For the people of Han Chang'an, almost no one paid attention at first to the so-called Seven Masters of Jian'an, nor did anyone feel inclined to joke about Cao Pi braying like a donkey.
There was only one thing that made their faces turn pale.
The twenty-second year of Jian'an.
A great plague.
And not just any plague, but an unprecedented one. A catastrophe among catastrophes.
Among everyone present, Liu Bei's expression was the most solemn.
The reason was simple. Of all those in the hall, he was the eldest. Those years of epidemic outbreaks that later generations casually listed were years Liu Bei had personally lived through, or at least heard of with his own ears.
Those rows of numbered years only needed a brief moment of recollection before they aligned perfectly with his memories.
The fourth year of Jianning. The earth split in Hedong. Rain and hail fell together. Mountains collapsed, waters surged. And afterward, plague swept across the land.
The second year of Xiping. First month. A great plague.
The second year of Guanghe. Spring. A great plague.
The fifth year of Guanghe. Spring. A great plague.
These were memories Liu Bei did not wish to revisit.
But Jian'an twenty-two. Another great plague?
Unconsciously, Liu Bei turned his stiff neck and looked toward Physician Zhang. After all, it was now the eighteenth year of Jian'an. According to later histories, that great plague was only four years away.
Zhang Zhongjing's brows were tightly furrowed, his expression grave. When he lifted his head, he met Liu Bei's earnest gaze, along with the looks of Jian Yong, Fa Zheng, Pang Tong, and the others.
Even Zhang Fei restrained his booming voice and muttered cautiously,
"Physician Zhang. In another four years, will there really be a great plague?"
In response, Zhang Zhongjing could only remain silent.
He was not a sage, nor a man of divine powers. He was merely a physician who had been harmed by cold damage and epidemics himself, and who had resolved to heal and save others. How could he know what the future would bring?
At the critical moment, Kongming stepped in to ease the situation. He shook his head gently and spoke,
"With what we are doing now, the affairs of this world have already diverged from what later generations knew. How could Master Zhongjing possibly know?"
Liu Bei nodded in agreement.
According to later history, he should still be locked in bitter fighting in Yi Province at this time. Who could have imagined that he would instead be seated in Chang'an, facing the Sun and Cao alliance head-on?
Borrowing the knowledge of later generations, uniting the strength of many, propping up the collapsing Han, and battling Sun and Cao in Jing Province.
Under such circumstances, Sun and Cao should not be confronting each other at Ruxukou.
Then this great plague…
"There is still the hidden danger of an outbreak."
After deep consideration, Zhang Zhongjing spoke with caution, mercilessly extinguishing the last sliver of luck in Liu Bei's heart.
There was no need for Physician Zhang to elaborate. Kongming sighed and explained,
"What later generations recorded were all great plagues. Yet from the Jianning years until now, has there ever been a single year without disease? It is only that in these few instances the harm to the people was especially severe, and thus recorded in the histories."
Everyone nodded silently. Living personally through such an age, they felt this truth all the more keenly.
Cities and counties with names at least had reporting systems. When plague broke out, reports would travel layer by layer upward.
But in those remote villages, it was entirely possible for an entire settlement to perish at the first outbreak of disease, with the news only coming to light years later when traveling merchants happened to pass through.
Such incidents were countless.
Since the topic had reached this point, Kongming sighed again and continued,
"I have studied this together with Physician Zhang. Almost every major plague in the past was accompanied by natural disasters."
He began counting on his fingers.
"In the year 171, the earth split in Hedong at twelve locations. The fissures stretched ten li and one hundred seventy paces in length, some over thirty paces wide. Countless homes and farmlands were destroyed."
"In 173, the earth split in Beihai. Waters overflowed in Donglai and Beihai. Wherever the seawater reached, fertile fields turned saline and were ruined."
"In 179, a great plague struck in spring. The year before, in 178, there were earth fissures in the second and fourth months, followed by locusts in winter. Thus the epidemic arose."
There was no need to continue.
With matters explained to this extent, everyone present understood.
Natural disasters turned commoners into refugees. Death bred disease. Refugees carried disease farther still. In the end, a great plague was born.
"So after all that, the Seven Masters of Jian'an indirectly died at Cao the bandit's hands?" Zhang Fei could not help saying.
After all, if Cao's army had not marched south, the epidemic would never have erupted on such a scale.
If Cao's forces had not withdrawn, the disease would never have been carried back to Ye City, eventually spiraling beyond control.
Ignoring his third brother's remark, Liu Bei looked at the strategist and slowly nodded. He understood the meaning.
If epidemics were not prevented, there was no need to wait four more years. Every major battle from now on could give rise to a great plague.
Seen this way, the selection and training of military physicians needed to be pushed forward as quickly as possible. Liu Bei made his decision inwardly.
Pang Tong and Fa Zheng understood as well.
However, Fa Zheng suddenly felt a chilling thought arise in his heart.
Cao Cao had previously executed divine physicians and showed such disregard for epidemic prevention. In that case, could they…
Fa Zheng immediately shook his head.
Cao Cao's followers were also Han people. And now that Sun and Cao together could not overpower their lord, why resort to such a tactic that would kill a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of one's own?
[Light Screen]
["When it comes to the great plagues of this period, many people immediately bring up cold damage.
It needs to be clarified that the concept of cold damage in the Han dynasty is completely different from what we understand today.
Limited by knowledge, ancient people often treated causes as pathogens. 'Cold' did not necessarily mean cold weather, but rather a general term for all external evils that caused disease.
Separated by more than a thousand years, we cannot know exactly which epidemic broke out in Han times. It is far more likely that it was a complex epidemic composed of multiple diseases.
Because if you open the history books, it is easy to see that the explosive population growth of the Eastern Han, combined with the lack of public sanitation, may have been the greatest trigger for early epidemics.
In the Western Han, things were still manageable. According to contemporary records, the population of the capital Chang'an peaked at nearly five hundred thousand, but did not remain at that level for long, and was still within the city's carrying capacity.
By the Eastern Han, inheriting the foundations of the previous dynasty, with external enemies eliminated and internal governance restored, population numbers began to rise rapidly.
According to the Book of the Later Han, in the fifth year of Yonghe, the year 140, Luoyang had 280,000 households and a population of one million. Chang'an had 50,000 households and a population of 300,000.
The first problem such enormous populations faced was garbage disposal.
Domestic wastewater was relatively easy to handle. Both cities were close to major rivers and surrounded by abundant water systems. Digging channels within the city and keeping them dredged was sufficient.
The real trouble was solid waste.
For common people at the time, there were only three methods. Throw it away. Bury it. Or move away.
The most commonly used method was burial.
This approach is still used today, but modern sanitation departments sort waste and apply different treatments based on type.
For ancient people, everything was buried together.
Dig a deep pit. Neighbors would dump their trash into it. Once it was nearly level with the ground, a layer of soil would be added to seal it. Then they would dig a new garbage pit elsewhere.
The consequence was groundwater contamination.
According to modern archaeologists, Han Chang'an was located on the first terrace of the Wei River. The ground consisted mainly of alluvial silt, clay, and gravel deposited by the Wei River.
This geology was rich in water, but also highly permeable. Garbage and sewage could quickly seep into the groundwater, enter circulation, and cause progressive deterioration.
By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, this waste disposal method had made the environment of Han Chang'an so unbearable that historical records openly cursed it:
'The capital is vast and populous. Over the years, sediment accumulates and blocks drainage. Filth gathers without release, and the water becomes saline and foul.'
Faced with this land that had already developed a stench, Sui Emperor Wen, Yang Jian, simply abandoned the old site. He built a new capital, Daxing City, on the southern slope of Longshou Plateau southeast of Han Chang'an.
He also dug multiple channels to bring water into the city, and incidentally established strict laws prohibiting the dumping of garbage.
This later became the Tang capital, Chang'an."]