Qi Ning personally directed this matter, and the Yulin Army assisted in this matter, so everything was done smoothly. It did not take too long. Six large pots were set up in front of the Tianjia Medicine Store. In order to prevent it from snowing suddenly, a tent was set up to protect the six large iron pots from being disturbed by the heavy snow.
Both ends of the street were already guarded by Yu Lin's elite soldiers.
Tianjia Medicine Store tried its best to cooperate and sent all the medicinal materials Qining needed from the medicine store. After all, Tianjia Medicine Store was one of the largest medicine stores in Beijing, and it did store a lot of medicinal materials.
The iron pot was lit. In order to prevent other accidents, Qining asked several gentlemen and clerks from Tianjia Medicine Store who knew medicinal materials to be responsible for boiling the medicine. In addition, he sent more than 20 Yulin cavalry to various streets in Dongcheng. The alley informs the application point.
Qi Ning knew very well that there were many dignitaries and gentry living in Dongcheng. It was inevitable that there would be infected people in these deep residences and compounds, but naturally they would not send people to Nanhe Lane easily, as there were many mansions that locked people up. Home, isolated from others.
This epidemic has spread extremely widely. Although it started from the Beggar Clan and seems to have nothing to do with the dignitaries, the disciples of the Beggar Clan are already very mobile in the capital. It just so happens that the Qinhuai River is also a place where people come and go, and Many high-ranking officials and nobles lingered on the Qinhuai River, which caused the two classes that did not want to work to suffer from the epidemic.
Before applying the medicine, Qining even asked people to write the words "Apply medicine on behalf of heaven" on yellow brocade cloth and stand it around the tent. No matter which direction you come from, you can see the flags fluttering in the wind.
The emperor is the Son of Heaven, and when he administers medicine on behalf of Heaven, he naturally administers medicine on behalf of the Emperor.
There was a blazing flame under the six large iron pots, and Qining had people prepare buckets. Whenever the concoction boiled out, he would put it into the buckets.
As Qining expected, as soon as the news spread, people who were infected in Dongcheng immediately flocked to Tianjia Medicine Store. There were quite a few of them, and many of them were family members, bringing their own infected patients. .
Both ends of the street were blocked, and according to Qining's instructions, no one was allowed in easily.
"Everyone listen carefully. Those who are not infected should stand outside the benches and are not allowed to enter." The soldier guarding the street pointed to the two benches across the front. "Those who are infected should line up and come in. The Marquis of Jinyi has ordered that every day People are not allowed to take out a bowl of antidote. This is a gift from the emperor, and the marquis administers the medicine on behalf of heaven."
"I am the young minister of Taichang Temple. Let me go in first." More and more people rushed over the street. Some were helped, and some were simply carried. The illness of the epidemic also varied from mild to severe. An old official in his sixties squeezed forward, and behind him were two young and strong men carrying a stretcher, wrapped in a brocade quilt, and one of them curled up and covered his head inside.
"Wait a minute, let me go first." A burly man squeezed in behind him. The red spots on his face were as big as copper coins. It seemed that the epidemic was very serious, but his voice was still loud: "I am the former Yundu Lieutenant in the army. , who do you think you are, a young minister of Taichang Temple?" He was pushing and trying to squeeze into the street.
Taichang Shaoqing's face changed slightly, but he sneered: "Captain Yun? It's rare for me to see you. There must be someone who comes first. If I arrive before you, you have to queue up behind."
Captain Yun Du was indeed one level above Taichang Shaoqing, but Tai Chang Shaoqing didn't deal with the army, and Tai Chang Shaoqing didn't give Captain Yun Du any face.
There was a commotion all around, but the elite soldiers of Yulin all held their sabers in hand and watched coldly, not letting anyone pass by.
Suddenly I heard a voice from behind saying: "Get out of the way, everyone." Among the crowd, five or six tall and strong men arrogantly pushed through the crowd, and pressed forward to protect one person. Captain Yun After being hit, he didn't even look at the person. He turned around and cursed: "What son of a bitch doesn't have eyesight?"
But they only saw a few big men guarding a young master coming in. The young master was wearing brocade clothes and a deep purple cloak. He also had red spots on his face, but they were much smaller than Captain Yun. He stared coldly at him. Captain Yun asked: "Who are you calling a son of a bitch?" He raised his foot, pointed at Captain Yun and kicked him over, cursing: "Are you looking for death?"
The crowd was crowded, and Lieutenant Yun was kicked hard. Fortunately, he was strong, so it didn't matter. Lieutenant Yun was not angry, but instead smiled and said, "It turns out... It turns out that it's Mr. Dou. It's because I haven't grown up." Eyes, Dou... Lord Dou, please don’t be the same as me.”
Among the crowd, although many people did not know who this young master was, a few people still recognized him. Some people had already whispered: "He is the eldest son of Dou Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance."
The person who came was none other than Dou Lianzhong.
The Minister of Hubu is one of the six ministers, and he is a second-rank court official. Although Dou Lianzhong has no honor or salary, he is a second-rank official in the current dynasty, and he is also notorious in Beijing. Whoever dares to offend this person will be crowded around. They all stepped back, as if Dou Lianzhong had dog shit stuck to him, and no one wanted to get into trouble.
Dou Lianzhong snorted coldly, and then pushed forward. Two Yulin elite soldiers blocked him. Dou Lianzhong said: "Is there an antidote here? Let me in quickly."
"The Marquis has an order. No one is allowed to enter without permission." The Yulin soldier said expressionlessly.
Dou Lianzhong frowned and said: "Master Marquis, which Marquis? Do you know who I am? My father is Dou Shangshu. You are so brave that you dare to stop me?"
Before he finished speaking, he heard a burst of laughter, and a person walked towards him and said with a smile: "Isn't this Mr. Dou? I haven't seen you for a while? Hey, Mr. Dou, what's wrong with your face? Are you also poisoned? Already?" One person came over with his hands behind his back, it was Qining.
When Dou Lianzhong saw Qi Ning, he was startled for a moment and couldn't help but said: "Is... are you arranging the application of medicine here?"
Qi Ning stepped forward without answering, but took a quick look and found that most of the people who came were well-dressed, many of them wearing brocade robes and wide robes. A group of common people in rough clothes were hanging far behind and did not rush towards them. He stepped forward and squeezed over, smiled, then raised his hands to the sky and said: "The emperor has a decree to administer medicine to save the people. I am on an errand to take charge of this matter."
Dou Lianzhong immediately put on a smile and said with a smile: "It seems that the emperor has a keen eye for people, and the Marquis of Jinyi is shrewd and capable. Such important events should be presided over by the Marquis." He stepped forward and said softly: "Master Marquis, please If you don't let me go in first, Dou will thank you very much when you come back. We are all acquaintances, how about giving me a thin noodle?"
Qi Ning knew that Dou Lianzhong often wandered on the Qinhuai River. He was not surprised to see that he was also infected with the epidemic virus. He smiled and said: "Easy to talk about. The emperor has decreed to use medicine to save people, so naturally no one can be missed." He blinked his eyes. He smiled and said: "Mr. Dou, the antidote has been prepared. You can take the medicine when you go in. Do you really want to be the first to come in?"
"Since the emperor gave the medicine, of course it will cure the disease." Dou Lianzhong said hurriedly: "Brother Qi, please let me in now. I will prepare a banquet later and thank you very much."
Qi Ning laughed and said, "It's not impossible for you to come in first, but the ugly talk is ahead. Does Mr. Dou know how much a bowl of this antidote costs?"
Dou Lianzhong was stunned, frowned and said: "That's not right, just now... I heard just now that the emperor gives medicines for free and does not accept money, and...!" He even leaned closer to Qining's ear and whispered: "Let's talk about these medicinal materials. , it’s not the Ministry of Accounts that will compensate us, after all, it will be my father who pays for it.”
"That's not right." Qi Ning shook his head and said: "One code means one code. Now is the present. It's not my turn to control what happens next." After thinking for a moment, he stretched out five fingers and said: " For this amount, you go in and take the medicine first. Since we are acquaintances, others can only take one bowl. You can take as much as you want!"
"Five taels of silver?" Dou Lianzhong turned around and said, "Bring over five taels of silver."
Qi Ning laughed and said, "Mr. Dou, do you look down on yourself or me? If I only had five taels of silver, would I even talk to you?"
Ever since he was infected, Dou Lianzhong has known that this virus can kill people. He has been in a state of confusion these past two days. Today he learned that there is an antidote here, so he ran over here without saying a word. Qining reached out for money. Dou Lianzhong knew that this guy was deliberately trying to rip off money, but his life was at stake. Why did he care about a little money? He hurriedly asked: "How much does it cost? Fifty taels? You don't want me to pay 500 taels for a bowl of antidote, right? Then I'd rather not." Take your medicine.”
Qi Ning smiled and said: "Turn around and leave immediately. Mr. Dou, since we have some friendship, I won't hide it from you. There are thousands of people infected with the epidemic in the capital, but the medicinal materials for brewing the antidote are very scarce. It is not full." It’s all on the street, and I guess in the end there will still be many people who don’t understand the medicine.”
As soon as these words came out, not only Dou Lianzhong, but also the other people around him changed their expressions, and regardless of others, they pushed up one after another.
"Okay, five hundred taels of silver, I want it." Dou Lianzhong suddenly panicked and said immediately: "I will get you the silver right away. You let me in."
In fact, if you really want to talk about it, the cost of a bowl of antidote does not even cost a penny. However, Dou Lianzhong has been frightened to death by the epidemic in the past two days, and five hundred taels of silver is not a big amount for him. Bear it, besides, compared to life, five hundred taels of silver is really nothing.
Qi Ning shook his head and said: "Let me put it bluntly, since Brother Dou wants to detoxify, it is really difficult to handle this matter without five thousand taels of silver."
"You...!" Dou Lianzhong took a breath, "Qining, are you selling antiques? You want five thousand taels from me for a bowl of broken medicine?"
"Brother Dou, be careful what you say." Qi Ning's face darkened, "This is the medicine given by the emperor, and it is the recipe that the emperor found with great effort. If you say this is a broken medicine, where do you put the emperor?" he said loudly. : "Just pretend you didn't hear anything. Mr. Dou just made a mistake, and he was definitely not telling the truth. Please don't spread the word."
Dou Lianzhong's face suddenly turned blue. Seeing Qi Ning's seriousness, he immediately clenched his fists. He was so angry that he wanted to punch him.