Chapter 172

After hearing his wife’s plan, Mu Heng had no particular objections. If she desired it, he would let her proceed as she wished. Although he preferred Qu Yi to stay and help take care of his wife and siblings, believing that an additional servant would ease Yueqian’s workload, he knew that she disliked having too many people around. Nonetheless, as her husband, he didn’t want to see her overburdened.

The urgent matter for the two of them was to gather the villagers, segregate the sick from those who had recovered, and assess the severity of the situation. This task would require significant time and manpower.

Mu Heng didn’t rush. The next day, he requested the assistance of over 100 soldiers, leaving the remaining 400 to help build their accommodations since the land purchase had been finalized.

Mu Heng used all his savings and some of Yueqian’s money for the land purchase, as his funds were insufficient. Therefore, he listed Yueqian as the landowner. This way, if anything happened to him—if he was targeted by someone more powerful or faced any other dangers—Yueqian could still bring their children to live there.

Women’s assets weren’t typically included due to dowry laws. Separating assets this way was difficult, and reclaiming a wife’s property for the state treasury would be disgraceful, making the authorities seem like they were exploiting the weak.

Although such avoidance was beneficial, men in this era rarely let property be registered under their wives’ names. This might be due to cultural norms or having multiple wives, making it hard to decide which wife should own the property. If one wife received the land, the others would be displeased, leading to comparisons and conflicts, especially with such a significant asset.

Another crucial reason men didn’t give such assets to their wives was a lack of trust in women.

Men viewed women as weak and thoughtless, prone to spending on frivolous things. They believed women lacked the ability to manage assets and feared they might waste their wealth. Moreover, they suspected that women, deemed shameless by some, might use the property to indulge other men. Allowing women financial control or significant property ownership made men anxious about potential infidelity.

Without considering that, when a woman is steadfast, it is often the men who are more likely to be unfaithful, frequently bringing other women into their manors.

These reasons made it more common for property to be registered in a man’s name. When trouble arose, these men could become impoverished almost immediately. However, those in power were often overconfident, believing they couldn’t be easily overthrown.

But of course, Mu Heng was different.

Previously, Yueqian had talked about the situation of the Qin family and mentioned other families in the capital. Mu Heng understood the high level of competition and problems among noble families. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

They often liked to steal each other’s achievements or eliminate anyone who obstructed their interests, either by sending them to less developed towns or, in extreme cases, sentencing entire families to death.

This fear made Mu Heng more cautious about his future steps. He had once thought that doing his job well and achieving great results would be enough for a promotion, but in reality, it wasn’t like that at all...

Along the way, many people would be ready to snatch away his merits or even turn his achievements into faults.

However, in this remote town of the border city, there wasn’t such immediate danger. Mu Heng needed to work diligently, make a name for himself through his accomplishments, and become a capable Governor while building his own army.

As a noble, he could have up to 500 soldiers under his command without them reporting directly to the government. This didn’t include the 500 soldiers assigned to him by the prince. Although the Wang had said these 500 soldiers were under Mu Heng’s care and could live or die by his orders, they could still be recalled, as they technically still belonged to the Wang.

This arrangement was beneficial as Mu Heng didn’t have to pay them from his own funds; their salaries came from the prince. However, Mu Heng didn’t see this as entirely positive. He knew the Wang didn’t fully trust him yet. Despite the support, the 500 soldiers were also there to monitor him.

In Mu Heng’s mind, he wanted to build his own army of 500 soldiers. These first 500 needed to be strong and exceptional. Given the limited number, Mu Heng had to select them carefully.

"Did you call for us, Leader?" One soldier asked as he and the others, totaling 100, arrived.

Mu Heng nodded and handed them over ten sheets of paper along with ink and brushes.

"Gather the names of the sick people in the city, and separate the names of those who are healthy or have recovered. Once the count is complete, we’ll begin distributing medicine to the sick. As for those who are well, have them assemble at the petition courtyard," Mu Heng instructed.

This task wasn’t overly difficult. The 500 soldiers had already received their own medicine. After witnessing the medicine’s effectiveness the previous day, the remaining 130 soldiers who were still unwell had taken it. By this morning, many had shown significant improvement; some had stopped coughing, while others still had sore throats, which Furen Mu was treating with ginger tea at intervals. It was expected that they would recover soon.

Those soldiers who had recovered quickly were now helping with the construction of the accommodations. Although Mu Heng could have assigned them to the survey, he wanted his soldiers to integrate well with the city’s soldiers and familiarize themselves with the city. Therefore, he left the city’s soldiers to assist with the construction.

Upon hearing the orders, the soldiers nodded in agreement, understanding that the first priority was treating the sick. Collecting the names was the correct initial step. However, one soldier voiced a concern.

"Leader, why don’t we take the medicine to them right away? We could survey and distribute the medicine simultaneously," the soldier suggested.

To save time, they could carry the medicine with them, couldn’t they?

"There’s no need for that. Just record the names for now, and categorize the patients by severity: severe, moderate, or mild. The pills should be reserved for the severe cases only. If we distribute the medicine all at once, everyone will request the pills, and they may perceive us as unfair. Above all, they might think we have an abundance of medicine and fail to appreciate its value."

Mu Heng explained his reasoning gradually. He wasn’t bothered by these questions, and in fact, this plan wasn’t entirely his own. Mu Heng didn’t typically think so meticulously or consider others’ psychological states as much as Yueqian did, so this idea was mostly hers.

"So, we will give the pills to those with severe symptoms the next day?" One soldier asked.

"Exactly. We will also announce a request for help in making more medicine. Once the medicine is prepared, they will receive a liquid form, which is less effective and needs to be taken for 3-4 days. However, it conserves herbs, allowing us to treat more patients compared to only producing pills."

The supreme leader here spoke again, the soldiers who heard this nodded in understanding. Initially, they wanted everyone to receive pills because of their effectiveness. However, upon learning that pill production required more herbs and would limit the number of people treated, they felt a bit disappointed.

Now, each soldier still had one pill left, which they hadn’t used. Since they had just arrived, it wasn’t clear if they were infected or not. Furen Mu had mentioned that some might not need to take the pill at all, as their strong constitutions could fight off the disease. Therefore, they held onto their pills, ready to take them only if symptoms worsened.

Hearing that they were receiving the best possible treatment from the Governor and Furen Mu filled the soldiers with gratitude. Mu Heng noticed this and realized his wife’s plan was indeed correct.

In truth, the herbs used for pills or liquid medicine were about the same. One pill could cure the illness, but the liquid form needed to be taken three times over three days to achieve the same result. Thus, the total amount of herbs used was similar. However, pill-making was more complex, while liquid medicine could be stirred by anyone, hence the request for villagers to help.

When the villagers in the city needed medicine, they had to work harder. While they helped with the medicine, the soldiers could continue building the hospital. This hospital would initially serve as a facility for patients from other villages in the border city. Patients would be sorted by severity, and those capable would help make more medicine, reducing the burden on Yueqian and Mu Heng.

There was no need to fear that the villagers would be uncooperative. The disease had claimed many lives, and they were terrified yet willing to help. As long as there was a means of treatment and a chance of survival, that was enough.

Once the orders were clearly understood, they quickly got to work. Within a day, they had patrolled and gathered the names of all the people in the town. There were over 50 people with severe symptoms, 100 with moderate symptoms, about 20 with mild symptoms, and more than 10 who were still healthy and capable of working.

The reason there were only about 50 people with severe symptoms left in the town was that many had already died or fled early on. Originally, the border city had a population of over 3,000, making it a sizable town. However, the current situation was truly dire. According to the report Mu Heng had read, the population had dwindled to just over 300. By the time he arrived, it was unclear how many more had perished.

It was regrettable, but nothing could be done to change it. This was the fastest he could respond!

Fortunately, the previous Governor had already perished. Otherwise, Mu Heng would have dealt with him himself. The previous lord abandoned the city during the crisis, fleeing with his family out of fear of dying, leaving the townspeople to fend for themselves. Ultimately, seeing their Governor flee, the citizens either followed suit or succumbed to illness in large numbers.

Just thinking about it made Mu Heng wonder if his anger toward the former Governor would last into the next life!

Ah, speaking of anger, the exact cause of the former Governor’s death was unknown. Some said he encountered bandits on the road, while others believed enraged villagers killed him. Some speculated he and his family fell victim to the plague.Well... whatever the cause, Mu Heng believed the second reason was quite plausible. The citizens seemed to genuinely hate their Governor. Otherwise, why would they be so hopelessly hiding in their homes when the new Governor arrived?