The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 413 Plague Marines
The west city of Xuzhou, the Hanzhong military camp.

A group of military staff in the central army tent were beginning to adjust the appearance of the sand table based on the intelligence they had compiled.

The central army staff is responsible for many things, not only providing staff guidance and assisting in formulating combat plans, but also surveying terrain, drawing maps, and adjusting sand tables.

The sand table radiates in all directions with Fengyang as the center, covering all areas north of the Yangtze River in Southern Zhili.

In addition, there is the Henan part of Ying and Huoshan areas, as well as Henan Guide Prefecture west of Xuzhou.

After that, it is Yanzhou Prefecture in Shandong, which is adjacent to Nanzhili.

"The epidemic started in Shunde, Hejian, and Damingfu in northern Zhili, and gradually spread to the surrounding areas."

Hu Zhili stood beside the sand table and reported to Chen Wang about the epidemic situation in the north.

"According to the previous arrangement, the remaining troops defended along the river to prevent outsiders from entering. No signs of the disease have been found in the area south of the Yellow River for the time being."

"But the areas north of the Yellow River in Kaifeng Prefecture, as well as Weihui Prefecture and Zhangde Prefecture north of the Yellow River have begun to be affected by the epidemic. The death toll in the two prefectures has reached 10,000."

Chen Wang looked down at the sand table in front of him with a serious expression.

He was not afraid of the fighting on the battlefield.

Even if you look at the whole world, the troops under his command are first-class strong forces.

But in the face of the plague, everyone is equally vulnerable.

Plague can not only destroy a town, but also a powerful army that has fought for hundreds of battles, and even a powerful empire...

"Governor Gao Mingheng of Henan Province recruited many doctors to go to the epidemic area. He also mobilized a large number of able-bodied civilians and archers from the Inspection Office to assist in the defense. He also set up joint guarantees in towns and villages to prevent outsiders from entering Henan, which was quite effective."

Although Gao Mingheng was not familiar with military affairs, he was a capable official in governance.

In his early years, he was the magistrate of Xinghua County. He supervised the people in flood control and refugee relief. His political achievements were outstanding, so he was promoted to Censor and then served as the Inspector of Henan.

Gao Mingheng had only a superficial understanding of disease prevention and control.

However, in order to gain Gao Mingheng's support, Chen Wang explained to Gao Mingheng in advance the severity of the epidemic and how to control it.

As a person of later generations, Chen Wang naturally knew how to prevent and control such large-scale epidemics.

Chen Wang explained the isolation and protection methods to Gao Mingheng.

Although Gao Mingheng had no experience in preventing and controlling large-scale epidemics.

But he has experience in commanding and coordinating multiple parties.

It is precisely for this reason that Henan's epidemic prevention was well organized under Gao Mingheng's arrangement, and the epidemic did not continue to spread.

This is because Henan had suffered severe disasters and war in the previous few years.

When the people of the three prefectures fled because of the epidemic, most of them chose the more prosperous central and northern areas of Shandong and Northern Zhili.

"Dongchang Prefecture in Shandong has been severely affected by the epidemic. In Shandong, the epidemic has spread to the northern part of Yanzhou Prefecture and the western part of Jinan Prefecture."

"In the northern Zhili region, the disease has spread to the entire Zhending Prefecture, the southern part of Hejian Prefecture, and the southernmost part of Baoding Prefecture. The towns of Baoding, Changping, Hebei, etc. have all been placed under martial law."

"The court began to mobilize soldiers and conscript civilians to prevent the spread of the disease, but the results were minimal. As of seven days ago, the disease was still spreading."

Hu Zhili lowered his head, and his voice became a little deeper.

"Three officers from the Weihui Prefecture Intelligence Department have died of illness, and half of the staff from the Dongchang Prefecture Intelligence Department have also died of illness..."

"The Intelligence Department's three offices in Daming, Shunde, and Hejian in Northern Zhili have all lost contact..."

Hu Zhili did not continue speaking, but Chen Wang already knew the answer.

There is no need to explain what it means to lose contact while in an epidemic area.

"All casualties due to illness in the Intelligence Department will be deemed as sacrifices and will be posthumously named martyrs, with the same pensions as combat soldiers."

"The people in the town will raise their children. If there are no children, a suitable person will be selected from among the orphans to inherit the family name."

Those cold words written in black and white were once living lives.

The officers lurking in various local intelligence departments are fighting just like the soldiers fighting on the front lines, but on different battlefields.

When the war really begins, intelligence departments everywhere will be under constant threat.

Once the truth is revealed, death is only the best outcome, and most people will suffer a fate worse than death...

Chen Wang never treats badly those who follow him with great passion.

"Based on the speed of the disease's spread, the staff of the General Staff Office estimated that by the beginning of next year, the disease will have spread to most of Shandong, and Baoding Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture in northern Zhili will become epidemic areas."

Chen Wang frowned and scanned the sand table. The inference of the General Staff Office was correct.

As far as he could remember, the plague at the end of the Ming Dynasty spread to these areas this year.

However, this is just the beginning of the plague, and it is still in the stage of building up momentum, and is far from the time of complete outbreak.

The plague would reach its peak in the 16th year of Chongzhen.

This huge plague in history even spread across the Yellow River, reaching Southern Zhili and even affecting Zhejiang.

The Treatise on Plagues records that in 1641, the plague spread to Shandong, Zhejiang, and the north and south of the country, with many people infected. In May and June, the disease became more serious, sometimes even to the point of infecting the entire family.

Chen Wang pondered for a moment, and suddenly he thought of someone.

"Send an order to the intelligence departments of Henan, Shandong, North and South Zhili, and Shaanxi provinces to disperse their forces to find a person."

"one person?"

Hu Zhili frowned.

"Yes, alone."

Chen Wang's gaze slowly swept across the sand table.

"In addition to the intelligence departments of the five provinces, Jiangsu also sent people to look for them."

"This man's name is Wu Youxing, his courtesy name is Youke, and his pseudonym is Danzhai. He is from Wu County, Jiangsu. We can first send someone to Wu County, Jiangsu to inquire about his whereabouts."

This plague at the end of the Ming Dynasty had a significant impact, affecting a wide area and causing many patients.
Because doctors at that time used general methods to treat exogenous diseases, or treated typhoid fever based on ancient books such as "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" written by Zhang Zhongjing in the Han Dynasty.

However, this time the plague was not typhoid fever, but plague, so the treatment methods for typhoid fever were often ineffective and might even make the condition worse.

The plague spread very quickly and had a very high mortality rate. Many doctors and medical practitioners died in the early days because of treating patients, which further exacerbated the spread of the disease.

The only doctor at that time who discovered that this plague was different and proposed a solution was Wu Youke.

Based on the epidemic situation at the time, Wu Youke wrote "On Warm Epidemics" and also proposed treatment methods based on the situation.

Wu Youke summarized the experience of this plague and believed that the plague and evil spirits invade the human body in different ways, entering through the mouth and nose. The invaded parts are neither on the surface nor inside, but invade through the mouth and nose and stay between the surface and the inside, which is called membrane origin.

He proposed a complete set of theories for eliminating evil and reaching the root cause, which have achieved good results in clinical treatment.

Chen Wang knew how to prevent and control the plague, but Wu Youke was required to know how to treat the plague.

If Wu Youke could be found, once the plague really spread to the Yellow River, at least there would be a last resort.

"After finding it, please bring it to Kaifeng Prefecture."

Chen Wang turned his head, looked at Hu Zhili, and reminded him again and again.

"Remember, it's 'please'. Don't use force. You must not use force. Even if it's bribery or three visits, just don't use force."

The reason for repeated warnings is because of the way the Intelligence Department does things. The biggest reason why the artillery factory in Hanzhong Town can produce so many cannons and continuously improve the fire guns is that in the past two years, many experienced craftsmen have been found from the southeast coast.

Most of these craftsmen were hired at high salaries, but some were directly kidnapped by the Intelligence Department.

During this period, Portugal had a cannon factory in Macau called the Bugalao Cannon Foundry.

It was from the Bugalao Cannon Foundry that Xu Guangqi and others purchased the Red Cannon.

The Southeast Intelligence Department kidnapped eleven artillerymen from the artillery factory, including a Portuguese.

Of course, the original plan did not include the Portuguese, and only the locals were kidnapped.

However, when the Intelligence Department was taking action, the Portuguese man happened to be drinking with the target to be kidnapped. So in order to maintain confidentiality, both of them were kidnapped together by the Intelligence Department.

"clear."

Hu Zhili nodded and grinned.

Those officers in the Intelligence Department were basically former military scoundrels, most of whom were brave and aggressive, so their methods were naturally dirty.

"After the reform, I will definitely keep them in check."

Originally, everything had just been built and everything could be done in any way possible.

But now that everything is becoming more and more formal, it is natural to take back some autonomous powers.

After receiving a positive answer, Chen Wang changed the subject and asked another question.

"As for Zheng Zhilong, can you buy some more sailors who have experience in naval warfare, or invite some experienced captains?"

Although Chen Wang now has a large number of naval warships under his command, and Sun Shenwu, as a naval officer, also has experience in naval battles, he is certainly not comparable to the experienced veterans under Zheng Zhilong.

Furthermore, Sun Shenwu has always commanded the inland navy, while Chen Wang will need the open sea navy next.

Naturally, what is needed is an instructor who has experience in the open seas.

"Zheng Zhilong will sell anything as long as you pay."

Hu Zhili smiled and said.

Now, some of the craftsmen in the Arsenal were from the Intelligence Department, and they bought the weapons from Zheng Zhilong, who was now the commander of the Ming Navy.

"Don't even mention craftsmen or instructors. I'm willing to sell even foreigners. If you want, I can ask my men to bring you a red-haired or blonde woman."

Hu Zhili coughed, looked to both sides, and whispered.

Chen Wang glanced at Hu Zhili and scolded with a smile.

"You have a beautiful girl in your house, and you come here to seduce me. Aren't you afraid that your sister-in-law will marry you and block your door with a sword in hand?"

Today, except for the headquarters in Hanzhong Town, the largest branch of the Intelligence Department is not in Henan or Shaanxi, but in the southeast.

Hu Zhili had been the director of the Intelligence Department for so long that he had established contact with Zheng Zhilong very early on.

Although Zheng Zhilong had already accepted the amnesty at this time, he took advantage of the Ming court's reputation and recruited soldiers.

After defeating the Dutch East India Company fleet in the Battle of Kinmen, the maritime situation calmed down.

From then on, foreign goods could only be traded under Zheng’s flag once they passed Malacca.

Zheng Zhilong's trading scope extended to all parts of East Asia and Southeast Asia. According to various summaries in later generations, it was determined that he had more than 20,000 soldiers under his command and a fleet of more than 3,000 large and small ships.

Pirates from all over the country surrendered one after another, and the eight Fujian provinces regarded Zheng as their Great Wall.

As a result, Zheng Zhilong became a powerful force in the eastern waters.

After Japan closed its borders, only the Chinese and the Dutch were allowed to trade. Zheng Zhilong made a fortune from trade with Japan.

But even if Zheng Zhilong has become the overlord of the Eastern Waters.

In the eyes of the Ming court, he was still just a pirate who was recruited, and his status did not improve much.

Zheng Zhilong used his sea power to gain connections with the court officials, but those officials and dignitaries only treated Zheng Zhilong as a cash cow and did not respect him much.

Therefore, when Hu Zhili was instructed by Chen Wang to extend an olive branch to Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong immediately seized the opportunity and took advantage of the opportunity.

After all, at that time, Chen Wang was famous all over the world.

Moreover, the businesses in Hanzhong Town also shipped a large amount of goods to the southeast coast every year, which made Zheng Zhilong profitable.

The hustle and bustle in the world is all for benefit, and the bustling world is all for benefit.

Zheng Zhilong was born a pirate, so naturally he would not go against money.

As the head of the Intelligence Department, Hu Zhili has received a lot of gifts from Zheng Zhilong in the past two years, and Chen Wang naturally received even more.

Since Zheng Zhilong wants to give it to me, there is no reason not to accept it.

But Chen Wang knew that Hu Zhili now had two concubines, one from Korea and one from Japan, placed outside his home in Hanzhong Prefecture.

There was also a Dutchman and a Portuguese.

"Brother, stop it."

When Hu Zhili heard Chen Wang mention Ma Yuying, he quickly raised his hand to stop him.

"I didn't say anything."

He had seen Ma Yuying before, and in terms of martial arts, he was no match for Ma Yuying.

I really didn't know that a woman could be so good at wielding swords and guns.

In other words, in front of Chen Wang, Ma Yuying acted like a lady.

He has a very hot temper outside. If you don't agree with him after a few words, he will start fighting. But he is quite good at martial arts.

But if she was really a delicate lady from a wealthy family, how could she control those soldiers under her?

Seeing Hu Zhili's embarrassed expression, Chen Wang couldn't help but laugh. Chen Gong, who had been standing aside and listening, also grinned.

But after laughing for a while, Chen Wang patted Hu Zhili on the shoulder and said seriously.

"I can't interfere too much in your private affairs, but you have to remember one thing. Your wife has been with you through all the hardships. When you were away in the army, she was the one who took care of your parents at home. You must be worthy of her."

"If you have other thoughts, not only will I not forgive you, your mother won't forgive you either."

Having three wives and four concubines was the norm in this era, so Chen Wang didn't want to say too much, but there were still some bottom lines for some things.

Seeing Chen Wang's serious expression, Hu Zhili restrained his smile and made a solemn promise.

"I understand, brother."

Chen Wang nodded slightly, which was considered as affirmation.

After all, love between young men and women is not the main theme in troubled times.

Chen Wang turned his gaze back to the sand table.

The final force of the Ming court's suppression campaign was also defeated by the Wanmin Army.

Li Yan has achieved his goal. As a result, the Wanmin Army has become increasingly powerful and is now approaching the critical point. They can no longer be left alone.