Emperor Zhaolie of the late Han Dynasty: Rising to power in Liaoxi

Chapter 24 The Great Plague of Xiping

In the spring of the second year of Xiping, in the first month.

The snow had not yet melted, and the north wind, carrying a chill, swept across every inch of the Central Plains.

This should have been the season for spring plowing and planting, a time of renewal and revival for all things. However, an invisible yet deadly plague, originating in Luoyang, swept across the entire land with overwhelming force, dragging the whole Han Dynasty into an endless hell.

Historical records state, "In the first month of spring in the second year of the Xiping era, a great plague spread throughout the land, and the dead lay piled one on top of another." Behind these few words lie the remains of millions of people, a catastrophe unseen in centuries.

Luoyang, the capital city, was once the most prosperous place in the world, but now it has become a living hell.

Zhuque Street, once bustling with traffic and lined with shops, is now only filled with closed doors and paper money scattered in the wind.

The signs of taverns and teahouses were covered in dust, the shouts of vendors in the market had completely disappeared, and even the beggars on the streets were nowhere to be seen. Only stray dogs roamed around, gnawing on the unburied corpses by the roadside.

The inner palace was deathly silent. Although Emperor Ling of Han was in the highest position, he could not escape the plague. The concubines, eunuchs and palace servants died one after another from the disease.

Even the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital were too busy to prepare medicine, and could only watch helplessly as people died one by one.

The once solemn and dignified imperial court is now filled with unease and fear.

All the officials gathered at Deyang Hall, but not even half of them could be present. Many officials died of illness, and many more stayed indoors, fearing they might catch the plague.

Situ Liu He held the urgent reports from various states, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

The documents on his desk were piled up like a mountain, each one filled with the tragic details of "the number of deaths from the epidemic" and "the sharp decline in household registrations," which brought tears to his eyes.

Grand Commandant Zhang Hao, his face ashen, sighed bitterly to the assembled officials: "In the Central Plains, more than half the population has died from the plague, counties are deserted, even Luoyang is in such a state. I fear the world is about to descend into chaos!"

Liu Hong sat on the dragon throne, his face gloomy.

Although he was engrossed in amusement, he also understood the severity of the plague.

Aside from sending imperial messengers with medicine to various prefectures and ordering local governments to offer sacrifices to the mountains and rivers for blessings, he, as the ruler of the land, had no effective solutions whatsoever.

The three highest officials and the rest of the court looked at each other in bewilderment. No one dared to speak out and offer advice. Even the imperial physicians were at a loss. What could they do?

They could only watch helplessly as the epidemic worsened, and the coffin shops in Luoyang worked day and night, but still could not meet the demand.

Many families could only wrap the bodies in straw mats and hastily bury them in the mass graves outside the city.

The clutches of the plague did not stop in the Central Plains.

The densely populated provinces of Ji, Yan, and Yu were the first to be turned into a living hell.

Ye City, the capital of Ji Province, was originally an important town in Hebei Province. However, after the outbreak of the epidemic, the number of deaths in the city exceeded 10,000 in just half a month. Even the government offices were forced to move outside the city for fear of contracting the disease.

In the city's streets and alleys, every household kept their doors and windows tightly shut. Some people, unable to bear the hunger any longer, secretly opened their doors to buy food, but within half a day, they developed a high fever, coughed up blood, collapsed on the street, and were quickly forgotten.

Many villages have been completely reduced to ruins. The villages that were once filled with the smoke of cooking fires are now just broken walls and rubble. The sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking have ceased, and wild grass has grown rampant in the fields, covering up the traces of corpses.

Youzhou, located in the northern frontier, thought it could escape the calamity because it was far away from the Central Plains, but the plague spread northward along the footsteps of refugees, caravans, and postal workers.

Upon receiving news of the epidemic, Qiao Xuan, the governor of Youzhou, immediately summoned the officials of Youzhou to discuss countermeasures.

Faced with the raging plague, everyone was helpless.

Youzhou was already impoverished and constantly harassed by the Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes, making its people already suffering. Now, with the outbreak of a major epidemic, even basic food supplies are hard to come by, let alone medicine.

Jicheng, the capital of Youzhou, was the first to report an emergency.

The first cases of illness appeared in the areas where refugees gathered in the city.

Those people who fled from inside the pass were already ragged and starving, and their physical condition was weak. Once they contracted the disease, it was even more difficult for them to survive.

In just five days, hundreds of people in Jicheng died from the epidemic. The bodies piled up like mountains, and there was a shortage of coffins, so they had to dig large pits to bury them all together.

Inside the governor's mansion, Qiao Xuan received news of deaths every day. He was filled with sorrow and fear, but faced with an incurable situation, everyone was helpless.

Subsequently, Qiao Xuan had no choice but to order the city gates to be sealed off to prevent refugees from entering the city, but this still could not stop the spread of the plague.

Officials at all levels in Youzhou had different attitudes, but none of them could escape the shadow of fear.

Some officials in the prefecture stayed indoors, letting the epidemic spread, fearing they would catch the plague and lose their lives.

Some fled with their families to remote villages, abandoning their official posts.

The entire Youzhou was plunged into unprecedented panic. People were terrified of the epidemic, and some stayed at home, afraid to have contact with outsiders.

Some people, however, adopted a "leave it to fate" attitude and wandered around, accelerating the spread of the epidemic.

Amidst this panic, what is most despairing is the terror of the plague itself.

It has no fixed route of infection, yet it is ubiquitous.

Some people only brushed past an infected person and inhaled a breath of their breath, and then developed a high fever the next day.

Some people die suddenly within three days simply from touching clothes contaminated with the plague-infected air while helping their family members collect the remains.

Some people even contracted the disease after drinking polluted river water or eating improperly stored food.

The details of the onset of the disease are even more shocking.

Those infected initially show no symptoms, but in an instant, they will develop a high fever that burns their skin.

Even lying on the remaining snow and drinking a whole ladle of cold water couldn't relieve the heat; they could only writhe and writhe in agony.

Immediately afterwards, the coughing and wheezing were like being cut by knives, and it felt as if a huge boulder was pressing on my chest, with each breath accompanied by a tearing pain.

Within three days, the patient's body will turn bluish-purple and stiff, with bruises under the skin, and the fingers will curl into claws and become unable to straighten.

As they approach their deathbed, black, foul-smelling blood will spill from their mouths and noses, and their bodies will rapidly swell and decompose, resulting in an extremely gruesome death.

Even more terrifying is that once a family contracts the disease, the entire family is often wiped out, including three generations of grandparents, grandchildren, spouses, and children, none of whom are spared.

Neighbors dared not collect the body; they could only watch from afar as the remains rotted and stinked, attracting stray dogs to gnaw on them.

Some wealthy merchant families spent all their money on medicine and coffins, but they still couldn't stop the plague. Overnight, their entire families were wiped out.

Some impoverished people, already struggling to find enough to eat, were left without care after contracting the disease. They could only lie in their dilapidated houses, listening to their coughs and wheezing gradually weaken, until they finally died in silence.

There are young children who cry out for their parents, but can only watch as their loved ones fall one by one, eventually becoming orphans and wandering the streets, ultimately unable to escape the misfortune of contracting disease.

Apart from the patients, everyone was enveloped in fear.

To escape the plague, the nobles and nobles of Luoyang fled to their villas in the suburbs, but some still contracted the disease along the way. Even their guards dared not approach them and could only leave them to fend for themselves.

In order to preserve their bloodlines, powerful families in the Central Plains sent their children to remote places, but even so, many of them still died of disease.

Even the soldiers who had been guarding the border for years lost their former ferocity in the face of the plague, and many secretly fled the camp, fearing that they would be afflicted by the plague.

On the second day of the second lunar month, the day the dragon raises its head, a chilling urgent report came from the outposts on the western Liaoning border.

In Xibao, Linyu County, several refugees who had fled from the interior of the pass died on the spot after suffering from high fever and persistent coughing and wheezing as soon as they crossed the border.

Even more frighteningly, the villagers who had come into contact with them quickly developed the same symptoms. In just one day, seven households became infected, and three people died suddenly.

The news traveled along the post road all the way to Yangle City, instantly shattering the peace of western Liaoning.