northernbook Chapter 124 Plague
Chapter 124 Plague
Meng Fuqing had previously thought of borrowing a doctor from the city gate to treat the refugees and then sell grain, but now it seems she was naive.
Selling things in ancient times was much more complicated than it is today. Grain was measured with wooden measures, and gold and silver were weighed with scales. Only by combining measures and scales could one weigh things accurately.
Besides, not everyone carried copper coins and gold and silver with them; some even brought valuable jewelry and other valuables to exchange for food.
Although some of the bandits they brought had good eyesight and could tell the value of some items, they were not pawnshop owners after all. They would accept what they could, but had to give up on what they couldn't tell the value of.
It becomes quite complicated after a while.
Taking a pulse and performing a combination of observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation is a meticulous task for a doctor. If you really invite a doctor, it might take three days and three nights to find one.
They simply fumigated the grain with sulfur, and the people who were loading the grain were wrapped up tightly to avoid contact with the refugees as much as possible.
The only thing that caught people's attention was that Meng Wan'er was right. She was quick-witted and nimble-fingered. With an abacus in hand, she could calculate accounts quickly and accurately, even faster than her uncle Meng Wenbai.
Fortunately, the weighing process is slow, so it doesn't delay either side.
After looking around inside the pavilion for a while, Meng Fuqing decided to set up another tent on the opposite side of the official road so that people could queue up on both sides at the same time and improve efficiency.
They brought enough people that a simple tent was quickly erected. After being fumigated with sulfur, the local people and refugees who had already set their sights on it rushed to grab a spot.
The teams on both sides of the road proceeded simultaneously, which indeed made the process much faster.
Compared to the refugees who had to go through checkpoints, the queues of the city's residents were even longer after the city gates were opened, with people still queuing up as it got dark.
As the last rays of sunlight were about to disappear on the horizon, Yan He wandered over to Meng Fuqing's side in the small pavilion.
"What does Miss Meng think of the government's sincerity?"
Meng Fuqing scribbled on the paper with a charcoal pencil. She was calculating the total amount, calculating the money received from each of the three parties at the moment, so that there would be no trouble later.
"Let's ask you that after we leave Yezhou City, and I might give you a satisfactory answer."
Yan He was captivated by Meng Fuqing's seemingly supernatural scribbles on the paper and remained silent for a moment.
After a long pause, he asked, "What did you draw?"
"Settle the accounts."
"Anyone who didn't know better would think you drew some kind of Taoist talisman." Yan He couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark, not knowing what the symbols Meng Fuqing drew represented.
After watching for a while, she picked up where she left off, "For the sake of ten taels of silver, I'll give you a heads-up: be extra careful tonight."
Hearing this, Meng Fuqing finally looked up at her. "Thank you for reminding me. I will. Seeing that you still have a conscience, why would you become a lackey of the government?"
If a glare could kill, Meng Fuqing would probably be executed by slow slicing by now.
"You're calling me a lackey?!" Yan He's aged voice almost revealed his true colors, but he had to pretend again when he saw someone looking over.
She lowered her voice, "I'm not a good person, but I'm not an irredeemable villain either. At least I don't cheat ordinary people, I only cheat corrupt officials."
Meng Fuqing praised, "You have a strong sense of principle; I admire you."
Yan He snorted, cupped his hands in farewell, and said, "I take my leave now, until we meet again."
After saying that, he lifted the curtain and went out.
As the grain sale was about to end, Xie Jin lifted the curtain and called Meng Fuqing out again.
Putting down his pen and paper, Meng Fuqing followed him to a less crowded place.
Torches were lit around the pavilion, and Xie Jin's mask remained cold and hard, still radiating a chill even in the warm light.
"There might be danger on the way back." Xie Jin produced a bow from somewhere and handed it to Meng Fuqing. "If something happens, you take Qi Liang and the others and go first. I'll bring people to cover the rear."
Meng Fuqing took the bow and lightly plucked the string. "Trying to stop us inside the checkpoint?"
Xie Jin nodded. "It should be. There's some unusual activity in the southwest, and quite a few people are involved."
A cold glint flashed in Meng Fuqing's eyes, "Even if it's a double-cross, we'll take what's already been taken. We're not even going to pretend anymore."
"It's a little troublesome, but nothing to worry about." Xie Jin knew Meng Fuqing wouldn't suffer a loss, and seeing her face darken, he suddenly chuckled, "If you're still not satisfied, how about we cut off the head of the governor of Yezhou tonight and send it to you?"
Meng Fuqing's expression stiffened for a moment, and he didn't say anything.
Xie Jin suppressed his smile and coughed lightly, "I was just trying to make you happy."
Meng Fuqing remained silent.
Using human heads to amuse people is unheard of.
"Thank you for your trouble, young master, but there's no need for you to go to such lengths."
By 9 PM, all the grain they brought had been sold out.
Those who failed to buy grain felt as if a bolt from the blue had struck them.
Some people left looking back every few steps, while others lingered, unwilling to leave.
The person was completely covered from head to toe, with only their eyes showing.
He knelt on the ground and pleaded, "Please, everyone, have mercy! My family was robbed of all our money and food on our way to escape. We had to borrow money from our fellow travelers, which is why we're late. I don't need to buy much, just a few pounds will do. My father is waiting for me to come back... Please, please..."
He knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.
Seeing that his head was red from kowtowing, Niu Er tossed him a small half-bag of grain, saying, "This is all that's left. It's coarse grain mixed with a lot of wheat husks. You can figure out how to eat it when you get back."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man bent over and suddenly stopped moving.
Seeing this, everyone looked at each other, wondering why this person was acting this way.
Qi Liang stepped forward with a stick, intending to drive the man away. When he was less than ten feet away from the man, the man suddenly ripped off the mask covering his face, stood up, and pounced on Qi Liang.
Qi Liang instinctively took two steps back due to his sudden action, and after realizing what had happened, he raised his stick and struck him.
The stick struck the person, causing them to vomit blood, and the stick broke in the middle.
The man writhed and howled in pain on the ground, cursing, "...You damned beasts! What have we, the common people, done wrong! You won't let us into the city, and the price of grain is driving us to our deaths!"
Everyone stepped back in surprise, and after hearing what he said, Niu Er was furious.
"That's a matter for the government and the imperial court, why are you blaming us for it!"
The man had blood on the corner of his mouth and his face was flushed an unnatural red. He was curled up on the ground, staring at Niu Er with resentment.
"What kind of people are you...you've been profiting from the food shortage, making a fortune..."
I just wanted to buy some food. I climbed the mountain to avoid the checkpoints, I just wanted to buy some food... My father is dying..."
Niu Er found this man unreasonable, "Didn't I give you grain? You haven't even given me any silver!"
The man seemed not to listen to him. He struggled to his feet and stumbled toward Niu Er and the other man, his expression numb but his eyes crazed.
"Why didn't you say so sooner that you knew how to prevent and control the epidemic? Why didn't you say so sooner? You had to wait until people died before... before you said that rats couldn't be eaten..."
“My brother is dead, my father is dying soon, and I’m next… Since that’s the case, I won’t let you get away with this…”
The crowd sensed something was wrong from his words. This man seemed to be infected with a disease, and he knew it was an epidemic, but he felt it was their fault and wanted to infect them with the disease.