After reading the memorial, Chen Mo’s brow was tightly furrowed.
A plague, this is no minor illness.
If mishandled, it could lead to many deaths.
The most crucial point is, now in midsummer, the climate factors make it the period with the strongest transmission.
"Immediately issue a command to Zhao Liang, ordering him to lead the troops to seal off Youzhou, preventing the plague from spreading," Chen Mo said.
"Your Majesty, after the outbreak of the plague, the Prefect of Youzhou immediately found General Zhao to seal off all the key routes in and out of Youzhou," Geng Songfu said.
"What does the Imperial Physician say?" Chen Mo inquired.
"Your Majesty, according to the information obtained currently, the Imperial Hospital suspects this plague might be cholera, and if it is cholera, the Imperial Hospital has a treatment prescription," Geng Songfu said.
"Then what are you standing around for, quickly dispatch the Imperial Physician to Youzhou, with the necessary expenses coordinated by the Ministry of Revenue, cooperating fully, with no errors allowed."
"Yes."
Geng Songfu responded and was about to leave.
Jia Yin quickly walked in.
"Your Majesty, an urgent message from General Nangong of Cangzhou," Jia Yin presented Nangong Xian’s urgent document.
"Cangzhou?"
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow, as it is adjacent to Youzhou. He quickly took two steps to receive the urgent document from Jia Yin, opened it, and started reading.
Soon, Chen Mo’s brow was tightly furrowed and he said: "A major event has occurred, the plague has already spread to Cangzhou."
"So soon?"
Geng Songfu’s face changed dramatically; this is too fast. According to historical records concerning the plague, its spread was never this rapid.
"Minister Geng, issue my decree, ordering the Prefects of Gaozhou and Qingzhou, local troops, to quickly seal off key routes in and out of the two states to prevent further plague spread.
Additionally, gather doctors in the city with experience in treating plague and dispatch them to the north. We must control this plague," Chen Mo said.
"Yes."
...
After Geng Songfu left, Chen Mo immediately summoned Minister of Revenue Zuo Lianglun and Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War Chang En.
Making the Ministry of Revenue fully obey Geng Songfu’s coordination.
Ordering Chang En to ready ten thousand troops, always prepared to follow orders to reinforce the north.
Chen Mo was worried that the outbreak of the plague might trigger large-scale chaos.
After giving instructions, Chen Mo first sought out Nalan Yiren.
Nalan Yiren saw Chen Mo return so quickly, thinking he wanted to continue what was not completed earlier, got scared and said: "I... I have matters to attend to outside the palace."
"Yiren, a major event occurred in the north; in a short time, I’m afraid I can’t go with you to Poison King Valley. I need you to help me with something," Chen Mo said solemnly.
Seeing Chen Mo’s serious expression, Nalan Yiren realized that a major issue might truly have occurred: "What happened?"
"A plague broke out in Youzhou and has spread to Cangzhou, in less than half a month, over a thousand people have died," Chen Mo handed the urgent document from Geng Songfu to Nalan Yiren to read.
Historically, the most frequent and widely spread plagues consisted of these five types:
Bubonic plague, malaria, smallpox, cholera, influenza.
"Diarrhea, vomiting, coma...infected by consuming beef and mutton from Fu Ze Restaurant, and the infected beef likely drank contaminated water, indeed resembling cholera."
Nalan Yiren gave her opinion after reading.
Seeing Chen Mo’s worried expression.
Nalan Yiren patted her chest in assurance: "You need not worry; for me, whether it’s cholera or malaria or anything else, it’s easily solvable. I don’t even need to go there... Here, I’ll write you some prescriptions to be handed to the Imperial Hospital..."
Saying so, Nalan Yiren then took out paper and pen and began to write.
The plague sounds frightening, but for her, it’s a trivial matter.
The toxins she ingested during her fifth level of cultivation far exceeded the strength of these five plagues.
Initially, Chen Mo indeed intended to trouble Nalan Yiren to oversee the entire situation in Youzhou, but seeing her confident demeanor, Chen Mo felt relieved and decided to wait and see.
After Nalan Yiren finished writing the prescriptions, Chen Mo had Jia Yin deliver them to the Imperial Hospital and take them to Youzhou.
After a flurry of activity, it was already dark.
Just as Chen Mo arrived at the harem, Consort Wen Ning Wan came looking for him.
Ning Wan didn’t need to say anything; Chen Mo already knew what matter she sought him for.
Indeed, as soon as Chen Mo brought her to his sleeping quarters, Ning Wan brought up the issue of Fu Ze Restaurant.
Fu Ze Restaurant was initially founded by Chen Mo, but at the time he was busy with other matters so he handed it over to Ning Wan, who was commercially inclined, to manage.
Later, as his status gradually elevated, Ning Wan, as his woman, certainly didn’t suit becoming publicly visible, so Ning Wan handed Fu Ze Restaurant over to the courtesan Qing Dance to manage.
After Fu Ze Restaurant locations in various counties of Youzhou were sealed off, the news quickly reached the headquarters in Linzhou, which later arrived at Qing Dance, who reported it to Ning Wan.
Currently, Fu Ze Restaurant has two matters to deal with:
First, the matter of Fu Ze Restaurant locations being sealed off by the Government Office in Youzhou.
This is the easiest to handle, as it doesn’t even require Chen Mo’s intervention; Ning Wan could just make a call below to have them unsealed.
The tricky part is the second matter, the accountability from the populace and the Government Office.
Of over a thousand people who perished in Youzhou, many died from eating beef and mutton provided by Fu Ze Restaurant.
Hence, Fu Ze Restaurant certainly had to assume corresponding responsibility, compensating the families of the deceased.
"Wan’Er, how do you plan to resolve this?" Chen Mo wanted to see if Ning Wan would assume responsibility.
Ning Wan thought for a moment, then said: "Firstly, for all Fu Ze Restaurant locations in the north, including Gaozhou, Qingzhou, and Yu State, enact store closures for self-checks, and remain closed until the issue is fully resolved.
Furthermore, for those who died from consuming beef and mutton from Fu Ze Restaurant and contracting the plague, the Fu Ze Restaurant’s headquarters would offer a certain amount of silver taels as compensation. Additionally, I also plan for Fu Ze Restaurant to purchase a batch of food to be shipped to Youzhou and given freely to all those infected with the plague, including families of those who perished due to the plague."