The governor's office is much larger than the county government office, and the official residence behind it is naturally larger than the county government office's backyard.
Previously, it was more than enough for so many people of the Niu family to live in the governor's mansion, but it was naturally even more comfortable when Yang Heshu moved in.
Brother Qi was still young, so he lived with his parents in the main courtyard. In such a large governor's mansion, only the master lived in the main courtyard, and the other courtyards were empty.
This time when Zhou Man and the others came, Cui simply cleared out two courtyards for Bai Shan and the others to live in, while Man Bao and Zhou Liru lived in a small courtyard on the other side, which was separate from their two courtyards.
Their carriages had personal belongings on them, and the luggage carts were all delivered to the inn.
Mrs. Cui also prepared a lot of things for them. As soon as Manbao arrived in the room, a girl brought clean clothes and water for bathing.
So Man Bao washed her hair and took a bath. When she came out of the tub yawning sleepily, Mrs. Cui made arrangements to sit and wait in the outer room.
She came out wet with only her underwear and hair hanging down. Cui quickly said to the girl: "Dry her hair quickly."
Immediately, a girl came forward to wait on her, and another girl brought a coat and put it on her.
Manbao sat cross-legged on the couch and let them do it. He yawned and almost burst into tears, "Why is the sister-in-law here?"
Ms. Cui smiled and said, "Come here and see how you are doing. I was originally worried that you had lost weight on the road, but unexpectedly you seemed to have regained some weight."
Zhou Man had been in Xiazhou for almost four months. She had lost a lot of weight, and most of the baby fat on her face had gone away. But when she looked back two months later, she had gained weight again.
Man Bao subconsciously touched his waist. It was okay, not bad. Although it was still fleshy, it was still a waist.
She said: "After I returned, I lived outside the palace for a period of time. I could eat the food cooked by my sister-in-law every day. She made a lot of soup for me."
The soup is very nourishing.
Ms. Cui stretched out her hand and pinched her cheek and said, "It would be better to be fatter. She was too thin before." She felt distressed just looking at her.
Mrs. Cui was closer to Zhou Man than before, and Man Bao could naturally feel it. She smiled, drooped her eyelids and was about to fall asleep.
Mrs. Cui noticed her sleepiness and guessed that she must have been smoked by the hot water.
On the road, even if they had enough to eat and drink, it would be difficult to wash up. They took 19 days to get from the capital to Xiazhou, which was supposed to be an eight-day journey, so I'm afraid they didn't wash up properly.
So Ms. Cui looked at the girls and winked at them.
Soon a girl came up with a quilt, spread it on the wooden couch and let Manbao lean on the soft pillow.
Man Bao's eyelids drooped as soon as he leaned down.
Mrs. Cui sat for a while, and when she heard her long breathing, she knew she was asleep, so she got up and left.
Like her, there were many people who took a bath and went to bed because they felt comfortable. Mr. Zhuang was in good spirits. After taking a bath, he sat in the yard to bask in the sun while waiting for Yang Heshu.
Yang Heshu was busy until noon before finishing the urgent matters at hand. When they returned to the backyard, Manbao and the others had been asleep for most of an hour.
Mrs. Cui poured him a cup of tea and said, "I saw that they were all very sleepy, so I didn't let the kitchen do anything. I'll wait until they wake up before eating."
Yang Heshu nodded, "That's fine."
Ms. Cui: "It's true that Mr. Zhuang didn't fall asleep. He's currently basking in the sun in the yard."
Yang Heshu stood up and said, "Send some lunch over here. I'll go over to eat with you and talk by the way."
Mrs. Cui agreed and asked someone to make something they liked and send it over.
Mr. Zhuang was about to ask Yang Heshu about the situation on the grassland.
Even a small broken station knows that life in the grassland is difficult this year. Xiazhou, whose territory is half of the jurisdiction of the grassland, naturally knows better.
Yang Heshu said: "Smallpox is the most serious disease in Xiazhou City, but some people have spread it to the grasslands. The land there is vast and sparsely populated, so it is not easy to spread the disease, but it is even harder to control the disease."
He said: "Some tribes are infected, and the entire tribe is infected. There is not much medicine, and it is basically a disaster of annihilation. Therefore, life in the grassland this year is also a bit difficult."
Mr. Zhuang couldn't help but ask: "Did the disease spread from Xiazhou?"
Yang Heshu nodded, "I have investigated and found that the first case was indeed Hu Ji. She only became ill after entering Xiazhou City, but..."
He raised his eyebrows and said: "I started to control the outflow of people after I knew there was smallpox. Because there was a lack of medical treatment and medicine in the north, fewer people ran there. The reason why the disease spread was because herdsmen came to Xiazhou City.
It spread if you accidentally contracted the disease back home, but I heard from businessmen from the Western Regions who came from Illinois recently that there are people on the grasslands there who are also suffering from smallpox."
Mr. Zhuang learned more from Man Bao. He said: "Someone reported this to the Taiyuan Hospital. Man Bao suspected that smallpox broke out in both places at about the same time."
Mr. Zhuang paused and then asked, "I wonder what the people on the grassland think about this at this time? As for the Han people here in Xiazhou..."
Yang Heshu said: "They believed that smallpox was a punishment from heaven, a punishment for doing bad things."
He frowned and said, "Although I don't hate the Han people, several people died on the grassland for sacrifice."
Mr. Zhuang didn't speak for a long time, and then asked after a long time: "How is the situation now?"
"It's all over. The imperial court has sent medicinal materials three times to the tribes and scattered people on the grassland. They were all prepared according to the prescriptions of the imperial hospital. However, there are few doctors there, and the smallpox on the grassland seems to be more virulent. The survival rate
Only 30%."
Yang Heshu said: "The most important thing on the grassland now is not smallpox, but snow disaster."
He said: "Xiazhou is okay, Yizhou, including Suzhou, actually had another snowfall some time ago."
Mr. Zhuang calculated the time and asked, "How could it be?"
Yang Heshu nodded, "The weather is not good this year, so it is more difficult for the herdsmen on the grassland, and they believe that this is God's punishment."
Mr. Zhuang stopped talking.
Yang Heshu could only remind, "Sir, please be more careful this time. Bai Shan and the others are young after all, so they need to be restrained to avoid misfortune coming from their mouths."
Yang Heshu did not believe in gods and Buddhas. He knew that Bai Shan and others were partial to Taoism, but they did not believe in things like sacrifices.
A few young people were young and impulsive and went to the grassland. If they accidentally encountered such a thing, I'm afraid they would not stand up and cause trouble.
The grasslands were different from the Central Plains. The imperial court basically had no control over the areas north of Fengzhou and west of Liangzhou. These places were all border towns. Officials basically only looked after the Han people in the city, and it was difficult to control the herdsmen on the grasslands.
If they had a conflict with the herdsmen, the officials on the court's side would not actually have that much face.
Herdsmen mostly listen to tribes, but tribes basically don’t listen to court officials.
Mr. Zhuang nodded solemnly, with a sullen face that showed he understood.
When Manbao and the others woke up, it was already mid-afternoon. Yang and Shu went back to the front to handle official duties. Even Mr. Zhuang took a break and sat on the porch to read.