The Queen Mother felt particularly uncomfortable when she heard this, "Duke Jin, that is true, but burning the village means burning hundreds of lives in Stone Village. Some of them are innocent and they are not infected with the disease."
Duke Jin said suddenly, "Queen Dowager, no one wants to burn so many lives, but what can we do? Up to now, the imperial doctors and the Welfare Bureau have not been able to come up with a way to deal with the epidemic. People have already speculated that this is not an epidemic at all, but a riot by ghosts and demons, and that it is God's punishment for the Great Zhou. Once these rumors spread everywhere, they will surely cause chaos among the people. People with ulterior motives will take advantage of this rebellion to harm our Great Zhou. At that time, the Murong family's empire will really be in danger."
Taifu Liang pondered for a moment, then stepped out and said, "Empress Dowager, I agree with Duke Jin. This matter cannot be delayed any longer. If we delay it any further, we don't know what the consequences will be. If there is a civil strife in the Great Zhou, there is no guarantee that the Northern Desert will not be ready to make a move."
The Empress Dowager waved her hand and said, "Grandmaster, you are exaggerating. Beimo and our Great Zhou have signed a peace treaty."
Taifu Liang said, "Queen Mother, how many monarchs have torn up agreements throughout history? I'm afraid you can't even count them all. My Great Zhou has beautiful mountains and rivers, fertile fields and high mountains. In the eyes of other nations, it's a piece of fat pork, and they are all eyeing it covetously. If my Great Zhou is in civil strife due to the epidemic, it will be a good time for them to invade. Why would they care about peace treaties?"
Lord Cui said, "What the Grand Master said is not without reason, but burning the village is not a good idea after all. It involves too many lives. If we burn down Shitou Village, what about the soldiers in the army? What about the people in Northwest Street? Should we burn them all together?"
The Grand Tutor pondered for a moment, "If there is really no other way, we have to do it. It is better than letting the epidemic spread blindly."
The party of the Grand Tutor came out one after another, "I beg the Queen Mother and the Prince to issue an order to burn down the Stone Village to stop the spread of the epidemic."
This kneeling made one-third of the ministers kneel down, creating a threatening momentum.
Murong Jie looked calmly at the crowd of heads below, and a storm suddenly arose in his eyes.
Xiao Xiao said coldly: "The words of the Grand Tutor that he had no choice are really chilling. I just wonder how you would feel if the Grand Tutor was infected with the disease and others said they wanted to burn you to death?"
The Grand Tutor said righteously, "If I am infected with the disease and it harms others, I will ask to be burned to death, so as not to stay in the world and harm others."
Xiao Xiao said: "Hasn't that happened to the Grand Master yet? If it happens, I'm afraid the Grand Master won't say that."
The Grand Tutor looked at Xiao Xiao and said, "General Xiao, what you said really disappoints me. You are a general in the court and a close minister, but you said something so selfish. If everyone in the Great Zhou was just concerned about saving their own lives like you, our Great Zhou would have perished long ago."
Xiao Xiao sneered, "Grandmaster, what you mean is that the reason why the Great Zhou can be so stable and prosperous today is not because of the national defense line built with the blood and lives of the frontier soldiers, but because of people like you who have such a thoughtful mind?"
When the Queen Mother heard that the two were about to quarrel, she couldn't help but frown and asked, "Ah Jie, what do you think?"
She is a woman with a soft spot for things to happen, so she still has to listen to his opinions on these national affairs.
Murong Jie looked at Prime Minister Xia, "What do you think, Prime Minister?"
Prime Minister Xia seemed to have not expected Murong Jie to ask him this question, and hesitated for a moment, "Your Majesty, I think burning the village is not an effective measure."
"Then what is the effective measure?" Murong Jie asked again.
Prime Minister Xia stepped out and said, "I think the only good strategy is to find a way to contain the epidemic."
Duke Jin sneered, "Who wouldn't say that, Prime Minister? But the imperial doctors and the Huimin Office don't have a good prescription. No, let alone a good prescription, they don't even know what the epidemic is called or where it came from. There are rumors among the people that your daughter Xia Zian knows how to treat this epidemic, but I also heard that the Prime Minister protects his daughter and doesn't want her to go to the epidemic area."
Prime Minister Xia was stunned for a moment, and said unnaturally: "Who told you this? It's not true. My daughter is just a girl in seclusion. How can she know any medical skills?"
Duke Jin snorted, "Prime Minister Xia, don't be so modest. Xia Zian cured the King of Liang's epilepsy and even cured the prince's serious injury in just a few days. Isn't this enough to prove her medical skills are superb?"
The Queen Mother was overjoyed when she heard this and looked at Prime Minister Xia, "My dear, does Zi'an really know how to treat this epidemic?"
Prime Minister Xia hesitated for a moment, "In reply to the Queen Mother, she did say that she was somewhat confident, but she was only somewhat confident, not completely confident."
"Really? Did she really say that?" the Queen Mother asked excitedly.
Prime Minister Xia nodded, "Yes."
But Taifu Liang said, "Prime Minister, this is not the time to take advantage of opportunities and gain merit. Don't talk nonsense."
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Xia's face flushed with anger. "What do you mean, Grand Tutor? Am I the kind of person who would seek meritorious service in the face of national crisis?"
Duke Jin immediately said, "Although people outside say that Xia Zian knows how to treat the epidemic, I don't believe it. If Xia Zian knew how to treat the epidemic, he would have come out long ago. Why wait until now? I am not trying to stop you, Prime Minister, from making a contribution, but this matter is very serious. You blindly gave everyone hope and made the Queen Mother and the Prince make the wrong judgment. If the epidemic spreads significantly, you, Prime Minister Xia, will not be able to get enough heads even if you have a hundred heads."
Prime Minister Xia was so angry that he was shaking. "Duke Jin, please don't go too far. I will sign a military order for my daughter here. If she cannot develop a good remedy for the epidemic within half a month, you will give her your head."
Prince Li had been silent the whole time, but when he heard Prime Minister Xia's words, he couldn't help but frown, "You signed a military order for Xia Zian, but you want to present Xia Zian's head? This is against the rules. The head on the military order must have the three words Xia Zian replaced with Xia Huaijun to be in accordance with the rules."
Prime Minister Xia's expression suddenly changed.
Murong Jie looked at the prince standing aside calmly, "Prince, please tell me your opinion as well."
The prince has been playing the role of an idler, and did not take today's events too seriously. He was still thinking about the affairs of the Hu family. Ever since the incident with Xia Wan'er, he went to invite Hu Huanxi yesterday, but was rejected. He was very angry, but he knew that everything was Xia Wan'er's fault.
So, when he heard Murong Jie's question, he suddenly remembered the Taifu's instructions and said, "I think that if we want to issue a military order, we should issue it with Xia Zian's head and Prime Minister Xia's hat. This is the only way to be fair."
Prime Minister Xia raised his head and looked at the prince with complicated eyes.
The Queen Mother said unhappily, "Just let Zi'an go and treat him. Why do you need to issue a military order?"
The Grand Tutor said, "Empress Dowager, it's actually good to issue a military order. At least, it can make Xia Zian spare no effort to develop a good prescription. If there is no pressure, she may not be dedicated."
The Queen Mother looked at Murong Jie again, "What do you think?"
Murong Jie hasn't expressed much of an opinion today, and his expression seems very cold, as if what is being discussed today has little to do with him.
However, in fact, everyone knows that he is now in a difficult situation. If the epidemic is not contained, it will really cause riots.
Therefore, burning the village was actually a good thing for Murong Jie.
(End of this chapter)