Chapter 1159: Songcheng Plague The Sishui River originates from Yanzhou, flows through Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Sizhou, and flows into the Huaihe River. From Fangyu County to Huaizhou, it stretches for more than 500 miles and 80 years.
More than ten thousand refugees headed south along Sishui River. Everyone knew about the outbreak of plague in Songcheng County. In order to avoid the plague, they had to move south.
On the Sishui River, thousands of small boats were loaded with food, accompanied by tents and tens of thousands of old, weak, women and children. There were also a large number of boats coming from the Jianghuai River.
The team was huge and stretched for dozens of miles. Even tens of thousands of people in Fang and County fled south. Everyone was very afraid of the arrival of the plague.
Wang Zhantu was in charge of more than a thousand refugee households, and seven young scholars and more than a hundred soldiers were responsible for assisting him in maintaining order.
Wang Zhantu was riding on a donkey and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Everyone, keep up, don't fall behind!"
"Wang Yasi, have a drink of water!" The old man Wang Huai handed him the water hyacinth.
"No! No! I have water."
Wang Zhantu waved his hand quickly, took out his water hyacinth and drank two sips of water, then asked: "Why don't you go take the boat, old man?"
Wang Huai scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Three members of my family have already passed away. If I take a boat again, others will have opinions."
There are regulations for taking a boat. Each family can only take a boat with a maximum of two people. Wang Huai's grandchildren are still young, so even if they are alone, they will take the boat with his wife.
Wang Zhantu also knew this rule, so he smiled and asked: "Old man, don't I remember that your family has a big car? With two children sitting on the big car, aren't you and your wife together?"
"The big car is at the back. The eldest son and my daughter-in-law are together. The car is full of messy things and there is no place to sit. The main reason is that the two children want to take the boat. I will go for a walk with the younger son! I
It’s okay, people who work in the fields can walk hundreds of miles without any problems.”
"You don't have to walk hundreds of miles. The ship from the south will arrive soon. By then, everyone over fifty will be able to take the ship."
"Excuse me, Is there really a plague?" someone next to him asked.
Wang Zhantu nodded, "Indeed, I heard that it first broke out among Zhu Si's army, and then the troops in the city were also infected, and then the entire Songcheng County was infected."
"Then we won't be able to go home?" Everyone worried.
"We can't go back for the time being, let's see in the future! It will probably be better when it snows. Hey! You guys are not bad. You escaped this disaster. But the hundreds of thousands of people in Songcheng County are in misery. They are going to die this time.
how many people."
Wang Zhantu let out a long sigh, and everyone stopped talking. Everyone was secretly glad that they escaped early, otherwise their lives would have to be taken care of.
At this time, someone from the front shouted, "Stop and rest!"
People spread their sheepskins and sat down. Dinner began, including two big steamed buns, a piece of pickled vegetables, and a bowl of hot soup for each person.
Everyone chatted while eating, and the atmosphere was lively. This time of day is when everyone is most relaxed and happy.
The people who escaped from Songcheng County were intercepted by the cavalry, and the cavalry drove them to the camp. In fact, the distance between the Jin army's camps was very clever. It was 120 miles away from the city, which was exactly two days for ordinary people.
During the journey, if you get sick while out of town, you will almost always get sick after two days, and the dry food and water you brought will basically be used up.
If they are still healthy at this time, then the possibility of contracting the disease is very small. They will stay in the observation camp for three days. If there are no problems, the soldiers will take them away.
If you get sick, you will be sent directly to the isolation camp, drink medicine and rest. Whether you can resist it or not, you can only leave it to fate. With the help of medicine, generally strong young people can resist it, but the frail and sick people, the elderly, and children can basically resist it.
I can't survive this disaster.
The largest number of people who fled south to Bozhou was more than 200,000 people. In the endless wilderness, there were people supporting the elderly and the young everywhere, fleeing for their lives. When they fled to the cordon 120 miles away,
Then he was stopped by the cavalry. The cavalry pointed to the east and shouted, "There is a big camp in the east. There is hot water and food. You can rest. After registering, you can continue southward!"
Many people knelt down and begged, but the cavalry were unmoved and insisted that they go eastward. However, groups of people had no choice but to turn around and go eastward.
Due to the large number of people, the two camps in the south have been expanded twice. They stretch for more than ten miles and have thousands of tents. The gates of the camps are crowded with people waiting for inspection. The ground is covered with a thick layer of lime.
A young man stumbled forward. He suddenly fell to the ground. People around him screamed and ran away.
After two days of marching, most of the people who got sick fell to the ground, and those who got sick late were basically young people. At this time, the old, weak, women and children were safer.
Immediately, several well-prepared soldiers rushed up. They wore gloves and covered their mouths and noses with gauze. They put two ropes through the man's armpits, pulled him onto a flatbed truck, and quickly pulled him to the isolation camp. The man also
He is not dead, but whether he can be revived depends on his fate.
Dozens of experienced doctors are guarding the door. As long as their complexion is normal and their body temperature is not high, they can enter the observation camp. Soldiers will lead them to large tents and rest in the tents for three days. If there are no problems, they will be gathered on the ship.
Head to Huaihe River.
Due to adequate preparation and careful consideration, although the camp was very busy, it was not chaotic. Everything was orderly and the procedures were simple. Groups of people entered the camp one after another.
A soldier loudly said to a group of people: "Everyone, remember, after entering the tent, you can't move around except to go to the toilet. Everyone has a good rest for three days. The soup and food will be delivered on time. After three days, there will be no illness.
Then you can take a boat to Chuzhou."
"We are going to Bozhou, not Chuzhou!" someone shouted.
The soldier explained: "The Bozhou refugee camp has been moved to Chuzhou. Everyone is afraid of the plague and evacuated southward."
Seeing that everyone no longer had any objections, the soldier asked again: "Has any family member fallen ill and died on the road? Tell us quickly. We have medicinal soup that can save lives. By the time you get sick, it will be too late."
More than a dozen people raised their hands sadly, and everyone was so frightened that they ran away from the family as if they were seeing the plague.
The soldiers took these families to separate small tents and placed them in isolation. They had to be observed for five days before they could leave.
"Everyone, follow me!" The soldier led the remaining seventy or eighty people toward several large tents.
Groups of people entered the camp, and progress was rapid. The crowds of people in the wilderness did not need to suffer and wait. More than 200,000 people were placed in the observation camp in less than a day, and thousands of them were
Sent to an isolation camp for treatment.
Li Bing led 20,000 cavalry but stared at Qiu Jingzhong's army. Qiu Jingzhong's next plan was obvious. Songcheng County could no longer stay. They would inevitably evacuate to Bianzhou or Caozhou. Bianzhou was the most likely. Taking Chenliu could gain
A large amount of food supplies.
In the dark night, a large number of troops came out from the north city gate, about 50,000 to 60,000 people, and nearly 20,000 soldiers were abandoned in the city. Basically, they were already sick or had a fever or showed signs of illness.
In order to avoid the Jin cavalry, this army crossed the Bianhe River and marched north along the west bank of the Bianhe River. This road was actually the retreat route of Xiao Wanding's army. A large number of soldiers who died of illness were buried along the way. All of this was
Covered by mud and weeds, the invisible demon is ready to move, waiting for the arrival of this unknown army.
When Qiu Jingzhong's army came out of the city, they were immediately stared at by the scout Colonel Yu Linhai. After determining the march route of Qiu Jingzhong's army, Yu Linhai immediately sent his men to report to the commander Li Bing.
As night fell, tens of thousands of troops camped in the wilderness. This time Qiu Jingzhong lost most of his baggage. The soldiers carried dry food, and hundreds of carts were used to transport food, kerosene and other important supplies. The soldiers were basically light soldiers.
Then, the tents and other baggage were naturally thrown away.
It was late October, the turn of autumn and winter, and the night was extremely cold. The soldiers spread thin blankets on the ground and slept with their armor on. Coughing could be heard one after another. The soldiers were shivering from the cold and unable to fall asleep.
However, the surrounding trees had been cut down long ago, and there was no wood to be found for the fire. Qiu Jingzhong had no choice but to order his soldiers to dig tree stumps, collect bushes, and gather them together to make a fire.
At this time, some soldiers dug up tree stumps and uncovered dozens of rotting corpses, and they screamed in fright.
This discovery immediately made all the soldiers' hair stand on end. They didn't dare to sleep anymore and stood up one after another. Maybe there was a plague corpse under their bodies.
At this time, a soldier rushed over and reported to Qiu Jingzhong: "Commander, a brother in the front camp is sick!"
Qiu Jingzhong was shocked, "How many people are sick?"
"About a hundred people!"
Immediately afterwards, another soldier reported, "There are also soldiers in the Chinese army who are sick, about ninety of them!"
Seeing that the morale of the entire army was about to collapse, Qiu Jingzhong's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he said to his second son Qiu Wen: "Take a thousand brothers over there, kill all the sick soldiers, and bury them on the spot. The same will happen to all those who get sick in the future!"
"Follow the order!"
Qiu Wen rushed away with a thousand soldiers.
Qiu Jingzhong did not rest and ordered the soldiers to continue heading north.