Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 970: Chapter 72: Smallpox Appears in the Capital

Returning to the matter at hand, the Prince Dai Mansion has been a bit unsettled lately. Initially, a eunuch in the Prince Dai Mansion developed a fever and fell ill. No one took it seriously, and even the sick eunuch himself didn’t pay it much mind, thinking he just had a cold and would recover in a few days with some medication.

The little eunuch went to the medical clinic to get some medicine for the cold, but after taking it, instead of improving, his condition worsened. Eventually, he collapsed in bed.

In the Prince Dai Mansion, there were many eunuchs doing odd jobs like him. Even if he was gravely ill and on the brink of death, no one would call a doctor for him. As the little eunuch became more seriously ill, it was inappropriate to keep him in the Prince Dai Mansion, so he was driven out.

If the little eunuch were to die in the Prince Dai Mansion and the chief eunuch found out, there would be punishment.

Though the little eunuch was expelled from the Prince Dai Mansion, he was not left on the streets; instead, he was sent to a manor in the suburbs, left to fend for himself.

If the people of the Prince Dai Mansion had driven the little eunuch to the streets, Prince Dai could have been impeached by the Imperial Censor for mistreating his servants.

The little eunuch died the day after being expelled from the manor. Before dying, he was still feverish, and many blisters appeared on his body. However, those who buried him did not care.

The death of a little eunuch in the Prince Dai Mansion would not cause even a ripple in the mansion, and no one paid attention to his death. But within a few days of his death, the servants of the Prince Dai Mansion began to develop fevers one after another, and blisters appeared on their bodies. It was then that the people of the Prince Dai Mansion realized the seriousness of the situation.

Fever, headache, backache, fatigue, and numerous blisters on the body were clearly symptoms of smallpox.

Upon learning of this, Fu Zhong immediately called the mansion’s doctor to examine the pulse of the sick servants and found that they indeed had smallpox. This threw everyone in the Prince Dai Mansion into a panic.

When Prince Dai learned that there was smallpox in the mansion, he was, of course, very alarmed. He initially wanted to conceal the fact that someone in the mansion had contracted smallpox, but that was impossible to hide. If it were concealed and more people contracted smallpox, it would be a grave crime when discovered.

Daring not to hide it, Prince Dai wrote to the Emperor, informing him that smallpox had appeared in his mansion.

Upon learning of this, the Emperor was greatly shocked and immediately sent Imperial Physicians to the Prince Dai Mansion. Then, he ordered a thorough investigation of all the households in the capital to see if any other families also had cases of smallpox.

This investigation revealed that many households had symptoms of smallpox.

This was not the first smallpox outbreak since the founding of Great Zhou. Smallpox had appeared in the capital when the previous emperor had just ascended to the throne, and it had also occurred in other places.

In dealing with smallpox, Great Zhou had some experience. Even if there was no experience, the previous dynasty’s experiences could be referenced, as there had been several occurrences of smallpox during the previous dynasty.

Upon learning that smallpox had appeared in the capital, both the common people and officials were fearful and uneasy, afraid of contracting smallpox and dying in despair. Fortunately, the court discovered it not too late and handled it rather promptly, preventing the further spread of smallpox.

The method of handling smallpox this time was proposed by Zhao Yao. Previously, when Zhao wrote to the Emperor about cowpox vaccination for prevention, he also wrote about how to handle it upon discovering smallpox.

At that time, Zhao Yao repeatedly instructed in his letter to have the Emperor order masks made of cotton cloth in case of emergency. After reading it, the Emperor instructed the palace seamstresses to make many masks. The Emperor also asked the ministers to make some masks, and fortunately, they listened and had their household seamstresses make some.

After the smallpox outbreak, the ministers quickly put on their masks.

All individuals identified with smallpox were placed in one location for isolation. In the isolation area, lime was frequently scattered, and mugwort was burned. Of course, this was also done in households that had had smallpox and those that hadn’t.

The Emperor had the Imperial Physicians and officials record the number of people infected with smallpox and found that the children who had been vaccinated with cowpox were not infected.

Previously, when cowpox was being administered, there were doubts about whether it could truly prevent smallpox. This smallpox outbreak confirmed that cowpox indeed prevents smallpox. The common people and officials were all relieved and grateful for having their children vaccinated with cowpox.

The common people and officials were all grateful to Zhao Yao for coming up with the cowpox vaccination method to prevent smallpox, otherwise, their children might have contracted smallpox and succumbed to it this time.

Those who contracted smallpox this time were generally in weaker health, mostly older individuals. None of the young adults contracted smallpox.