Chapter 264: The Moth Comes Again

The first batch of Artemisia annua was actually delivered by Zheng Yueru of Yinzhou.

This immediately resolved the situation facing Dunhuang.

Within a single day.

Three hundred thousand jin!

This is the capability of the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce; after sending out a message by carrier pigeon, three hundred thousand jin of Artemisia annua were already on the way that very day. Within the borders of Yinzhou alone, five hundred thousand jin had been collected and were still on the road, expected to arrive in Dunhuang and Changzhou in about two days.

A Chamber of Commerce that spans the entire world—this is the current network of the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce.

Chang Shuwen, leading his civil and military officials, went out to welcome the Yinzhou army.

"Welcome Prefectural Governor Liu into the city!"

"Welcome Prefectural Governor Liu into the city!"

With a grand and imposing group of officials, as well as the common people lining the streets to welcome them, Chang Shuwen spared no expense, preparing the ceremonial guard of a Feudatory King for Liu Dahao!

"Prefectural Governor Liu!"

"Governor Liu!"

The common people in the city were already teary-eyed. At a time when they thought they were about to be abandoned by the Longyan Dynasty, it was Governor Liu, it was Yinzhou that saved them. It was the Yinzhou army that brought them the hope of survival.

How could such a kindness be ordinary?

Many people spontaneously knelt on the ground, treating this father and son of the Liu family as if they were gods. Even Chang Shuwen had never received such treatment in Dunhuang.

With such a Yinzhou army, even if they wanted to occupy Dunhuang, could he stop them?

Forget it.

It was already like this.

What else could he say?

"Oh my, oh my, Prefect Chang, this is too courteous..."

Liu Dahao rolled down from the Horse Carriage, patted his big belly, and laughed heartily: "Absolutely not, absolutely not, this ritual and law must not be broken. The plague in Dunhuang tugs at everyone's heartstrings; what Liu Dahao has done is merely what a conscientious Longyan person would do. Why the need for this, why the need for this!"

He spoke with great emotion and sincerity.

This made the common people even more moved, their faces streaming with tears.

Chang Shuwen gave a bitter smile, glanced at the young master beside Liu Dahao, and sighed: "Is this Governor Liu? Truly a Contemporary Sage; I admire you!"

Liu Zheng hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "Official Chang, Zheng dares not covet even half a merit; I only wish for the people to live and work in peace. Therefore, this excessive ceremonial guard should be waived for now; let us save the people first, may we?"

He spoke with equal sincerity.

But it was more persuasive than the Prefectural Governor.

Chang Shuwen sighed again in his heart; everyone in the world says that one should have a son like Governor Liu, and seeing him today, he realized it was not an empty reputation.

"Good, good, good, please!"

"General Wang, settle the Yinzhou army!"

"Medical Officer Chen, take charge of receiving the Artemisia annua and the matter of extracting the juice!"

The plague in Dunhuang was still ongoing; for Liu Zheng, things like banquets and ceremonial guards were still superficial.

Very quickly.

The ninety thousand Yinzhou troops and the one hundred thousand Dunhuang troops began their organized medical work. Once again, Chang Shuwen felt the swiftness and strict military discipline of the Yinzhou army.

What is meant by "passing one's home three times without entering"?

The Yinzhou army is exactly that!

The thing he had worried about at the beginning was whether the Yinzhou army would occupy the nest like a cuckoo and harass the people after entering Dunhuang. But now, his doubts were completely gone.

Not only did they not harass...

Because the accommodation issue had not yet been resolved, these Yinzhou soldiers in green uniforms just slept on the streets like that...

Never mind that Chang Shuwen couldn't bear to watch.

Even the common people couldn't bear it. They one after another invited the Yinzhou soldiers to stay in their homes, but the Yinzhou army refused. So, they brought out their own bedding, and only then did the Yinzhou army reluctantly accept.

By the next day, the accommodation problem for the Yinzhou army was truly resolved.

And when they moved their belongings and left the streets, Chang Shuwen discovered once again that the streets he thought would be filthy were as clean as this...

Every Yinzhou soldier took all the household waste they had produced with them and then burned it.

He couldn't help but gasp.

What kind of army is this, exactly?

With such an army, who could stand against them?

As for the situation in Changzhou.

In reality, it was even more severe than the situation in Dunhuang.

They belonged to the group truly abandoned by the imperial court and had originally thought they would surely die, but when the portion of the Yinzhou army led by Jiang Xuan arrived here, they were brought back to life.

So the imperial court had not forgotten us?

Who?

Who came to save them?

The Yinzhou army?

However, at this time in Changzhou, the number of people who had died was no longer small; it had reached a full seventy thousand! What kind of concept is this? Out of over three hundred thousand people in Changzhou, seventy thousand had died! This is a death rate of one-fourth!

Terrifying!

The corpses could not even be disposed of, social order had completely collapsed, and many children were living in rooms reeking of the stench of corpses, crying loudly. They didn't even know how many days it had been since they last ate.

As for the Changzhou army or Changzhou soldiers, they no longer existed.

Because the plague had invaded every household, and they were all members of these families... when life was no longer guaranteed, who could still care about any work?

When Jiang Xuan saw these scenes, he could not help but shed tears.

Begin the treatment!

Only at this moment did he understand why Liu Zheng had made the prescription public the very first moment.

Because there was no time to wait.

At this time, time is everything, and life is everything!

However...

What Jiang Xuan did not expect was that after he had rushed over without stopping, the Prefect of Changzhou refused to let him preside over the treatment matters.

"What are you saying?"

Jiang Xuan almost chopped off this bastard's head with his blade.

The Prefect of Changzhou, Wen Yang, said while breaking out in a cold sweat: "General, General, the Crown Prince is already on the road, he just arrived in Zhao, before he arrives, no one is allowed to act rashly!"

"The Crown Prince?"

Jiang Xuan's eyes turned cold: "When will he arrive?"

"This, three days, he will arrive in three days..."

Bang!

Jiang Xuan's saber was thrown onto the table by him, his eyes filled with killing intent: "Jinghua is a mere few hundred miles from here; a forced march would arrive in three days! This Imperial Edict was issued three days ago, why is it still three days away? Did his Crown Prince Army crawl here?"

Wen Yang dared not speak.

In reality, who didn't know that the Crown Prince was waiting. He was waiting to see how effective the Artemisia annua was at treating the plague before he dared to come boldly... Just yesterday, great news came from Dunhuang that Artemisia annua is the natural enemy of Malaria! The effect is exceptionally good! What is the Crown Prince still waiting for? Depart!

Not only must he depart, he also wants to come and steal the credit!

"Preposterous, simply preposterous..."

Jiang Xuan sneered: "Three days, as a dignified Crown Prince, does he know how many commoners will die in three days? As a dignified Crown Prince, does he know how the plague will worsen in three days?"

"Three days, I can afford to wait, but can the commoners of Changzhou afford to wait!"

He roared this out.

"Tens of thousands!"

"Tens of thousands in a single day! The situation in Changzhou is even more severe than in Dunhuang; many are late-stage critical patients! You are telling me to wait three days?"

He roared these words out.

Many officials in Changzhou also had bloodshot eyes and were clenching their fists tightly.

But what Method do you have? This Wen Yang is originally from Chen Ping's faction, which is to say, he is someone who follows the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince says a word, would he dare to disobey?

If the Crown Prince wants the credit, would he dare not cooperate?

Jiang Xuan endured his anger, for a moment, not knowing what to do.