"Why? Magistrate, this is unlawful detention! Abuse of power and illegal punishment! We are not convinced!"
"Yes, we are not convinced!"
"You can be unconvinced, but who among you can pat your chest and guarantee this official that you are definitely not infected with the plague?
You may not know, but besides feces, saliva, or what you call spit, can also transmit the plague.
And the plague has a certain incubation period.
If you are accidentally infected and leave here.
When the illness strikes, you won't receive timely and effective treatment and will die on the road!
But it's different if you stay here. Not only will you receive food regularly, but there are also several of the top physicians from Fengtian Prefecture, and even the Great Xia Kingdom, personally overseeing your safety, guarding your lives around the clock."
Lin Qingge's rambling managed to temporarily pacify the troublemaking refugees.
After all, they had just suffered the hardship of displacement and wandering, and if possible, they didn't want to leave this place that provided food and shelter.
However, to make matters worse, Zhuzi, who had held on through the night, finally gave in and passed away in the morning.
"The prescription for treating the plague is still lacking; it needs further improvement.
Also, by the time Zhuzi was discovered, it was already too late..."
Although Murong Bai didn't finish his words, Lin Qingge understood the implication.
The plague often caused tens of thousands of deaths. Zhuzi, as the primary case and the first to fall ill, had a very slim chance of recovery.
Although it was to be expected, it was still a living soul, and it was difficult to come to terms with.
"My Lord, how should Zhuzi's body be handled?"
Given the current situation, moving the body to the mortuary was simply not feasible, so Yan Tinghao asked.
Lin Qingge thought for a moment. "Move Zhuzi's body along with this tent to the northwest and burn it."
The northwest area was a temporarily erected waste incineration site.
Masks and daily garbage that people changed out of were all uniformly sent there to be burned.
Meanwhile, Zhuzi's wife, immersed in grief, heard this. Already struggling to accept her husband's passing, she immediately voiced her objection:
"No! You can't burn my husband!"
In this era, it was believed that the body and hair were gifts from one's parents, and one should not damage them; this was the beginning of filial piety.
It was thought that cremation was disrespectful to the deceased, and there were even baseless claims that a person's soul could not be reincarnated after their body was cremated.
Therefore, cremation was a major taboo.
However, when people infected with highly contagious diseases like the plague died, if their bodies were contacted by rats or other animals, these animals would then transmit the plague to humans again.
In that case, all the efforts of everyone would be in vain.
Moreover, burial was not safe.
This was because plague bacilli could still survive underground.
Scientists from Lin Qingge's past life had confirmed this; in the extremely low temperatures of the Northeast, lung plague bacteria could survive for at least three months.
What's more, it wasn't the dead of winter now. The temperature was suitable, and there were many insects, making it a breeding ground for viruses.
Therefore, cremation was necessary.
However, even if Lin Qingge could explain these principles, the woman might not understand.
Sighing again at the importance of knowledge, Lin Qingge firmly repeated, "It must be cremation!"
Zhuzi's wife immediately wailed in anguish, "Dreadful heavens, the Magistrate is bullying common folk!
Husband, you died so tragically!
Husband, you were just bitten by a rat and lost your life, and now the Magistrate won't even leave you a complete body to burn. What's the difference between this and trampling on human lives?"
Zhuzi's wife's cries drew the attention of the crowd, but due to Lin Qingge's status as Magistrate and the presence of constables with their hands on their swords guarding her, no one dared to step forward. They merely watched from a distance.
But from Zhuzi's wife's fragmented words, it could be inferred that Zhuzi had died, and the Magistrate intended to cremate his body.
Unable to accept it at all, the crowd began to murmur amongst themselves.
Lin Qingge, however, ignored the pointing fingers and spoke directly:
"Twenty taels!"
???
Zhuzi's wife, thinking she might have misheard, was bewildered, even forgetting to wail.
Here, Lin Qingge patiently repeated, "This official is willing to offer twenty taels of silver as compensation for the cremation of Zhuzi's body."
"But..."
Zhuzi's wife moved her lips, conflicted internally.
"Forty taels!"
"I..."
"Eighty taels!"
"My Lord, I agree to cremate Zhuzi!"
Faced with such a sudden windfall, Zhuzi's wife couldn't help but relent.
...
Lin Qingge, who had intended to raise the offer to two hundred taels, blinked and let out a discreet cough. Seeing the refugees in the distance with their mouths agape, she loudly declared:
"Cremation was not this official's original intention, but to prevent the resurgence of the plague, the bodies of those who die from it must be cremated.
However, this official will provide an additional eighty taels of silver to their family as a funeral subsidy."
As soon as Lin Qingge finished speaking, the indignation on the faces of the crowd vanished. Their gaze towards Zhuzi's wife shifted from sympathy to envy.
Eighty taels of silver was a fortune that most of them might never see in their entire lives.
With Zhuzi's wife no longer obstructing, Lin Qingge dismissed the crowd and ordered the strong men to move the tent and carry the body.
By the time these matters were handled, it was already noon.
After finishing the meal delivered by Leng Ningyue, Murong Bai put down his chopsticks and said leisurely,
"So, Lord Lin is only stingy with me, but very generous to others~"
Lin Qingge replayed his words in her mind before understanding that he was referring to the cremation incident. She couldn't help but shake her head. "Not at all. This official is not stingy with Coroner Murong; I simply spend money where it's needed."
The saying that money makes the world go round was a profound truth, no matter where it was applied.
A sum of money could accomplish more than a torrent of words.
Even if Zhuzi's wife wanted to cause trouble, she couldn't.
"But Lord Lin, have you considered that with this action, some people might give up treatment, or even intentionally contract the plague, just for your eighty taels of silver?"
"Of course, I have considered it, but this official has more faith in Coroner Murong's medical skills.
I believe that before such a situation arises, you will have developed a prescription for treating the plague."
"Hmph~"
Murong Bai emitted a proud sound from his nose and raised his chin, falling silent.
News of the plague outbreak in Changzhou County spread like wildfire, soon reaching the capital.
Feng Qingchen, who was acting as Prime Minister, had yet to deal with the mounting troubles before children's rhymes began to circulate throughout the capital.