Chapter 79: Riot of the People

Chapter 79

What was worse was that after checking the other counties one by one, the same situation occurred.

The next day, Lord Li hurriedly summoned the newly appointed prefects and officials of each county to urgently discuss preventive measures.

But before the decrees could be implemented, Shuangyu County suffered a massive plague disaster that very day.

People in the entire county began to show symptoms continuously, and those who were infected earlier began coughing blood and dying in large numbers.

Even some villages rebuilt for refugees had all the villagers infected, almost causing them to be wiped out.

The plague spread very quickly, making it impossible to predict who would be the next infected person, and the people of Shuangyu County were in great panic.

Lord Li issued various defensive measures with thunderous means, and no one was allowed to defy them, otherwise they would be imprisoned. At the same time, he rushed to report to the capital.

Each prefecture and county began to implement lockdown and control measures, and those with symptoms were quarantined for treatment.

Each household was not allowed to move around at will, and only one person per household was allowed to go out to buy necessities, and they had to cover their noses and mouths and keep distance from others when going out.

Any infected person in a household must be reported and not concealed.

In addition, the clothes and living supplies used by the infected person in the family must be boiled in boiling water or burned directly.

Each household was issued herbs such as atractylodes, mugwort, and clove by the government, and fumigation was carried out at home for air disinfection.

Various preventive measures continued to be implemented.

Despite this, the number of infected and dead continued to be reported to the courier stations every day.

"Sir, reports from all over today total nearly five thousand infected people, of which more than one thousand have died. Among them, Shuangyu County has over three thousand infected people, and over eight hundred dead."

"In just less than three days, so many people have been infected and died. Have the doctors in the counties made any new progress?"

"I report to sir, no."

On the second day after deciding to stay, Gong Xiaohua entered Shuangyu County with several doctors who were dispatched there.

She guessed that the plague in Shuangyu County was likely to be the bubonic plague.

Because on her first trip to Shuangyu County, she found a large number of decaying corpses on the road, being nibbled by some rats and other wild small animals.

At that time, Shuangyu County had limited porridge, and many refugees were starving and may have begun catching large numbers of rats or some wild animals to fill their stomachs.

The symptoms of the infected people were also very similar to those of bubonic plague in modern medicine.

But in modern medicine, the incubation period of bubonic plague is usually short, generally 2-3 days, with only a few cases having a longer incubation period of up to 8 days. ViiSiit novelbi/n(.)c/(o)m for latest novels

At that time, it was also impossible to determine what kind of plague it was, and it was possible that it was an early form of plague with a longer incubation period.

What was more terrifying was that due to the possibly long incubation period of the plague, personnel in Nanlong Prefecture were mobile before the outbreak was exposed, and some refugees had even left the prefecture and went to other prefectures and counties.

In modern history, the mortality rate of bubonic plague was very high, with the number of deaths ranging from tens of thousands to tens of millions.

Once it was determined to be the plague, if not handled properly, the Da Ye Dynasty would suffer a great blow.

"No, they haven't. And according to reliable information, Lady Gong is also involved in treating the epidemic."

"What? Prepare a horse for me immediately."

"Young Master, you must not go. It is a plague, going there is suicide."

Suddenly, Prime Minister Qin walked in and scolded, "What's with your behavior, every time it involves that Gong girl you lose your composure. If I hadn't come today, would you have secretly gone to Nanlong Prefecture again?"

"Granduncle." Qin Chuyuan fell silent.

"What can you do by going there? It's a plague, not an ordinary cold. Are you willing to abandon the family for a woman?"

"Come in."

"Master."

"From today, keep a strict watch on the fifth young master. You know the consequences if you let him leave secretly."

"Yes."

As time went by, several prefectures and counties near Nanlong Prefecture also began to have large numbers of infected people, and there was a growing trend of spreading nationwide.

For a time, people all over the country knew that a plague had broken out, and everyone was on guard.

Nanlong Prefecture had almost become hell on earth, with large numbers of people dying every day, and the rate of infection was accelerating.

With so many bodies in the city that they couldn't be cremated in time, the uninfected were very afraid and wanted to flee this place.

But the city gates were heavily guarded and they couldn't get out, so riots broke out.

The commoners came to the city gates armed with various weapons.

The leader of the commoners roared:

"Open the city gates immediately!"

The city gate guards said:

"You can't leave without orders from the lord."

The leader was very angry and waved his arm.

"Let's go, it's better to fight than wait here to die."

The guards fought with the commoners.

But how could the commoners be a match for the well-trained city gate guards?

This riot was easily suppressed.

When Lord Li learned of the commoners' riot, his brows were furrowed.

Now he was also barely holding on. In the past few days, the plague had spread rapidly, and riots had broken out several times. No matter how he tried to appease the commoners, it was useless.