Zhu Ying looked at the data in the memorial, and her face began to drip with gloom.
The data here is very confusing, not just one memorial, but all the memorials added together.
The reported number of most memorials is not very high, and occasionally the number of memorials with only one or two appears to be even lower.
However, Zhu Ying has been familiar with most of the conditions in Daming County over the past few days.
When they don’t understand anything, they will directly ask Bingbi eunuch Guo Zhong.
If Guo Zhong doesn't know, he will look it up himself and then come back and report it to Guo Zhong.
Among these memorials, there was a small county where nearly 2,000 people died due to the plague.
It does not seem to be much, and the number of deaths in a county under the plague seems to be normal.
But Zhu Ying happened to have learned before that the population of this county was very small, only about 4,000 households.
In other words, when the memorial was reported, half of the families in the county had died from the plague.
The delivery of memorials is naturally done at inns, and for a delivery like this, although it cannot be expedited for 600 miles, the daily journey is at least 300 miles.
This also means that what Zhu Ying saw happened ten days ago.
Prior to this, when the plague broke out in Henan, the imperial court had arranged for officials to go there to deal with it. Zhu Ying also sent almost all the doctors from the Qunying Chamber of Commerce who knew how to treat the plague there.
In addition, many rules have been set up regarding epidemic prevention measures. These rules are issued through the imperial court and are naturally spread widely.
Because of the low population mobility of ancient plagues, even if they spread very quickly, they would still have a lot of time to respond.
Unlike later generations, it spread more quickly because of the speed of traffic.
In today's Ming Dynasty, under the formulation of Zhu Yuanzhang's rules, people are generally restricted to the local area and are not allowed to move around at will. Even if they have to travel far away for business, they must obtain approval from the government and obtain road guides before they can pass the checkpoints.
There is no doubt that such measures have greatly limited the spread of the plague.
Therefore, from the emergence of the plague to the present, this matter has not caused much fluctuation in the court.
Ordinary plagues occur almost every year, and the ancient sanitary environment can easily cause them.
Nothing to be surprised about.
Although Zhu Ying wanted to curb the plague more, under the circumstances in ancient times, he could only do his best.
But this time, things seemed to be completely different.
"That's not right. Historically, there was no large-scale plague in the early Ming Dynasty. Why is it happening now?"
"Could it be the butterfly effect?"
"No, the plague thing has something to do with the butterfly effect. Or maybe I don't read much and haven't seen any related records in the classics."
Zhu Ying pondered in her heart. Although she did not graduate with a history major, men are still very interested in history.
Especially the Ming Dynasty.
Of course I don’t know the details clearly, but some big things must still have some impression, and the general scope is also there.
After thinking for a long time, Zhu Ying took out a piece of white paper and began to organize the records.
This looks more intuitive and makes it easier to investigate the actual situation of the plague.
According to the time of the memorial and the scale of the plague, Zhu Ying simply marked these cities, similar to a map.
On which day it started, how many people were there, and then on which day the plague began to appear in the next city.
Listing them one by one in this way, more than thirty counties and cities were soon marked.
After more than half an hour, Zhu Ying looked at the complete annotation in front of him, and his whole body felt a little numb.
The number of plagues has almost risen in a straight line, and it is spreading very quickly.
The slowest propagation process among them is only about twelve days, and the shortest propagation process is only three days.
This is theoretical, but in practice it is definitely faster.
Because when a person gets sick, they will never go directly to see a doctor. Instead, they insist on holding on for a day or two.
This is especially true in today's Ming Dynasty.
Most people are not from a wealthy family, and when they encounter minor illnesses, they rely on their bodies to force themselves through it. Only when they really can't stand it anymore do they go to a doctor.
"Guo Zhong, come here quickly."
The next moment, Zhu Ying shouted loudly.
The door was pushed open immediately, and Guo Zhong appeared immediately.
"Go and find out what kind of plague the plague is in Henan Province."
"I obey the order."
Guo Zhong seemed to be quite young, and he usually walked lightly, but when he sensed His Highness Changsun's somewhat anxious tone, he turned around and deliberately slowed down, and then started running at a very fast speed.
This speed is completely inconsistent with his age.
Watching Guo Zhong leave, Zhu Ying murmured in her heart: "It must not be the plague!"
Perhaps few people know that it is now, right now.
When the Ming Dynasty was first established, Europe was suffering from the Black Death.
Europe, which had an extremely sparse population, had already lost one-third of its population to the plague at this time.
The Black Death is the plague.
The plague during this period was almost invincible.
Once infected, death is almost certain.
For now, the Black Death in Europe has just come to an end and has come to an end.
This situation in Daming made Zhu Ying extremely worried.
This is no joke.
If you understand how the Black Death in Europe came to an end, you won't think so.
This is completely different from the concept of war.
The Black Death in Europe did not disappear, but all those infected died.
All people in areas infected with the Black Death were quarantined and allowed to disappear naturally as time passed.
In this way, currently about 25 million people in Europe have died directly from the Black Death.
"Probably not. How could the plague spread in the early Ming Dynasty? It obviously only started to appear in the late Ming Dynasty nearly three hundred years ago."
Zhu Ying seemed a little anxious while waiting.
There were many factors that led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty, but the plague could be said to be the last straw that overwhelmed the Ming Dynasty.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the global climate experienced a Little Ice Age, which caused a major blow to agriculture, and a large amount of farmland lost its harvest.
Some people made a living out of the grain stored in rat holes. Later, some people began to eat rats. At that time, many of the rats eaten were not cooked, and half-cooked was considered good.
I was so hungry that I ate a lot of them raw.
Rats originally live in a messy environment, and they carry all kinds of germs beyond imagination.
This is how the plague broke out.
At the same time, droughts and epidemics have caused a large number of people to become refugees, and the mobile population has made it impossible to control the epidemic.
The plague started following the refugees and spread throughout the Ming Dynasty.
In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the plague spread to Daming Prefecture in Beijing. In addition, there was not a drop of rain in Daming Prefecture that year, and eventually up to 30% of the people died of illness and starvation.
When Li Zicheng's Peasant Rebel Army arrived in Beijing, the city waiting for them was already riddled with wounds from the plague. Only 50,000 of the three battalions of troops who originally guarded the capital survived the plague.
about.
Each of these remaining defeated generals had to defend three crenels on average.
And they all managed to survive the plague, and there is a huge gap in physical fitness compared to before.
At that time, the soldiers guarding the capital were sitting on the ground weakly, unable to whip their whips, and had no will to fight.
Li Zicheng's peasant uprising army had no ability to resist.
Li Zicheng successfully took over the city of Beijing and changed the country's name to Dashun. However, Li Zicheng hurriedly withdrew from Beijing the day after proclaiming himself emperor.
Li Zicheng was able to invade Beijing largely because of the plague, and the reason why Li Zicheng withdrew from Beijing was equally simple, that is, his rebels also suffered from the plague and were unable to withstand the Qing cavalry.
The Qing army had close contact with Li Zicheng's army, so why didn't they suffer from the plague? Later, people checked historical records and found that only the cavalry escaped the great plague in Europe.
Therefore, historians believe that the fleas that spread the plague may not like the smell of horses, and the Qing army was mainly composed of cavalry, so they would naturally not be infected with the plague.
"Perhaps, a large number of horses can be mobilized to prevent the epidemic."
Zhu Ying had a sudden idea.
Of course, we do not rely on horses to control the plague, but a large number of horses can protect the lives of epidemic prevention personnel to a large extent.
If it really is the plague, maybe you can give this situation a try.
This is already considered a no-brainer.
At this moment, Zhu Ying had actually figured out why the plague in the early Ming Dynasty was not very famous.
It is very likely that when the plague broke out, most of the sick people in the city died directly.
It's just that for the entire Ming Dynasty, although there were a lot of people, they were not as terrifying as Europe today.
However, in the memorial, Zhu Ying made a rough calculation and found that the number of people involved was already around 200,000.
The current number of deaths is estimated to be tens of thousands.
This is just the beginning.
If the current situation is not dealt with, millions of losses may not be avoided in the future.
Compared to the 25 million people in Europe, nature is nothing.
But now that Zhu Yingjue knows about this matter, he must not just watch it spread.
Although it is a bit sad, there is no good treatment for plague in the Ming Dynasty.
Currently, those who have contracted such infectious diseases are basically close to death, and the only means to contain them are disinfection and isolation.
That's all.
Some people may wonder whether ancient officials would not quarantine people infected with the plague.
Moreover, after the plague was contracted, people died within three days. How could it spread so quickly?
Need to understand something clearly.
The spread of plague does not rely on person-to-person transmission.
It is spread through rats.
The plague initially caused the death of rats, and people were as afraid of dead rats as tigers.
Within a few days, people began to die. Countless people died during the day and night.
What's even more terrifying is that three seemingly normal people were walking on the road, and suddenly two people appeared on the road.
The speed of infection and the number of deaths are terrifying.
Not long after, Guo Zhong returned: "Tell Your Highness, it's the plague."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying immediately stood up and walked towards Huagai Hall without hesitation.
He must explain this matter directly to the old man without any delay.
The plague was prevalent in Henan, but it did not affect the excitement on the streets of the capital.
Moreover, even now, everyone in the court does not pay much attention to the plague in Henan.
Inside the Palace of Prince Yan.
Xu Miaojin was dressed up and waiting here.
Zhu Gaochi had just returned from the palace and had already told Zai that around noon, his eldest brother would come over and let them play together.
On Chinese Valentine's Day, it's lively during the day and even more lively at night.
Xu Miaojin seemed very excited after learning the news.
From time to time, let your maid look at your makeup and clothing to see if there are any flaws.
Women in ancient times were actually simpler and more direct than those in later generations.
This involves the impact of the growing environment.
For Xu Miaojin, the number of people she has known until she reaches this age can be described as only a handful.
Those who are familiar with it are even more pitiful.
Under such circumstances, it is easy to understand Xu Miaojin's thoughts about Zhu Ying.
Which girl is not pregnant with spring?
This is why in ancient times, heroes who saved beauties were always talked about.
"Auntie, why don't we have a cup of tea first, and let's play a game of backgammon. Brother is going to finish his work, and it will probably take at least an hour or two, or maybe even later."
Zhu Gaochi said helplessly.
His aunt now gave him the feeling that his elder brother would come over after just one or two sticks of incense.
Maybe the two hours are not certain. If Grandpa Huang has something to explain, it is possible to come back after dinner.
Backgammon was given to the two children by Zhu Ying. This game was simpler and easier to learn than Go, and it quickly became popular in the Imperial Palace Academy.
Zhu Gaochi also knew this from above.
To a certain extent, the Imperial Palace Academy can be regarded as a benchmark for the top nobles of the Ming Dynasty. After all, those who studied here included the descendants of some princes and princes.
We are all young, and Go is really too profound, but we all have Go in our homes.
If you change to a simple model, it will naturally be more popular and spread.
According to Xu Miaojin's excited mood, of course she had no intention of playing backgammon, but Zhu Gaochi's next words immediately made Xu Miaojin change his mind.
"Auntie, I heard from Yunxi that the inventor of backgammon was my eldest brother."
Hearing that it was Zhu Ying, Xu Miaojin immediately became energetic and started playing chess with Zhu Gaochi.
The eyes looking at the chess pieces seemed to have a little tenderness.
But Xu Miaojin didn't know it at this moment. Because of the plague, Zhu Ying was destined to have no choice but to give up on the Chinese Valentine's Day.
At this moment, in the Huagai Palace of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was discussing political figures with various ministers and bachelors.
Liu He stood next to Zhu Yuanzhang and said in his ear: "Your Majesty, His Highness Changsun asked to see you, and this old slave seems to have something very important to do."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he glanced at the ministers who were discussing and said: "Let the eldest grandson come in directly."