Two hundred and sixty-two days, the depressed Lin Motian
Cremation was very common among common people during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. After Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the Ming Dynasty, he believed that cremation was a "Hu custom" and vigorously promoted burial and banned cremation. However, by the middle and late Ming Dynasty in the southern region, some funeral customs had emerged
The trend of "violating etiquette", such as suspending funerals and not burying, and private cremations are all manifestations of this trend. However, those who suspend funerals and not bury are mostly out of considerations of finding geomantic treasures, while those who oppose cremation are mostly Confucian believers with strict family traditions.
The degree of overlap between the two types of people is not low. Most of the people who choose cremation are those who cannot tolerate the extravagant funeral customs in the late Ming Dynasty or cannot afford to buy a Feng Shui treasure land as a cemetery. In short, they are families with poor economic conditions.
In the minds of many people at that time: cremating corpses was a treatment reserved only for the poor, those who died of cold and starvation, and those on death row who had no one to bury them. Comparing the two, they must be those who opposed cremation and those who refused to stop mourning.
There was even greater opposition and incitement to those who were buried - not to mention that he would exhume and burn the corpses of those who had already been buried!
There was little opposition from the elders to the plan to cremate the corpses of the deceased. This gave Lin Motian, who didn't care much about public opinion, the illusion that "everyone is supporting this". In the early stages of the implementation of the policy, he encountered sporadic resistance.
He also felt that this was just a temporary backlash of the people against the policy and was nothing to worry about, but he did not expect that the contradiction had become increasingly acute.
Ancient China did not have no relief measures for frequent plagues. On the contrary, the feudal government would also intervene in plagues among the people by applying medicine, praying to gods, setting up charitable organizations, etc. Although due to the wrong direction of theoretical guidance, it often had no effect.
It’s not big, but compared to the current methods of room disinfection and forced cremation adopted by Lin Motian, it obviously has a more obvious charitable nature and is more easily accepted by the people. Originally, except for a few naturalized citizens from Hainan and those who have received modern medical assistance
Local citizens and ordinary people have fears and doubts about the modern diagnosis and treatment methods brought by the Senate. Coupled with these coercive "tyranny", if it were not for the Fubo army to suppress the battle, his policy would not be able to be implemented. In fact, even in
With the current full support of the Fubo Army, the situation he faces is already very unfavorable.
"Throw away the nut, I'm just a health worker, how could I get involved in changing customs..." Lin Motian looked distressedly at the public opinion report posted below: the family members of the deceased secretly dumped and buried the bodies.
; The old man who committed suicide to avoid being cremated; the one who accused the epidemic prevention team members of "breaking into the house to spy on women" - some women even hung themselves for this; the one who resisted the isolation and blockade measures with force; the one who tried to escape from the quarantine area on Cheung Chau Island and drowned on the way;
Rumors were spread that the quarantine policy meant locking up people and starving them to death, and some even said that the Senate was burning people alive to perform witchcraft...
The publicity center has urgently launched a larger-scale publicity offensive. The publicity team of the Comprehensive Management Office and a large number of old and new public opinion agents invested by Qin Yuanlao are everywhere in the streets and alleys, Goulan Teahouse, preaching the pathogenic principles of plague, transmission routes and the need for isolation.
This has alleviated some of the initially tense atmosphere. However, it is impossible to carry out precise management of policy implementation at a low administrative level. We can only adopt a "one size fits all" approach that is easy to understand and implement at the grassroots level. In this way, "one catch" will inevitably occur.
It’s an old problem that it will die and cause chaos if it is released.”
Under this "one size fits all" policy, the whole of Guangzhou has been thrown into chaos. Lin Motian doesn't know much about history. He still knows that the Jiangnan Civil War happened in the early Qing Dynasty because of the issue of braids - he can't do it because of himself.
If there is strong force as the backing, he underestimates the will of the citizens to resist. Although in Guangzhou, no matter the National Army, the Ba Dao Team, the White Horse Team or the National Police, they all must obey his command. If there is a large-scale riot, he only needs to give the order.
He will never hesitate to suppress these violent machines. But he will also bear the consequences of shooting. If the resistance of Guangzhou citizens to his health policy triggers large-scale riots - the death of a few people will certainly be nothing to him as a veteran -
―If you make a comment about being impatient at work and provoking a civil uprising, you won’t be able to manage any work independently in the future.
What to do? Lin Motian looked at the "Public Opinion Report" and "Daily Epidemic Prevention Report" piled up on the table, feeling tormented in his heart.
Do you want to relax? This thought has been lingering in his mind. Anyway, there are many wastelands in this time and space. In the outer suburbs, a barren hill was designated as a cemetery for the deceased. The corpses were buried deep, and barbed wire was pulled around the cemetery...
In this way, although there is still a mandatory funeral policy, at least the bodies will no longer need to be cremated, and the opposition pressure faced in epidemic prevention will be much less.
As soon as this thought came to him, he could no longer sit still, opened the map curtain on the wall, and began to study it carefully.
He was meditating when the correspondent sent him the latest letter. Lin Motian read it briefly and found that one of them was sent from the laboratory of Lingao General Hospital - he couldn't help but cheered up, the test report came out
.!
Last week, he sent captured mouse tissue samples collected from Dongshanju and various locations across the city back to the General Hospital in Lingao for bacterial culture to determine the source of the plague bacteria.
He quickly opened the report, and the test report confirmed his estimate: Yersinia pestis was found in the culture of tissue samples of mice captured in Dongshan Jushang. Yersinia pestis was not detected in tissue culture of mice from other places.
"Damn it!" He slammed the table and shouted, "Somebody come here!"
The secretary immediately appeared at the door.
"You draft an order, and the recipient is the commander of the quarantine camp on Cheung Chau Island. Instruct him to burn the Dongshanju at the quarantine anchorage immediately after receiving it. It must be burned completely, and not a single board is allowed to be left! Do you understand?
"
"Yes, Chief!"
"Order the Epidemic Prevention Brigade to send all the seized goods, money-making items, and clothing related to Xingfushan Goods Company and Dongshanju Warehouse to Liuhuaqiao for burning."
"yes!"
After the secretary left, Lin Motian slumped down in his chair. It was indeed a happy thing that the direct source of infection was cut off. However, since the plague had spread, the epidemic would never subside - he had a premonition that the epidemic would end soon.
The climax has not yet arrived.
Once the epidemic escalates, the anti-epidemic measures will need to be further upgraded. Thinking of the conflicts that will follow, Lin Motian has a headache.
Should he give up the policy of cremating those who died of illness? Lin Motian was struggling with the map. Suddenly the secretary came in again. She was a little excited and stammered: "Report... report, Chief, Wen, Chief Wen is here!"
Lin Motian was shocked. Among the dozens of elders in Guangdong, there was only one named Wen. That was the district chief of Guangdong Region and the civil affairs director of the Military Control Commission. Wen De, who was also designated as the Propaganda and Consolation Envoy of the Song Dynasty and Guangdong, was Wen De.
―The highest local chief executive of Guangdong.
After Wen Desi arrived in Guangzhou, he rarely appeared at local government work meetings. Although he often appeared in various public occasions, such as the commendation meeting for naturalized cadres and the founding meeting of the Guangzhou Federation of Industry and Commerce... But in terms of specific government affairs, Guangzhou city
Mr. Wen's sense of presence is very thin. Including the last witchcraft case that caused a storm in the city, he only "visited Comrade Liu Xiang after the incident and told Comrade Liu Xiang to take care of himself and strengthen his studies." The investigation and trial of the entire case are as follows:
There is no participation or "guidance". It's all about governing from the top. As a result, the naturalized cadres in Guangzhou "only know that there is Mayor Liu, but they don't know that there is District Mayor Wen."
In Lin Motian's view, it is a good thing that Mr. Wen rarely interferes with Guangzhou. Since ancient times, it has been the most difficult for a county magistrate to attach himself to Guo, let alone the provincial capital of Guo! The "mother-in-law" above likes to point fingers, so it is difficult for local leaders to do things. Mr. Wen also
It can be regarded as supporting Liu Xiang's work with practical actions.
"Please come in quickly." Lin Motian quickly tidied up his wrinkled clothes - he had not had a normal bath and rest for a week.
One of the benefits of being a doctor is that the elders basically know each other and have good relationships with each other - this is naturally because no one in this time and space dares to offend the doctor.
"Mr. Wen——" Lin Motian stepped forward to greet him.
"Old Lin, don't be polite." Wen Desi held his hand and looked at his face, "You don't look good, you should pay attention to rest."
"Thank you, Mr. Wen, for caring about me. How can I sleep..." Although Lin Motian knew that this was just a cliché from the leader, Wen Desi was the first person to care about his health these days, and he couldn't help but feel a little touched in his heart.
"Epidemic prevention work does not happen overnight. How can we carry out epidemic prevention work if our body is damaged?" Wen Desi said with a smile, "Sit down, sit down."
The two of them sat down on the sofa, which was considered the most luxurious piece of furniture in Lin Motian's office, so that they could take a short nap anytime and anywhere.
Lin Motian knew that Wen Desi came to his office specially through the streets where the plague spread. Naturally, he did not come to inquire about the epidemic. He probably wanted to understand the development of the epidemic. He immediately organized his thoughts and began to introduce the epidemic to Wen Desi.
. He gave a brief introduction to the current situation, the countermeasures taken, and the problems encountered. In particular, he mentioned the various obstacles encountered in the current cremation of corpses of deceased persons and the investigation into households.
"...I used to think that these old customs were just ridiculous, but now it seems that they are really like golden rules in the minds of ordinary people..." He went on to talk about an old man who was cremated and committed suicide because he was worried about getting sick and dying.
, "I really can't understand that even if he is dying, life will still continue. What's more, he has not contracted the disease at all! Just to ensure that there will be a coffin after death, he will end his life - I really can't understand this idea.
!”
Wen Desi lit a cigar and listened to his complaints with a slight smile.
"Because of the matter of cremating the corpse, countless people in Guangzhou are cursing me to 'die'!" Lin Motian couldn't help but get emotional when he thought of the post that the police had confiscated not long ago and described himself as a demon.