Chapter 174

With the help of the new equipment,  instead of having to exert physical effort to stir the thick medicine in the initial stages, Yueqian no longer needed to use much strength. She simply had to guide it back and forth, letting the tool do its job. Sometimes, when her arms grew tired, she had the children help out, which was not a difficult task for them.

Once the medicine was prepared, Yueqian instructed them to scoop it into bottles placed on the long table behind them. This time, the villagers had to help themselves to the bottles. Some took five bottles, while others took ten at a time. Yueqian did not comment on this. These were ceramic bottles that the local potter could produce. If they broke, the villagers would be responsible for buying replacements. Of course, she had already threatened them that if they dared to break any, they would have to pay for it.

"Use the measuring spoon beside you to scoop the medicine, scrape it against the side of the pot, and then pour it into the bottle. After that, fill the bottle with water up to the neck and cork it. That’s it."

Since the medicine was thick, it needed to be diluted with water first. This would not diminish its properties and would make it easier to ingest.

The villagers worked carefully, aware of the value of the medicine bottles. Afterward, Yueqian had each of them take one bottle to drink. The rest were stored in the manor’s warehouse, and they would receive another bottle each when they came to work the next day, and another the day after that.

 When the work was completed, it took less than two hours. The villagers sighed in relief. Initially, they thought they would be working like slaves, but it turned out to be only a two-hour job. It seemed that the governor and his wife were not heartless and oppressive. So, the happy villagers, hopeful that their bodies would grow stronger, began to resume their work.

Several households had just begun their chores, creating a bustling atmosphere. At least they were no longer closing their doors like people awaiting death. However, in households with seriously ill members, they were allowed to rest until they had enough strength to work the next day.

Meanwhile, Mu Heng ordered the soldiers to gather a list of patients from various villages. They found that the number of remaining villagers was very small. Some had already passed away, while others had temporarily moved to other towns. Moving was not necessarily safer, as it increased the number of patients in other towns. But for now, their primary goal had been achieved.

For the severely ill patients, they received their medicine the following day. Those with less severe symptoms, only a few dozen people, traveled with the soldiers to assist the tasks at the governor’s manor, which naturally included medicine preparation.

Rumors of their treatment spread quickly, and soon the nearby towns were the first to hear the news.

"Have you, cough, heard the news about this? cough," a villager whose condition had not worsened much, and who was still able to go out and hunt wild animals, quickly walked in.

Although they had fled Red Earth City, a city cursed with disease, it didn’t mean they had escaped the plague. This man had moved to his wife’s old home, where they weren’t exactly warmly welcomed but had no other choice.

The village leader hadn’t realized the severity of the epidemic at first and allowed these people to build simple shelters, thinking it was a temporary refuge from the disease. Who could have predicted that it wouldn’t turn out that way? Suddenly, villagers among them began to get infected, and eventually, it spread throughout, now affecting people in the town.

Regret was too late. Over 3,000 people from Red Earth City had fled quickly, along with their governor. Even if the village hadn’t accepted these people, others would have sought refuge in surrounding villages or even in the town itself. As a result, the epidemic had surged uncontrollably.

"Cough, cough, what are you talking about?" A villager asked while splitting wood. He saw his friend returning in a rush, without even a single piece of meat, yet his face was full of joy.

"I, cough, I overheard that our Red Earth City now has a new city leader, cough."

"And so what?" The villagers’ attitude towards city leaders was clearly poor. The former governor had abandoned them quickly in times of crisis. So in their minds, even if they got a new one, so what? In the end, it would be the same.

However, his friend, who had come down from the forest, shook his head. His expression made it clear that this situation was different from before.

"Cough, this city leader is different! Cough, he brought medicine with him."

"Huh?!! What did you say? Cough, cough."

"His wife is the one who concocts the medicine. Cough, cough, I heard it from villagers in Red Earth City while hunting. From what I saw, they are all healthy now, not look like they are sick at all. Cough, cough."

"Is this true? Cough, cough, then our children might have a chance to survive too?"

"Yes, I think so too. Actually, I wanted to go after them, but they were walking too fast, and I’m too sick. Even just a few steps, cough, and I’m already exhausted, so I couldn’t keep up with them."

"In that case, let’s not wait any longer. Let’s tell everyone else and move back to our Red Earth City!!" After all, staying here didn’t offer them any hope of survival.

At first, there were no patients here, but now the situation was no different from Red Earth City. People in this town were fleeing to other places. It was said that towns farther away had set up barricades to keep out refugees because they knew this wasn’t just any ordinary epidemic; it was a severe outbreak that could spread quickly.

They didn’t want to meet the same fate as other villages, so they started taking precautions early. However, controlling the outbreak wasn’t as simple as setting up barricades. Just by meeting people and exchanging a few words, they could spread the disease. How could such an easily spread epidemic be contained?! It was far from easy.

Thus, their best option now was to return to Red Earth City. At least there, they had some hope waiting for them, and ultimately, it was their hometown. In truth, they had regretted coming here from the start. Fleeing hadn’t kept them or their families safe. In their minds, if they had to die, wasn’t it better to die in their homeland, where their ancestors’ graves were?

 It was an easy decision to make. Once the rumors spread, the people from Red Earth City made their choice quickly. They decided to return to their village, seeking hope there.

But those who weren’t from Red Earth City didn’t believe it. They didn’t follow the people from Red Earth City back. Many held prejudices and deep-seated resentment against Red Earth City, believing that if the people of Red Earth City hadn’t fled here in the first place, they wouldn’t have gotten sick. They didn’t consider that even if Red Earth City hadn’t fled, the disease wouldn’t have just disappeared. Ultimately, the disease might have come with animals and spread to them anyway.

These selfish opinions and the tendency to blame only others led to a silent hatred. After the people from Red Earth City left, they even pretended to perform ceremonies to expel evil spirits. Of course, it achieved nothing except satisfying their own spite.

This situation didn’t occur in just one village; it happened in every village and town around. People began hearing about the treatment for this severe epidemic, and naturally, the people of Red Earth City were the happiest. They returned to their town, with their first destinations being the town center and the governor’s manor.

Fortunately, the soldiers’ barracks had been completed, and a part of the hospital had been constructed, making the reception process more orderly. For the first time, the villagers became familiar with the hospital, located opposite the military camp. Of course, the hospital was separated to prevent the soldiers from falling ill too easily, positioned southward to prevent the outbreak from spreading easily. However, it wasn’t too hard to access.

The use of large spaces and white cloth was a distinctive feature. The returning people from Red Earth City had to register and check their citizen list first to prevent outsiders from other towns from fraudulently obtaining medicine. Since the medicine was limited, they had to prioritize the well-being of their own town’s people.

Yueqian spent three days preparing a large quantity of medicine, so she could fulfill everyone’s requests. Of course, during this time, she had to continue making more medicine, and having more people rotating in and out prevented any complaints.

Finally, Yueqian began implementing a plan to recruit skilled healers for permanent positions. Mu Heng was in charge of announcing the recruitment. Anyone with the ability or willingness to work in the medical facility would receive a salary, but they had to have basic reading and writing skills. Additionally, they would receive medicinal tablets for immediate treatment.

Many people wanted to apply, but most lacked literacy skills. Thus, Yueqian could only accept four people. One was an elderly man who was already a healer, and the other three had no medical knowledge but were literate. Notably, all four were men.

Yueqian wanted to laugh. People in this era truly valued men highly. No matter how much women wanted to learn, they had no opportunity. So, when she stipulated that literacy was a minimum requirement, only men met the criteria.

However, Yueqian had a plan. After the initial recruitment ended, she opened another round for assistants. These assistants would be subordinates to the primary assistants, who were literate. This position would be open to illiterate individuals, but they would have to attend two hours of classes each day and work until the evening. They would receive half the salary of regular assistants. Nevertheless, there would be annual exams for promotion, and passing them would allow them to become full assistants.

Even the illiterate assistants would receive half the pay of the primary healers but would be taught basic medical knowledge. Similar to the subordinate assistant position, they would also have the chance to take exams to become full healers, which would make them government employees with protection in the city. Their status and salary would be very stable, truly elevating the profession.

With the lure of money and education, many people applied for the subordinate assistant position. Yueqian selected candidates based on general questions and their demeanor, choosing 30 out of the many applicants, a considerable number. In the future, this hospital would treat patients from other towns too, and it might become the best medical center.

For treating their own city’s people, the fees would be very low, as they already paid taxes and protection fees. However... people from other towns would have to pay higher prices. But if they wanted real treatment, they would have to come here.

Yueqian wasn’t afraid of lacking customers; she was more worried that the people she had recruited wouldn’t be enough.

As time passed, more and more people started coming, and most of the former residents of Red Earth City received treatment. However, it wasn’t just people from Red Earth City anymore. The problem Yueqian and Mu Heng anticipated indeed occurred. The people from other towns were human beings too. They had thoughts, feelings, and of course, everyone was selfish!!"What happened? They say there’s no medicine for people from other cities? Are they crazy!!" A voice shouted in panic. Chaos was beginning to erupt...