Chapter 15 - Unruly counselors

 Getting back to the palace, Ding Qi assembles with his counselors, to trace a plan to fight the epidemic, and also present to them the plan Zhang Yi has:

-I was unaware that our land is being threatened by a new disease. I have some guests from Zhejiang that received this information from peasants and travelers in Jiangxi. They are searching for evidence, and have already found some. I think this disease is spreading within all the Anhui empire, and also that the emperor was not aware of it because the kings are not reporting or are not aware too. I sent a correspondence to the Emperor, and it should be arriving soon. 

-Majesty is great!- The counselors bow and praise him.

-You may rise. I want to question you about what should we do to stop it. Zhejiang's Health Minister proposed a total shut down in the city, except for sectors that are deemed essential. 

The counselors raise eyebrows:

-But how can we do it? It has never been done before, maybe during wartime.

-That's exactly what I think Zhang Yi is thinking: implement wartime measures, as we are expected to fight the disease early on. 

Everyone holds an unintelligible talk. Ding Qi gets up:

-I think Zhang Yi's solution is viable, given that the commercial route will be kept open. Some businesses may suffer, but we can prevent more losses by taking it to the heart and convincing people it is important, so it solves itself quicker.

-But at what cost, majesty? How many people are expected to die? - The counselor of finance asks. 

-All the knowledge we have so far is very limited, but based on what we are seeing in our hospital, it is about 3 dead for every 100 infected.

Suddenly, most of the counselors start to laugh. Ding Qi is confused:

-Hahaha, please majesty, this is by far a non-issue. This is not enough, your probability of dying from a stray arrow is higher than that. 

Ding Qi silences, them talks again:

-Yes, it is just three people among a hundred. But we don't know yet if the other 97 will recover fully and live normally after it. Zhang Yi strongly suggested that avoiding infection was the best way to keep it under control until a healing potion is made. 

-Please, majesty, let's face it: those guests are from Zhejiang. Their emperor tried to annex Huangshan a long time ago, this can be a strategy to undermine our progress.- One counselor talks.

-Preposterous! Zhejiang has a new emperor, in the last ten years, we have never been threatened by them. This new emperor seems to be happy with what he has. He has sent his health minister and the prince in good faith, unguarded, willing to cooperate and solve this problem.

-Majesty, this is all made up. 

-How can it be all made up when our hospital is full of sick people, which symptoms are very similar? 

-Majesty, we had the worst flood in decades. It is normal for people to get sick when they work in the cold, muddy fields, and have almost no food.- The health counselor argues.

-Well, I can't convince you about doing that, so how about asking people to protect their faces? Zhang Yi suggested that all of us must be using a type of face cover made of silk and filled with cotton, he said it may help reduce the number of people getting infected.

-Their recommendation is silly, if it does not protect people at all times, it should not be enforced!

One by one, the counselors seem not to agree with nothing Ding Qi is proposing:

-Well, so what's your plan? I'll not force you to choose anything, I brought some ideas, we discussed them and you said they are not useful.

The health counselor comes up with an idea:

-Why not let it spread? Sure we will lose some people, but just realize how expensive is it going to be! This is how we have fought epidemics in numerous states of the Anhui empire. The real death rate was always ten to a hundred times smaller.

-This is not right. This is not the beauty of governance I'm trying to achieve. We can do better.

-We can't. If the disease is already there, let's nature follow its course. It's gonna be quicker, cheaper, and certain that this will not last long.

-But how about our neighbors? What if they try to keep it under control, but we don't? 

-This is a matter of individual freedom, Majesty. If you want to not get infected, you try to avoid it. No one else should do it for you.

-But... You!

-This is just what most of us think. As your counselors, we have never failed in giving you the right advice. Please take it to your heart, this disease will burn itself out like any other. We'll take our leave.

Ding Qi let the counselors exit the room. He was not happy with the results, but as he has accorded with them beforehand, he can't make a unilateral decision like most kings and emperors usually do:

-It was a mistake to invite those people... I can't really change their minds... maybe Zhang Yi can do something...

...

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