The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 26 The Heart of a Kind Father
In the palace, because of the spread of the epidemic, especially the possibility of it spreading to the four-year-old princess, people were in panic.

In the imperial hospital, from the envoys and judges to the ordinary imperial physicians below, they have not been able to get peace of mind in the past few days, and they have been checking a large number of files day and night to find a way to deal with smallpox.

But no matter how nervous Zhu Youtang was about his daughter, and even mobilized the resources of the whole country to prevent and treat it, it was still a drop in the bucket.

It cannot be cured because of the limitation of the times, and it cannot be shifted by people's will.

In the court hall, Zhu Youtang brought this emotion over. There were still many important matters to be discussed that day, but because the princess was likely to suffer from smallpox in a few days, Zhu Youtang brought the topic to the spread of the epidemic in the capital. .

Han Zhong, Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, came out to the emperor and the ministers present, and stated the seriousness of the epidemic around Shuntian Prefecture.

"...After the autumn, the epidemic has spread from Bazhou and other places to the north. In the past ten months, people with the epidemic have been reported one after another in the south city and the north city. People are in panic. Although the morning and evening markets in various places were open in the past, the people who came in and out There are very few, the price of salt in the city has risen by more than [-]% compared to normal years, and some nobles even took the opportunity to drive up the price..."

Han Chong had just been transferred from the position of the right minister of Shaanxi to the capital to replace Gao Chang who died in the post of Yin in Shuntian Prefecture.

Coupled with the fact that the plague had spread to the palace, he naturally felt the invisible pressure.

Zhu Youtang interrupted him: "When you talk about the epidemic, you talk about the epidemic. Why do you want to get involved in other things? Now even Kunning Palace has people infected with the epidemic. Could it be that even my family members can't live in peace?"

Cabinet Minister Xie Qian came out and said: "Your Majesty, the epidemic does not distinguish between high and low, it is the destiny."

Regarding the prevalence of this epidemic, there is a common saying in the capital that Li Guang was punished by heaven for constructing the Yuxiu Pavilion on Long Live Mountain.

In this era, people did not understand the pathogenesis of smallpox, so they naturally blamed the plague on God's punishment.

Zhu Youtang was even angrier when he heard this.

I told you this to discuss the prevention and control method, but one of them was implicated in the exorbitant price hikes, and the other said it was the "mandate of heaven"... To put it bluntly, you are all relying on me?
The nobles who drive up prices are led by my two brothers-in-law, and the person who violated the destiny is not Li Guangli, the heavenly master I have always trusted?
Zhu Youtang stared at Liu Jian, the chief minister standing at the front, and asked: "Mr. Liu Ge, my princess has been in contact with patients. Is there any way to prevent her from danger? I pray here so that she will not be infected by the epidemic, so there is nothing I can do?"

Liu Jian is also under a lot of pressure.

The predecessor Xu Pu retired as the first assistant only in July, and he took over as the first assistant for less than two months. Now it is the darkest time for the court of the Hongzhi Dynasty. The rise of Li Guang, and the emperor's increasingly paranoid about Taoist affairs, caused cracks in the good relationship between civil servants and the emperor.

Furthermore, Liu Jian obviously lacked confidence in maintaining his relationship with the emperor.

Liu Jiandao: "Your Majesty, the spread of the epidemic when there are acne among the people has also been spread according to the method of the Tang and Song Dynasties, or the method of using acne clothes, that is, ordinary people wear the clothes of acne patients, or use the things from the mouth and nose of the patients. Do stuffing the nose to avoid the epidemic by causing mild acne. However, if ordinary people have had contact with the sick, this method will not work."

The history of vaccination in China is very early, but it is human pox. This method of planting is very unsafe and often causes smallpox in healthy people, leading to smallpox epidemics. It is possible to speed up the onset time by inoculating human pox with the blood method... unless you don't want to live.

In short, this method is very backward, and there are not many people who adopt this method among the people.

Zhu Youtang listened carefully for a long time, and at the end, he said angrily: "Now I and my family may have been in contact with patients, so what's the point of preventing them? There is no mention of it in the volume of classics?"

The scene was silent.

We are professional politicians who help the emperor govern the country. Does this mean that we are being used as experts in infectious diseases?
It's obviously not professional!

When the monarch and his subjects were in a tense quarrel, Chen Kuan appeared next to the emperor again and said something in Zhu Youtang's ear.

Zhu Youtang immediately said angrily, "Nonsense, what nonsense!"

What the hell?
The minister was at a loss.

Zhu Youtang said: "My dear family, I will come here first for today's court meeting. After you go back, you must consult the classics. I have lost my beloved son, and I don't want to lose my beloved daughter. She is still young, so please ask your family to help her." She can grow to the age of cardamom, and give advice!"

After finishing speaking, without further explanation to the ministers present, he left in a hurry and went to the inner garden of the imperial palace.

……

……

In the west hall of Kunning Palace, a half-grown boy was sitting on the steps, staring at the eunuchs surrounding him with ferocious eyes that seemed murderous, his small eyes, small nose, and small mouth almost curled up together.

"If you don't let me in, I'll let you beat us up! You deserve it!"

It is Prince Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao came to play with his sister that day, but he was blocked outside Kunning Palace, and she couldn't even see his old mother.

Due to the smallpox epidemic in the west hall of the Kunning Palace, the empress of the Kunning Palace also moved to other places first, leaving only the little princess Zhu Xiurong living in the west hall.

The eunuch couldn't explain these things to Zhu Houzhao, so he could only try his best to prevent the brothers and sisters from meeting each other.

The eunuch Liu Jin next to him said: "His Royal Highness, you can't go in. If you get sick, the inheritance of Ming Dynasty... woo, you must take good care of your body."

At such a time, it seemed that only Liu Jin dared to expose the paper on the window and told the prince that it was related to the issue of infectious diseases.

Zhu Houzhao pointed to Zhu Xiurong who was standing at the entrance of the west hall of Kunning Palace. When the maid stopped him, he looked at Zhu Xiurong pitifully outside and said, "The emperor's sister is right there. Does she look sick?"

Liu Jin said: "This is acne. Before the onset of the disease, no one knows whether it has been infected or not."

At this moment, Luanjia and his party from a distance had come over. The eunuchs finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this scene, and were about to line up to meet the king, but Zhu Houzhao took the opportunity to get up and quickly rushed to the west hall of Kunning Palace .

Fortunately, the palace lady on the opposite side saw that something was wrong, so she quickly closed the door to death.

"Let me go in!"

Zhu Houzhao knocked on the door.

Now it doesn't matter whether he plays with his sister or not. To Zhu Houzhao, his face is too big.

At this time, Zhu Youtang had already arrived outside the hall.

"Bastard! Come here!"

Even if Zhu Houzhao was messing around again, seeing his father getting angry, he could only walk over with his head down, and when he walked towards his father, he would look back from time to time.

"Cough cough cough..."

Because of anger and anxiety, Zhu Youtang coughed. He was not in good health. In the past two years, Li Guang continued to offer elixir of unknown origin with excessive heavy metals, and his health was even worse than before.

"I originally thought that after you left the cabinet to study, you would be able to restrain your personality and become gentle. Why are you still messing around like this? Do you want me to be extinct?"

That's a harsh word.

It also frightened the eunuchs around.

The emperor may have been really scared, thinking that this might be God's punishment for him, that's why he said such words to the prince.

Zhu Houzhao is currently eight years old, and he has been out of the court to study in March of the 11th year of Hongzhi. He is considered to be relatively early among the princes of all dynasties.

"Father, I just want to play with my sister for a while." Zhu Houzhao's face was full of anger.

He felt he was right.

Zhu Youtang said: "Your imperial sister has been in contact with acne patients and is still recovering from her illness. If you want to find her, you can wait for half a month to confirm that she has recovered. If you dare to come again, I will You will be punished facing the wall and thinking about your mistakes, and you will not be allowed to step out of the palace gate for a month!"

"Father!"

"Bring him back to me! Take care of him strictly, you are the only ones to ask if he looks good!"

"Yes!"

When Zhu Houzhao looked unwilling and was dragged away by the eunuchs.

Zhu Youtang also couldn't help looking into the crack of the door, blinking his big eyes with aggrieved expression on his face, but he didn't understand why his parents treated Zhu Xiurong like this.

That pitiful little face made Zhu Youtang heartbroken just looking at it.

From the perspective of family inheritance in the patrilineal society of China for thousands of years, a father hopes to have a son more, but from the perspective of emotional ties, a father will love his daughter more, because the daughter is the father's little padded jacket.

Zhu Youtang was afraid that he couldn't help going over to explain to his daughter, but he could only harden his heart, sighed and turned away.

"His Majesty……"

Seeing Zhu Youtang's sad face, Chen Kuan couldn't help but want to comfort him.

Zhu Youtang said: "Everyone from the Imperial Hospital called me to Qianqing Palace, as well as Li Guang, I need countermeasures! I absolutely can't let the little princess get the slightest damage, even if it leaves acne scars, it's unacceptable!"

(End of this chapter)