Chapter 40: million deaths? How cruel!
Song.

Unlike Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, who had just begun to understand the horrific power of smallpox.

The Emperor of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng, has already seen this deeply.

What a terrible plague smallpox was.

By the time of the Song Dynasty, smallpox had broken out many times and had claimed the lives of countless people throughout Chinese history.

At this moment, he saw this terrified plague on the sky.

Song Zhenzong couldn't help but burst into tears.

He thought of his crown prince Zhao You.

Zhao You, whom he loved deeply, was infected with smallpox at the age of nine and eventually died.

Even Crown Prince Zhao You, who had grown up in the deep palace and was well protected, contracted smallpox and died.

The ordinary people outside have no isolation conditions.

How did they die after encountering smallpox?

Song Zhenzong was actually very clear about this.

After all, his prime minister Wang Dan had eight sons, all of whom died of smallpox.

Even when Wang Dan gave birth to her ninth son, he specially sent famous doctors to help Wang Dan's family prevent smallpox.

"Tianmu, if you can really lead the people of Song Dynasty to defeat smallpox."

"I will definitely build an altar so that people all over the world can worship you day and night!"

As he spoke, Song Zhenzong couldn't help but feel full of regret.

If smallpox could really be defeated, it would be if the sky curtain could appear earlier.

Wouldn’t his own prince not die prematurely?

Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty was the dynasty that knew the most about smallpox, feared the most, and was also the best at preventing and controlling smallpox.

Because of the remarkable results of prevention and control, Qianlong seemed a little disapproving when he saw on the ceiling that there were special methods to prevent smallpox.

Qianlong told Jiaqing and several close ministers around him about the events of the Qing Dynasty in the past.

"Smallpox is a very dangerous plague."

"After entering the country, our Qing dynasty is invincible and we are not afraid of anything!"

"If there's anything I'm afraid of, it's only smallpox."

"The great hero who conquered the world during the Qing Dynasty, the fifteenth son of Emperor Taizu, Prince Yu Duoduo!"

"He died of smallpox at the young age of thirty-five."

"The regent Dorgon was so frightened that he ordered that all residents of the capital who had not had smallpox, as well as all outsiders, should get out of the capital!"

"Although many people died, smallpox was finally under control."

"Then Emperor Shunzhi felt that it was very dangerous because he had never had smallpox."

"So they didn't dare to meet the leaders of the Mongolian tribes."

"Alas, great-grandfather has done his best to avoid smallpox."

"Every time there was an outbreak of smallpox in the capital, he would immediately go to the Smallpox Villa to rest."

"But he died of smallpox in the end. He was only 24 years old, so young!"

The elderly Qianlong was able to recall the past events more and more clearly.

He then asked Jiaqing who was standing beside him:
"Yongyan, do you know why Emperor Kangxi was able to inherit the throne?"

Jiaqing actually knew why in his heart.

However, seeing that Qianlong looked like he wanted to show off, he cooperated and shook his head ignorantly.

"I don't know..."

Qianlong laughed, pointed to his face and said:

"It's because of the pockmarks on Emperor Kangxi's face!"

"It proves that he had smallpox when he was young!"

"He will no longer die prematurely from smallpox."

"So this was taken into consideration when choosing the person to inherit the throne."

"In the end, Emperor Kangxi was enthroned as the emperor, and it turned out to be the right choice." "He was the emperor for a full sixty years."

After reviewing the history of the Qing Dynasty's fight against smallpox, Qianlong said with some disdain.

"If it was during the Shunzhi and Kangxi periods, and the sky curtain told how to fight smallpox, it would have been a great achievement."

"But now, under my rule, the Qing Dynasty has basically defeated smallpox, so there is no need for the sky curtain anymore."

Qianlong was somewhat disapproving.

And a little proud.

Because since Emperor Kangxi promoted the smallpox method, there has not been a large-scale smallpox outbreak in the entire Qing Dynasty for many years.

The survival rate of the princes dropped from less than 40 percent.

It soared to about eighty percent!
Qianlong also didn't think that anyone could do better than his own Qing Dynasty on the sky screen!

"The smallpox method of our Qing Dynasty is already perfect. There is no need to learn those fancy tricks on the sky screen."

But since I had nothing to do, I continued to watch the sky screen.

[Before we talk about how to prevent and treat smallpox, let us first briefly introduce smallpox. ]

[Smallpox, this is a beautiful name. ]

[If someone doesn’t know it, they might think it’s some kind of flower? ]

[But in fact, smallpox is one of the most terrifying viruses in human history, and it has accompanied almost the entire history of mankind! ]

[Archaeological research has found that the smallpox virus appeared in Africa 10,000 years ago.]

[Scars unique to the smallpox virus were also found on the mummies of later Egyptian pharaohs.]

【Once infected with smallpox. 】

[In mild cases, the patient may suffer disfigurement, blindness, or disability.]

[In severe cases, the whole body becomes ulcerated, the skin and internal organs fall off, and death occurs within a few days.]

[Overall, the mortality rate of smallpox virus is close to 30%! ]

[During the Eastern Han Dynasty, smallpox spread to the land of China.]

[During the Age of Exploration, the smallpox virus spread throughout the world along with European colonists.]

[Large-scale smallpox outbreaks occurred in America, Australia and other places where smallpox virus had not previously been found, causing the deaths of tens of millions of people.]

[The indigenous people of the mainland, who had never had smallpox, had no resistance to this ancient and deadly virus.]

[Almost all of them were infected and then died collectively.]

[According to incomplete statistics, more than 90% of the entire Native American population. ]

[More than 60 percent of the indigenous population of Australia and the Pacific Islands died from smallpox.]

[The Shunzhi and possibly the Tongzhi emperors of the Qing dynasty died of smallpox.]

[In Europe, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, French King Louis XV, British Queen Mary II, and Russian Tsar Peter II also died of smallpox.]

[In the long history of mankind, smallpox has killed at least 300 million people, and even up to 500 million people! ]

……

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng was shocked.

As an emperor ruling a country, Ying Zheng naturally knew that plague was a terrible disaster.

But Ying Zheng never thought about it.

There is a kind of plague that is so terrifying!
It can actually cause more than 90% of the people in an entire continent to die from it!

It can actually kill hundreds of millions of people!

Just hearing these shocking numbers is enough to scare everyone.

In addition, when the sky screen plays the video, it is also accompanied by some pictures for explanation.

It also allowed ancient people who didn't know about smallpox to see the tragic situation after being infected with the smallpox virus.

Even an emperor like Ying Zheng, who could remain calm even when facing a huge disaster, said in shock and fear:
“Too fierce!”

"How cruel the smallpox virus is!"

(End of this chapter)