angry, but he believed that Liu Chengzong's anger was not to blame Wei Qian'er but Liu Chengzong himself.

Because in his eyes, Liu Chengzong was an outrageous person with extraordinary abilities. Others should not treat him as a mortal, and he should not treat us mortals as extraordinary.

How could a mortal, upon hearing of an unheard of plague appearing in a distant place, come up with a full set of preventive measures in just half a day, and proceed with the collection work without hesitation?

In fact, if it weren't for Liu Chengzong, this matter would have been stuck at the stage of collecting supplies.

Just because of some unfounded speculation, the entire Xi'an Prefecture was mobilized to collect a large amount of supplies. What should I do if it doesn't work?

No one objected, simply because this decision to approach ghosts and gods has been verified many times in the Marshal's Mansion.

It's so common that when Liu Chengzong says it, people immediately put down their minds and go ahead to implement it, without feeling weird or outrageous at all.

Therefore, on the one hand, Wang Wenxiu acquiesced to Zhang Xianzhong's statement and recognized Wei Qian'er's achievements.

On the other hand, he raised his eyes and looked at the sky, his lips trembled slightly, and he said to Zhang Xianzhong: "The commander-in-chief will definitely tell you that you have a problem with your head, and of course you will appreciate another guy with a problem with his head."

"Hey, is there something wrong with my head? At least I'm talking to someone, look at that one."

Zhang Xianzhong whispered, pouting in the direction of Zhang Tianlin.

Wang Wenxiu looked over.

Zhang Tianlin, who couldn't sit still, was grinning and hugging Liu Chengzong's horse, winking and talking animatedly, muttering something in a low voice, and laughing nervously from time to time.

Zhang Xianzhong said matter-of-factly: "If we are all lunatics, don't despise anyone. Of course, having said that, if we appoint a group of lunatics as generals, I, Mr. Zhang, don't know who has the greater responsibility."

As he said that, he raised his eyebrows towards the handsome tent.

Wang Wenxiu and Shi Xiang both laughed.

After a long time, the handsome tent finally became quiet.

Liu Chengzong walked out of the tent, waved to Yu Linqi, and ordered: "Change the tables and chairs in the tent and tidy them up."

"Brothers..." Liu Shizi greeted everyone as usual. He glanced at Zhang Tianlin and said, "Stop teasing Qingshi. Don't you have your own horse?"

Liu Chengzong now has three treasures, a green lion, a white elephant and a roc.

Green Lion and White Elephant are his two mounts. The former is a small stallion that is a cross between a Hequ horse and a Mongolian horse. It is big and strong, with good strength and endurance. It has green hair all over its body, but it has a white patch on its forehead and four hooves. White palm.

The white elephant was a tribute horse sent by Chuhuer Ubas, the younger brother of Batur Hutaiji. At that time, a total of eight horses were brought, and this was one of them.

Although it is a mare, it is stronger than a green lion, and it is not difficult to gallop even if it carries Liu Chengzong in full armor.

The most important thing is that it produces milk for one-third of the year. Not counting feeding foals at night, it produces more than four pounds of milk every day, which is very friendly to supplement energy in the wild.

As for the roc, it is a flock of vultures that migrate with the army.

Zhang Tianlin, who was telling the green lion a story, heard this and quickly cleaned up the green lion's messed up mane and stepped forward.

Then Liu Chengzong handed him a letter and said, "I saw on the road that Wei Qian'er was too impulsive. You have to go support him and try to bring that battalion back alive."

Zhang Tianlin instinctively took the letter and accepted the order, and then reacted: "Commander, bring that battalion back alive?"

He said to himself that whether he could survive in the past was a problem, and it would be a bit difficult to bring Wei Qian'er's camp back.

Liu Shizi said angrily: "Try your best, you had three things to do in the past..."

Liu Chengzong said, first raising a finger: "First of all, protect yourself. Send a batch of supplies first and set up camp in Huayin. The rest are being produced and will be sent to Huayin in a few days. The supplies will be sent to Huayin in a few days." Leave them all there and take them as you wish, don't go to Tongguan."

"I guess it won't be a big problem for him to capture Tongguan, but the next plague will kill that battalion, so the second thing you have to do is to let Wei Qian'er lead the troops out of Tongguan, and after Tongguan, Find a place to camp in the east, then clear Tongguan and bomb it again."

Blow it up again?

Zhang Tianlin suspected that she heard wrongly: "Commander, won't it be useless if Guancheng is blown up?"

"It's not about blowing up the city. Yaozhou is making rockets for you. They don't have iron bombs, but sulfur powder wrapped in paper. Before you enter Tongguan, go to Guancheng to release them first to drive away the insects."

"After entering Tongguan, use a pump to spray the liquid. Burn the corpses, clothes, bedding, etc. of the Tongguan bannermen that will come into contact with them if they can. If they can't be burned, spray them with pesticides. If they can't be sprayed clean, pull them out to dry."

"Wei Qian'er is divided into two camps. If two are not enough, he will be divided into four. To ensure that Tongguan is clean, he will pull the soldiers in his camp who are not infected with the disease into the pass. Those who are infected will be treated in Guandong. Once the medicinal materials and supplies are available, they will be pulled into the pass. Wengcheng.”

"The two doors are not allowed to be opened at the same time. If you close the outer door, your soldiers will put supplies into the urn city, then withdraw and close the door; if you open the outer door, his soldiers will enter the urn city to get medicinal materials, and then close the door again. The soldiers who closed the door will use sulfur powder. Spread it all over Wengcheng, do you understand?"

Zhang Tianlin nodded confusedly, having never seen Liu Chengzong's method of preventing the plague.

But Liu Shishi didn’t need him to understand, he just needed to remember and execute it, and then said: “The third thing is to find out what kind of plague this is, how you got it, and what happens if you lose your ability to fight a few days after getting the disease. How to treat it, test prescriptions and medicines.”

"Method." Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed to the letter in Zhang Tianlin's hand: "It's all written in the letter. Just go and follow the instructions and observe the epidemic soldiers in batches to understand the disease...Brother."

After explaining these things, Liu Shizi took a deep breath, his eyes were a little red, and he cupped his fists towards Zhang Tianlin and said: "I rely on you to bring all my brothers back, and bring Wei Qian'er back alive. "

"I'm going to give him two hard punches!" (End of Chapter)