Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 604 That's exactly what Zhang Jiao did.
The fire at the county government office continued until dawn.

In the end, the clerk gritted his teeth and organized the able-bodied men to put out the fire.

As the fire gradually died down, Dian Shi cautiously stepped into the ruins and nearly fainted from fright.

Corpses everywhere~
Those who remained in the county government office, except for the maids from the inner quarters who escaped to report the news, did not run away.

Dian Shi, who went out for drinks and entertainment last night, was the only one who slipped through the net.

"What should we do?"

The clerk was terrified; such a major event was beyond the capacity of a mere clerk like him.

"Master~"

The patrolman approached and whispered, "Now that the magistrate and the assistant magistrate have all perished, this matter cannot be concealed and must be reported to the prefectural city as soon as possible."

"I am aware of this matter," the clerk said, his face full of worry. "But such a serious incident has occurred, and the higher-ups are blaming us..."

These days, everything is about guilt by association.

Even if you didn't do it, as long as it's related to you, you'll still suffer.

"master."

The inspector reiterated, "Based on the story, this must be a case of fire."

"It is absolutely unacceptable that this was done by traitors."

"A fire at the county government office is a completely different matter from a rebel killing an official and starting a rebellion."

The grieving historian was immediately invigorated.

Just like the inspector said, escaping a fire and being killed are two completely different things.

"Yes~"

The clerk immediately realized the predicament: "Quite a few people already know."

"Sir," the inspector said in a low voice, "those women who came to report the fire must not have been able to escape the inferno."

“The militia constables are called Ding. Those who know what’s good for them will shut up, and those who don’t will perish in the fire.”

"Besides, they can't even read many words, so they won't cause any trouble."

"Only the Imperial Instructor needs to be dealt with."

In theory, the instructor was also an important member of the county government.

His main duties included managing the students and school lands within the county, collecting gifts from scholars, distributing grain to the students, and presiding over the sacrificial ceremonies at the Confucian Temple in spring and autumn.

In reality, he couldn't get much benefit from the government offices; he didn't even receive the allowance for maintaining integrity.

Now that the clerk wants to change the charge of killing officials and rebelling to "firefighting," the instructor who is currently directing the students to put out the fire naturally needs to be appeased.

After all, the instructor was no peasant; even if he was a minor official, he was still an official. We couldn't just kill him, could we?
Ordinary people and peasants can be killed at will; hundreds or even thousands can be killed a year and no one cares.

For a scholar, or even a high-ranking official, the death of one of them would be a major event.

"master."

The inspector offered another suggestion: "The treasuries in all the government offices are empty. We can speak to the instructor and ask him to cancel the school land debt."

School land was a type of government land, and its income was used for the salaries of teachers and students as well as for sacrificial expenses.

According to regulations, the county school owns 600 shi of land.

Since the funds were to be distributed to students, the instructors didn't have much opportunity to embezzle them, but the accounts were certainly kept.

Over the years, especially considering the deficits left by many predecessors, it has accumulated to a considerable sum.

Now that there's a chance to set off a firestorm and settle all the accounts, the Instructor has no reason to refuse.

After a brief discussion, the group quickly dispatched someone to the prefectural city to report the fire to the county government.

As for the few maids who escaped, they were captured by a group of guards under the patrolman while they were still in shock.

After enjoying the meal, instead of silencing them as previously agreed, they contacted a brokerage firm and sold them off.

They could just find some corpses, burn them, and throw them into the back office to pass them off as human remains.

The inspectors fooled their superiors, and their subordinates fooled them in the same way.

There's nothing I wouldn't dare to do if there were benefits to it.

The entire mite-clearing operation, from top to bottom, even down to the lowest-ranking clerks and servants, was completely rotten inside and out.

Jintian Town, Jintian Village.

Several villagers carried a young man with a swollen belly and sallow skin on a bed board to a courtyard.

"A miracle doctor!"

"Miracle doctor, save me!"

There were many people inside and outside the courtyard. Villagers carrying bed boards squeezed in, crying and shouting, bowing and weeping before Lin Dao, who was treating patients, pleading, "Please, divine doctor, save my son!"

Lin Dao skillfully packed the medicine and handed it to the patient in front of him.

Only then did he get up and go to the bed to check.

"That big belly~"

He reached out and pressed on various parts of the young man's abdomen. "Hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, with severe ascites."

"Miracle doctor!" the villager cried. "We've consulted doctors, and they said it's a case of edema caused by a parasitic infection, and there's no cure."

"I have heard that the divine doctor can heal the dead and turn bones to white, so I have come to beg the divine doctor to save my life."

"Only a miracle doctor can cure my son's big belly disease."

It has been basically confirmed that Lin Dao is infected with schistosomiasis.

"Did you eat snails?"

"Yes, yes, the doctor's predictions are truly divine!"

Schistosomiasis mainly breaks out in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

It is distributed throughout the Jiangnan region, and also in Guangxi, though not as much.

Lin Dao continued his examination and asked, "Are there any symptoms of diarrhea?"

Yes, yes!

After the examination, Lin Dao returned to his chair and sat down. "It's schistosomiasis, and there are also severe diarrhea and bacterial infection symptoms."

"Please, miracle doctor, save my life!"

"Wait here." Lin Dao got up to get the medicine.

Glucocorticoids are used to alleviate immune responses, while antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections.

As for how to treat schistosomiasis, simply use praziquantel. Praziquantel is effective for all types of schistosomiasis, with a cure rate approaching 100%.

After administering the medication on-site and instructing the family on how to continue using it, the villagers, expressing their deepest gratitude, carried the patient away.

After leaving the county town, Lin Dao arrived at Jintian Village.

He borrowed the neighborhood chief's courtyard here and put up a sign for free medical consultations and medicine delivery.

In any era, seeing a doctor is always an expensive affair.

Countless people have gone bankrupt because of this.

During periods like the eradication of mites, there were countless instances of self-sufficient farmers mortgaging their land and houses to borrow money for medical treatment, only to end up losing both their lives and their land.

Some illnesses are truly unavoidable, while others are deliberately caused by doctors to squeeze out as much profit as possible.

After all, just like private tutors who charge tuition fees, doctors also have a profession, primarily focused on making money.

There are very few doctors who are truly virtuous and whose names are recorded in history.

Lin Dao put up a sign offering free medical care, and soon people came to his door with trepidation.

After the doctor's visit and the medicine, Lin Dao really didn't charge any money, and his reputation spread quickly.

The news spread quickly, even reaching neighboring villages and towns.

People come to him for treatment every day in an endless stream.

If anyone knew history, they would realize that Lin Dao's actions at this time were strikingly similar to those of Zhang Jiao at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Using the name of healthcare, they built a reputation and won over the people.

The only difference is that Zhang Jiao gave him talisman water, while Lin Dao received modern medicine.

They will later add food options to further win people over.

Having traversed countless timelines, Lin Dao clearly understands that people are not NPCs; it's impossible for you to raise your arms and call out to countless people willing to follow you in a business that could lead to execution.

Why should anyone risk their life for you?
There always has to be a process involved, a process of winning people's hearts and minds.

As for his hair, everyone assumed he was a monk, which left Lin Dao feeling quite helpless.

There was no way he could keep a pig's tail to conceal his identity.

The villagers who received free treatment wouldn't bother to report him.

While it's not entirely unheard of in this era for someone to help up a fallen person only to be extorted, it was certainly not as shameless as it was in later generations.

The people of this era were still relatively simple and honest.

Before long, a quarrel and conflict broke out outside the courtyard.

Lin Dao frowned, got up, and stepped outside.

A group of people were carrying a bed board, looking as if they had come to ask Lin Dao for treatment.

However, they were stopped by the villagers.

The two sides shouted insults at each other, and it looked like they were about to come to blows.

A burly man from the village was about to step forward, wielding his hoe, when a large hand suddenly reached out and firmly grasped the hoe.

The strength of that large hand was so great that the hoe did not even budge.

"Speak your mind."

Lin Dao's gaze swept over the crowd. "No one is allowed to make a move."

"Miracle doctor! Master!" The village elder ran over, gritting his teeth as he explained, "They are Hakka people from the next village, and they used to frequently fight with our village."

“Every household has its grudges.”

"Why should we let them treat our illnesses?!"

The Hakka people have existed since the Qin Dynasty, through the Song Dynasty, and to the present day.

As Han Chinese from the north migrated south, they had intense conflicts with the local people in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi and other places.

After all, these places are mostly mountainous with limited farmland, but the population is increasing day by day.

The conflicts between the Hakka and the Tujia people were extremely fierce, as they fought over land, water, and other resources.

This was a terrible war that lasted for a century.

As for the government, they never concern themselves with these matters.

They even wished that more people on both sides would die.

Just like the two villages at this moment, they used to fight each other endlessly over issues such as water sources and farmland, and it can be said that every household had a blood feud.

Now that their enemy wants to come to their village to seek treatment from a miracle doctor, how can the locals accept that!
"you!"

Lin Dao shouted in a loud voice, "Whether we are natives or Hakka, we are all descendants of Yan and Huang!"

"The so-called hatred is nothing more than the instigation of the Tartars."

"Why is there not enough farmland and not enough water?"

"It's because of the exploitation by the Tartars!"

"Their exploitation is the root cause of your poverty."

“The Tartars have taken away the best fields and now they want to exploit you with taxes.”

"What you need to do is not fight amongst yourselves, but unite, drive out the Tartars, and reclaim the land left to us by our ancestors!"

These words are undoubtedly rebellious.

Everyone around was astonished.

"Here, whether they are locals or tourists, they are all one of us." Lin Dao changed the subject. "They are all one of us, whether they are from the local area or not."

"Anyone who is sick can come to me for treatment."

"The Tartars won't do!"

The time was not right, and Lin Dao did not further incite others.

Instead, they asked the villagers to make way so that the patient could enter the courtyard for treatment.

After establishing a reputation as a miracle doctor, the next step is to offer more help to win people's hearts.

When the mite-killing army comes to wreak havoc, we can take advantage of the situation.

The only thing Lin Dao didn't expect was that those scoundrels in the county town actually turned his open and aboveboard slaughter of the county town into a major incident.

The corruption of local officials in the area where mites were cleared is evident from this example.

He needs new conflict.

In this era when the people of the Central Plains were living a life worse than death, such conflicts were everywhere!
(End of this chapter)