Criminal investigation in ancient times

Everyone jumped in fright, took a step back, looked down at the ground, and sure enough, there was a large blood-soaked mark on the ground at the door.

Zhang Rui hurriedly said: "You come out first, don't touch this corpse!"

After a while, Zhan Qing came out from the wall, and saw that his face was blue, and he walked to the side and untied the cloth towel on his face and started to vomit.

He Ming hurriedly handed him the detoxifying and heat-clearing soup that he had prepared, and Zhan Qing held the medicine pot and drank it for a long time before suppressing the churning in his stomach.

Zhan Qing: "My lord...the people inside have all been dead for a few days, and their bodies are full of flies and maggots. It's better not to go in."

Zhang Rui said solemnly: "You go into the house to see?"

Zhan Qing nodded and said: "There are seven corpses in total, two old people, three adults and two children, all dead."

Zhang Rui: "You didn't touch their bodies, did you?"

Zhan Qing shook his head and said, "I didn't touch it."

Zhang Rui nodded, looked back at the haunted house and said, "You can't let their corpses be like this. If someone doesn't have a good eye to get in and catch this disease after a long time, I'm afraid it will kill the whole town."

Zhou Yin: "Burn this house down, Zhanqing, you and Duan Xiaobai go find some kerosene and dry firewood."

Half an hour later, the two returned in a hurry, brought the kerosene and firewood they had bought, climbed over the wall and entered the yard, poured kerosene on the house, put the firewood beside the dead, and lit it with a torch.

It didn't take long for the fire to ignite, and there is no wind today, so I am not afraid of burning the house next door. A few people stood at the door and watched the fire of Tuntian with their eyes flickering.

The fire burned for three hours before it gradually extinguished. The original houses were burned to the ground, and the bodies were so burned that they could not be identified.Although everyone in the town saw the fire, no one dared to come, for fear of being infected with the disease.

The sky was already dark, and the sky was covered with dark clouds and no stars could be seen. Zhang Rui stood with his hands behind his back and said, "I won't stop in the town today, go directly to Changxing County!"

The carriage was dispatched and rushed to Changxing County overnight. It was not until noon on the second day that they arrived at the gate of Changxing County.I saw that the gate of the city was closed tightly, and there were only a few guard soldiers on the tower.

Duan Xiaobai got off his horse and shouted to the people above the city tower: "Open the city gate! This is the magistrate of Tongzhou, come to Changxing County for assessment!"

The soldier on the tower was dozing off when he heard the sound, he was startled, and hurried to report to the duty officer after get off work.He was also taken aback when he got off work, and hurriedly sent someone to the county government office to report.

The county magistrate Wang Yun has been in a state of anxiety for the past few days. He thought it was just a common epidemic, so he concealed it from the top.Unexpectedly, it became more and more serious. Many people died in the city every day, and more and more people wanted to run outside, and the disease became out of control.

But he is not too confused, sealed up Changxing County tightly, once the people in the city are released, the disaster will be the whole Tongzhou!Fortunately, the transportation was inconvenient in ancient times. If the modern transportation is developed, it may take a few days to spread throughout Tongzhou.

Someone from the government office suddenly came to inform that someone outside the city claimed to be the magistrate of Tongzhou and came to Changxing County for assessment.Wang Yun was stunned for a moment, he heard that the magistrate was going to take care of the water a while ago, so he hurried to greet him at the gate of the city.

As soon as the city gate opened, there were a lot of people who packed up their clothes and wanted to run out. Fortunately, Wang Yun sent soldiers to block these people. Zhang Rui and his carriage entered the city, and the soldiers immediately closed the city gate.Those who were stopped in the city cursed angrily, and some knelt on the ground in despair and cried bitterly.

Zhou Yin lifted the curtain of the car and saw Wang Yun kneeling on the ground, with his clothes tied wrongly and his hair messy. If he hadn't seen him once in Tongzhou, he would have been almost unrecognizable.

"Kowtow to the magistrate, the next official is guilty, please punish him!"

Zhang Rui frowned and got out of the driveway: "Wang Yun, why did you hide the epidemic in Changxing County and not report it!"

Wang Yun kowtowed and said, "It's a lower official's dereliction of duty. I thought it was an ordinary epidemic, but I didn't expect..."

Zhang Rui said angrily: "Absurd! Stupid! Do you know how many people died because of your dereliction of duty!"

Wang Yun kowtowed with tears streaming down his face and said, "It's a mistake made by the subordinate, please punish me, my lord."

Zhang Rui said: "Get up first, go to the county government office and explain the matter to me clearly!" A group of people hurried to the county government office.

When he arrived at the county government, Wang Yun handed over the records of the outbreaks of the epidemic in the past few days to Zhang Rui, and Zhang Rui read it over and passed it to He Ming.

When the disease first broke out, the mouth and nose were runny, and the whole body was weak. On the second day, the high fever persisted and a red rash appeared on the body. After a few days, the rash would burst and ooze pus. Finally, the patient died of gas stagnation, which is modern breathing. difficulty.So far, more than [-] people have died from the epidemic, and this number is increasing every day. Ordinary typhoid medicines can't cure it at all.

Zhang Rui frowned and compared with the illness in his memory, it was somewhat similar to chickenpox, but it was different from chickenpox. Chickenpox mostly appeared in infancy, but the disease mostly occurred in the elderly, followed by infancy, and then in the middle-aged. It seems that it has nothing to do with the body's resistance Some relation.

Zhang Rui: "How do you deal with the victims of the epidemic at this time?"

Wang Yun said: "They are all buried in different families, and there are also extinct yamen who send people to bury them."

Zhang Rui: "From now on, all those who died of the epidemic will be transported outside the city to be burned, and deep pits will be dug to bury them."

Wang Yu hurriedly nodded and said yes, and ordered his subordinates to do it immediately.They also arranged for Zhang Rui and the others to rest in the backyard. Now two or three out of ten of the entire Changxing County are infected with the disease, and some of them are out of control.Many people die every day. Those who have money buy a thin coffin, those who have no money can only wrap them in old mats and bury them hastily. people infected.

After driving all night, several people were exhausted and couldn't sleep, so they hurriedly followed Xiaoli to go to Hulu Street, where the number of cases was the most dense, and they didn't have time to sleep.

As the name suggests, Gourd Street, the whole street is like a big gourd. This street is populated by poor people, low-class prostitutes and theaters.

Even though Zhang Rui was mentally prepared, he was still dumbfounded by the sight in front of him!Just stepping into Le Street is like entering Shura Hell!Half-dead beggars on the street, babies who died tragically on the street, were run back and forth by wild dogs with their stumps in their mouths.

Zhang Rui muttered silently, and walked slowly into the street.Wails could be heard faintly from a distance, and the smell of corruption filled the mouth and nose, even wearing a cloth towel soaked in medicinal juice could not stop the strong smell.

Lin Xiaoze was so frightened that he grabbed He Mingdi's skirt and trembled all over.He Ming put his arms around his shoulders, and walked forward with a solemn expression.Suddenly a child ran out, grabbed Lin Xiaoze's clothes and said, "Brother, give me something to eat, mother hasn't cooked for Gu'er for several days."

Lin Xiaoze screamed in fright, jumped onto He Mingshen, He Ming hugged him and took a few steps back.A few people stopped and looked back, and saw a five or six-year-old child who was just waist high standing on the street blankly.I saw him wearing tattered clothes, with messy hair and fingers in his mouth, staring at several people with black and white eyes.

Zhang Rui went over to look at the child, saw that although he was dirty, he didn't have any rash, and he didn't look like he was suffering from plague, so he asked, "Your name is Gu'er? Where is your mother?"

Gu'er tilted her head and pointed at the scarf on Zhang Rui's face, "What is this?"

Zhang Rui: "This is something to prevent illness."

Gu'er: "Then can you give me one? My mother seems to be sick, and she hasn't cooked for Gu'er for many days."

Zhang Rui: "You take me to see your mother, and I'll give you one."

Gu'er thought for a while and nodded, "Okay!" Then he ran towards the streets and alleys.Several people followed him into the alley.

"Mother, mother, Gu'er is back, mother, don't sleep."

Zhan Qing went in first, and Zhou Yin followed him into the yard. There were two stone mills placed in a small yard, and beside the stone mill was half a barrel of moldy tofu residue, which smelled so sour.

After entering the room, several people were stunned on the spot, and saw a woman lying on the bed covered with an old quilt, her eyes were closed, her mouth was wide open, she had been dead for a long time!

Lin Xiaoze took a look and turned blue, covered his mouth and ran out.

The child didn't know that his mother was dead, so he squatted beside the bed and said, "Mother, you've been sleeping for days, Gu'er is about to starve to death."

This scene was so shocking that Zhang Rui couldn't help clenching his fists and pounding on the wall. Zhou Yin also felt sore in his heart and said, "Gu'er, come here."

Gu'er looked at his mother and then at Zhou Yin got up and walked towards this side and said, "Mother, why has she been sleeping and ignoring Gu'er?"

Zhang Rui didn't know how to answer him, so he said, "Gu'er is going with my brother, and my brother will take you to eat."

Gu'er said, "What about my mother?"

Zhou Yin: "Your mother...is dead."

Gu'er turned back to look at his mother and said in a daze, "Like Uncle Wang next door and the little girl in the front yard?"

Zhang Rui didn't know who he was talking about, so he nodded indiscriminately.

Gu'er was silent for a while, walked to his mother, lay down on the quilt, got up, squatted down and got under the bed, took out a small bundle from under the bed and said: "Mother said that if someone wants to take me away Let me give you this, please bring me up."

Open the package and inside are two moldy flatbreads, a pile of scattered money, a few dimes of silver, and some children's clothes that have been washed.It may be that his mother cleaned up the child before she knew that she had contracted the disease and died soon. Zhang Rui finally couldn't help crying silently with tears streaming down his face.

Zhou Yin reached out to embrace him and said, "Don't be sad, everything will pass."

Zhang Rui said: "I never thought it would be so miserable, I thought... I thought... go back to the county government right away, and I will severely punish Wang Yun!"

Taking Gu'er out of Calabash Street was like walking through hell, no matter how strong the mental quality was, they couldn't adapt to the tragic situation.

Back at the county government office, Wang Yun had already summoned many people to collect and bury those who died of the epidemic.Zhang Rui looked at the dilapidated county government and swallowed the words again. The county magistrate Wang Yu has been in office for several years is not as good as an official in other county governments. This kind of person is not suitable for an official at all. , I don't know how to be tactful, I am arrogant, I have a passion for nothing, but I can't benefit the people.

After suffering such a blow, Wang Yun seemed to be decades old at once, and he asked to resign after making arrangements.Zhang Rui withdrew his official seal and temporarily promoted the county magistrate. Now the epidemic situation in Changxing County is urgent, and if it is not dealt with in time, it may spread to other counties.

The county magistrate was born in Juren, his surname was Guo and his name was Luwei. He was tall and strong, with a square face and thick eyebrows. He didn't look like Wen Sheng, but he looked like a general.

Zhang Rui drew the appearance of modern masks and gloves and handed them to him: "Be sure to make them quickly and distribute them to the government officials and soldiers under your command tomorrow. The epidemic is too contagious. If you don't take some protection, you may be infected." .”

Guo Luwei took a look at Zhang Rui's drawing paper and said, "My lord, you have a great idea! I'm going to distribute the drawings to the tailors in the county, so that the embroiderers can make them overnight."

Zhang Rui nodded and discussed with He Ming, and found that the pharmacies in Changxing County were basically sold out of commonly used medicinal materials. le.Nowadays, the medicine bought from the pharmacy can't make a prescription at all, and it's hard for a smart woman to cook without rice. No matter how hard He Ming can do it, he can't save people without the medicine.I had no choice but to go to Zhaoshui to buy medicinal materials, and it would take four or five days to go back and forth.Zhang Rui was really worried, so he sent Duan Xiaobai to follow him back to Zhaoshui.

The next day, County Magistrate Guo hurried to the government office, and his entourage behind him carried two bags of "masks and gloves." Zhang Rui ordered people to distribute these things to the soldiers.The first step is to go door-to-door and gather the sick people together for treatment and isolate the uninfected people.

Many people thought that patients were going to be pulled out and killed, so they hid them all. Although they searched several times, there were still many who were hidden and refused to be sent out.

The place where the patients were placed was a monastery in Xishan outside the city. The monks in the monastery learned about this and voluntarily joined in the work of taking care of these patients.

Nine out of ten people in Hulu Street were cleared out, and a very small number of people who were not sick were resettled in other places, and the whole street was as if dead.

Zhang Rui ordered people to seal the entrance of the street to prevent people from entering again, and set fire to the whole street on a day when there was no wind.

In ancient times, there was no disinfectant water, no special anti-virus drugs, and there was no other way except to use fire.The fire burned for three days and three nights before it was extinguished.The once bustling Hulu Street was burned to ashes...

The epidemic in Changxing City was temporarily brought under control, but those patients in the temples outside the city still died one by one.Despite the precautionary measures, many yamen servants and soldiers contracted the disease. People in the city became more and more panicked. The settlements outside the city were rumored to be a place of death, for fear that they would be sent out of the city if they were found to be sick. wait to die.

A few days later, He Ming came back in a hurry, these days he traveled day and night, and finally brought back a few carts of medicinal materials in Zhaoshui.These medicinal materials are all prescriptions for treating the epidemic. I don't know if they will work for this epidemic.

After the decoction was boiled, it was divided into several large buckets, and the horse-drawn cart was sent to the mountain temple to share food with the patients.

When He Ming returned to the county office, he fell asleep exhaustedly. Lin Xiaoze was terrified. Later, when he saw that he was only asleep, he felt relieved and stayed with him for a while.

***

Things are finally arranged properly, and now it depends on whether these people can be cured.

It rained heavily that day, and Zhang Rui and Zhou Yin sat on a stone bench in the pavilion in the courtyard and watched the rain curtain outside.

Zhang Rui sighed, "I don't know when this epidemic will end."

Zhou Yin said: "Every year, the epidemic breaks out in places. If it is mild, it will empty the city, and if it is severe, it will leave hundreds of miles of corpses. This time it is considered mild. You have done well."

Zhang Rui shook his head: "When I think of Xiao Guzi squatting next to his mother, my heart aches. How many people have lost their families due to the disease, and those poor people have nothing to do in the face of the disease."

Zhou Yin patted him on the shoulder and said, "It will always pass." Maybe it is true as they said, the Tian family is so ruthless, even if Zhou Yin sees those dead people sad, he will not be like Zhang Rui, but if those If it was Zhang Rui... Zhou Yin didn't dare to imagine, he was afraid that he would go crazy.

Zhang Rui got up and took a deep breath and said, "I originally wanted to become an official and try to be a good official to benefit the people of one side. Now it seems that I am not doing enough, and I can't get rid of the suffering of the people at all."

Zhou Yin walked behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist and said: "Don't think too much, you just need to remember what you can do, you are not a god, you can't save everyone, the common people are lucky to have an official like you, Don't you get discouraged."

Zhang Rui nodded and turned around, and the two quietly embraced each other.