Chapter 208
Chapter 208: Separate Routes
Wei Yu was very calm in response to Third Brother’s questioning.
“Oh dear, when there’s a lack of manpower, you just have to learn to be flexible. Whether they are mountain bandits or not, broadly speaking, everyone here is a subject of Great Wei. Third Brother, I’m just trying to give the people of Great Wei a secure future.”
Wei Yu looked heartbroken, “Third Brother, as for becoming a bandit, if we couldn’t survive any other way, who would want to do something so life-threatening? As the saying goes, ‘If I don’t enter hell, then who will?’ Third Brother, my kind-hearted nature simply cannot stand to see the common people suffer.”
Third Prince: ……
In a way, he seemed hesitant to speak.
To get his Third Brother to agree to proceed first and to use the bandits as vanguards, Wei Yu’s tea ceremony display lasted quite a while.
The aroma of the tea was so rich that Third Prince remained silently quiet.
Finally, Wei Yu clapped his hands and unleashed a big move: “Third Brother, the flood problem is urgent. If we delay any longer, resettling the people won’t be easy either. Suppose some get sick and a plague breaks out—that would be a huge problem!”
Third Prince frowned. Indeed, no matter what natural disaster occurs, reconstruction is not so difficult afterward. The real fear is the outbreak of plague!
In this era, medical conditions were very primitive and doctors were very few.
How few? Perhaps only one or two doctors in an entire county, or sometimes none at all.
And the medical skill of doctors was uneven at best.
Doctors at this time could only diagnose illnesses by observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking—they lacked the extensive clinical experience modern doctors have. Due to the lack of widespread information, doctors’ diagnoses were passed down from their masters and ancestors. The idea of traveling far and wide to diagnose complicated cases practically did not exist.
Even if it did, it was very rare.
Because transportation was inconvenient, doctors had to know some martial arts or survival skills for traveling.
Due to the limited medical expertise, when patients had somewhat complicated symptoms, doctors could only shake their heads regretfully, basically leaving the patient to die.
When facing infectious plagues, people simply had to resign to fate.
If they could resist, they survived; if not, they were eliminated. In summary, it was “survival of the fittest.”
If the Imperial Court encountered a plague outbreak, they basically only had two options: “prevention” and “blockade.”
Prevention was self-explanatory; blockade meant the government would close off city gates and checkpoints.
Since ancient people moved very little—some never leaving their villages—this blockade could more or less control the epidemic.
What came next was taking Chinese herbal medicine. If the medicine worked, patients recovered; if not, they had to wait for the plague to die out on its own. How many infected survived depended on the strength of the virus. At this time it was vital to rely on individual physical constitution differences, since many could survive stubbornly by their own immunity.
Therefore, once a plague broke out in ancient times, it often resulted in a widespread fatality rate, leaving nearly empty households.
Wei Yu’s reminder was not unusual; anyone involved in disaster relief would know what might happen during the process, but it still served as a warning to Third Prince.
Third Prince looked at Wei Yu, “When do you plan to leave?”
So, he agreed?
Wei Yu brightened, “Tonight!”
“Tonight?”
Third Prince frowned, “Traveling at night is dangerous. Move it to tomorrow.”