This morning, Chongzhen mentioned the refugees when he met with Zheng Hongkui. As a result, in the afternoon, a large number of refugees appeared on the official road in the west of Xuzhou.
Xuzhou originally had few refugees.
In fact, there are not many refugees in the whole of Henan.
As the main battlefield between the peasant army and the Ming Dynasty official army, Henan can be said to have been plagued by wars for a long time, and its population has dropped sharply to less than one-tenth of its original size.
The remaining population was also coerced by powerful men such as Li Jiyu and Liu Hongqi.
There are very few refugees from Henan who are still living in exile.
So those who appear on the official road in the west are obviously not refugees from Henan.
Those who came were refugees from Beizhi. Because of Dorgon's order to shave their heads, many officials and gentry people rose up to resist, and a large number of officials and gentry people left their hometowns and fled south.
By evening, more than a thousand refugees had gathered outside Xuzhou City.
Moreover, there is still an endless stream of refugees on official roads, and no one knows how many there will be in the end.
The governor of Xuzhou was already facing a formidable enemy. Because there were a large army stationed, especially Chongzhen who was still stationed outside the city, he did not dare to close the city gate, so he had to send additional government officials to guard the city gate.
Several city gates were quickly blocked.
"Sir, please let us in."
"Go, go, go, get out of here, get out of here!"
"We just want to stutter, please."
"There's nothing to eat, and the people in the city are starving to death. Let's go."
"Big Master, just do it. I'll kneel down and kowtow for you."
"Where are you old pig and dog? Get out of here, or I will kill you!"
Years of frequent wars have long since tempered Xuzhou's government servants to be hard-hearted. Let alone kowtow a few times, even if you kowtow all the way from Beijing to Xuzhou, you won't get the slightest pity from them.
This is actually the norm in troubled times, and it is not wrong to do so.
But as a time traveler, Chongzhen could not see such a thing.
Because Chongzhen, like Zhu Yuanzhang, could more easily join the common people rather than the powerful class.
"Who do you want to kill?" Chongzhen's expression was cold, "Why don't you kill one of them and show me?"
Today, Chongzhen only wore a worn-out cotton-padded armor and no hat. He only had a scarf wrapped around his head. Although there were several eunuchs and a small group of barbarians behind him, no one recognized him.
Because Wang Chengen and several eunuchs also wore shabby common clothes.
The emperor's clothes are so shabby, how dare their eunuchs wear silk brocade? Are they looking for death?
As for that group of Yiding, because they had seen it so many times, the government officials didn't pay much attention to it.
At this time, the group of refugees gathered outside the city gate had already seen the Yi Ding and dispersed. In these days, what the common people fear most is soldiers, especially the Yi soldiers.
The refugees looked at the group of Yiding with fear in their eyes.
However, the team of government officials guarding the city gate fell to their knees.
"You little man, please bow to your Majesty!" the officials said in panic, sticking their buttocks out.
During this time, Chongzhen was in Xuzhou, and all the government officials already recognized him.
"Get out of the way," Chongzhen said, "let the people enter the city. They just want to stutter."
Xuzhou is no different than Nanjing or Beijing. There are a large number of residential buildings and even shops and markets outside the city. There is nothing outside the city of Xuzhou, and there is no place for refugees to beg for food.
Without food, the refugees have no choice but to starve to death in the wilderness.
The emperor had already opened his mouth. What else could they say? They quickly got out of the way and even bowed to invite the refugees to come in.
The refugees looked at each other in shock and did not dare to enter.
At this moment, a voice suddenly came over.
"Can't come in! Can't let them in, stop them quickly!"
Accompanied by this loud shout, a dusty old man rushed to the city gate.
"Hey, where are you, old pig and dog?" Gao Qiqian suddenly became angry. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to step forward to beat someone. Long Live the Lord has already said to let the people into the city, but you still dare to stop them?
The old man thought to himself and said: "I just saw a few refugees lying dead on the official road. Their symptoms looked like they had the plague. If the old man's conjecture is true, letting them into the city will kill a lot of people."
City people."
"What? Plague?" Gao Qiqian just took a step forward, but quickly retracted when he heard the words.
Chongzhen also quickly grabbed a sweat towel and covered his mouth and nose. The plague was really no joke.
Some plagues can be transmitted through the air through droplets, and sweat towels can also provide some protection.
However, Chongzhen was also a little confused. Wasn't it the 14th year of Chongzhen's reign when the epidemic hit Shandong, Henan and Hebei? Now it's already the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, so the epidemic should have passed.
"It looks like it," the old man said, "it's not determined yet."
As soon as he finished speaking, a refugee in the crowd suddenly fell to the ground.
"There's a plague!" the surrounding refugees shouted, and all of them ran away.
The old man did not run. Instead of running away, he took off the box on his back, first took out a sweat towel to cover his mouth and nose like Chongzhen, and then approached the refugee who fell to the ground to observe.
While checking, he said: "Vomiting and diarrhea, obvious symptoms of dehydration, it is really a plague!"
At this time, Chongzhen's attitude turned 180 degrees and he said to the group of government officials: "Listen, from now on, the city gates will be strictly guarded. No one is allowed to enter or exit without permission!"
"Yes!" All the government officials were a little confused, and they were not allowed to enter the city?
"Wuba Tan!" Chongzhen turned around and ordered the Yi general behind him, "Immediately go back to the military camp and recruit three hundred Yi Ding, capture all the refugees near Xuzhou, and place them together in the previously abandoned military camp."
"Yes!" Wu bowed the charcoal in his hand, turned around, mounted his horse and galloped away.
Chongzhen then walked towards the old man and asked, "I don't know your father-in-law's surname."
The old man didn't answer and asked instead: "Your Majesty, you seem to know a lot about the plague?"
"What kind of master?" Gao Qiqian said angrily, "This is the current Holy Lord, long live the Lord!"
"Ah, Your Majesty?" The old man was stunned for a moment and quickly fell to the ground. "The common people do not know that the Holy One is here. It is a death penalty."
"Escape, he who doesn't know is not guilty." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "I didn't ask my father-in-law for your surname."
It was only after what happened just now that Chongzhen suddenly realized that he had only been focusing on guarding against Jiannu going south, but he had forgotten that there was another powerful enemy, the plague.
War and plague can be said to be twin brothers.
Whenever there is war, there is bound to be plague.
Therefore, while building the Huanghuai defense line, we must also take precautions to prevent the plague.
The old man in front of me looks like a doctor, and he seems to have a lot of knowledge about plague. Let's give him a test first. If he really has knowledge about plague, he will stay as a medical officer with the army.
The old man hurriedly said: "The common people are Wu Youxing and dare not show respect."
"Wu Youxing?" Chongzhen was a little surprised, "Are you Wu Youke?"
Now it was Wu Youke's turn to be surprised and said, "Have you ever heard of Cao Min's name?"
"Not only have I heard of it, but I have admired its name for a long time." Chongzhen said in surprise, "You are an expert on plague."
"Plague expert?" Wu Youke was a little confused when he heard this. What is an expert? A doctor who specializes in sitting at home? This is a mistake for me. I like to travel all over the world.
Chongzhen explained: "Specifically refers to a famous doctor who is very knowledgeable about plague."
"Don't dare, don't dare, I absolutely don't want to take this seriously." Wu Youke said hurriedly, "What kind of famous doctors are ordinary people?"
"Sir, please don't be modest. I have read your treatise on plague." Chongzhen said, "That is definitely a monograph."
Wu Youke couldn't help but feel a little proud. It turned out that the emperor had read his treatise on plague and thought it was a monograph. This was undoubtedly the greatest recognition of him.
"Sir, hasn't he always practiced medicine in Guanzhong?" Chongzhen asked again.
"Oh, there is no war in Guanzhong anymore, and there is no plague anymore. I heard that there is another war in Henan and Beizhi areas. I feel that the plague may reappear here, so I hurried over here."
Well, this is another lunatic who is willing to risk his life for academic research.
In fact, there were many academic madmen in ancient China. Unfortunately, their research results were not taken seriously by the rulers, so they were not promoted and were eventually lost in the long history of history.
But there is no doubt that Chongzhen attached great importance to natural science.
"So sir, you have come to the right place." Chongzhen said.
"A war will break out in Xuzhou soon, so why not stay here?"
"Since the Holy One has made a decree, the common people should obey it." Wu Youke said happily.
Chongzhen was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately turned back to Lu Jiude and said: "Lu Banban, from now on, you and your godsons and grandchildren will obey Mr. Wu's orders. Mr. Wu's words are my will."
"Ah?" Lu Jiude's face fell, and he asked me to serve a doctor?
Wu Youke also shook his hands and said: "Your Majesty, this can't be done, it can't be done."
"I will do it as I say." Chongzhen said solemnly, "Sir, if you need anything, just tell them. If they dare to disobey in the slightest, I will never forgive them lightly!"
Lu Jiude made Ling Leng shiver.
Wu Youke didn't dare to say anything more.
Chongzhen said to Wu Youke: "In addition to Lu Banban and his sons and grandsons, Xuzhou's government servants and subordinate officials can also be mobilized at will. When necessary, the garrison in the military camp outside the city can also be mobilized! In a word, no matter what
Whatever your request, sir, I will find a way to do it if I can do it, but there is one thing."
Chongzhen said solemnly: "We must not let the plague spread."
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty." Wu Youke said, "The common people can issue a military order to you. If the plague cannot be controlled, the common people are willing to die."
"Sir, you are no longer a commoner." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "From now on, you will be the head of the Taiyuan Hospital. I will also send an urgent delivery to Nanjing as soon as possible and let the imperial doctors and doctors from the Nanjing Taiyuan Hospital come to Xuzhou.
"
Wu Youke hesitated for a moment and then bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, Wu Youke, would like to thank you for your kindness."
