Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 460 The Plague
In winter, the wind is howling and the sky is freezing cold.

The land of Guanzhong was covered with white snow, and snowflakes floated in the sky.The snow came very hard, and the snow and smoke flew across the sky, fast and powerful.The surrounding roads and trees were shrouded in a dim and confused snow color.

The donkey dragged the heavy cart and walked with difficulty, leaving deep car marks one after another in the snow.Wielding whip ropes, Wei Jun's household drove the donkey cart forward desperately.

"Ah-uh-ah-uh." The beaten donkey neighed and moved forward desperately.

However, behind their donkey carts, there were more soldiers carrying supplies, crunching and crunching on the snow, leaving footprints and panting heavily.

These households were farmers from farmland near Luoyang, who were conscripted by Cao Rui as auxiliary soldiers to transport the grain and grass that arrived in Guanzhong for the army.

As he was walking, the hooves of the donkey pulling the cart softened, and he fell to the ground. No matter how much the farmer beat him, he couldn't get up, neighing sadly.

Chen Tai wrapped his head in a velvet cap, feeling the strong wind, waved his hands and said, "It's hard to march on the snow, take a break."

"promise!"

Chen Tai went out with the army and had the duty of supervising food.It is necessary to transfer some materials from the Kanto for the army, and the burden on him is not light.

Before resting for a moment, he suddenly heard someone shout in panic: "Someone died."

Chen Tai led his personal guards and drove his horses to drive away, only to see a person lying on the snow with heavy clothes and a blue face, not as if he had frozen to death, which made everyone dare not approach.

Sitting on the horse, Chen Tai raised his whip and asked, "What's wrong with this man? Did he freeze to death?"

The acquaintance beside him tremblingly said: "General Qi, Li Chonggui probably died of freezing, maybe because of illness."

"Ill and dead?"

"Exactly, before we set off, Li Chonggui seemed to be suffering from an illness. Many people in Luoyang City already have this illness." The fellow villager said.

When Chen Tai heard the words, he couldn't help thinking of the letter his father Chen Qun sent to him, saying, "Winter, Luoyang is plagued by a great epidemic, and the country is worried."

The word plague in ancient times has different meanings, representing different diseases. The original meaning of "plague" should refer to a state of malaise, dullness, and stagnation, and it also means "warm", which means full of energy and warmth. 'Plague' is caused by the imbalance of 'Qi' in the meaning of the ancients.

And 'epidemic' is the same as 'epidemic', and all people are sick when an epidemic occurs.At that time, people believed that the cause of the disease was caused by evil spirits.For example, Liu Xi, a Confucian scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, wrote "Shi Ming": "Plague is also a slave, and it is also said that there are ghosts and slaves."

Chen Tai's face changed slightly, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, he ordered: "Bury this person."

"promise!"

Xu Zhi lightly clamped the horse's belly, drove the horse to Chen Tai's side, and said in a low voice, "Brother Xuan, what's the matter. Is there something strange about this person's death?"

Seeing that Xu Zhi saw what was on his mind, Chen Tai rode his horse away from the brigade with him, and stopped in the field. Death from the epidemic."

"A ghost is causing trouble?" Xu Zhi exclaimed.

Chen Tai shook his head, and said: "Whether it was caused by the ghosts or not is unknown, but if our army is unprepared, I fear that Emperor Wu will lose Chibi."

The reasons for Cao Cao's defeat in the Battle of Chibi are both internal and external, and there are many.One of the important internal factors is that the northerners are not familiar with the water and soil in the south, and they get more diseases, which lead to more casualties of officials and soldiers.

Xu Zhi was so frightened by Chen Tai's words that he couldn't speak. Cao Cao's greatest chance to rule the world was in the Battle of Chibi. If the present Cao Wei also suffered heavy losses like the Battle of Chibi, Guanzhong would definitely fall, and it would be difficult to win. The strength and the Shu Han confrontation.

"What does Uncle Xuan mean?" Xu Zhi asked in a low voice.

Chen Tai looked in the direction of Xiao Huaili, and said in a deep voice: "If there are really plagues in the army, Tai should report the matter to the higher authorities, and ask Your Majesty to prepare more doctors to prevent the epidemic."

Most of Cao Wei's army was stationed near Luoyang, and some soldiers even garrisoned the imperial palace.Therefore, the soldiers in this plague in Luoyang are very likely to be infected.If left alone, this plague will inevitably spread to the entire army.Especially during the Three Kingdoms period, people in the Han Dynasty did not understand that infectious diseases were spread through the air and saliva.

……

Xiaohuaili, the camp of the Wei army, and the big tent of the Chinese army.

It was snowing heavily outside the tent, and the brazier inside the camp warmed the air.Cao Rui, wrapped in fleece, was tasting the delicious carp fished from the river with the generals in the camp.

The silver chopsticks held by Cao Rui put the steaming fish into his mouth, and the aftertaste was endless.Although Cao Rui went to the military camp, his extravagant expenses did not decrease much.

Cao Rui swept around with his wine bottle, and said with a smile: "The Shu army took advantage of my presence and the generals were unprepared to attack the Luogushui camp. Unexpectedly, it was difficult to defeat our army, and we fled to Wuzhangyuan, so I respect you for a bottle. Generals."

"Don't dare, dare not!" Everyone humbly said.

Cao Rui drank the contents of the cup, glanced at Sima Yi, who was not very happy, and asked, "Why is the general so unhappy?"

Hearing this, Sima Yi, who was far away from the sky, reacted and said against his will: "I am thinking about retreating to Shu, how does the banquet look like?"

"Haha!" Cao Rui nodded Sima Yi happily, and said, "The general knows me. You should drink a bottle full."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Outside the tent, the attendant reported: "His Majesty, Chen Sanqi begs to see you."

"Xuan!"

Chen Tai took off his velvet hat, walked into the tent, saluted and said: "I would like to inform your majesty, my minister, Chen Tai, was ordered by your majesty to escort the Guandong armor and weapons to the army, and come back to return."

Cao Rui ordered his attendants to bring Chen Tai a bottle of hot wine, and said with concern: "Uncle Xuan braved the wind and snow to supervise the transport of equipment, it was very hard work. Drink hot wine first to warm up your body."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chen Tai thanked Cao Rui, hesitantly said: "Your Majesty, I have supervised the transportation of food and grass, and found that there may be a disease in our army, and there have been soldiers killed or injured. I just inspected the sick soldiers in the camp. It is found that the soldiers have a lot of wind and cold. Your Majesty, be careful!"

The ancient plagues were not necessarily cholera, black death, and plague, among which wind and cold were enough to be called infectious diseases.

As soon as Chen Tai's words came out, Cao Rui's hand holding up his wine stopped instantly, and he asked back, "Is this really true?"

"I dare not lie to Your Majesty." Chen Tai said.

When Cao Rui heard the words, he frowned slightly, no longer feeling drunk, and said, "I wonder if you have any ideas?"

Simpi stroked his beard, and said in a deep voice, "I think we can send doctors from Chang'an to help the army, and buy medicinal materials from nearby counties to prevent epidemics. Newly arrived generals in Luoyang can burn incense to avoid epidemics."

According to ancient records, to avoid the plague, the most popular method is to fumigate with fragrant herbs.Incense is the righteousness of heaven and earth, so it can ward off evil and kill poison.Epidemics originate from filthy qi. To prevent them, it is necessary to strengthen the body and eliminate evils, and fragrance to ward off filth.

"It's just like Duke Xin's words!" Cao Rui immediately nodded in response, "I want to entrust Duke Xin to be responsible for the epidemic in the general. I don't know what Duke Xin wants?"

"I am willing to lead myself!" Simpi responded.

Sima Yi hesitated for a while, and said: "I think that the soldiers of the Luoyang Zhongjun should not live with the soldiers of the Yuanguan Zhongjun, so as to avoid the evil spirit from hurting others."

"You can follow the words of the general."

(End of this chapter)