Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 611 Panic
"Candied haws, candied haws—"

"Clay figurine, the best clay figurine..."

After Liubiju finished walking, Zhu Yixi was not idle, and started to stroll on the street.

Compared with the strictly controlled inner city, the outer city is mostly the residences of ordinary people, with a strong atmosphere of the market, with shops in the streets and alleys, and the sound of hawking on the street is endless.

He was very happy, but the fans of Dongchang and Jinyiwei were sweating profusely, everyone looked like a thief.

"The establishment of Xuanwu County doesn't seem to have a big impact on the people."

"In the past, the yamen in the inner city inevitably neglected the outer city. After the establishment of Xuanwu and Chongwen counties, the people can live more peacefully..."

Wu Bangfu, who was tall and burly, followed closely behind half a step away, and said softly:
"Most of the brothers live in the outer city, and they all say that it is more convenient to have a yamen and manage affairs under their noses."

"That's true."

Zhu Yixi sighed: "In one year, it has increased from 300,000 to 500,000. I'm afraid it will rise to a million in a few years!"

"The more people the better, the more prosperous the Ming Dynasty will be." Yang Le leaned forward and flattered.

"Sometimes, more isn't always better."

Shaking his head, Zhu Yixi was too lazy to explain what a big city disease is.

Beijing has been the capital of the country for 300 years, and the grass and trees within a radius of [-] miles of Beijing have been consumed, and the Haihe River and other rivers have also been drained.

The more wealth accumulated, the greater the consumption. In the era without running water and electricity, the disease of big cities is not a good thing for a country.

And when he went to Yuquan Mountain, he wanted to divert the population and move the politics to the west. Hundreds of officials and Beijing camps could bring nearly 100,000 people at a time, effectively relieving the pressure on Beijing city.

The prosperity of the commodity economy has brought a large amount of goods to the market, and the city of Beijing can be said to have everything that one expects to find.

I tried to spend a food stamp, but it ended in embarrassment because I couldn't find it.

However, the expected ups and downs of food stamps did not appear, and the value of food stamps has been hovering around one silver dollar.

And it seems that because of the food stamps, the price of food is relatively stable. Even in February and March, when there is a shortage of food, the price of food does not increase much.

After all, food stamps can be exchanged for food at any time. In theory, there are so many grains on the market, which naturally restrains the high price of food.

However, the most important role is the grain guild, which brings together the main grain shops and grain stores in Beijing. Under the supervision of the imperial court, they dare not mess around.

"One hundred words for bucket rice, one hundred and fifty for polished rice."

"A catty of salt is 35 Wen, a catty of vinegar is [-] Wen, and a bolt of coarse cloth only costs more than a hundred Wen..."

Looking left and right along the way, Zhu Yixi was busy and had a preliminary understanding of prices in the capital.

In the cloth shop, a couple hugged a few pieces of cloth, arguing fiercely, and finally had no choice but to agree with their eyes red.

When asked, the man saw that her clothes were gorgeous, so he didn't shy away from it, and said: "This woman is very handy, she sells cloth to subsidize the family today, and the noise is also for the price..."

"The coarse cloth has fallen badly recently." After accepting a penny, the shop assistant lowered his head and said happily:

"In the past, a piece of cotton cloth cost eight dollars, or one or two and a half dollars, but now it only costs six dollars, a drop of two to three percent."

"The coarse cloth used to be sold for five cents and the supply was in short supply, but now it can only be sold for three cents..."

"The one who bought coarse cloth bought cotton cloth?" Zhu Yixi added.

"That's right." The clerk nodded: "The price is about the same, who doesn't want to wear cotton cloth?"

After leaving the cloth shop, Zhu Yixi shook his head.

The existence of ZTE machines has caused the price of spinning to drop sharply, which naturally makes cotton cloth fall, making it more accessible to the people, so it has seized the market for homemade cloth.

This is a crushing of the handicraft workshop by the big factory.

When the cotton cloth market is saturated, they will use technology to sell lower-end homespun cloth to earn more money.

If it is logical, the women in those families will find that weaving is not as stable as working in a factory, and they will gradually leave the house.

This process is very long.

It can only be a gradual evolution, not a forced order, otherwise it will only be counterproductive.

Thinking all the way, unknowingly, he came to a strange place.

Suddenly there was a movement of people on the street, and people fled out in panic. There were countless things left behind, but they didn't bother to pick them up.

The yamen servants from several character shops came at a fast pace, but when they reached the destination, their steps were slow and they were reluctant to move forward.

"Young master, hurry up, there is smallpox here—"

At this time, Wu Bangfu and Yang Le immediately rushed to support the emperor, arrived at the carriage that followed them, and rushed towards the inner city.

Zhu Yixi was still a little dazed at this moment, and immediately realized: "Smallpox?"

"That's right!" Wu Bangfu said nervously, "The family on the corner had a sudden incident. As soon as Wu Zuo arrived, he realized that it was smallpox, and that's why the chaos just now happened..."

"Smallpox!"

Zhu Yixi turned pale with shock.

Although in later generations, smallpox has been theoretically eradicated, but today, it is indeed a killer, with a fatality rate of half.

There is almost no antidote.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yixi also felt that he couldn't stand it anymore, no matter how powerful the traverser was, he would have to kneel when he encountered smallpox.

"Quick, quick—"

After some hasty walking, he finally returned to the inner city, and then rushed to the imperial city.

As the most benevolent place in the world, the capital is under the eyes of the emperor, so its importance is self-evident.

The cabinet, six ministries, was also urgently convened for discussion.

There is smallpox in the capital——

The ministers were too shocked to speak.

In fact, this virus is too terrible and highly contagious. It will never stop if hundreds of thousands of people die every time, and tens of thousands of deaths are also possible.

Of course, the huge city of Beijing may also wither because of this smallpox.

"At this time, the spread of smallpox must be limited—"

Zhu Yixi regained his composure. After some disinfection and washing, his expression was serious.

On the contrary, the ministers seemed a little flustered, more and more bringing out the extraordinary heroism of the emperor.

"Build a stockade in the east of the city, arrange beds, bedding, food and other things, and then isolate everyone who has been exposed to smallpox..."

Having fought the plague, Zhu Yixi is familiar with it.

Isolation is the only effective means at this time.

After all, the spread of smallpox mainly depends on saliva and contact infection. As long as the people who have been in contact with the virus die, smallpox will naturally be eradicated.

Although it is cruel, it is an inevitable choice nowadays.

"Whether it's smallpox or the plague, infection depends on two things, contact and saliva. Therefore, the dispatched personnel must cover their mouths and noses with towels, wear gloves, and keep their whole bodies from being exposed..."

"After leaving, burn the clothes, and isolate the person to see the effect—"

After explaining the route of infection, the ministers finally calmed down and approved of the emperor's words.

After all, the emperor was in Xi'an at the beginning, and he completely wiped out the plague. This is a matter of experience.

(End of this chapter)