"Are you sure there will be an outbreak of smallpox?"
In the imperial study, Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Empress Ma and Zhu Biao's account of the previous events.
He looked a little ugly at this time.
The eldest grandson, Zhu Xiongying, was probably infected with smallpox and died suddenly...
Moreover, in the near future, a large-scale smallpox plague will break out in the Ming Dynasty.
No matter which one of these two things it is, it is definitely bad news.
Especially the smallpox epidemic.
In history, whenever a plague breaks out, which time is it not littered with corpses?
So when he heard about smallpox, Zhu Yuanzhang had to brace himself up.
"Your Majesty, I don't know exactly when it happened, but the outbreak must have happened. Anyway, during the Ming Dynasty, there were quite a lot of disasters around the world."
"Things like the Spanish Flu and the Black Death were almost all concentrated within the time frame of the Ming Dynasty. But I don't quite remember whether it was the early or late Ming Dynasty."
"And here in the Ming Dynasty, smallpox seemed to have broken out more than once."
"The specific situation, I'm not very..."
"Okay, okay, we don't want to hear your nonsense!"
Seeing that Chu Ze wanted to chatter again, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly interrupted his words with his hand.
Speaking of which, he felt a little bad today.
I was scolded by Queen Ma for no reason, and now I heard such damning news.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who had come through the war, knew better than anyone else the terrible consequences of the plague.
Once the plague breaks out, it will be easy for people to live in dire straits.
"Are you sure that the cowpox vaccination method you mentioned can cure the smallpox plague?"
After interrupting Chu Ze, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and asked in a low voice.
Seeing that he was about to get down to business, Queen Ma, who was originally sitting on the throne, silently stood up from the throne.
Lao Zhu, who was originally serious, suddenly lost his seriousness when he saw his sister giving up her seat to him.
Everyone looked at Queen Ma with a smile and silently handed over the tea cup in their hands.
Seeing the teacup handed over by Lao Zhu, Queen Ma naturally took it.
"Your Majesty, I can't guarantee it! And I want to remind you that cowpox vaccination is not a treatment method. It is a prevention method!"
"The knowledge I remember is that people who survive smallpox once will never get smallpox again in the future."
"Vaccinium seems to be the disease caused by cows infected with smallpox. How to explain it...it means that the cow's body is better. It can cure part of the smallpox independently, making the smallpox symptoms weaker, but it is still smallpox. "
"At this time, if people take the initiative to catch this much weaker form of smallpox, once they are cured, they will not get the very powerful form of smallpox again."
"That's roughly what it means."
"Remember, this cowpox vaccination is for prevention, not treatment! Don't get the cowpox vaccination when you already have smallpox, otherwise the joke will be big."
Regarding things like vaccines and viruses, Chu Ze really didn't know how to explain to Lao Zhu and the others.
Anyway, given the current generation gap in knowledge between them, this matter is probably difficult to explain clearly.
So Chu Ze could only focus on telling Lao Zhu that prevention is not equal to cure.
After listening to Chu Ze's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang still frowned.
He naturally understood Chu Ze's explanation.
But after understanding it, he was still a little unsure...
After all, according to Chu Ze, cowpox is the disease caused by cows infected with smallpox...
On weekdays, everyone avoids the smallpox plague.
At this time, taking the initiative to get another one...even if it is a weaker one...this is a bad thing!
If something goes wrong, it could be fatal!
Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang's frown, Queen Ma on the side naturally saw what he was worried about.
This means of vaccination to prevent smallpox is real.
But if you want to popularize it, it may be difficult!
At least before the smallpox outbreak...the court couldn't just rashly force everyone to get vaccinated against cowpox, right?
Although cowpox is not highly lethal, it can still cause death.
If someone with ulterior motives secretly interferes at that time, it will probably cause a big disaster.
You know, this is not in modern times. If there is any notification, just send out news.
Now even if we know that cowpox can prevent smallpox, how to popularize it on a large scale is still a problem!
"Chu Ze! Have you, future generations, really eradicated the smallpox plague? Then how did you discover that cowpox can prevent smallpox in the first place? How did you then completely eradicate smallpox? "
After seeing Lao Zhu's current concerns, Queen Ma took a sip of tea and mentioned this casually.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard Queen Ma's words, he glanced in the direction of Queen Ma with some blame.
However, as soon as his eyes turned over, he immediately collided with Queen Ma's sharp gaze.
This frightened Lao Zhu and quickly looked elsewhere.
Lao Zhu is like this. Most of the time, he is more face-conscious. He can't make up his mind about some things, but he doesn't want to ask others, so he just figures it out on his own.
This is especially true of Queen Ma. He actually likes Queen Ma to give him ideas, but he often worries that Queen Ma's ideas are better than his.
This is not a loss of face.
Although he was also worried about this matter in his heart at this time, when Empress Ma pointed it out so clearly and asked, Lao Zhu felt a little embarrassed.
"Empress, there is actually no need to forcefully arrange this matter... and forced arrangements can easily arouse people's rebellious psychology!"
"Human nature is to seek good fortune and avoid disaster. The imperial court only needs to send out the news that the smallpox plague may break out, and then tell people that the imperial doctor's research has found that after vaccination with cowpox, you will not get smallpox again."
"If the imperial court forces everyone to be vaccinated against cowpox, then if they are doing fine, you have to make them sick. Isn't it just that the imperial court is harming everyone's interests! If your own interests are harmed, you will inevitably have a resistance. .”
"But if you change the angle, you tell them that smallpox is coming. Everyone knows the horror of smallpox. At this time, under the threat of death, the imperial court found a way for them to avoid death. .”
“Getting cowpox or getting smallpox once, most people know how to choose.”
"Those who don't want to... just let them die. How can the world understand the merits of the imperial court's move without killing some people?"
