Man Bao Bai Shan and Bai Erlang saw Yin You and Liu Huan at the gate of the palace, the five of them looked at each other, then lowered their heads and followed the servant who came to lead them into the palace.
Man Bao and Bai Shan held something in their hands, and the guards wanted to open it for inspection, Man Bao said: "This is a record about cowpox."
As for the box in Bai Shan's hand, he said: "This is our annual gift to His Majesty and Empress."
The guards just glanced at them, and then opened the box to check, making sure that there was no sharp weapon before putting the person in.
As soon as they left, the guards couldn't help whispering, "You're really rich."
The servants also knew that they had brought gifts to the emperor, so they reminded them in a low voice when they were halfway there: "Your Majesty is in a good mood, and His Highness Prince Gong and the princesses are eating breakfast with you."
Man Bao woke up immediately and gave him a grateful look, and Bai Shan even stuffed a box of purses into his hands.
The servant refused to accept. The people in this palace have received Zhou Man's kindness to some extent. Even if they don't need it now, they will need it in the future. So unless the master expressly makes things difficult for the other party, they will not want to make things difficult for Zhou Man.
Bai Shan could only take back his purse, and followed the servant all the way to Tai Chi Hall.
The emperor is not in the main hall, but in the study at the back.
As soon as Man Bao and the others entered, they found that Prince Gong was also there. He was sitting on a table writing. Man Bao and the others glanced at him and thought that he must have been punished for writing.
The five of them quickly looked away and knelt down to salute the emperor.
The emperor raised his gaze from the desk and glanced at them, and then he saw the two boxes on the ground, then snorted softly and said, "It's pretty quick, I thought I'd call in the morning, maybe I won't see you until evening Woolen cloth."
Man Bao immediately took the lead to plead guilty, and said: "Your Majesty has a call, how dare the ministers neglect you."
"Then tell me about how you went on this trip to the Western Regions." The emperor stopped their conversation when he remembered something, "We don't talk about going, we just talk about coming back."
"Go, you have a lot of reasons, you asked for prescriptions along the way, I know, then when you come back, how did you manage to go to Shazhou with General Ashina, and set off from Shazhou on the same day, but you are so different. He's late...how many days?"
He turned to ask Gu Zhong.
Gu Zhong bowed and whispered back: "Twenty-six days."
"You did this so that you arrived in the capital twenty-six days later than General Ashina? This is enough for people to go back and forth to the Western Regions."
Man Bao added: "At most, we can only go back and forth to Shazhou."
The emperor was angry, "Isn't Shazhou not west enough? You walked from Shazhou to the capital for 26 days, which is the time of two trips. How dare you talk back?"
Everyone bowed their heads and knelt down honestly, Bai Shan pleaded guilty and said: "It's the minister who was delayed on the road. This time I returned to Beijing and brought veterans who had been vaccinated. They were wounded, or old and weak, and they were riding ox carts, so the speed is much slower.”
The emperor frowned, "Is there no one in Anxi? How can I use a group of veterans to vaccinate?"
Man Bao explained: "At that time, the war was raging, and vaccinating the cowpox was a matter of life and death, so it had to be done willingly."
Although the emperor still wanted to scold them, he also felt that the business was important, so he reluctantly raised his hand to get them up to answer, and asked, "How is the cowpox thing going?"
Man Bao immediately opened the box, took out two brochures and a stack of thick paper and began to report work.
When the emperor heard that there was not a single death and that they were all immune to smallpox, he couldn't help being overjoyed, "Really?"
Man Bao replied yes, and handed in the brochure and materials.
The emperor flipped through it. He couldn't understand the pulse conditions recorded in the brochure, but he could see the appearance, such as fever, high fever, low fever, and acne, he could still understand.
The emperor carefully looked at the household registration and experience of the experimenters, knocked on the table, and asked, "You brought these people back to keep them locked up to see the situation?"
Man Bao: "... It is not necessary to close it. It has been more than three months since the vaccination. I want to observe for another three months to determine whether there are sequelae."
She said: "It's good if they can stay in the capital. It's okay if they don't want to stay in their hometown. Later, the magistrate will bring a doctor to consult with them, and it's okay to confirm the pulse and physical condition."
The emperor waved his hand and said: "Why is it so troublesome? Let the people in the inner treasury arrange for them. Since they are veterans, they should be able to raise horses and do some farming. I will arrange for them to go to the Huangzhuang."
Bai Shan couldn't help saying: "Your Majesty, they are injured and retired, they have already been discharged from the army."
"I didn't say to let them continue to serve as soldiers. They will stay in Huangzhuang to see the situation. The issue of cowpox is of great importance and cannot be ignored."
Once it is confirmed that vaccinia can be vaccinated, people in their Dajin may not get vaccinia in the future.
Bai Shan didn't object anymore.
Only then did the emperor ask about their return journey again, "With more people, you can walk more slowly, but come and tell me, how did you manage to be 26 days slower than General Ashina?"
He has slowed down by five or six days, which is already the limit. After all, although General Ashina is running fast, he is not made with iron, and it will take time to come back, okay
This time the five of them stopped making excuses and bowed their heads to admit their mistakes.
The emperor snorted coldly, stared at them for a while before looking at another box, and asked, "What is this?"
Bai Shan immediately picked up the box and said: "These are some local products collected by the ministers in the Western Regions and brought back specially for Your Majesty and Your Majesty. It just so happens that it is New Year's Day, so I want to present it to Your Majesty and Your Majesty as a New Year's gift. "
The emperor glanced at Gu Zhong, who immediately went down with a smile and picked up the box, and opened it for the emperor to see.
Inside are spices and precious stones, which are also boxed.
The emperor didn't like musk very much, but he liked styrax. At this time, there was a whole piece of styrax in the box. When he opened it, a faint fragrance wafted out slowly.
The emperor's face improved a lot, and he asked, "I heard people say that you also participated in the Western Conquest on the way to the Western Regions, and won a lot of spoils, right?"
Bai Shan immediately stated that all the booty had been handed over to General Ashina for registration and collection into the national treasury. After a pause, he explained: "In order to boost morale when re-attacking the King City of Kucha, the lieutenant general The collected spoils were distributed to the soldiers, encouraging them to attack the city."
He said: "Because the soldiers are fighting with their lives, the ministers can't break their promises, so they are not allowed to hand it in again, and this part is in the hands of the soldiers."
These generals Ashina have all reported back, the emperor nodded slightly, and asked after changing the subject: "Then where did you get these gemstones and spices?"
Bai Shan and the others answered confidently, "I bought it!"
"Really?" The emperor looked at them suspiciously, "You have so much money?"