Tiger Guards

Chapter 458 The Great Plague in Huainan
In Yan County, due to the rain that fell overnight, only a few layers of Jin army scouts were wandering outside the city.

Cao's scouts and messengers made several attempts to break out, but were either shot back or pursued and annihilated.

At this moment, Cao Ang lost contact with the outside world. Sometimes, the lack of news was actually good news.

The battlefield is located in the southwest, at Guandu Ferry.

Wu Fan, who had fled here, wore a bamboo hat, a pair of patched hemp shoes, and wooden clogs.

He stood in line at the ferry crossing with his medicine box on his back, and most of the gentry and commoners who stayed there with him carried valid travel documents.

However, Guandu Ferry has been shut down, and Wu Fan has been trapped here for twelve days.

Only those envoys carrying official documents of the prefectural level or above could cross the river smoothly and travel between Guandong and Luoyang.

Many more people had to turn back because their travel permits were about to expire.

Wu Fan was penniless and could only practice medicine in Guandu in exchange for food.

Today, after queuing several times, the boat could only transport a small number of people when it was full. Wu Fan really didn't have any extra money to bribe, or perhaps the officials at the ferry wanted him to stay here to provide medical care to the local officials and people.

Wu Fan was disappointed again, and on his way back to the guesthouse, he casually picked up a handful of willow leaves.

My hands were itching, and I instinctively pinched out three sets, tossed them out casually, and watched the six willow leaves swirl and land in front of me.

Wu Fan squatted down to take a look, frowning deeply.

The divination result for the southeast direction still indicates great misfortune, which is vastly different from the information revealed in the conversations between the envoys traveling to and from Guandu Ferry.

According to this information, the Grand General had already besieged the rebellious Yuan Shu in the isolated city of Shouchun, and most of the counties and towns in Huainan, except for Shouchun, had followed Lujiang County and Jiujiang County in their rebellion and submitted to the imperial court.

With Liu Ai in Yangzhou and Liu Bei in Xuzhou, the presence of powerful officials and virtuous ministers in these prefectures clearly indicated a shift from chaos to peace.

However, his divination indicated great misfortune in the southeast.

Sun Ce also left Jiangdong, and Yuan Shu was trapped in an isolated city. Where did this great misfortune come from?
It couldn't possibly be that after the General defeated Yuan Shu, he purged Yuan Shu's old friends and carried out a large-scale massacre, could it?
Wu Fan couldn't figure it out, but he just wanted to get across the ditch as quickly as possible.

He picked up six willow leaves from the ground and put them into his sleeve. As he walked toward the dilapidated building area, he saw a familiar person practicing swordplay and exercising outside the building.

As he approached, Wu Fan stopped and waited for the other man to finish practicing his swordsmanship before bowing and asking, "Mr. Zhongxiang, what brings you here?"

Yu Fan, who was practicing his swordsmanship, had already spotted Wu Fan long ago.

He wiped the sword clean, sheathed it, hung it at his waist, and returned the greeting to Wu Fan: "What brings you here?"

Lu Bu is currently seeking Wu Fan, but without an accurate portrait, it will be very difficult to identify the unremarkable Wu Fan.

Seeing that there were other officials nearby, Wu Fan smiled wryly: "The Grand Marshal established the medical discipline, and this prefecture sent me to Hedong to study medicine. Where is Mr. Zhongxiang?"

Not to mention the prefectures, each county would also systematically select impoverished scholars from within its jurisdiction and provide them with publicly funded education.

In the past, things were better. In such chaotic times, scholars who returned from their studies often sought official positions rather than honestly pursuing their professional fields of law, agriculture, and medicine as agreed.

Many county magistrates were reluctant to punish these locals too severely; at most, they would simply prohibit them from holding office.

As for the ethical issues of breach of contract... that's actually a common problem, so it's not really a problem.

With the tradition of publicly funded training programs in place, very few officials dared to kill these impoverished scholars who had breached their contracts.

Moreover, in many cases, these impoverished scholars did not want to study in the prefectures or states; it was the prefectures and states that shared the task, and the counties had no choice but to send people.

Ordinary farmers and servants certainly don't count; cooperation can only be achieved through negotiation.

The emperor, ministers, and officials followed the general from Xuchang to Wandu after the riots there, and then were sent back to Xuchang after a severe drought in Nanyang. They had no chance to revive the Imperial Academy.

Luodu wanted to revive the Imperial Academy, but lacked everything and could not make it happen.

On the contrary, Liu Biao's small academy in Xiangyang, the Grand Marshal's Hedong University in Anyi, and the Longcheng University in Jinyang started operating.

Yu Fan narrowed his eyes upon seeing Wu Fan's excuse for traveling: "Medical skills?"

"Exactly."

Wu Fan answered seriously, and Yu Fan nodded slowly: "There are many inconveniences here, please come with me into the house."

"Here."

Wu Fan bowed slightly, and Yu Fan stepped aside and extended his arm, but there was little smile on his face: "Please."

Yu Fan had a private room in the guesthouse, unlike Wu Fan who had to squeeze into a haystack to spend the night like other official envoys during this period.

With the setting sun beside them, Yu Fan waited until Wu Fan had put away his medicine chest before saying, "When I arrived, the General had already ordered all the prefectures of Yan and Yu to present skilled physicians."

Wu Fan stared at Yu Fan, who slowly nodded and whispered, "A major epidemic in Huainan."

In an instant, Wu Fan's eyes widened: "What's the situation?"

He then scrutinized Yu Fan again: "Does the General not know that you are skilled in medicine?"

Having studied the I Ching and astronomy, it's perfectly normal to learn medicine along the way.

"How can I cure a plague that has descended from the heavens?" Yu Fan asked confidently, sounding as if he dared not defy the will of heaven.

But Wu Fan understood that Yu Fan's pharmacological experience was useless against the current epidemic in Huainan.

After a moment of silence, Wu Fan broke the ice and asked, "How is the epidemic?"

"When evil qi enters the body, even the strong will vomit and have diarrhea, barely clinging to life, and their vital energy will be difficult to recover. When I came, seven out of ten people could survive, but they were too weak to fight again. Women, children, the elderly... often died, the shortest being no more than a day and a night, and even the strongest women no more than three days."

As Yu Fan spoke, he clenched his fist and struck his leg: "Medicine is ineffective, and he shows signs of typhoid fever. The officials and people of Huainan are both short of grain, and the Grand General has no surplus grain to provide relief. He sent me here to seek a treatment from the Grand Marshal."

"At the age of Grand Marshal, how could he possibly understand advanced medical techniques?"

Wu Fan muttered to himself, he had also heard that the Grand Marshal was skilled at treating injuries, but the methods for treating knife wounds and arrow wounds were completely different from those for treating epidemics, they were like oil and water.

Seeing Wu Fan's expression, Yu Fan didn't want to explain further.

Zhao Ji certainly didn't understand the medical skills to cure the epidemic, but he was able to offer Lü Bu a way out and have him withdraw his troops.

If they don't retreat now, Lu Bu's army will either die on the battlefield or on their sickbeds.

Perhaps the general will withdraw his troops before he even receives the Grand Marshal's letter.

The general was more concerned and proactive than anyone else about preserving the army.

Yu Fan looked at Wu Fan and said, "Come with me across the river early tomorrow morning. If you don't leave now, you will be forcibly conscripted by the officials and sent to Huainan."

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Zhongxiang."

Wu Fan solemnly clasped his hands in thanks and bowed his head in greeting. He then said, "The Grand Marshal is currently engaged in a fierce battle with Cao Cao's son between Suanzao and Puyang. If Mr. Zhongxiang were to go, I fear the Grand Marshal might have other ideas."

"This is a matter of public concern, and also a matter of the suffering of the people of Jianghuai. What do I have to fear?"

Yu Fan said this, but he was also gazing at the setting sun outside the door, feeling quite powerless.

While it may appear that Zhao Ji is fighting Cao Ang, he is actually battling Yuan Shao.

Now that I'm carrying this bad news, what will Grand Marshal think?
Moreover, the General has a bad track record, and there is a fear that the Grand Marshal might think that the plague in Huainan is a hoax and that the General is exaggerating, and thus want to retreat north.

Just as Yu Fan was pondering, north of Shouchun City, at the Beishan Camp.

Lu Bu covered his nose with a handkerchief and inspected the officials and soldiers who showed signs of illness today. Hundreds of them were gathered in one place, vomiting and having diarrhea, all of them were exhausted, feverish and unconscious.

The surrounding smell was no longer fishy or foul, but a strange odor, like intestinal fluid.

The soldiers who were able to walk and perform their duties in the morning are now lying unconscious in the haystacks, too weak to sit up.

Lu Bu walked out of the camp and took a few breaths of fresh air from the upwind side: "What do you think, Mr. Yaoqing?"

Yuan Huan looked grim, but still spoke from his conscience and understanding: "General, we should burn the camp and retreat north as soon as possible. We cannot delay any longer."

The losses we've suffered so far are really not that significant. If the scale were larger and the situation were to escalate to the point of total annihilation, it wouldn't be surprising.

Lu Bu then looked at the other staff members who were following him, and they all bowed deeply with their hands clasped, which was considered as expressing their stance and intentions.

If they don't withdraw now, it won't just be their siege of Shouchun and the subsequent flooding and breaching of the city.

Instead, Yuan Shu pursued and annihilated them.

Lu Bu wanted to kill Yuan Shu directly. After the southeast was pacified, numerous large and small feudal lords would emerge, which could be controlled remotely by the imperial court.

Once production order is restored, the court can be provided with food, soldiers, and various equipment, which will be sufficient for his needs.

However, the epidemic in Huainan was not over, and whoever mobilized the army would suffer the greatest loss.

As the sun began to set and darkness fell, Lü Bu gritted his teeth and ordered, "Order all troops to break camp tomorrow!"

Right to his west, in the Shaopi area, a transport team from Yuzhang was encamped.

Sun Ben had already withdrawn from Yuzhang. After joining forces with Sun Jing and Sun Quan, he seized many ships in Yuzhang and set sail down the Yangtze River with his family and entourage.

A transport team of 3,000 people, led by Jiang Qin, headed north, most of whom were female relatives of soldiers.

These women... to Sun Ce were like warhorses and weapons waiting to be assigned; they were human currency that could be exchanged for weapons and silk fabrics in Jingzhou and Hebei.

In the makeshift camp, there was virtually no order after nightfall.

Da Qiao listened to the cries of women throughout the camp, gazed at the crescent moon in the night sky, and remained silent for a long time.

Their mission was to exchange Han Dang's troops for Zhao Ji's.

Jiang Qin also wanted to redeem his comrade Zhou Tai. Today he collected boats and built rafts. Tomorrow he would cross the Huai River, go up the Ying River, pass through Chen State, go through the Yin Ditch, and arrive at Suanzao.

As for the future, the vast majority of people in this camp did not have any thoughts about it.

Even Jiang Qin is currently only thinking about how to persuade the Grand Marshal to release Zhou Tai after he meets him.

He understood Zhou Tai; if the Grand Marshal didn't speak up, even if Zhou Tai had a chance to escape, he wouldn't go with him.

(End of this chapter)