Chapter 78 Completely Disappointed "How's the research on Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases going?" Tian Ze looked at Zhang Ji eagerly, his tone filled with concern and expectation. Zhang Ji heard this and said confidently: "Don't worry, lord. With the many theories and herbs you provided, plus a large number of patients willing to cooperate with me for testing, the Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases has taken shape and is still being continuously updated and improved." "The means of treating typhoid and plague have been initially improved after the lord's suggestion, and have been promoted to the doctors under his jurisdiction. There will be no problems." Zhang Ji's eyes showed determination and persistence. After coming to Liaodong, he picked up his original ideals again and was finally able to focus on medicine, so he naturally devoted himself to it. After hearing what Zhang Ji said, Tian Ze finally felt relieved. In this era, there is a lack of everything except people with serious illnesses. Their lives are worthless and they can only wait for death in despair. Naturally, they are willing to cooperate with the experiments in order to fight for that glimmer of hope. "We must prepare more herbs for treating plague and typhoid fever, and widely popularize common sense methods such as disinfection and isolation. All refugees coming to Liaodong must undergo strict disinfection inspections and live together for observation for a period of time to prevent the emergence of plague." Tian Ze's expression was serious and his tone was solemn. He had spent a huge amount of money to attract and raise each and every refugee, and they could not be killed by the plague. "At the same time, we must strengthen comprehensive investigations internally. Once plague-like symptoms appear, we must act decisively and deal with them at the first opportunity!"
Tian Ze, who lived in that era, had a very deep understanding of the horror of typhoid fever. According to the original historical trajectory, the plague at the end of the Han Dynasty caused the deaths of at least 30 million people, of which typhoid fever accounted for a large proportion. What a shocking and terrifying number! The reason why Zhang Ji in history was determined to complete "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" was because two-thirds of his family, which originally had more than 200 people, died of plague in less than ten years, and 70% of them died of typhoid fever. Cao Cao's disastrous defeat in the Battle of Chibi was also largely attributed to the raging plague. Therefore, Tian Ze attached great importance to the medical level and doctors under his jurisdiction. He spared no effort and financial resources to specially recruit a medical expert like Zhang Ji. Even Hua Tuo, whose whereabouts were uncertain, was under his advice. However, this genius doctor has been traveling around the country to study medicine for many years. Although he promised to come to Liaodong, he has not arrived yet. Given his style of treating patients while walking, Tian Ze estimated that he would have to travel for at least another one or two years. "Huo Tian, how is the matter of recruiting the Yellow Turbans?" Tian Ze turned to look at Zhang Niu with a questioning look. Zhang Niu stretched out his right hand, took out a yellow talisman, and said solemnly: "My lord, don't worry. This talisman can last for three months. It is a unique method of the Great Sage Master and also represents his identity." "As long as those Yellow Turbans still have a firm belief in the great and virtuous teacher's promise of world peace, they will come to submit without hesitation when they see this talisman." In order to avoid arousing the court's vigilance, Tian Ze did not use Zhang Niu's secret method during this period of time. But now the imperial court thought that the Yellow Turban Rebellion had been put down, and the only ones left were some bandits flying the Yellow Turban banner, or guerrillas, who were no longer a concern. Only then did Tian Ze dare to play this trump card that he had hidden for so long. "As long as the Yellow Turbans and refugees from all over the country want to live a peaceful life, we can win them over. After they come to Liaodong, they can farm and work in peace, and it is also possible for them to join the army if they want." "However, we must carefully identify these people. We must not let those who have committed many crimes and have evil intentions take advantage of the situation." Tian Ze has worked tirelessly over the past six months and traveled almost all over Liaodong, especially those places where hidden households live. Relying on his talent and the art of divination, he has caught a group of evil people. Although their number is not large, they are still a hidden danger. These people cannot be simply and roughly killed with one blow, but we must always keep a close eye on them to prevent them from causing harm to the community and corrupting morals. Seeing that Tian Ze had finished handling the two matters, Jia Xu continued, "As for the court, due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion last year, the current emperor used a lot of the wealth he had previously accumulated to reward soldiers according to Huangfu Song's suggestion, resulting in a deficit in the treasury." "The emperor plans to build a palace and asks all states and counties to offer wood and stone materials. As a result, provincial governors and prefects take the opportunity to increase taxes on the people, causing widespread public resentment." Upon hearing this, everyone present was chilled. Not only was he disillusioned by the emperor's inability to distinguish between the important and the unimportant, and his disregard for the lives of the people for his own selfish desires, he was also disillusioned by the officials in the court and various places who were so cold-blooded and only knew how to squeeze the people's money. This big man’s officialdom is completely rotten.
"There is another interesting thing. The emperor has proposed to impose an additional land tax on the country's arable land, ten coins per mu." Jia Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and said meaningfully. "It seems that the emperor still hasn't given up the idea of suppressing the powerful families! That's right, if he doesn't suppress them, I'm afraid it won't be long before the world will no longer be ruled by the Liu family." Tian Ze sighed, his face full of helplessness. Although Liu Hong is incompetent, he is not stupid. On the contrary, he is quite clever. The purpose of engraving and printing the "Xiping Stone Classics" was to enlighten the people, and it also promoted the advent of "rubbing", the prototype of printing technology. The establishment of "Hongdumen School" was to break the monopoly of aristocratic families on official positions and to promote some small and powerful people of lower origins to be officials in order to check and balance the power of aristocratic families. To some extent, it can be regarded as the predecessor of the imperial examination system. The "Party and Factions Persecution" was launched in order to suppress the control of the aristocratic families over the world and prevent the excessive expansion of their power. The collection of land tax based on acreage this time, to some extent, hit the weak spot of the wealthy and powerful families, and going a step further, it was the prototype of "equalizing the land tax based on acreage." Judging from these aspects alone, Emperor Liu Hong had some ideas, but unfortunately he lacked the ability. Moreover, he always did absurd things such as "selling official positions" and "renovating the palace". But considering his background, it is understandable. When Emperor Huan of Han died, Dou Wu originally wanted to choose a puppet who was incompetent and easy to control. Liu Hong ascended the throne under such circumstances. He had received limited education and training since childhood, so it was naturally impossible to force him to have the ability to govern the country wisely. "What's the final result?" Tian Ze asked. "Julu Governor Sima Zhi wrote a letter to persuade the emperor, then committed suicide by taking poison. Officials from all over the country submitted petitions to persuade the emperor, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion became more intense. A large-scale rebellion broke out in Liang Province again. The emperor weighed the pros and cons and could only postpone this policy." "It seems that the emperor is afraid after all." Tian Ze felt very calm. He had been disappointed with this emperor too many times and no longer had any expectations for him. The Han Dynasty today is rotten to the core. Even he is not sure of turning the tide and restoring the world. What's more, the person sitting in that position is Liu Hong, an emperor who is sometimes good and sometimes bad and does not distinguish between the important and the unimportant. Not only Tian Ze, but also the civil and military officials under Tian Ze are the same. They often listened to Jia Xu's reports on the court's intelligence and participated in heated discussions on the world situation. The more they discussed, the more they felt that it was time for a change! Especially when compared with the rapidly changing and booming Liaodong, anyone would have different ideas. Some of the civil and military officials who were originally not very determined have now become Tian Ze's die-hard fans and are determined to follow him to create a new situation. (End of this chapter)