Chapter 463

…Judgment…

Zhu Youjian saw the message from the Ancestor of the Group Chat, slapped his thigh, and quickly stretched his neck to shout outside: "Someone come!"

318, solve the plague!

Wang Chengen ran in from outside as if frightened.

"Your Majesty, this servant is here!"

"Hmm, immediately select two imperial physicians with good medical skills, and also mobilize some Embroidered Uniform Guard; send them all to Quanzhou Prefecture, making them ensure Su Qing's safety without fail, and have the physicians assist in researching the plague cure."

Zhu Youjian spoke quickly.

Wang Chengen froze for a moment, but immediately agreed.

He knew clearly Su Qiao's status in his own Emperor's heart.

One could already see signs during the morning court earlier; now, with such an order, it was not strange.

Wang Chengen acted on good advice; after leaving the palace, he immediately selected imperial physicians and sent people to notify the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot.

Whether the Embroidered Uniform Guard could complete the task, he was not sure, but he had to make extra preparations, so he sent the Eastern Depot people as well.

……

At this time, Su Qiao, far away in Quanzhou City, did not yet know Zhu Youjian's reaction.

Inside and outside Quanzhou City, one could say it was extremely busy.

Fortunately, the handling effect was significant; the plague occasionally infected people, but it did not explode as everyone had feared.

Everything was still under control.

The physicians and doctors within the prefectural government were also preparing medicines; although they could not immediately take effect to solve the plague.

Yet they could replenish the vital energy for many sick people.

Su Qiao still thought he could return to the capital before the New Year.

Looking at this situation, it was estimated to be completely impossible.

Solving the plague in Quanzhou City would require more than half a month.

This was the result after truly controlling it.

Otherwise, it was estimated that it would not end for several months.

……

Time flowed, day and night reversed; in the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.

Fujian had also reached winter; although it could not compare to the winter in the north.

The temperature had indeed dropped significantly, especially in Quanzhou Prefecture, which is close to the sea; the sea breeze and waves were huge, and the wind was quite strong when going out.

During this more than half a month, Su Qiao and Liu Rushi basically had not left the Yiguan Sect.

Some government affairs and such were resolved directly inside the Yiguan Sect.

Additionally, the personnel sent by Zhu Youjian, including the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, had all arrived.

At first, the Eastern Depot guys still wanted to show off their status to Su Qiao and such.

The result was that Su Qiao slapped them back with a big slap.

Afterwards, they became obedient!

After all, stupid people could not occupy the majority; there had to be more smart, normal people.

The relationship between Su Qiao and Zhu Youjian, plus the relationship with Wang Chengen, could not be hidden.

Even though the head of this Eastern Depot was a Xiaohuang Sect from the palace, it was still useless.

The reason for being so showy was that he had never left the capital before; now that he had finally come out, how could he not act arrogant and bully others under borrowed power?

It was just that he was arrogant in the wrong place and got slapped back by Su Qiao.

When he understood the relationship between Su Qiao, Wang Chengen, and Zhu Youjian, he was dumbfounded and immediately obediently ran over to grovel.

Su Qiao naturally had no interest in arguing with such a small character; what he cared more about was the plague and the matter in Yangzhou.

Because of the plague issue, the Dutch were restless, but they would not attack this year.

It was estimated that if they made a move, it would have to be after spring next year.

Similarly, they themselves also needed to celebrate Christmas and such.

So Su Qiao did not need to worry too much about them.

For several days within Quanzhou Prefecture, no one had reported discovering new patients.

It seemed the plague was temporarily suppressed.

During this more than half a month, the number of sick people in all of Quanzhou Prefecture was at least over ten thousand.

However, those who did not hold on in the end were only over two thousand.

This number was extremely low, greatly exceeding everyone's expectations.

Many officials and common people knew that without Su Qiao's timely measures, it was estimated that Quanzhou Prefecture would not have just seen over two thousand deaths.

It was very likely that the plague would explode massively, with bodies covering the fields and no one living there.

So, after another week passed and indeed no new sick personnel were discovered.

Quanzhou Prefecture was lifted from the ban.

Immediately after the ban was lifted, everyone rushed in a swarm to the entrance of the Yiguan Sect where Su Qiao was to express gratitude.

The Yamen Runners and Constables wanted to stop them but could not.

Fortunately, everyone had no bad intentions; they purely wanted to thank Su Qiao.

There was no way, because there were too many people; the entire street was blocked, and more and more people kept coming.

Su Qiao had to come out of the Yiguan Sect to meet everyone, speak with them, and remind the crowd not to become complacent.

After Su Qiao dissuaded them repeatedly, these people finally left.

But even though the people had left, these common folk had still brought many gifts and placed them on the ground.

Things like eggs, green vegetables, jujubes, bolts of cloth, and so on.

All sorts of miscellaneous items were there.

Of course, some wealthy merchants from Quanzhou Prefecture had also sent generous gifts.

Their gifts were simpler, such as silver notes, silver ingots, gold ingots, and fine jewelry, and were far more valuable.

Su Qiao, for his part, accepted everything without refusal; regardless of the gift's value, it was someone's sincere intention.

With the plague problem resolved, Prefect Zhou Xun, along with Wang Da, Nian Li, He Yu, and others, jointly held a victory celebration banquet.

Zhou Xun and Li Heyu had previously sent Chen Zuishu to the capital, which had indeed angered Zhu Youjian quite a bit.

However, after persuasion by Du Du Yinxi and others, they were given a chance to atone for their faults by making merit.

They were ordered to fully cooperate with Su Qiao in handling this plague situation.

The result was good!

The plague was finally suppressed, and their previous mistakes were thus offset.

This was also the reason they were so happy to celebrate the victory.

Su Qiao naturally would not dampen their enthusiasm; at the start of this plague, everyone had been under tremendous pressure.

Busy and bustling for nearly a month, they had finally gotten through it; was it not right to let them relax a bit?

So Su Qiao said nothing, instead accepting their invitation and indicating that he would attend as well.

"My lord, that Quanzhou Prefecture could overcome this crisis is all thanks to your lordship's strategic planning!"

Upon seeing Su Qiao arrive for the banquet, Zhou Xun immediately led people out to welcome him and began flattering him with praise.

Su Qiao waved his hand and said, "This official dares not covet merit; it is everyone's achievement. It is getting late; shall we go in first?"

"Yes, yes, yes, what Lord Su says is right; this humble official was negligent."

He then led Su Qiao into the banquet and seated him in the place of honor at the head.

Since it was a victory celebration banquet, everyone had come to relax, and smiles were on their faces.

Seeing that the Imperial Envoy Su Qiao had arrived, they could not stop speaking words of praise.

Before the banquet began, Su Qiao did not make a long speech; he simply invited everyone to start the feast.

At the banquet, a host of officials came one after another to offer toasts, and even Zheng Zhilong came over holding a wine cup.

"My lord, the plague in Quanzhou Prefecture was resolved entirely thanks to you; the Dutch dared not move rashly. However, this is because of the plague; I estimate that after the New Year, they will very likely make a move. What shall we do then?"

It turned out that Zheng Zhilong was not simply offering a toast to Su Qiao.

In fact, he mostly wanted to inquire about the stance toward the Dutch.