Chapter 862: Epidemic

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

“This year, we found commoners who are familiar with the local climate and are proficient in agriculture, so we adjusted the planting time. The first batch of cotton seeds has already sprouted, and the second batch will sprout at the end of the month. For example, the planting time for sweet potatoes is not much different.”

Yu Youyao calmed down. “Sweet potatoes and cotton are the most important. We can’t be careless. We also have to try our best to plant other crops.”

After Nanny Yue and the stewards left, Yu Youyao sent someone to invite General An Yuan over for a discussion. Then, she went to the study and wrote down in detail what she knew about the prevention method of the locusts.

At this moment, Xia Tao came over to report, “Young Miss, General An Yuan and Military Advisor Huang are here together.”

Yu Youyao was a little surprised and quickly went to the reception pavilion. “Has everything been handled in Anshan?”

Huang Wenxian nodded. “It’s all settled. Lord Li doesn’t suspect anything. Yin Qi has arranged for someone to take over the follow-up matters of the gold mine. He’ll be in charge of the rest.”

His Highness had sent him to the Little Princess Consort’s side to help her deal with some trivial matters so that she wouldn’t have to work hard. Naturally, he wouldn’t stay in Liancheng for long.

Yu Youyao smiled. “Has there been any news from the Imperial Court?”

Huang Wenxian said, “Not long ago, the Imperial Court issued a commendation document. It’s not a mistake to suppress the bandits. The palace even rewarded you. They only said that the Empress Dowager is grateful for the princess’s kindness and righteousness to calm her down.”

Only then did Yu Youyao notice that there was a wooden box in the hall.

The Empress Dowager’s reward was nothing more than some expensive medicinal herbs, spices, and some exquisite gold, silver, pearls, and jade.

The palace had never lacked such rare things.

The Empress Dowager was not stingy with her rewards.

These things were often priceless outside.

Naturally, Yu Youyao was happy to have obtained such good things for no reason. She was in no hurry to take a look. Instead, she changed the topic to serious matters. “A large number of refugees have surged into the Liaodong area. How did they settle down?”

General Anyuan said, “Longcheng is the gate city of Liaodong. It also takes time to settle the refugees, so we’ll temporarily settle them outside Longcheng and let the You army guard them. The government will step in to verify the identities of the refugees.” At this point, he added, “Your clan brother, Yu Shande, is there. The refugees follow his lead. We’ll discuss many matters with him. It’ll be much more convenient for him to step in and communicate with the refugees.”

Yu Youyao had also been paying attention to the news about Yu Shande and had heard about this.

General Anyuan continued, “Those who are literate and proficient in craftsmanship will be prioritized according to their needs. The remaining people will be specially taught silkworm raising, fishing, and other skills. As the North wants to develop the silkworm industry vigorously, there are few people in the silk weaving, printing, and dyeing fields, so they will also choose some people from the refugees to learn these skills.”

The best talents would prioritize the needs of the princess and the Xie family. The rest would be distributed by the Yue Fei’s Residence.

It was appropriate. Yu Youyao continued, “In March, the weather will begin to heat up greatly. The weather will be hot and humid, and it will breed germs. If a large number of refugees gather together, it’s easy for an epidemic to spread.”

It was also because Nanny Yue had mentioned the locust plague that she realized that compared to locust plagues that only occurred in June and July, it was easiest for diseases to breed in April and May.

This was an urgent matter.

They did not have much time to prepare.

As soon as these words were spoken, not only did General An Yuan react, but even Huang Wenxian’s expression turned solemn.

The You army was only in charge of taking in, suppressing, and resettling the refugees. Everything else was the government’s business, so they did not care too much.

Disasters were often accompanied by epidemic diseases. The government had also taken corresponding measures. The refugee camp had arranged for a doctor and some medicinal herbs to prevent illnesses in case of emergencies.

However, with the influx of refugees, the government was clearly not prepared.

It wasn’t that the government hadn’t realized this problem, but there were too many refugees, and the North lacked supplies. The government didn’t have enough manpower and energy, so it was inevitable that they would lose focus.

In addition, the temperature in Liaodong was wet and cold. Even in history, there were very few epidemics. It was inevitable that they would take a chance. They wanted to settle the refugees and evacuate them as soon as possible before the weather heated up greatly so that they could avoid an outbreak.

Now that Princess Shaoyi had directly pointed it out, they could not be negligent.

Yu Youyao continued, “We have to gather doctors from the city and have them stay in the refugee camp permanently. We have to set up a patrol team to check the cleanliness of the refugee camp every day. We have to force the refugees to pay attention to their personal cleanliness and encourage the refugees to supervise and report to each other. If anyone is not feeling well, they have to be isolated and treated immediately to prevent more people from being infected and to prevent a pandemic from spreading. We have to explain the seriousness of an epidemic to the refugees.”

General An Yuan nodded solemnly.

Yu Youyao continued, “In addition, Uncle Sun has some treatment methods for an epidemic. Prepare as many medicinal herbs as possible in case of emergencies. If necessary, invite Uncle Sun over to take charge.”

Uncle Sun had traveled the north and south and was knowledgeable. He had experience and methods to treat an epidemic.

She pondered for a moment. “The most important thing about an epidemic is prevention. I have some incense recipes that can prevent a plague. I’ll arrange for someone to speed up the production and burn them every day. They’re the most effective for preventing and controlling the epidemic.”

Epidemics all spread through insects and rats. Incense medicine had the effect of preventing insects, cleansing the body, and clearing the air. It was also a treatment method.

There were many similar incense recipes. They were either used to expel filth, detoxify insects, or prevent embalming.

Huang Wenxian immediately said, “It’s just that medicinal herbs are scarce in the North…”

With so many refugees gathered together, it was impossible to guard against them. If an epidemic really broke out and there were not enough medicinal herbs, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“This is my negligence.” The climate in Liaodong prevented her from realizing this. In addition, her desire to treat the refugees made her overlook everything that had happened after that. Yu Youyao blamed herself. “I should have been prepared for this when I decided to settle the refugees.”

The fact that the government was unwilling to take in refugees did not necessarily mean that they would leave them in the lurch. It was just that supplies were already very difficult to obtain. There were all kinds of trouble in the future. Without the support of the Imperial Court, it was impossible for the government to deal with it.

If she did it well, she would do it for the people.

If she did not do it well, she would harm others.

She had taken it for granted. She had thought that settling down the refugees would give them hope for survival. Little did she know that this hope still had to face too many tests.

She had gathered a large number of refugees in the North. If an epidemic broke out, she would not be saving people, but harming them.

I didn’t kill the people, but they died because of me.

Didn’t Yin Huaixi know about this?

He knew!

As she wanted to do it, Yin Huaixi was willing to help her.

It was precisely because he knew the severity of the matter that Yin Huaixi kept running around outside. He wanted to settle the refugees down as soon as possible to prevent a tragedy from happening.

She pursed her lips tightly, her gaze cold, and her expression firm. “Tomorrow, release the news that the Xie family has donated a batch of medicinal herbs to prevent an epidemic among the refugees. They’ve also encouraged the commoners to pick medicinal herbs. I’ll buy the medicinal herbs picked by the commoners. The bigger the matter, the better.”

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