Three Kingdoms: Intercepting Liu Bei's forces and marrying Lady Mi.

Zhuojun bordered Zhongshan State, and it only took half a day to get there by fast horse.

Zhuoxian is closer to Wuji in Zhongshan, which is the ancestral home of the Zhen family.

On the official road, the three rode their horses at breakneck speed, kicking up clouds of dust.

Zhang Fei asked, "Second Brother, what are we going to the Zhen Clan in Wuji for?"

Zhang Fei, carrying his eighteen-foot spear, followed behind.

Chen Ming turned his head and smiled: "The Zhen family of Zhongshan are very wealthy. If we want to do something big, we must have money and supplies."

"I came here to raise funds for the military."

Zhang Fei was taken aback: "Money and provisions? Didn't I sell my property? How come I'm still short?"

Guan Yu, holding his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, said, "Compared to Zhen Shi, my third brother's wealth is but a drop in the ocean."

Chen Ming raised an eyebrow and asked, "Brother, you also know about the Zhen family?"

Guan Yu nodded and said, "Years ago, when I went to Zhuo County to escape the war, I served as a guard for the Zhen family's caravan. After arriving in Zhuo County, I stayed there."

"The Zhen family is extremely wealthy, ranking first in Zhongshan State and among the top in the entire Ji Province!" Guan Yu continued.

"Big brother is right, so we need to find a way to get them to pay for it!"

Chen Ming answered with a smile.

But his method of raising money was quite unique.

Not only do they need to secure funding, but they also need to completely bind the Zhen family to their side.

How exactly to do it depends on the marriage contract he has.

When Yuan Shao occupied Ji Province in the past, Zhen Shi fully supported him.

That's why Yuan Xi later married Zhen Mi.

But this time, he wanted to get ahead of Yuan Shao, which would be tantamount to breaking up Yuan Shao's marriage proposal.

Thinking about this, Chen Ming found the interception system quite interesting.

There is a magnificent building five miles outside Wuji County, Zhongshan.

This is not a manor, but a magnificent castle.

The size and grandeur of this castle surpass those of Wuji County.

The castle is surrounded by rammed earth walls that are four meters high.

The city walls were guarded by fully armed soldiers, who were the private armies of local powerful figures.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos.

Local powerful clans held sway, and aristocratic families controlled a large population, leaving ordinary people displaced.

The refugees were hidden in the manors of powerful families and became tenant farmers, while their land was swallowed up by the powerful families.

The Zhen family of Zhongshan was one of the local powerful clans.

The Zhen family's power far surpassed that of ordinary county magnates, such as Zhang Fei.

The Zhen family was a prominent family in the Zhongshan Kingdom.

If they hadn't been merchants by birth and hadn't been of low social status, their power would have been even greater.

The Zhen family manor covers a vast area and has high and thick walls.

The manor housed over a thousand private soldiers, and tens of thousands of farmers worked for the Zhen family.

They also owned caravans that engaged in both legitimate business and smuggling contraband such as salt and iron.

In Jizhou, the Zhen family opened countless shops.

Such a vast family fortune could not have been accumulated in just one generation.

The Zhen family was very famous during the Western Han Dynasty.

But times have changed, and the situation is different now.

Zhen Mi's father, Zhen Yi, once served as the magistrate of Shangcai, but later resigned and returned home to focus on managing the family business.

Zhen Yi was not good at being an official, but he was a business whiz and made the family business bigger and bigger.

The only regret was that their family had fallen from an official family to a merchant family, which made Zhen Yi feel sorry for his ancestors.

In the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants held a low status, a fact that those who haven't experienced it firsthand cannot comprehend.

……

Today, the Zhen Family Manor is bustling with activity.

At dawn, more than ten horse-drawn carriages arrived at the Zhen family manor from afar.

The doctor who got out of the car was a renowned physician carrying a medicine kit.

Zhen Yi, the head of the Zhen family, has fallen ill with some strange disease.

Apart from the doctor, Zhen Yi's residence was kept extremely secure.

A doctor who came out removed the cloth from his mouth and nose.

When Zhen Yi's wife, Zhang, saw the doctor, she quickly went forward.

"How is my husband?"

Zhang asked.

The doctor who came out had a solemn expression.

"Madam, prepare for the worst. Your husband has contracted carbuncles; if left untreated, it will bring disaster to the entire Zhen family!"

"What?!"

All the doctors were astonished.

Everyone gasped and took several steps back.

"Sores!"

Zhang's heart skipped a beat, and her face paled.

The eighteenth year of Jianwu, which is 42 AD.

A rebellion broke out in Jiaozhi, and Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu ordered General Fubo to lead troops south to suppress it.

The rebellion was quelled, but the army brought back a strange disease called "Lüsou".

Initially, only a few soldiers were infected, but later the entire army was infected.

The patient experiences chills and fever, and develops rashes on their skin, which eventually ulcerate and become unable to heal.

This disease is incurable, and even after recovery, scars will remain on the face.

More importantly, it is highly contagious.

Later, this disease was named smallpox.

So when the word "lu sang" was heard, everyone present showed fear and took a few steps back in unison.

The fact that this disease is difficult to treat is not the most frightening thing; the most frightening thing is that it is so contagious.

One wrong move and the entire Zhen family could be wiped out.

Therefore, the solution for ordinary families is simple: early detection and early treatment.

As for how to do it specifically, the solution is quite obvious.

Set it on fire!

"Doctor, is there really no other way? We're willing to pay any amount!"

Zhang pleaded desperately.

The Zhen family in Zhongshan is very wealthy; otherwise, these famous doctors wouldn't have come.

But this disease... it's hard to say whether it can be cured, and if it infects the whole family, no one dares to risk their life.

"I'm sorry, madam, this has nothing to do with money. We really can't help it!"

The doctors shook their heads and hurriedly left, as if staying any longer would cause them to catch the disease.

Zhang panicked completely.

With two young sons and no man in the house, what can she do?

Other relatives were hoping her husband would get into trouble so they could divide the family property.

Several thin children, two boys and four girls, were kneeling in the Zhen family ancestral hall.

The two boys were both fifteen or sixteen years old, and the oldest of the four girls was also fifteen or sixteen, with the others being younger than each other.

The youngest one was only four or five years old.

"May our ancestors bless our father with peace. Jiang'er bows in reverence."

Zhen Jiang wore a plain white dress and had a delicate and pretty appearance.

After she finished speaking, she began to kowtow.

The older sister knelt down in worship, and the younger sisters followed suit.

After kowtowing three times, Zhen Jiang stopped, but remained kneeling on the prayer mat.

She looked at her sisters, her face pale and her expression complex.

With my father seriously ill and my mother overwhelmed with work, my two older brothers had to shoulder the burden of the household chores.

She's young, so she should also share some of the responsibility.

"Second sister, take third and fourth sisters back inside. It's too cold here. If they get cold, Mother will worry about them."

Zhen Jiang said to Zhen Tuo, who was slightly older than her.

Upon hearing her sister's words, Zhen Tuo immediately nodded, stood up from the prayer mat, took her two younger sisters' hands, and quickly walked towards the women's quarters in the backyard.

Only Zhen Jiang remained in the ancestral hall, kneeling and praying for her father's serious illness.

As she closed her eyes to pray, a commotion suddenly broke out in the front yard.

Zhen Jiang recognized the sound as her mother's crying and immediately got up and ran quickly to the front yard.

In the front yard, the doctor had just left when someone knocked on the door.

Zhang thought the doctor had returned and was willing to treat her husband.

But when she opened the door, she found that it was people from the second, third, and fourth branches of the Zhen family who had come.

These people heard from some doctor that Zhen Yi had contracted carbuncles.

It's possible that one of the doctors who treated Zhen Yi before was bribed to deliberately say that his illness was very serious.

As soon as the doctor left, the people from the second, third, and fourth wives rushed into the courtyard!

The courtyard immediately descended into chaos.