Later, through Yunlu, Tong Yan learned a lot about refugees and epidemics.
Most of the refugees in Shi'an come from Jinzhou, which is flooded by floods. Hecheng is relatively far away from Jinzhou, one to the east and one to the west, so the refugees from Jincheng will basically not be infected by the disease.
They were unable to enter the city because the prefect Shi'an issued an order not to allow refugees to enter the city. The reason was that they were afraid of bringing the disease into the city. In fact, the imperial city sent an imperial envoy down, fearing that there would be a large number of refugees and that it would affect the appearance of the city.
The current refugee shelter is a rescue point built by several large households in the city voluntarily. In addition to building greenhouses, they also cook porridge and distribute it every day.
Hecheng has already been closed down due to the plague. However, before the outbreak, many residents who heard the news fled with their families in advance.
Among them were tourists who were just passing through Holland and leaving soon, or local merchants who were planning to do business elsewhere.
Some people here did not know that there were already lurking patients in Hecheng at that time. After leaving Hecheng, they had fever and cough. They thought it was an ordinary cold, so basically no one paid attention to it.
It wasn't until the plague spread uncontrollably in Hecheng and the number of patients suddenly increased several times that the prefect ordered the city to be closed down.
Soon afterwards, the surrounding cities, including Shi'an, which was thousands of miles away, were on nervous alert and strictly inspected the outsiders entering the city.
Anyone with symptoms of fever and cough will be taken away for examination.
However, it was already too late at this time. People who came out of Hecheng had already mingled in various cities, and many patients had already appeared in the surrounding towns.
Yunlu was from Jincheng, and she heard everything about Hecheng from other people because she traveled around.
Tong Yan asked Yunlu, "Do you know the way to Hecheng?"
Yunlu: "Do you want to go to Hecheng?"
Tong Yan: "Yeah."
"There is a plague over there, why are you going there?" He paused and said, "I haven't been there either. If you want to know how to get there, you can go into the city to find the Tang family's caravan. They will be going there soon.
"
"If the city is closed, will caravans still pass by?"
"The Tang family's caravan is delivering medicinal materials to them, and these medicinal materials are all from their own pharmacy. It is said that several doctors have also been arranged to go with them."
"Is this Tang family in the medicinal materials business?"
"That's not true. It is said that the older generation of the Tang family are imperial doctors from the palace. They are very skilled in medicine. They usually mainly conduct medical consultations and sell medicinal materials just by the way."
"I see, then I will go with the caravan."
After making the decision, Tong Yan saw that it was almost time, so he said goodbye to Yunlu and went into the city.
But for some reason when she left, Yunlu looked at him and hesitated to speak.
Since she didn't say anything, Tong Yan didn't intend to ask any more questions and turned around and left the refugee camp.
The officers and soldiers were screening people with fever and cough, so children without any such symptoms were directly released.
After entering the city, she went directly to the Tang's Pharmacy that Yunlu mentioned. When she arrived on this street, the first thing she saw was a long list of people seeking medical treatment.
Without paying much attention to the long queue of people, Tong Yan bypassed them and walked to the signboard outside the pharmacy.
I saw a piece of paper posted on it, which stated the departure time of the caravan escorting the medicinal materials, and a notice to hire an escort.
There were a few men watching the announcement, and they laughed inwardly when they saw Tong Yan looking at this.
This is a girl from a certain family who thinks that just by holding a sword, she can be like other people and travel around the world doing chivalry and righteousness.
A big man said teasingly to Tong Yan, "Young girl is a chivalrous girl from some sect. She has been out in the world since she was young."
Tong Yan left after reading the announcement, not knowing that he was talking to him. He turned around and went straight to the pharmacy to inquire about recruitment.
The big man who was completely ignored suddenly felt a little embarrassed in front of his peers, and said slightly annoyed, "Young people nowadays don't know how to respect their seniors at all! I want to see how you can get the Tang family to hire you with your tricks.
!"
After saying that, he followed the pharmacy. Several others were also here for recruitment, so they naturally followed him at this moment, and they could also take a look at the excitement.
Tong Yan came to the counter and asked, "Are you full of escorts? I'm here to apply. I don't need money, I just need to provide accommodation."
The big man who came in heard her saying that he didn't want money, and secretly thought that Tong Yan was not only stupid but also naive. He escorted the medicinal materials to Hecheng. After being exposed to the plague, there was no guarantee that he would not be infected.
They are willing to go because they are interested in the high price offered by the Tang family.
If they don't need money, why would they take risks in such dangerous places?
Showing loyalty and kindness will not satisfy you.
The young man who was questioned by Tong Yan was startled and looked at her for a while, wondering if this girl had come to the wrong place.
Then he kindly reminded her, "Girl, the plague is very serious in Hecheng. Even if you have relatives there, it is best not to go at this time."
Tong Yan glanced at the counter and found no pen or paper. He gestured with one hand to write and said, "Can you write to me? I can't hear you."
The young man stared slightly and was stunned for a moment, "This..."
The young man who was taking medicine behind heard their conversation, came over with the medicine bag, and pushed the young man to remind him to come to his senses.
After being reminded, the boy quickly found paper and pen and wrote words of persuasion for Tong Yan to read.
After knowing what he meant, Tong Yan said: "I don't have any relatives there, I just want to send medicinal materials there."
When there are more refugees, there will be many people who occupy the mountains as bandits and take advantage of the chaos to rob. Medicinal materials are very important at this time.
We had to go there anyway, so Tong Yan thought about escorting him.
The young man still shook his head and said in disapproval, "You can't do anything if you go to a girl's house. The plague is not an ordinary cold. It's hard to say whether it can be cured or not. Don't try to be a hero."
Tong Yan frowned. He didn't expect to be stopped here. He didn't know what to say to make them believe him.
At this time, several other applicants came over, including the big man from before.
After glancing at Tong Yan, he said to the young man and the others, "We are here to apply for escort services."
When the boy saw them, he visually judged that their body shape and age probably met the standard, and took out a booklet to register.
Seeing this, Tong Yan said before the young man spoke, "Do you know Baiyin Valley? I am their disciple."
When things were urgent, she first took advantage of Baiyin Valley's reputation.
However, the boy and the younger brother shook their heads at her at the same frequency.
He turned to look at the big man and several men next to him, and also shook his head.
Baiyin Valley...is it so unknown?
It’s not that there is no popularity, but that most ordinary people don’t know what a monk is at all. Even if they know a little bit about it, they can’t tell which sect is which.
Well, since she can't get a free ride, she'll run away first.
At worst, wait until the caravan sets off and then quietly follow it.
After coming out of the pharmacy, Tong Yan found a place to stay, and then went shopping four times to replenish his inventory of ingredients.
But what she saw next made her frown.
She saw a woman entering the rice shop, asked some questions, looked at the price of rice marked one fen per liter, and left with a sad and disappointed look on her face.
Even if he didn't know how much rice usually costs, Tong Yan could probably guess that due to natural disasters, food prices in various places have increased significantly.
Even Shi Anshang, which has little influence, has skyrocketing prices. What will happen to Hecheng at this moment?
What is lacking there is not just medicinal materials.