Xian Sun of the Ning Mansion of the Red Chamber

Chapter 250 Hearing the News of the Old Ones
The floodplain area near the estuary of the Dajiang River where the Chongming Islands are located is actually not suitable for berthing large ships, but Jia Ying still chose here as the base of the navy.

First of all, there are only a few good natural ports controlled by Daqian, not to say that these ports are unique, but to determine whether an area is suitable for a sea port requires precise surveying and mapping To record, observe and be familiar with and be able to grasp the local sea weather conditions requires a lot of manpower and material resources, as well as professional personnel.

Jia Ying doesn't have the time to do this right now, and she doesn't have any suitable candidates in hand.

What's more, those natural ports along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, which have been operated for hundreds of years, have either been abandoned or occupied by private individuals. Pirates are infested and not safe.

When you first hear this, you may find it ridiculous.The pirates have become so arrogant that they dare to blatantly land and occupy the port for smuggling. Are the big border guards just for nothing?

But the fact is that in the coastal areas, it is not bandits who fear officials, but soldiers who fear bandits.

The truth of this is actually not difficult to understand. If there is a way to make a fortune, no one will easily miss it.

Therefore, Jia Ying could only choose the naval base in the Suzhou area where the imperial court has a relatively strong control, with Taicang Prefecture as its back.Jia Yucun has been an official in the south of the Yangtze River for many years, and has experienced two ups and downs. Whether it is the contacts he has accumulated or his understanding of this place, Jia Ying can't find another person in his heart.

Even if there was, he couldn't believe it.

Yucun is different. The covenant between them is still maintained, and they have dealt with each other several times. They also know each other's temperament and bottom line.

The most important thing is that this guy Yucun was demoted again, and he was also labeled as Li Dang.

The problem is, Li Dang is now gone, and his mark, if there is no noble support, I am afraid it will not be erased in this lifetime.

Jia Ying had already sent a letter to Wang Ziteng's side, Yucun thought again, it seemed that he had no other choice but to go his way.

It is possible to find another way, but now that Wang Ziteng is gaining momentum, if Jia Yucun really does this, he will really be asking for his own death.

Wang Ziteng can make Jia Yucun, who had just been a county magistrate, become the governor of Yingtian Fu, and naturally he can also make Jia Yucun, who has joined another family, fall into the clouds again.

Don't doubt, Wang Ziteng, who was promoted to governor of the two provinces, searched the entire Dagan, and there were only a handful of people who could stand in front of him.

"Is your brother's injury better?"

On the embankment of Qiya Port, Jia Yucun found Jia Ying who was inspecting Xinding's underwater joint drill accompanied by Qi Yaozong.

The last time he was hit by lead bullets, although the cotton armor blocked most of the lead pellets, there was still a splash of lead bullets that hit him under his left rib, but he didn't notice it because of distraction. , When it was time to take off the armor, I realized that the clothes had turned red a lot, but it scared Xi'er half to death.

Fortunately, after being blocked by the nail leaf, the lethality of the lead bullet has been greatly reduced. It was caught by the muscle and failed to pierce the rib.

Jia Ying herself also felt very aggrieved that the majestic court official was attacked by several thieves with muskets.

Naturally, he would not let this matter go, and immediately reported to the capital that the governor of the Jiangnan Navy was assassinated, which is no small matter.

The point is, if you can assassinate Jia Ying today, you can assassinate others tomorrow. Those court princes who are high above the temple, who dare to say that they have no enemies, what will Jiade think after one assassination.

However, judging from the muskets left at the scene, it seems that the muskets this time did not flow out of the Military Weapons Bureau, and their craftsmanship does not seem to be the handiwork of a large number of craftsmen.

Jia Ying could only turn her gaze overseas.

Qi Yaozong said that the traces of Taixi merchant ships have never been interrupted in this sea area, even after the Quanzhou and Ningbo Municipal Shipping Departments were abolished.

After Dagan, Wa and pirates became their main partners.

Jia Ying wasn't surprised by this, but he didn't expect that their firearms could be smuggled ashore. The money checks at the gates and gates of the city were extremely strict, and there were even local officials who were arrested by the people. , firearms can flow in, which surprised Jia Ying.

"Brother Lao Yucun remembers that flesh wounds heal faster and are no longer a hindrance."

The two walked into a pavilion, where someone had already prepared tea, melons and fruits.

"Brother Yucun, please sit down."

"Brother, please first."

After the two made tea and chatted for a while, Jia Ying just asked, "I heard that there is another epidemic in Taicang and Kunshan. Brother Yucun didn't go to prevent and treat it. How did you have the time to come to me today?"

In fact, Jia Yucun had come to see him many times, but he excused him not to see him, deliberately to lure the other party's appetite.

If you think about it with your toes, you can understand why Jia Yucun is looking for him. He has suddenly dropped from a third-rank court official to a seventh-rank magistrate. It would be no wonder if he could feel at ease.

Yucun shook his head and said: "Oh, dear brother, this is bad luck for you brother, the big Beijing inspection every six years is about to arrive, and there are still people holding Brother Yu at the Nanjing Procuratorate. Slandering me as corrupt, fortunately Brother Lai Xian said some good things for Brother Yu in front of Lord Suzhong, but I am afraid that this time the Great Beijing Prosecutor will not be able to avoid it no matter what."

Slander?Jia Ying secretly praised Yucun for his thick skin and his ability to tell lies.

"Why, the epidemic is very serious?"

"In a village in the south of the county, there are 130 six households with a total population of 570 and three people. Now less than half of them are left, and all the living people are infected with diseases."

Jia Yucun's face was a bit sad, so many people died under his rule, it was difficult for him, the master of the state, to explain, if it was normal, it happened when he was in peace.

There are more than 130 households, that is a big village, and the loss of two or three hundred people is indeed a big event.

But looking at Yucun's bitter smile, which was uglier than crying, Jia Ying guessed that it might not be as simple as the death of two or three hundred people.

"What about other counties?" Jia Ying asked.

"The scope of the epidemic is limited. It only spreads in the counties near Suzhou and Songjiang. Jiading, Kunshan, and Qingpu are also similar. It's just not like Taicang, where half of the village died at once. .”

It seems that a lot of people died from this epidemic, and Yucun's words have to be listened to at a discount.

"Can the cause be identified?"

"The scourge of blood gu has been a chronic disease for thousands of years, and it is nothing new."

"Blood Gu?"

Hearing this, Jia Ying became thoughtful, why did she have something to do with Gu again.

Seeing that Jia Ying didn't know what blood gu was, Jia Yucun explained the disease again.

As thin as a stick, with a belly as big as a drum.
Jia Ying recalled this sentence in her heart, but a disease came to her mind. After associating with the theory of blood gu, and the landform and climate in the south of the Yangtze River, her mind suddenly became clearer.

In a sense, it is really a kind of Gu.

Jia Ying couldn't help turning his eyes to the soldiers who were practicing in the water, feeling a deep worry in his heart.

These days, he and Qi Yaozong strictly forbid the soldiers to go out, and when they should buy food, there are special personnel to do it, in order to prevent the disease from outside from spreading into the barracks, so that the new sailors will not die in the middle of the journey. From this point of view, Even the blockade of the barracks could not escape.

Because this thing itself is in the water.

Jia Ying immediately ordered someone to call Qi Yaozong over, and told him to stop the soldiers' drills, and all returned to the camp to stand by.

"My lord, what happened?" Qi Yaozong asked puzzled.

"I can't say a word or two. Later, you will find out when you follow me to the nearby counties and counties. What you need to do now is to order people to spread lime in the barracks immediately. Wherever there are puddles, all Fill it with soil and step on it, and spread a layer of lime on it. Also, let me know that anyone who refuses to obey orders and drinks unboiled water will be punished by military law. Do not change, behead!"

Once the military order is issued, it cannot be changed arbitrarily. Although Qi Yaozong is puzzled by Jia Ying's obsession with letting soldiers drink boiled water, he still follows the order, but beheaded. As for it?
Jia Ying didn't explain to him.

"Brother Yucun, I need you to lead the way. I'll go to the disaster area to have a look."

Jia Yucun wasn't too surprised by Jia Ying's reaction. After all, the navy's military camps were close to these disaster-stricken counties. If the epidemic really spread, the military camps would not be spared either.

A group of people immediately set off from Zhoucheng, heading for the place in the eyes of the epidemic.

"In front of you is Zhuqiao Town. The nearby villages are the most severely infected. I have ordered the guards to seal off the four major traffic roads. No one is allowed to enter or leave. The junctions of several nearby counties are also They sent guards to prevent people from other counties from entering Taicang."

A group of people rode on horseback, and Jia Yucun introduced the local situation to Jia Ying from time to time.

Along the way, Jia Ying saw a lot of porridge sheds set up, there were medicine hall doctors in prefectures and counties with apprentices, and town officials were treating and administering medicine to the common people.

Jia Ying thought he admired Jia Yucun's abilities. He had only been in Taicang for a long time, but when he encountered an epidemic, the prefecture and county were well organized.

Everyone came to a porridge shed and got off their horses.

"Greetings to Master Zhizhou." The doctor and village official in the porridge shed greeted him.

"No, how's the situation?" Jia Yucun asked lightly.

"Another 16 people died in the town today. The students have tried their best to rescue them, but there are not enough people around them, and there are not enough medicinal materials."

"This government has reported this matter to the state government office, and doctors from other counties will come here in the near future. As for the medicinal materials, the state government will find a way to solve it." Jia Yucun said while walking around the porridge shed .

For the ordinary people in the village, the master Zhizhou is already a big figure. Jia Yucun's visit caused quite a stir among the crowd, and many people gathered around to worship the blue sky.

Jia Ying looked at the situation in front of her, and then at Jia Yucun beside her, lamenting the complexity of human nature.

Is Jia Yucun Master Qingtian?
At least from Jia Ying's point of view, he seems to be more than a star and a half away from the word Qingtian. Jia Ying still understands Yucun's ability to make money.

After only two years in Yingtian Mansion, there are two sets of houses in Jinling City.The tea leaves given to him are all weighed by the catty.

But this is just Jia Yucun in his impression.

It was the first time for Jia Ying to see that people called Jia Yucun Master Qingtian.It seems that Yucun's confusion is also based on human beings.

Jia Ying looked at the doctor and asked, "What kind of prescription do you use for the common people?"

The doctor glanced at Jia Ying, not knowing how to answer.

Prescriptions have always been the untold secret of a medicine hall. It is very taboo for Jia Ying to ask such a question. The middle-aged doctor does not know whether the young man who came with Master Zhizhou in front of him is ignorant of world affairs, or simply out of touch. Don't care about these.

"Let's be honest, the person in front of you is the governor of the Jiangnan Navy, Jia Junmen." Jia Yucun came over at some point.

Junmen is the respectful name of the generals for the governor and governor. Jia Ying was appointed as the governor of the Jiangnan Navy and promoted the military administration of the coastal defense of the two provinces.

"I don't know that the master of the military gate is face to face, and the students are rude."

The doctor is much older than Jia Ying himself, but he calls himself a student. Jia Ying always has a feeling that I am old, which is weird.

"Get down to business." Jia Ying said lightly.

"Yes. Back at the military gate, the main ingredient in the recipe is Artemisia annua, and the students added yellow celery, Anemarrhena, Bupleurum, Caoguo, Fapinxia, ​​ebony, elephant shellfish, licorice and other medicinal materials."

"Cure malaria and nourish blood?"

"It is widely seen in the army that although this disease is different from malaria, there are many similarities in pharmacology. This prescription is effective in removing wind and clearing spleen, clearing heat and dampness, and killing insects. And Artemisia annua A blind medicine, which was passed down from an old genius doctor, said to be extremely effective in treating blood gu disease."

Jia Ying couldn't help but nodded, just listening to the types of these medicines, she knew that this prescription was very valuable, and it was indeed a work of conscience to use it on these common people.

"Which old genius doctor?"

"It's a Danyang family of medicine and Taoism. The elders of the Chang family are the elders of the Chang family, and Chang Ke is an old genius doctor. The Chang family's teacher came from the Maoshan lineage of the Shangqing Dynasty. The family has been established for hundreds of years. They have always passed on the way of medicine. Chang Lao's genius doctor is also a Yuanfu Youdao expert who has been granted the orthodox talisman by the palace."

"Chang Youke? Maoshan?"

Jia Ying didn't expect to hear the name of an acquaintance here, let alone Chang Youke was a Taoist priest.

But thinking about it, I can understand that there has been no separation of medicine and Taoism since ancient times. From ancient times to the present, how many medical masters who left their names in history were all born as Taoists.

"Do you know where Miracle Doctor Chang is now?"

Jia Ying admired Chang Youke's medical skills very much. If he was here, Jia Ying would have more confidence in overcoming the epidemic.

"Chang Miracle Doctor was in Kunshan County a while ago, but I heard that he was invited to Wu County by the Master Fu Zun recently. It seems that there is also an epidemic there. .”

When Jia Ying heard this, she became concerned.

Several people walked out of the porridge shed, Jia Ying said to Jia Yucun again: "Brother Yucun, I know something about this kind of disease."

"Oh, I would like to ask my virtuous brother to give me some advice. To tell you the truth, brother Yu is really in a hurry to go to the doctor. He has invited all the well-known doctors and doctors from the surrounding villages, but these people still died. Alas, if things go on like this, Brother Yu might not even be able to keep the Zhizhou."

Sure enough, what Yucun cared most about was his black hat, which was the Jia Yucun he was familiar with.

"The doctor just now is capable. This disease is indeed caused by a Gu insect. To be precise, it is a schistosomiasis. The schistosomiasis likes to be cool and humid, and most of them parasitize on other things, especially snails. , especially in paddy fields, sewage pits, and puddles where the water does not flow, snail breeding is the most rampant."

"Is there a good way to deal with it?" Jia Yucun asked.

Jia Ying thought for a while and said: "It is still necessary to combine prevention and treatment. At present, states and counties in various places have invested a lot of manpower and material resources, but after all, they are treating the symptoms but not the root cause. As long as this Gu insect is still there, this disease will not be eradicated. One batch, and the next batch, endlessly, without beginning or end."

"I have a general understanding. This epidemic seems to come suddenly, but in fact, these people have been infected with the disease for a long time, and it has been accumulated for a long time. It is considered to be an outbreak today. This is why so many people died all at once. If it is not cured, within a few years, another batch will die, repeatedly, like maggots attached to the bones."

"What will happen in the future, brother Yu can't take care of it right now, I just hope to get through the current difficulties."

Jia Yucun didn't hide his thoughts. With the iron-clad yamen and the flowing Zhizhou, he could still stay here for the rest of his life. Let the next officials deal with it, and he didn't bother to take care of it.

Jia Ying didn't comment on this, no one is a saint.

"Let's do it in a few steps. First, within the prefecture and county, fill up all the puddles and mud pits, and bury the silted rivers and ditches, and rebuild them to communicate with running water. Second, mobilize the prefecture and county People catch snails and burn them together. Bloodworms belong to yin and avoid fire. Third, people are not allowed to drink raw water. The feces must be treated in a centralized manner, and the common people defecate freely. In villages or towns with a large number of people, public toilets for men and women can be built. After being treated with insecticides, otherwise they are not allowed to cultivate in the field.”

Jia Yucun carefully wrote down what Jia Ying said, and asked again: "Brother, the first four foolish brothers understand, but the last one, killing insects in the paddy field, how many people will be invested in it, it is impossible to do it. Here you go."

Jia Ying smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will give you a prescription, which can not only kill blood worms, but also kill other parasitic insects in the rice fields, including those that are harmful to rice. I promise, after using it, The grain production in prefectures and counties will be more than [-]% higher than in previous years."

"Is this true?" Jia Yucun's eyes lit up, as if he saw a great political achievement coming towards him.

"When did I tell a lie?" Jia Ying asked back.

"Can this prescription be used only in Taicang for the time being?" Jia Yucun didn't intend to take over this prescription. Anything that can increase the grain yield is auspicious from heaven. Not to mention that this prescription belongs to Jia Ying, it is Jia Ying is willing, but it is impossible for him to hold on.

Jia Ying shook his head, a look of disappointment flashed in Jia Yucun's eyes, he was still thinking about using this achievement to overwhelm his colleagues in nearby states and counties, but it seems that it won't work.

"But." Jia Ying's voice sounded again.

"But what?" Jia Yucun asked anxiously.

"It's autumn this year, and this prescription will not be available for the time being. Besides, the preparation of this prescription requires money. When the facts are not in front of your eyes, other states and counties may not take it seriously. , even with my warrant. This gives you a chance, it depends on Brother Yucun, whether you can grasp it."

"How much money do you need?" Jia Yucun asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Not too many. After all, the things used are not too expensive, but there is one thing that can only be obtained by the government."

"what?"

"sulfur!"

Jia Yucun's pupils shrank slightly. Sulfur is used to make gunpowder. The imperial court strictly controls and smuggles sulfur. Even if it is the government, officials at the state and county level like them, it is impossible to get it easily. , not to mention that all farmland needs to kill insects, so it can be seen that the amount required is large.

"Brother Yu, you have to help Brother Yu."

Jia Yucun focused his attention on Jia Ying, but he knew that the Nanjing Weapons Bureau had to follow the orders of the man in front of him. Would the Military Weapons Bureau be short of brimstone?

Jia Yucun is really courageous. If someone else came, he might have hesitated for a while, and he might have given up on it. After all, if something goes wrong with such a sensitive thing, he will be beheaded if he fails to keep it intact. .

"Since I brought it up, I will naturally help you to make this matter a reality, which will benefit the world, and you will be indispensable at that time."

Jia Ying nodded and said.

"Okay, I'll go back to the yamen to issue a notice, and everything will be done strictly according to my virtuous brother's instructions. Whether I can turn around or not depends on this battle." Jia Yucun is full of confidence, not because he wants to trust Jia Ying, but It was he who understood Jia Ying's personality, and if he was not fully sure, Jia Ying would never speak out.

What's more, he has also learned about the habits of blood gu, so Jia Ying's countermeasures are not random.

"It just so happens that I'm going to Wu County too. I have a great favor with the old doctor Chang mentioned by the doctor just now, so there's no reason why I shouldn't pay a visit."

The two separated and went their separate ways.

(End of this chapter)