The Great Ming Demon Pill: Your Majesty, please address me as the Crown Prince!

Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Di sat upright on the dragon throne, holding a memorial in his hand.

The report did not contain any major military or national affairs, but rather a compilation of rumors and gossip gathered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard from various parts of Nanjing.

"The Prince of Huai disregarded human life... He tested smallpox medicine on cows, and the dead lay piled up like heaps..."

"The Prince of Huai, in his quest for the throne, resorted to any means necessary, deceiving the emperor and tampering with his own power..."

"The eldest grandson of the emperor once advised against it, but His Majesty did not listen..."

Zhu Di's gaze slowly swept over these words and phrases, and with each sentence he read, his expression grew more somber.

The eunuchs standing in the hall had already held their breath and dared not utter a sound.

"Snapped!"

Zhu Di slammed the report onto his desk.

"Very well...very well! My grandson risked his life to rush to the epidemic area to share my burdens and find a way to survive for the people, and they, on the contrary, hide in the rear, fabricating such filthy words and wantonly slandering me!"

He stood up, paced back and forth in the hall a few times, then suddenly stopped and turned to Meng Ji, the chief eunuch standing to the side: "Meng Ji, when did these rumors begin? What is their source? Has it been found out?"

Meng Ji's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, according to a secret report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the rumors began to appear sporadically about five days ago, and then suddenly spread in the last two or three days."

"The source... seems to point to several teahouses and taverns in the city where upright people often gather, but the specific person in charge is still being investigated."

"Teahouses and taverns? A place of refined taste?" Zhu Di scoffed. "I doubt it! If no one were stirring things up behind the scenes, how could these rumors have spread so quickly and so viciously!"

He walked with his hands behind his back to the large map of the Ming Dynasty hanging in the hall, his gaze falling on the location of Jurong County, and remained silent for a long time.

The grandson, who was only seven years old, dared to say in front of him, "If it benefits the country, I will risk my life; how can I avoid it because of fortune or misfortune?" is now racing against death in that epidemic area.

Meanwhile, the person behind it all sits in Nanjing, enjoying peace and tranquility while maliciously slandering others.

That's incredibly malicious.

After a long silence, Zhu Di slowly spoke.

"By imperial decree: Commander Ji Gang of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is ordered to personally investigate the source of the rumors. No matter who is involved, investigate to the end. I want to see the results within three days!"

"This servant obeys!" Meng Ji quickly replied.

........................

Ten days later.

Five miles outside Dongliu Town in Jurong County, there is a heavily guarded area of ​​isolated thatched huts.

This place was originally an abandoned brick kiln, which was urgently converted into a "smallpox vaccination trial camp".

High walls stood all around, and armed soldiers patrolled the perimeter day and night, preventing ordinary people from getting close.

Only physicians and soldiers holding the warrant issued by the Prince of Huai were allowed to enter and exit.

At this moment, in a relatively spacious thatched hut in the camp, candlelight flickered.

Zhou Wenqing, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, trembled slightly as he gripped a thick record book. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his voice was hoarse with excitement: "Your Highness! It's done! It's really done!"

Zhu Zhanjun sat on a simple wooden chair, with several official documents spread out in front of him.

He looked up when he heard this, his expression remaining relatively calm.

"Judge Zhou, please explain in detail."

Zhou Wenqing took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but his speech was still much faster than usual: "Your Highness! Fifteen days have passed since the recruitment order was issued. The first batch of applicants for the smallpox vaccination trial totaled one hundred and forty-seven people!"

"Your Highness's instructions were followed. We selected newly developed cow sores from healthy, strong oxen, extracted their fluid, and used a razor blade to lightly inflate the arm of the test subject before implanting the sores into the skin."

"Three days after vaccination, most participants developed rashes and slight swelling at the injection site, and a few experienced low-grade fever and fatigue, but no one developed severe symptoms!"

"By the seventh day, the rash turned into blisters, with slight local itching, but none of the cases developed into pustules and high fever!"

"Today, the thirteenth day, all the blisters on the vaccinated individuals have scabbed over and fallen off, leaving only a shallow scar. They are all in good spirits, eating normally, and none of them have contracted severe smallpox!"

Zhou Wenqing spoke faster and faster, his eyes shining: "Your Highness, this perfectly matches your previous theory that 'cowpox causes mild symptoms and then immunity'!"

"What excites us even more is that yesterday I dared to take a sample of pus from a severely ill smallpox patient and apply it to the broken skin on the arms of three volunteers who had been vaccinated against smallpox more than ten days ago, as well as to three prisoners who had never been vaccinated against smallpox!"

"The results are in this morning!"

He abruptly flipped open the record book, pointing to a spot: "Of the three prisoners who hadn't been vaccinated against smallpox, two have developed high fevers, and their vaccination sites are ulcerated and suppurating—typical symptoms of smallpox! The other one, though not yet feverish, has already developed a rash; he's likely to contract the disease as well!"

"And the three volunteers who had been vaccinated against smallpox showed no abnormalities in their wounds—no redness, swelling, fever, or pain! They...they had actually developed resistance to smallpox!"

At this point, Zhou Wenqing's voice choked with emotion, and he bowed deeply to Zhu Zhanjun, almost kneeling: "Your Highness! This is divine magic! Divine magic! The millennia-old scourge has finally found its nemesis! The people of Jurong are saved! The people of the Ming Dynasty are saved!"

Zhu Zhanjun stood up, helped Zhou Wenqing up, and smiled slightly: "President Zhou, please get up."

"The cowpox virus is mild and has the same origin as human smallpox. Since the human body can overcome it, it can remember its appearance and thus be prepared when encountering a stronger enemy."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the other physicians in the thatched hut who were equally excited: "I will truthfully report your merits to my grandfather. But now is not the time to celebrate."

"Successful trial planting is only the first step."

"Next, we need to conduct large-scale vaccinations and establish defenses in Dongliu Town and the entire Jurong County as soon as possible."

"At the same time, we will record the reactions of all recipients, improve the vaccination method, and ensure that it is safe and reliable."

"Judge Zhou, immediately draft a detailed report detailing the trial process, data, results, and the principles of 'smallpox immunity.' I intend to personally deliver it to the capital."

Zhou Wenqing nodded repeatedly, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect, and said, "Your subject obeys! Your subject will go and do it immediately!"

Zhu Zhanjun then looked at another imperial physician: "Imperial Physician Li, you are responsible for dividing the volunteers who have been successfully vaccinated into two teams."

"One team remained in the camp to continue observation and ensure there were no future problems."

"The other team will accompany me to Dongliu Town tomorrow. Let them make their mark in the town, appease the people, and prove to them that 'vaccination' can save lives!"

"Yes!" Imperial Physician Li perked up and bowed to accept the order.

......................

The next morning, a large crowd of people crowded around the notice board in front of the Jurong County Government Office.

Magistrate Wang Jian stood personally on a makeshift wooden platform, holding a proclamation stamped with the vermilion seal of the Prince of Huai, and read it aloud.

Behind him stood more than ten strong, ruddy-faced men, who were the first volunteers to successfully inoculate smallpox.

"...The smallpox vaccination method was successfully tested ten days ago! None of the 147 volunteers contracted severe smallpox! After repeated verification by Zhou Wenqing, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and other imperial physicians, it has been confirmed that those vaccinated with smallpox have developed resistance to the smallpox virus and are immune for life!"

Wang Jian's voice trembled slightly with excitement, but every word was clearly heard by every citizen present.

There was a deathly silence in the audience at first, then a deafening murmur of discussion erupted.

"Really? Smallpox... there's a cure now?"

"Those men, they look very energetic! They don't seem sick at all!"

"Wang Laosi! Isn't that Wang Laosi from Dongliu Town? Didn't his wife have smallpox? What's he doing here?"

Among the crowd, one man whose name was called out was Wang Laosi, one of the first volunteers.

He strode onto the stage, his eyes red-rimmed, and addressed the sea of ​​villagers below, shouting, "Fellow villagers! I am Wang Laosi, from Dongliu Town. My wife and two children all contracted smallpox. I thought I wouldn't survive!"

"It was His Highness Prince Huai and the officials of the Imperial Medical Academy who vaccinated me against smallpox! Now I'm perfectly healthy, I can eat and sleep well, and I can even work in the fields! Look, I only have a small scar on my arm, not even a single pustule!"

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a shallow scar on his arm that had already scabbed over and fallen off, and held it high.

Another commotion erupted from the audience.

"I can testify!" another volunteer jumped onto the stage. "My name is Chen Shi, and I'm a butcher from the west side of the city!"

"No one in my family has contracted the disease, but after hearing about Prince Huai's recruitment, I figured I might as well take the gamble and went!"

"I'm fine now! The day before yesterday, Judge Zhou even tried it on my arm with pus from a smallpox patient, and there was absolutely no reaction! I'm fucking unafraid of smallpox!"

"I've tried it too!"

"Me too!"

"You really won't get sick!"

More than ten volunteers spoke up, offering their testimonies, some even rolling up their sleeves to show the faint scar that represented "new life."

The audience, initially filled with doubt and fear, gradually turned to shock and excitement, with some even beginning to sob quietly.

An elderly man with white hair, leaning on a cane, shakily squeezed through the crowd and knelt down with a thud in the direction of the county government office, tears streaming down his face: "Heaven has opened its eyes! His Highness Prince Huai... he is a living Bodhisattva descended to earth! My poor son, he died of smallpox last year... if only this method had been available sooner..."

His kneeling acted as if he had ignited a powder keg.

The people below the stage knelt down one after another, kowtowing repeatedly towards the county government office, their cries, shouts, and expressions of gratitude blending together.

"Long live His Highness the Prince of Huai!"

"Your Highness saved the lives of Jurong!"

"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, gentlemen of the Imperial Medical Academy!"

Standing on the stage, Wang Jian looked at the shocking scene before him, and his eyes couldn't help but redden.

He took a deep breath and announced loudly again, "Fellow villagers! His Highness Prince Huai has decreed: From today onwards, all those in Jurong County who wish to be vaccinated against smallpox may register at the county government office, and the Imperial Medical Academy will administer the vaccinations free of charge! First, Dongliu Town and surrounding villages will be vaccinated, then the entire county will be vaccinated!"

The news spread like wildfire, reaching every street, alley, and field in Jurong.

Those who had been hiding in their houses out of fear, or even preparing to flee with their families, flocked to the county government office and the vaccination points set up by the Imperial Hospital.

The queue stretched like a long dragon, winding from the city gate all the way to three miles outside the city.

That afternoon, Zhu Zhanjun ordered several mild cases of smallpox that had been vaccinated several days prior and whose symptoms had completely disappeared to be brought out from Dongliu Town, and asked them to share their experiences at the town entrance.

The people of Dongliu Town, who had been shrouded in despair and dared not even open their doors and windows, finally saw hope for life.

"Open the door! I need to get a smallpox vaccination!"

"I'm going too! Rather than wait to die, I'd rather take a gamble!"

"Your Highness Prince Huai is right, this smallpox vaccine is a lifeline given to us by God!"

The deathly atmosphere in Dongliu Town was finally broken by an irrepressible surge of vitality.

One by one, the tightly closed doors and windows were pushed open.

Hope was rekindled on those numb and desperate faces.