"Don't worry, I will personally supervise this matter!"
Afterwards, Changsun Wuji left in a hurry.
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly and the weather was suitable.
In the main hall of the official residence of the Ministry of Revenue in Chang'an City, officials of all sizes from the Ministry of Revenue are busy working. You can hear the "crackling" sound of the abacus and the sound of ink writing on rice paper.
On the pear wood square table in the center of the hall, Muchuan was holding his chin with one hand, showing a sad face.
Sitting next to Muchuan was Mo Zhu himself. At this time, Mo Zhu was reciting the recent "tax accounts" from the Ministry of Household Affairs. While he was reading, Mo Zhu noticed that Muchuan was distracted, so he pushed the other person's side.
Arm: "Lord Muchuan, Sir..."
"ah?"
Muchuan came back to his senses and smiled awkwardly, "Sorry, what were you talking about just now?
Say it again."
"Sir, what's wrong with you?
You've been distracted three times today!"
Mo Zhu began to complain.
In fact, Muchuan was thinking about the "plague". After all, as a modern man, he knew the power of the plague all too well!
Once the plague spreads, it will spread throughout Gyeonggi Province with lightning speed, and then spread throughout the country, causing the country's economy to stagnate, order will be lost, and the world will be in chaos.
With such a lack of medical technology in ancient times, plague would be unstoppable once it broke out.
After all, it is not comparable to modern times. If we had "streptomycin" and various medical methods in modern times, it would not be easy to deal with plague.
Regarding the plague in Beiyang Village, Muchuan also told Changsun Wuji that he knew about it, but members of the household department such as Ouyang Bufan and Mo Zhu didn't know yet.
As a good brother, Muchuan had no intention of hiding anything. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he called Ouyang Bufan over and whispered.
When the two of them heard this, they were both shocked.
Ouyang Bufan: "Is the plague really going to break out?
So what should we do?”
Mo Zhu: "Has the plague spread now? We have to act quickly!"
Looking at the nervous look of the two of them, Muchuan couldn't help but smile helplessly. It seemed that the two of them were also greedy for life and afraid of death.
"Temporary measures against the plague are already in progress, and I asked Lieutenant Changsun to help."
Muchuan then explained the specific measures.
After hearing Muchuan's measures, Mo Zhu looked puzzled: "Sir, since you have prepared a complete plan, what else is there to worry about?"
Ouyang Bufan: "Yes, if the plague really breaks out in Beiyang Village, according to your strategy, we should be able to kill the plague before it breaks out, and there should be no disaster."
In fact, to put it this way, the key problem is that there are too many uncertain factors in preventing plague. Even if a team of light cavalry and fast horses are sent to investigate, or even a blockade is implemented in time, there may be fish that slip through the net.
Besides, is there really a plague?
In fact, Muchuan himself was not sure. He only knew that according to modern history books, there would be a plague in the early years of Zhenguan, with hundreds of thousands of casualties, wails all over the land, and rampant disease.
The key issue is that the plague recorded in historical books does not specifically refer to the "bubonic plague".
According to existing historical records, the plague first originated in ancient Egypt 3,000 BC, and the more famous one later was the "Black Death" that occurred in Europe in the 14th century.
There are no records of plague in the Central Plains, only records of plague.
However, there are many types of plagues. In addition to plague, they also include cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, etc. They are all collectively called plagues.
According to some unofficial records, historians of later generations described it with words such as "in the early years of Zhenguan, the people were wiped out, the rat infestation was serious, and people died of starvation all over the fields", thus deducing that the plague that occurred in the early Tang Dynasty was called the "plague".
Of course, this is just a conclusion drawn from unofficial history. What is the actual situation?
I'm afraid we still have to wait until Muchuan experiences it before we know.
After all, the historical records handed down from later generations are not 100% accurate, and the ancients were not very capable of identifying plague-like diseases. Therefore, it is difficult to record related illnesses and convey them to future generations.
However, Muchuan had no way to talk to Ouyang Bufan about "future matters", the two good brothers Mo Zhu said, so they let out a long sigh: "I only hope that the plague in Beiyang Village can be controlled. Only then can we
The disease can be greatly reduced and brought under control."
Mo Zhu and Ouyang Bufan both nodded and prayed the same in their hearts.
However, such a heavy atmosphere was not the atmosphere that the household department should have. Ouyang Bufan laughed and put his hands on Muchuan's shoulders: "Sir, let's not think so much, let's talk about some happy things!"
"Happy thing?
Has anything happy happened recently?"
"Of course!"
Ouyang Bufan then told an exciting thing. It turned out that the maritime caravan had been formed!
At this time, domestic material resources in the Tang Dynasty were not abundant, and things such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes had not yet been introduced. Therefore, Muchuan was ordered by the emperor to form a caravan for foreign exploration.
At this time, the first group of caravans had already set off, traveling to Central Asia and the Middle East, bringing back special crops, knowledge, culture, and books. One of the leaders was Heishan, Muchuan's original guard captain.
As for the formation of maritime caravans, it was much more difficult, mainly due to the poor navigation technology of the Tang Dynasty and the backward maritime transportation.
Recently, Muchuan has used the financial resources of the Ministry of Revenue to recruit carpenters and boatmen to build ships for navigation.
According to Muchuan's estimate, it should take five months to complete. Unexpectedly, the speed was nearly doubled, and it was completed in only three months.
Muchuan looked incredulous: "Why is it so much faster than expected?"
Ouyang Bufan chuckled and said: "As adults often say, money can make the world go round! If enough money is given, the craftsmen and boatmen will naturally work seriously."
"Is it possible that there are consequences of shoddy manufacturing?
Don’t try to reduce the quality of the ship too quickly!”
"Of course it's impossible, I'll do the work, don't worry, sir!"
Ouyang Bufan said confidently.
In fact, when Ouyang Bufan saw that the ship was being built so quickly, he was also worried about quality problems, so he specially hired several experienced shipwrights. The ship owner went to check to check the quality of the ship. It turned out that the ship was of very good quality, let alone
You can sail safely on the sea, even if you encounter strong winds and heavy rains, you don’t have to worry.
As he spoke, Ouyang Bufan chuckled and said, "The main thing is the technology you brought, Mr. Muchuan! Even the old shipwrights said they had never seen such shipbuilding technology before!"
Mozhu has also visited the port before. The ship built using Muchuan's design drawings is indeed exquisite. The ship is tall, stable and strong, and the principle of double-layer ship boards can effectively prevent the ship from sinking and killing people.
