Large-scale lime production was the first priority in controlling the epidemic source. Shen Yang, Yang En, and Han Daoxun all cared about this and went with Han Qian to see how the three large kilns had been built.

The large kiln built last night had been calcining blue-white stones for nearly a day and a night. A large amount of iron-gray lime had accumulated at the bottom of the chamber. Poking it with a long iron rod, the fire temperature for the stones in the middle layer was still insufficient, but there was no doubt the new kiln was feasible. It could even be built larger.

After all, four large kilns could produce an average of at most twenty loads of lime per day. But to process human and animal waste and control the epidemic source, no less than a hundred loads of lime would be needed daily.

Not to mention anything else—thirty to forty thousand people divided into twenty-five garrison encampments, with each encampment having one thousand four to five hundred people, how many loads of lime would be needed to dispose of the waste and filth these people produced daily?

“Han Qian, you’re testing and building large kilns here. For every load of lime produced, the military headquarters will purchase it at market price,” Shen Yang said.

“The more lime used the better, but the military headquarters has limited financial resources. If more is used for this matter, less will be used for other matters,” Han Daoxun’s thoughts were on the refugees. He asked Fan Xicheng, “After these four large kilns are built, if they can produce twenty loads of lime per day, how many laborers do you estimate will be needed?”

Han Qian was so anxious he wanted to stomp his feet. For settling the plague-stricken refugees, the early stage was all funded by the Marquis of Xinchang’s mansion. This rare opportunity to severely fleece Li Pu and his son Li Chong in this matter—how could they be soft-hearted?

Seeing the family head ask a question, Fan Xicheng ignored Han Qian’s desperate eye signals and answered very honestly: “According to the method taught by the young master, counting each lime burner as three laborers, a total of only thirty laborers would be needed—each laborer is given three sheng of grain per day.”

“Thirty laborers is enough? Then calculating one hundred sheng of grain to produce twenty loads of lime, each load of lime can be priced at five sheng of grain, that’s sufficient,” Han Daoxun said.

Hearing his father say this, Han Qian felt so heartbroken he could weep blood.

The market price for each load of lime was twenty sheng of rice. When his father Han Daoxun’s generosity kicked in, he immediately slashed the price of lime from the manor to one-quarter of the market price to supply the garrison military headquarters.

Moreover, he still couldn’t publicize it and had to keep it secret. He couldn’t let Anning Palace know that this side was desperately subsidizing the Longque Army’s garrison military headquarters at a loss. How wronged did this make him!

You’re destroying the market with malicious competition!

However, Han Qian also understood that his father, in order to settle these refugees, didn’t hesitate to bear a bad reputation and would absolutely not sit by and watch him profit from the refugees. He could only swallow his bitterness.

“This is excellent. The more lime used the better. No less than seventy to eighty thousand loads will be needed annually. At market price, using it for just this one matter would require nearly twenty thousand shi of grain, which would indeed be very difficult,” Shen Yang said.

The military provisions officially allocated by the court to the Longque Army each year only amounted to the equivalent of thirty to forty thousand shi of grain, which was fundamentally insufficient. The shortfall all needed to be raised by the Longque Army itself.

Theoretically, they should rely on the garrison encampment side to supplement, but right now the garrison encampment side was the biggest bottomless pit.

If purchasing lime would use up twenty thousand shi of grain, first, the opposition voices would be very loud. Second, Shen Yang, as Chief Clerk and the Longque Army’s chief administrator, really would find it very difficult to squeeze out this much money and grain additionally.

If this portion could be compressed to five thousand shi of grain annually, it would be much easier to handle.

After Shen Yang and Han Daoxun discussed this matter, they didn’t think to ask Han Qian’s opinion.

Han Qian said disheartedly to Fan Xicheng: “The method was instructed by Minister Yang, so there won’t be problems. Hire more people to quarry stones and fire lime. In any case, you must find ways by hook or by crook to deliver two hundred loads of lime to Shen Yang daily.”

Han Qian had originally still been thinking about whether there was room for further improvement of the lime kilns. But now thinking that if there really were further improvements, his father would most likely again be generous at others’ expense, it would be better to maintain the status quo and attract a bit less attention.

……

Han Daoxun had no intention of getting involved in succession matters. His thoughts were mainly on the plague-stricken refugees.

Seeing that Shen Yang was in charge here and had also invited Yang En, the Materials Official of the Right Workshop Bureau, over, he returned to the city in the evening. He didn’t linger at the manor, lest Anning Palace and the Crown Prince’s side see through the deception and complications arise.

Perhaps seeing that Han Qian himself was at the manor, and the Han family’s thirty to forty family soldier apprentices spent all day obeying Shen Yang’s commands and mixing with the plague-stricken refugees, they judged that Han Qian had absolute confidence in the Plague Water Relief Memorial and in controlling the epidemic source transmission. The provisions from the Marquis of Xinchang’s mansion and the recommended Granary Section, Military Section, and Works Section Adjutants and other positions quickly arrived successively.

Whenever large quantities of provisions were transported over, Li Chong, the Marquis of Xinchang’s eldest son Li Zhigao, Chai Jian and others would also take turns appearing on stage, representing the Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu to proclaim benevolence to the plague-stricken refugees…

Han Qian remained at the manor “recuperating from illness.” Besides continuing to expand the lime kilns, when family soldier apprentices encountered problems while assisting Shen Yang in relieving the plague-stricken refugees, although he wouldn’t spend all day at the military headquarters office, he would still find ways to guide them in solving problems.

This also counted as teaching Guo Nu’er, Lin Zongjing, and other family soldier apprentices step by step how to handle the various problems actually encountered.

Of course, this was too fragmented and unsystematic. It was very difficult to equip these family soldier apprentices with the reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities he needed in a short time.

Han Qian took advantage of the leisure time from “recuperating from illness” to both teach Zhao Ting’er, Zhao Wuji, and these family soldier apprentices while compiling some materials.

He lacked practical experience. The books he could access were extremely brief in language, without diagrams, lacking details. So he summoned family soldiers like Fan Xicheng before him to inquire carefully.

Fan Xicheng and the others didn’t have particularly deep learning. Having them teach the family soldier apprentices was limited to fist and foot combat, horsemanship and archery, and the most basic formation arrangements. But as seasoned soldiers in the army, when Han Qian truly dug deeply, he discovered they still possessed many skills in terms of details.

It was just that even someone as experienced as Fan Xicheng had never thought that simple bandaging, folk medicine, concealing weapons, tying rope knots, reading expressions and even distinguishing between enemy and allied military uniforms and equipment—all these things counted as skills.

Han Qian himself was also exploring and summarizing while teaching the family soldier apprentices. The garrison military headquarters side could also be said to be gradually getting on track step by step.

Guo Rong, Chen De, and others didn’t know about the existence of the Plague Water Relief Memorial. Naturally, they still feared the plague like a tiger and refused to come to Taowu Gathering no matter what. This also meant that what happened at Taowu Gathering wouldn’t spread out in the short term, at least wouldn’t reach the ears of Anning Palace and the Crown Prince.

The water parasite plague could currently only be controlled and still couldn’t be effectively treated. But most water parasite plague patients, although they previously displayed relatively severe plague symptoms, were mainly malnourished. After receiving relief and supplemented with medicinal care, their symptoms were alleviated and they recovered a certain labor capacity.

Shen Yang mainly drove these people, regardless of gender or age, besides building garrison encampment housing, he also conscripted over ten thousand people to build a great embankment along the north shore of Chishan Lake. At the same time, they dug new ponds and ditches so they could rush to reclaim a batch of dry fields to plant crops when spring began.

Those with severe symptoms who already had ascites and were almost at the late stage of the plague accounted for about twenty percent. These people, even when eating their fill, were still quite weak physically. They were mainly used for disposing of waste and filth.

Even though the Marquis of Xinchang’s mansion had input large amounts of money, grain, and provisions during this half month, it was still insufficient.

Combined with long-term endurance of famine, severe malnutrition, and long-term plague torment, when cold currents invaded southward, the mortality rate among the plague-stricken refugees initially concentrated and settled was also terrifyingly high. Almost every day dozens or even over a hundred people died of illness.

Those who died of illness were all cremated without exception. There was no question about this.

Fortunately, this situation continued for half a month before gradually improving. Even though there were still thirteen to fifteen people dying of illness daily, which was still an extremely high mortality rate, they were mainly people with extremely weak constitutions who couldn’t survive the cold winter. It wasn’t as terrifying as the first half month.

At this time, the garrison military headquarters could also be said to gradually have some semblance.

A considerable portion of the plague-stricken refugees’ family members—their bodies, besides being sallow and emaciated from long-term hunger, were generally healthy. They were also recruited into the garrison military headquarters, their numbers accounting for about forty percent of the total refugees.

Under Shen Yang’s personal supervision, strict control of the epidemic source was implemented. In nearly a month, only seventeen people among them showed obvious plague symptoms. And these seventeen people were extremely likely all infected with the plague before entering the garrison encampment; it was just that the symptoms only manifested after arriving at the encampment.

This fully demonstrated that following the Plague Water Relief Memorial and strictly controlling the epidemic source was definitely effective.

On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month, with the year-end approaching, Li Chong, his elder brother Li Zhigao, his brother-in-law Chai Jian, and others once again led troops galloping into the garrison encampment, bringing a batch of meat. This was to give the refugees, who by this time were officially considered military households of the Longque Army garrison encampment, a bountiful year-end festival with meat.

Although they had to engage in heavy labor and training matters had also begun urgently, the thirty to forty thousand refugees had completely escaped from the situation of collapsing dead on the roadside at any moment. Deep in their hearts, they were also filled with gratitude toward their benefactors—the Third Imperial Prince and the Marquis of Xinchang’s mansion—who had rescued them.

After Li Chong, Li Zhigao, Chai Jian, and others represented the Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu in consoling the military households, they discussed matters with Shen Yang, Guo Liang, Zhang Qian, and others for a while, then drove their horses into the Qiuhu Mountain villa.

Han Qian lay wrapped in furs, continuing to feign illness, and received Li Chong, Li Zhigao, and Chai Jian in his bedchamber.

Han Qian’s sources of information were too limited. Only recently did he learn that Li Zhigao was actually the son of a subordinate general of Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu. According to Feng Yi, when Li Zhigao was young, his father died on the battlefield protecting Li Pu. Afterward, Li Pu adopted Li Zhigao as his son.

Besides Li Chong, Li Pu’s legitimate eldest son had died on the battlefield. Additionally, he had a young son only thirteen years old who remained in Hongzhou, where the Li clan’s ancestral home was located, in foster care.

Li Zhigao was now over thirty years old, while Chai Jian was even older. Before the founding of Great Chu, they had followed Li Yu, Li Pu, and others in battlefield campaigns, and their bodies exuded an aura of bloodshed.

After Emperor Tianyou transferred Li Yu to the court to serve as Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs, Li Pu and General Zhang Xiang and others all surrendered their military authority and followed Li Yu to the capital to serve.

Li Zhigao, Chai Jian, and other sons-in-law of the Li family subsequently left the Chuzhou Army and were transferred to prefectures and counties to hold military positions. They were mainly responsible for public security and bandit suppression in the localities and could no longer command truly elite troops to charge into battle.

It was only because Emperor Tianyou this time intended to use the Marquis of Xinchang’s mansion’s manpower to support the framework of the Longque Army that Li Zhigao, Chai Jian, and others were able to once again hold mid to high-level positions like Vice Commander in the army.

To be honest, Li Zhigao and Chai Jian were initially extremely resistant in their hearts. Even after reading the Plague Water Relief Memorial, they didn’t take it seriously and didn’t believe that a problem that generations of medical officials had no way to solve could truly be solved by Palace Secretariat Junior Supervisor Han Daoxun.

However, in the nearly one month, they could grasp the development of the situation at the garrison military headquarters at any time. Definitely believing that the plague had been effectively controlled, they could be said to belatedly truly recognize the power of the Plague Water Relief Memorial.

The garrison military headquarters in total enrolled twelve thousand five hundred military households. In this nearly one month, over a thousand households had died out completely due to severe plague, with eleven thousand four hundred-plus households remaining. In total, they enrolled thirty-four thousand-plus garrison soldiers and their family members, including over thirteen thousand males between fifteen and fifty years old.

Among these thirteen thousand-plus males, about two thousand were severely plagued, with extremely weak constitutions, practically useless as waste. Six thousand were infected but could be driven to labor. But there were still over five thousand without the plague.

Looking at the epidemic source control situation here, there was no need to worry that these five thousand people would transmit the plague. Initial training had also begun.

Before this, they only had four to five hundred people available in Jinling. Once Emperor Tianyou couldn’t suppress Anning Palace’s restless ambitions, they and the Marquis of Linjiang would be at the dangerous edge of being overthrown at any time. Although the combat power of the five thousand-plus people enrolled was still far from expectations, the situation had already improved too much compared to a month ago.

All of this was due to one Plague Water Relief Memorial.

Therefore, not to mention being scolded as fools to their faces by Han Qian—even if Han Qian pissed on their heads a few times, Li Chong could only hold his nose and run over every few days to visit the “sick” Han Qian.

Li Zhigao and Chai Jian had no direct dealings with Han Qian in the past. However, even though they were grasshoppers tied to the same tree, if Han Qian didn’t approach them, they couldn’t possibly lower themselves to approach Han Qian either.

However, the Marquis of Linjiang’s mansion was holding a feast tomorrow. The Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu had lost his temper, saying that if Han Qian didn’t appear again, he would personally come to the Qiuhu Mountain villa to invite him. Fearing that Li Chong couldn’t persuade the “sick” Han Qian, they could only steel themselves and come together…