The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 383 Plague
In the eighth year of the Wanli reign, a plague struck Xuanfu, infecting nine out of ten households. Deaths followed one after another due to the infection. A family of several people, once infected, became completely helpless. The victim "occasionally developed a fleshy swelling and died within moments. This was called the pimple plague. Fourteen or fifteen people in the city were afflicted. Others suffered from vomiting blood, and several members of a family died simultaneously."

In the third year of Chongzhen, the plague first broke out in Shanxi. In the first year of Tianqi, it spread to Yulin Prefecture and Yan'an Prefecture. In the early years of Wuding, it spread to Daming Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture in Hebei Province. When the bandit Li Xianzhong besieged Beijing, the plague came to the capital with the refugees. However, due to the large number of bandits, after cruel screening, the survivors had achieved "herd immunity" to a certain extent.

Emperor Wuding and his elite soldiers were not so lucky.

~~~~~
At the end of April, the bandits attacked the city more fiercely, and the plague spread in Daming Prefecture. Sixty to seventy percent of the people died of the disease. For a time, northern Zhili was shaken, and the troops from various Ming troops who came to support the king stopped moving forward (these former Ming troops had always had ulterior motives towards Da Qi), and the capital gradually became an isolated city.

On the second day of Li Xianzhong's siege of Beijing, he used catapults to throw diseased corpses into the city. Although the catapults were quickly destroyed by artillery, they still caused panic in the city.

Emperor Wuding summoned all the imperial doctors and asked them if there was any solution to the plague in northern Zhili.

All the imperial doctors remained silent.

Emperor Wu Ding was furious and asked questions loudly, but the imperial doctors only agreed. Some suggested using Xiao Qinglong Decoction, some suggested using Bu Zhong Yi Decoction, some suggested using Da Cheng Qi Decoction, and some said that Xiao Chai Hu Decoction might relieve the symptoms.

"Recently, the four seasons have been out of balance, yin and yang have been out of balance, and there is miasma in the heaven and earth, which, when it enters the human body, becomes plague..."

Liu Zhaosun said angrily: "Speak some human words! Say something useful!"

After making countless calculations, he had hoped to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop at the gates of Beijing, wipe out the bandits in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan, and usher in a peaceful and prosperous era. However, he did not expect that at the critical moment, the plague would come again.

The imperial doctors were all silent. With their talents, they were lucky enough to save their own lives, let alone save the soldiers and civilians, let alone save the people of Northern Zhili.

"In that case, all of you go! Let's go!"

Emperor Wu Ding waved his hand, and all the imperial doctors rushed out of the Qianqing Palace as if they had been pardoned.

"Your Majesty, why do you have to do this?"

Liu Zhaosun looked up and saw that it was Wu Youke who was speaking.

"Mr. Wu, what do you want to say? Feel free to say it!" Emperor Wu Ding raised his tired face and forced a smile.

Wu Youke was determined to die, so he took a step forward and said with a salutation:
"I am only a medical officer, what can I say? However, treating illnesses and governing a country are both related. Now that things have come to this, I will dare to say a few words."

Emperor Wuding stared at the imperial physician who had always contradicted him, and felt a little relieved.

"The Ming dynasty was plagued by corruption and national power was declining. Before Your Majesty ascended the throne, you diligently governed the country, implementing sweeping reforms while simultaneously conquering nations east and west, even conquering Japan and Korea. It's like a seriously ill person. Instead of nursing him, you give him harsh medicine every day and make him work day and night. How can he not be defeated?"

Liu Zhaosun clenched his hands into fists and tried hard to suppress his anger.

"You are just a medical officer, how can you understand the principles of governing a country? If I don't do these things, how can the people live and work in peace..."

Wu Youke interrupted him with a bow and looked at Emperor Wuding worriedly.

"I risk my life to offer this advice. Your Majesty's health, like this country, is probably on its last legs."

Liu Zhaosun subconsciously rubbed his scarlet eyes. Indeed, he was almost exhausted.

"Let's not talk about my life or death for now. As long as the capital can survive this disaster, it will be fine. Several ministers have advised me to temporarily escape outside the border, but I cannot leave. Therefore, the epidemic must be eradicated."

Xu Guangqi submitted memorials more than once, begging for the quick withdrawal from the capital and retreat to the outside of the Great Wall. Other ministers also had this idea. They knew how serious the black pimple disease was. In the eighth year of Wanli, there was an outbreak in Datong. Thousands of people in the city died, and the survivors were emaciated and looked like skeletons.

But how could Emperor Wuding abandon the capital? Was it just because of the plague? Wasn't the Qi army a match for the bandits?
"I'm afraid zero-emission is impossible. The best I can do is protect the majority of the people."

"That's good!" Liu Zhaosun slammed the table and stood up. "As long as we can save most of them, that's good. My life and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the capital depend on this. Mr. Wu, can you really cure the plague?"

"I can."

Emperor Wuding said in a deep voice, "Wu Youke, do you know that there is no joking in the army? If we cannot defeat the plague, you, me, Li Xianzhong, and these hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians will all die."

Wu Youke confidently said, "I swear to fight this epidemic to the death. If I fail, I will die. I will never let Your Majesty down!"

~~~~~
Kang Yingqian stood up and walked outside. The guards guarding the workshop door had disappeared. The streets were in chaos, with people running everywhere.

After the bandits began to attack the city, the guards from various government offices in the capital were sent to assist the soldiers in defending the city. Wanggongchang was only half a mile away from Guang'anmen. The guards in the gunpowder depot and even the young and strong craftsmen climbed up the wall of Guang'anmen, boiled manure and spread lime.

Kaiyuan had no more than 40,000 combat troops, which was insufficient to guard the nine gates. Moreover, tens of thousands of troops had to be left as reserves to continue the street fighting after the city was broken. Therefore, except for Yongding Gate, the garrisons at other gates were seriously understaffed and had to be supplemented by guards from various government offices, pacification troops, and able-bodied men in the city.

Fortunately, the bandits focused their attacks on Yongding Gate over the past two days, and they mainly launched feint attacks on other city gates, without launching a full-scale attack.

Kang Yinggan walked quickly on Guang'anmen Street with his hands behind his back and his head lowered. In the past, he was always surrounded by people and looked very impressive whenever he went out. However, after he lost power, Liu Zhaosun had Yang Hao withdraw the guards that Kang Yinggan had originally assigned to him. Kang Yinggan now walked alone wherever he went. People in Kaiyuan did not guard against this old man who had lost his power, let alone send people to monitor Kang Yinggan.

The streets were bustling with people, busy but not messy. From time to time, auxiliary soldiers carrying firearms ran past Kang Yingqian. Kang Yingqian lowered his head and was wearing a blue-gray workshop uniform. No one noticed this hunchbacked old craftsman.

"Hurry! Hurry! Carry the gunpowder up to the city walls! The thieves are coming towards Guang'an Gate!"

"The thieves are about to attack the city!"

Roars of the pacification officers could be heard all around. While shouting, they directed the able-bodied men and auxiliary soldiers to carry firearms and gunpowder to the top of the city wall.

Two auxiliary soldiers dragged a four-pound infantry gun and ran quickly towards Guang'anmen. The wheels rumbled as they came. Kang Yingqian quickly dodged to the side, and another auxiliary soldier followed with an iron ball.

The three auxiliary soldiers ran all the way to the foot of the Guang'anmen city wall. The artillerymen waiting there immediately dismantled the infantry guns and used hanging baskets to lift the gun barrels and gun carriages to the top of the city wall. A tsunami-like shouting could be heard faintly from outside the city. I wonder how many troops the bandits have sent to attack the city this time.

Around Guang'anmen, some houses were set on fire by the bandits' Divine Fire Crows, with wisps of blue smoke rising. A team of auxiliary soldiers and civilians were putting out the fire. On the nearby city wall, artillerymen began to load ammunition into the cannons. Thousands of Divine Fire Crows had been erected, like swords piercing the air, quietly waiting to be fired.

In front of the Divine Fire Flying Crow, a group of strong men were busy chopping wood and making a fire. They lit a pile of big fires behind the parapet, and hung more than a dozen large iron pots filled with dung juice on the fire. Steam was bubbling out of the large iron pots, and the dung juice mixed with lime water had begun to boil. The cold wind blew, and an extremely strange and foul smell emanated from the upper and lower parts of the city.

A ragged little girl huddled in a ditch beside the Guang'anmen city gate, staring blankly at the isolated city under siege, and ignoring the busy soldiers and young men around her.

"Little girl, where are your parents?"

Chu Jinsheng, the drill instructor of the 1st Battalion of the 13th Army, took out a piece of rock candy from his sleeve. The girl snatched it away and started licking it.

She stretched out her dirty hand and pointed at a smoking house in front of her. "They died of the plague. My uncle burned them."

Chu Jinsheng looked at the Qi soldiers lying dead under the city, and suddenly felt his whole body getting hot, with black blood flowing out of his nose.

~~~~
Kang Yingqian walked along the city wall for half a mile, turned from the intersection of North-South Street into Dingzi Street Lane. There were few pedestrians in the lane. He walked a few dozen steps into the lane and came to a house. He looked around vigilantly, and seeing that there was no one around, he walked forward and gently knocked on the door.

~~~~~~
Position on the north bank of Yongdingmen.

After the Divine Fire Crows' bombardment, the bandits who were huddled together suffered heavy casualties and immediately fell into chaos.

The Kaiyuan army detonated the mines in front of the trench, and thousands of mines exploded at the same time on the river bank half a mile away. Amid the earth-shaking explosions, dust flew up on the north bank, the world turned orange, and the air was filled with smoke. People's faces could not be seen within three steps. The bandits who had rushed to the front of the trench were killed or injured in large numbers.

The musketeers who retreated behind the breastwork took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the bandits. After three rounds of volleys, more than half of the 2,000 bandits who were like headless flies were killed or wounded. Some of those who were not hit also stopped attacking and were on the verge of collapse.

No matter how crazy the bandits who crossed the river behind them were, after the smoke cleared and they saw the colorful intestines and internal organs and the bloody remains of limbs on the ground, they finally came to their senses and remembered that they were flesh and blood. They no longer blindly sent themselves to death. Some of them began to hesitate, while the smarter ones immediately turned around and rushed towards the pontoon bridge. The bandits who had no way to go had to flee along the moat to the east towards Chongwenmen.

The offensive on the front position stopped suddenly. The bandits who rushed to the front of the trench were either killed by mines or burned to death by the divine fire crows. Hundreds of wounded bandits lay in front of the formation and wailed in pain. The artillery on the city wall immediately aimed its artillery at the pontoon bridge. The Kaiyuan field artillery and the Shenjiying artillery formed a firepower network of varying lengths. The defenders' artillery firepower suddenly increased by a century.

Under the intensive artillery bombardment, the pontoon bridges that had been built were destroyed one after another.

The iron balls hit the crudely made pontoon bridge, and the wooden boards made a creepy crackling sound. The shield carts that were stuck on the pontoon bridge and could not move forward or backward slowly slid into the river along the broken part. Elite soldiers of the old camp wearing iron armor kept emerging from under the shield carts. They waved their hands desperately and struggled in the river channel covered with caltrops. Finally, they were dragged down by their armor and slowly sank to the bottom of the river.

Those who rushed across the moat and had nowhere to escape with shield carts and ladders had no way to retreat and had no choice but to continue rushing forward.

After the artillery on the city wall destroyed the pontoon bridge on the river, it immediately turned its muzzles towards the shield carts that had no way to escape. More than two hundred surviving bandits hid behind the shield carts and struggled to survive. Finally, a dozen shield carts gathered together to form a shield cart wall. The bandits hid inside, raised their bows, and desperately fired at the musketeers behind the breastwork.

The shield-carriages were less than thirty paces from the parapet, well within the range of the infantry archers. However, the musketeers, protected by the parapet, paid no heed to the light arrows. When the bandits had exhausted their arrows, another barrage of rockets rose from the city walls, raining down upon the remaining enemy.

The fierce fire oil carried by the Divine Fire Crow quickly dried the wet cowhide felt on the top of the shield cart, igniting these fire-proof siege weapons one by one. The fire burned fiercely. Some brave bandits rushed out of the shield cart and wanted to put out the fire above their heads with clothes, but were immediately shot into sieves by the musketeers behind the breastwork.

The shield carts and ladders that did not escape were quickly engulfed by the flames, and the dilapidated floating bridge on the river turned into a blazing sea of fire. The flames illuminated the moat, and under the gaze of tens of thousands of soldiers from both the attacking and defending sides, it was finally reduced to ashes.

Emperor Wuding, surrounded by the central army guards, climbed up the Yongding Gate city wall in full armor and looked to the south through the guards' shields.

The poisonous flames reflected the sunset in the west, and formed a burning look in the eyes of the traverser.

"Director Xie, how much gunpowder do we have left? Is it enough?"

Xie Yang, sweating profusely, quickly squeezed out of the crowd and came before Emperor Wuding.

"Enough! Enough! Your Majesty, the Wanggongchang, Shenjiying, and workshops have over 800,000 kilograms of gunpowder stored. At this rate of attack, it can sustain the army for two months."

Qi Jin wiped the sweat from his forehead, exhausted. Wang Erhu's voice was hoarse, and he saluted the emperor, unable to hide his joy.

"Your Majesty, the bandits have suffered at least 3,000 casualties, most of them veterans. Their morale is low and they will be unable to attack again in the short term. The capital is saved!"

"I hope so."

Liu Zhaosun encouraged his men with a few words, raised his telescope and looked towards the south bank. The tents were endless, like undulating mountains.

As dusk fell, wisps of smoke rose from the bandit camp.

A few bandits sneaked to the riverside and, taking advantage of the night, dragged the body of an old soldier who had died in the battle out of the river. They cut the body into eight pieces on the spot, threw them into a big pot, and started burning firewood.

"Even his teammates eat him, no wonder he's so strong."

Emperor Wu Ding put down the telescope and said calmly to several of his confidants:

"This time our enemy isn't human, but wild beast. Only one of us can survive. Tomorrow there will be an even more intense battle."

The surviving civil and military officials had no choice but to follow their Emperor Wuding and fight the bandits to the death until the winner was decided.

According to the bandits' habit, after losing so many men today, they will most likely take bloody revenge once they capture the city. By then, not only Liu Zhaosun, but other generals will also be thrown into the big pot and shared like what is happening now.

"Everyone, go about your business. Don't take off your armor tonight. Beware of bandits attacking at night."

Everyone dispersed, only Zhang Dong and Pei Dahu remained beside the emperor. The two exchanged glances, and the head servant came up to the emperor and whispered:

"Your Majesty, soldiers from the First, Second, and Twelfth Armies have been infected with the plague. Doctor Wu hasn't slept for three days. Kang Yingqian is planning to defect to the bandit Liu. Our people have seen him in contact with the bandit's spies..."

Liu Zhaosun shook his head and laughed loudly towards the sky:
"Hahahaha, God wants to kill me! God wants to kill me!"

Pei Dahu didn't say anything.

Zhang Dong said with a stiff upper lip, "What about Kang Yingqian?"

"If it rains, it will rain. If it gets married, it will get married. If it can't be controlled, let it be."

"We've been together for so long, finally, give Lao Kang some respect."

Zhang Mazi said indignantly:

"Your Majesty, I have been monitoring this man for a long time. He is not a respectable man."

Emperor Wuding looked pale and weak.

The person you trust the most still betrays you at the last moment.

"I need to concentrate on dealing with the bandits. Don't bother me with these trivial matters anymore. If he is not respectable, you should help him to be respectable."

(End of this chapter)