Mr. Zhang, the prefect of Sunchon, was holding on to his few remaining hair. He had to fight wits with the big families in the city and beg the court for food. He hadn't slept well for several months. He was so thin that he looked like an ordinary citizen. It’s different.
It's just that his "belly of wealth" that disappeared has now appeared on the bodies of poor people.
When Mr. Zhang heard his subordinates come to tell the time, he didn't take it seriously at first, "It's normal for the common people to feel unwell because they can't eat fresh vegetables."
"But the snow is getting heavier and heavier, and more and more people are coming in and out of the city. They don't collect firewood or find food, and they come back from the city empty-handed. There must be something different in this! Sir!"
Master Zhang frowned, "How many such people are there?"
"Hundreds of people every day."
He put down the crying letter in his hand and thought about something quietly.
"Tomorrow I will find two new government officials, pretend to be ordinary people, and follow behind to investigate."
"Yes, sir!"
Not a day later, Master Zhang found the news ridiculous.
Two Taoist priests jumped out of nowhere, put on Taoist robes, and dared to call themselves masters. The Taoist priests refined the elixir for seventy-seven forty-nine days, and the elixir was called "Saturation Pill".
As long as you take a pill as big as your finger, you can stay hungry for a whole day.
A furnace of elixirs has been refined for 49 days. How many pills are left? Now it can be sold to the people in large quantities. Which Taoist temple can refine so many elixirs? You'll know there's a scam as soon as you hear it!
Lord Zhang called the doctors from Zheng's Medical Center and threw two round brown pills in front of them. They are given three days to find the medicinal materials contained in this elixir.
Several doctors didn't know why, but they were frightened by the magistrate's majesty, so they had no choice but to agree and search day and night.
Three days later, they still couldn't find it.
Master Zhang's face turned darker. Several doctors' hands and feet were trembling.
"Sir! Although we haven't found everything, we can be sure that there must be cinnabar and Guanyin soil in it!" Mr. Xiao Zheng is young, and newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.
"Oh? What will happen if you eat too much? Will you be full?"
"This cinnabar can be used as a medicine, but it cannot be taken for a long time. It contains poison. Guanyin soil itself is not poisonous. After eating, it will hinder the digestion and accumulation in the human body, so it will make you feel full..."
There is no need for a doctor to explain the second half of the sentence. Master Zhang also understands that because it hinders digestion, the abdomen becomes enlarged and will eventually lead to death. In other words, people who often take this elixir will either be poisoned to death or die from excessive abdominal distension.
"boom--"
Master Zhang slapped the table hard, causing the whole house to shake.
Several doctors were so frightened that they fell to their knees, shaking like chaff.
Master Zhang asked people to send them back, and then ordered the officials to check the changes in the number of deaths in the city before and after the appearance of the Mandu Pill.
Due to the seriousness of the disaster, it is not yet possible to report the number of people who died of starvation and freezing.
When the official finished the investigation and reported it to him, he was shocked to find that the number of deaths in one month reached 300! There are only more than 900 households in this city! On average, one person dies in every three households every day. It is not yet known whether the cause of death is due to taking the elixir.
But he has already acquiesced that it is inseparable from the elixir.
Mr. Zhang was furious and posted an official letter at the entrance of the government office, the entrance of the grain store, and the east and west cities, etc., explaining in detail the dangers of satiety pills and attaching a guarantee from the doctor of Zheng's Medical Center. The people in the city are required not to buy and take satiety pills anymore, and violators will be punished as violating the law.
In addition, people entering and leaving the city must undergo body searches, and any satiety pills found will be destroyed!
All of a sudden, the people in the city were talking about it. Those who had never taken the satiety pill were frightened when they saw the dangers. But those who took the satiety pills were scolding the government and Mr. Zhang for meddling in other people's business instead of going to disaster relief.
"This is the elixir that the masters have spent seven or forty-nine days and worked hard to refine! How can it harm people?!"
"Ah! The masters are kind-hearted and use good medicinal materials, but they only charge me ten cents each. I can't even buy ten small beans for ten cents!"
"That's right! I've taken the satiety pill, and I don't feel hungry all day long, and I don't feel any discomfort. It's just that it's a little more difficult to go to the toilet."
"The master said that this is because the medicinal materials in the elixir circulate back and forth in the abdomen to treat the problem of hunger in the abdomen. When the problem is cured, you will naturally not feel hungry!"
"I see, the government is worried that everyone will buy expensive food, and they won't be able to earn the dirty money and get angry!"
The common people seemed to have found an outlet for the recent oppression. They cursed at the government offices and cadres every day, and even violent conflicts broke out at the city gate.
The government officials wanted to arrest the Taoist priests and imprison them, but the common people tipped them off. In the Cunning Rabbit Three Cave, no one knows what the two Taoist priests look like.
Master Zhang was really furious at this time. He could catch one but not a hundred. If he can't arouse the anger of the people, his official career will be over.
In desperation, Mr. Zhang had no choice but to withdraw the ban. The harm had been informed and the people insisted on going their own way, so he had no choice.
When Jiang Yue learned about this, she felt the same absurdity as Master Zhang.
But after thinking about it again, I felt that I could understand it. Just like some people will choose a belief when they are desperate. If you don't believe it, it can be said to be superstitious. But for those people, only by having faith can they survive.
Having endured hunger and cold for a long time, and still in the unknown panic, the emotions of the people in the city were like a bowstring that had been tightened. If you let go, the arrow would fly out and there would be no way to take it back.
Mr. Zhang may not be said to be very talented, but his approach is of no avail. At least it prevents ignorant and timid people from continuing to buy satiety pills and endangering their lives.
Withdrawing the ban in time can be regarded as quelling an upcoming civilian riot.
You must know that many dynasty changes in history were triggered by disasters and incited the emotions of anxious people. At this time, as long as someone gave an order, an insurrectionary army was formed.
——Wang Family——
The eldest man of the Wang family looked at Mr. Zhang's letter with a solemn expression.
It is almost impossible for him to protect himself wisely.
It's just that he is a businessman, he wants benefits, and he also wants allies. If he is the first to take the lead, the people behind him will definitely hate him. This head has to come out, but how and how it comes out are all very particular.
He let out a long sigh. Times make heroes, but they are all forced out.
He lowered his head and wrote a few lines on the paper.
The butler, who was so fat and so blessed that he was about to overflow, is still fat now, but he is no longer fat, and his big belly has become a small belly. He stepped forward respectfully and took the master's handwriting.
The next day, the Wang family announced that they couldn't bear to see their fellow villagers suffering from hunger, and they were willing to dig out their wealth and donate 500 stones of grain to the government to do their little bit to save the people in the city.
