Water Margin people

"Yes, Your Majesty the Pope!"

Everyone took orders.

"Also, spread the word that the Black Death was a plague spread by Qi State, whose purpose was to invade us!"

The Pope then said to everyone that Qi was taking advantage of the outbreak of the Black Death and the unstable status of the church to preach to them, which was attacking their weaknesses. So he didn't need to be polite and directly pushed everything onto Qi, making all of Qi's plans come to nothing.

Everyone nodded silently and went out.

"Your Holiness, the dead bodies outside the city must be cleared. If this continues, even if there is no Black Death, there will be other plagues!"

Bernard waited until everyone else left before looking at the Pope and continuing.

"Is there such a thing?"

The Pope asked, looking at Bernard.

"Your Holiness, I have been dealing with plagues for many years. The environment outside the city is what the plague likes best. It is difficult for the plague not to break out in that environment."

Bernard said seriously.

"But there is no one left in the city now! There is no power to deal with the things outside the city."

Eugene III said that the Black Death in the city had not improved much after Bernard left, and people continued to die in the city.

“Has it come to this?”

Bernard's face turned ugly. The situation was more serious than he had imagined.

"Even so, we cannot ignore the situation outside the city, Your Holiness. Leaving it alone will only allow the Black Death to continue!"

Bernard said that staying in the city now would be just waiting for death.

"There is another situation. During this trip, I found many villages that converted to the Qi Kingdom's Imperial Religion. These villages did not have the Black Death, and I found that their villages were very clean. There were no rats, cockroaches, or the like in the villages. People had to take a bath every day, and clothes had to be washed and aired every day!"

Bernard took two steps forward and whispered to Eugene III.

“There is such a thing!”

Eugene III's eyes widened. He didn't expect that this could prevent the outbreak of the Black Death.

The entire West has never paid attention to hygiene in these years. Dirt and mess have become commonplace for everyone. Ordinary people have no time to care about hygiene, and rich people don't care about these things either. If they smell, they just spray some perfume.

"Are you sure this will control the Black Death?"

Eugene III spoke.

"That's exactly what I saw. Even if there is, it hasn't spread on a large scale!"

Bernard spoke up.

"I see, it has to be clean! No wonder the interior of the Vatican is better!"

Eugene III suddenly realized that the Black Death had stayed away from them since they had hidden in the Vatican and no longer went out. Although no one cared much about hygiene, the Vatican was the residence of God, and someone cleaned it every day, and everyone was dressed brightly.

"Then let's do this, tell everyone..."

Eugene III suddenly paused, and the order he was about to say seemed to be stuck. He had just announced that the Black Death was spread by Qi State, and now he said that the Black Death should be classified as unhygienic. Isn't this contradictory?

"Put this matter aside for now. You need to deal with the death of the royal guards. Those noble families will not let it go."

Eugene III said that the 300 dead guards were the first to be dealt with. They were all of noble birth, and their sudden death in battle would definitely make those noble families come to demand an answer.

Bernard nodded in agreement. As for the solution, he had already thought of it. He would just put all the blame on Baldwin IV and the State of Qi. This would also arouse the hatred of those noble families and make them join forces to deal with the State of Qi.

……

Venice City. "Didn't you say you could control it? Didn't you say the Imperial Church is omnipotent? You need to give me an explanation now!"

The governor looked at Baldwin IV with a ferocious expression. After so much time, the Black Death did not disappear. Instead, it continued to break out. This made him feel cheated.

"Governor, you didn't listen to my advice, and now it has become like this. How can it be my responsibility?"

Baldwin IV looked at the governor and said that he had told the governor all the effective methods he knew, but these people pretended to obey and did their own thing, which led to the continued Black Death.

"What are you talking about? There are rats in the warehouse. We just drive them out and kill them. You want us to burn all the goods. Do you know how much they are worth?"

The governor glared at Baldwin IV and yelled, and Baldwin IV blamed everything on rats, believing that rats would lead to the Black Death, and that all warehouses with the most rats should be closed and burned.

This aroused opposition from all Venetian high-ranking officials, including the Doge. Venice was a port city with prosperous trade and the goods in its warehouses were of inestimable value.

"Which is more important, the goods or your lives?"

Baldwin IV looked at everyone and asked.

"We will never give up those goods!"

The merchants shouted that goods were money and money was the merchants' lives, and they would not give up their lives.

"Then I have no choice. The Governor has also seen that the camp outside the city has improved a bit. The number of people infected has continued to decrease in the past few days! It is estimated that it will be fine in another month!"

Baldwin IV said that he could not control the affairs within the city, but he could control the believers outside the city.

"I don't care. You said you could contact Qi and control the Black Death! Now you have to keep your promise!"

the Governor shouted at Baldwin IV.

"Report, Governor General, something bad has happened. News has come from the Holy See that the Pope has issued a decree for all the kingdoms to encircle and suppress us!"

A general ran over and said, his voice trembling, seeming to be very panicked.

"So soon? Didn't I block the news?"

The Governor turned pale. They were in trouble this time.

"you……"

The governor drew the sword from his waist and pointed it at Baldwin IV. The people they sent to the Red Sea had been there for more than two months and had not returned yet. Something must have happened and the State of Qi was unwilling to rescue them.

Now the Black Death is out of control and the Vatican wants to kill them. They are now forced into a desperate situation.

"Governor, there's no need to panic. The weather has turned cold."

Baldwin IV said.

"What did you say!"

The governor's sword was already placed on Baldwin IV's shoulder.

"I said winter is coming, and those kingdoms are outside the Alps. Can they come over in this weather? Don't they have the Black Death?"

Baldwin IV spoke.

The anger of the governor and others subsided a little. They also knew that their biggest enemy was the Republic of Genoa, which was the starting point of the western Alps.

The Alps blocked the way between them and the other kingdoms, the Black Death was raging and it was winter, so it was impossible for those countries to come over at this time.

"What about Qi? You said Qi would support us!"

The governor looked at Baldwin IV and asked, without Qi's support, there would be no goods from Qi, and their plan had failed. (End of this chapter)