PDLP Chapter 48 The Outbreak of Plague
Chapter 48 The Outbreak of Plague
"Mr. Gao!"
Qin Xuan tried to calm himself down and spoke in a deep voice.
Kaohsiung immediately stepped forward respectfully, bowing slightly: "Your Highness, what are your orders?"
“From this moment on, I will set up a separate workshop. You will select a group of workers to work together to create new crossbows.”
Qin Xuan's expression was solemn. Gao Xiong knew that this matter concerned weapons, so he naturally dared not be negligent and nodded repeatedly.
"Luo Ying, you should send a Shence Army unit to guard the workshop. This workshop will produce more new weapons in the future, so the person guarding it must be 100% loyal."
“Luo Ying understands.” Zhao Luo Ying nodded immediately.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the crossbow workshop was successfully established. A large number of craftsmen were brought into the workshop and worked day and night to create new crossbows.
In fact, Qin Xuan originally wanted to strike while the iron was hot and further develop the repeating crossbow, a more lethal weapon.
But when he saw the artisans looking exhausted, he suddenly realized a problem—there weren't enough artisans.
Beining City is located in the northern border region, where the climate is cold and there is a lack of craftsmen.
If Qin Xuan hadn't brought over 30,000 refugees with him and selected a group of craftsmen from among them, there probably wouldn't have been enough people to even set up a crossbow workshop.
Now, with Qin Xuan's continuous research and development and production of refined salt, coal stoves, coal briquettes, new agricultural tools, and new crossbows, the demand for craftsmen in Beining City has become urgent.
"The problems just keep coming one after another!"
Sitting in the main hall of the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Luoying gently rubbed Qin Xuan's throbbing head.
"You should rest too, Luo Ying." Qin Xuan couldn't bear to see Zhao Luo Ying overworked, so he gently took her hand and said.
Just as Zhao Luoying was about to speak, she heard a sudden burst of hurried footsteps outside.
Immediately afterward, Zhuge Xuan, looking flustered, rushed in and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, Shuanglin City, Tianshan City, Lu City, and Danxia City have all been hit by a plague, resulting in the deaths of a large number of people. Many villages have been reduced to less than one-tenth of their population, and the plague is showing signs of spreading to my Beining City."
"Is there no one to govern the Great Qi Dynasty?"
Qin Xuan was shocked and stood up angrily.
Zhao Luoying, who was standing next to her, also changed her expression and widened her beautiful eyes.
The four major cities mentioned by Zhuge Xuan are all not far from Beining City. If there is any carelessness, Beining City will inevitably be implicated.
Zhuge Xuan shook his head helplessly: "The plague first appeared in Danxia City, but the local government concealed it and did not take any measures, so the disease quickly spread throughout Danxia City and then spread to the other three cities."
"According to the intelligence network of the Mintai Chamber of Commerce, the epidemic is extremely serious, especially in Danxia City, where the death toll has exceeded 100,000."
Upon hearing this number, Qin Xuan's expression immediately changed.
One hundred thousand? Even a Danxia city only has a population of eight or nine hundred thousand!
If we add the death toll from the other three cities, it's simply unimaginable.
"Now a large number of refugees have fled these four cities, but they initially wanted to go south, but they were all blocked outside the city gates."
"Some cities even ordered their soldiers to be shot in order to drive away these refugees."
As he spoke, Zhuge Xuan's body trembled and his eyes reddened.
"Go on," Qin Xuan said, barely suppressing his anger, though his aura was already murderous.
Even if these incompetent officials of the imperial court are powerless to save lives, they should not have shot innocent civilians.
Such a corrupt dynasty should truly disappear completely.
"Since they can't get to the cities in the south, the refugees have no choice but to turn back. They're probably already heading towards Beining City."
Zhuge Xuan sighed deeply and gazed quietly at Qin Xuan.
He seemed to be waiting for Qin Xuan to make a decision, but dared not offer any suggestions.
After all, Beining City had just experienced war and was finally beginning to recover. If it were to accept so many refugees all at once, everything could potentially return to square one.
Among these refugees, there may even be carriers of the plague.
If they enter the city, and the infection spreads, then the entire city of Beining could die.
"How long will it take for those refugees to reach Beining City at the earliest?"
Qin Xuan was still deep in thought when Zhao Luoying couldn't help but ask.
“Within five days, there should be refugees appearing.” Zhuge Xuan pondered for a moment, a hint of struggle flashing in his eyes. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, “Your Highness, I know you have always loved the people like your own children, but this time, Zhuge Xuan begs you not to open the city gates.”
"You want me to watch hundreds of thousands of refugees die right before my eyes?" Qin Xuan was furious, and his tone became stern.
Zhuge Xuan knelt down with a thud and shouted:
"Your Highness, once the city gates are opened and the refugees enter, the foundation you have painstakingly built will be reduced to ashes."
"Does the Great Qi court really not know how to manage things? They are just taking advantage of the plague to force you into a corner."
Seeing Zhuge Xuan's tearful appearance, Qin Xuan felt a pang of pain in his heart.
How could he not see through the conspiracy behind it all? But the fact that the Daqi court was using the natural disaster to scheme against him at the cost of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people was an unsolvable problem.
If he abandons these refugees today, then even if he truly establishes a nation in the future, the souls of these hundreds of thousands of people will haunt him, making him never at peace for the rest of his life.
"Get up!"
Qin Xuan stepped forward and gently helped Zhuge Xuan up, then sighed and said, "Strategist, I know your intentions, but if I really did what you said, would I, as a prince, still be worthy of your sworn loyalty?"
With just one sentence, Zhuge Xuan was rendered speechless.
"Perhaps we can set up a camp outside the city first, and then provide enough food, so that the refugees can be temporarily settled."
Zhao Luoying suggested.
But her suggestion was immediately rejected by Zhuge Xuan: "It's no use. It's already the dead of winter, and the temperature keeps dropping. Even if there are tents in the open space outside the city, these refugees will still freeze to death."
Winters in the North are nothing like those in the South, especially at night when temperatures often drop to below -10 degrees Celsius.
In such freezing weather, a few tents are of no use whatsoever.
"Then why not designate an area within the city now, and then resettle them?"
Zhao Luoying immediately replied.
Zhuge Xuan gave a wry smile: "The total number of refugees this time is at least two hundred thousand. How can Beining City divide such an area?"
"And even if we can divide it up, will the people in the city agree? If the people object, and we insist on taking them in, it might cause unrest."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Luoying fell silent.
"Your Highness, this time we have no choice. It's not that you are not benevolent enough, but that you must live up to the expectations of the people of Beining City!"
Seeing that Qin Xuan remained silent, Zhuge Xuan could only resort to this noble cause, hoping that Qin Xuan would be ruthless this time.
"We still have five days, enough time for us to come up with a solution, but the most important thing right now is for us to understand the specifics of this plague."
Qin Xuan spoke slowly, his eyes showing neither joy nor sorrow: "Strategist, you should quickly send people to investigate the symptoms of this plague, and at the same time arrange for the Shence Army to set up camps and place coal stoves outside the city, and prepare food and drinking water."
"Your Majesty, you..."
"Do as I say first. Whether these refugees live or die depends half on fate, and the other half..."
Qin Xuan didn't say anything more.
He was never a saint; his insistence on taking in these refugees was simply because he didn't want Zhuge Xuan to think he was too cold-blooded.
However, if there is really no way to solve the plague, then the only thing he can do is to settle the refugees outside the city, otherwise the riots that Zhuge Xuan was worried about will occur.
This is unbearable for the entire city of Beining.