Chapter 1889 - Lin Motian's Anguish
During the Song and Yuan dynasties, cremation was quite common among ordinary people. After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming dynasty, he considered cremation a "barbarian custom" and vigorously promoted burial while prohibiting cremation. But by the mid-to-late Ming period in southern regions, funeral customs had begun showing certain "improper" trends—leaving corpses unburied and private cremation were both expressions of this. However, leaving corpses unburied was mostly motivated by seeking sites with good feng shui, and those who opposed cremation were mostly Confucian believers with strict family traditions—these two groups overlapped significantly. Those who chose cremation were mostly people who couldn't bear late Ming's extravagant funeral customs or couldn't afford good feng shui burial sites—in short, families in poor economic circumstances.
In the views of many at the time, burning corpses was treatment reserved for the destitute, for those who froze or starved to death on roadsides, and for executed criminals with no one to bury them. By comparison, those who opposed cremation and those who left corpses unburied naturally wielded greater power of opposition and agitation—not to mention that he was also digging up already-buried disease-death corpses for burning!
The proposal to cremate disease-death corpses had encountered no opposition among the Elders. This gave Lin Motian, who didn't pay much attention to popular sentiment, the illusion that "everyone supports this." When he encountered sporadic resistance during initial policy implementation, he still thought it was merely temporary backlash from the people, not worth worrying about. He hadn't expected contradictions to sharpen so severely.
Ancient China wasn't without relief measures for frequent plagues—on the contrary, feudal governments intervened in popular epidemics through various means: distributing medicine, praying to gods, establishing charitable institutions. Though due to theoretically misguided directions, these often had little effect. But compared to Lin Motian's current methods of household disinfection and mandatory cremation, they clearly possessed a more obviously charitable nature and were easier for people to accept. Originally, aside from a minority of naturalized citizens from Hainan and local citizens who had received modern medical care, ordinary people were already fearful and suspicious of the modern medical methods brought by the Elders' Council. Add in these coercive "tyrannical policies," and if not for the Fubo Army providing backing, his policies would have been impossible to implement—in fact, even with the Fubo Army's full support, the situation he faced was already very unfavorable.
"Son of a... I'm just a healthcare worker—how did I get dragged into this 'changing customs' business..." Lin Motian looked with anguish at the Public Sentiment Reports sent up from below: family members of disease victims secretly dumping or burying corpses; elderly people committing suicide to avoid cremation; accusations of epidemic prevention team members "entering homes and peeping at women"—with women even hanging themselves over this; violent resistance to isolation and lockdown measures; people trying to escape from the Changzhou Island quarantine zone and drowning en route; rumors spreading that the isolation policy was about penning people up to starve—there was even talk that the Elders' Council was burning people alive for sorcery...
The Propaganda Department had already urgently launched a larger-scale publicity campaign. The joint governance office's propaganda teams and the large number of sentiment monitors—both new and old—deployed by Elder Qin had infiltrated street corners, brothels, and teahouses everywhere, promoting the principles of plague causation, transmission routes, and the necessity of isolation. This had somewhat eased the initially tense atmosphere. But with low administrative capacity, precision management was impossible when executing policies. They could only adopt "one-size-fits-all" approaches that grassroots personnel could understand and execute. This inevitably led to the old problem of "too tight when controlling, too loose when relaxed."
Under this "one-size-fits-all" approach, all of Guangzhou had been thrown into chaos. Lin Motian didn't know much history, but he still knew about the popular uprisings in Jiangnan during the early Qing over the queue-wearing issue—he couldn't underestimate citizen resistance just because he had powerful force behind him. Though in Guangzhou city, whether the National Army, the Sword-Drawing Squad, the White Horse Squad, or the National Police—all now followed his commands. If large-scale unrest truly occurred, as long as he ordered suppression, these machines of violence would show absolutely no hesitation. But the consequences of firing would also be his to bear. If Guangzhou citizens' opposition to his health policies triggered large-scale unrest—a few deaths naturally meant nothing to an Elder like him—but earning an evaluation of "rash work, inciting popular revolt" would mean never being allowed to independently lead any work again.
What to do? Lin Motian looked at the pile of Sentiment Reports and Daily Epidemic Prevention Reports accumulated on his desk, his heart tormented.
Should he ease up a bit? The thought kept circling in his mind. After all, there was plenty of wasteland in this timeline. He could designate a barren hill in the far suburbs as a cemetery for disease victims. Deep burial of corpses, wire fencing around the cemetery on all sides...
This way, though still involving mandatory funeral policies, at least he wouldn't have to cremate corpses anymore, and resistance to epidemic prevention would be much less.
Once this thought arose, he could no longer sit still. He pulled back the map curtain on the wall and began studying it carefully.
He was deep in thought when the messenger brought the latest correspondence. Lin Motian skimmed through them, and one was from the testing laboratory at Lingao General Hospital—his spirits immediately rose. The test report had arrived!
Last week, he had sent rat tissue samples captured from the Dongshan Ju and various locations throughout the city back to Lingao General Hospital for bacterial culture to determine the source of plague infection.
He quickly tore open the report. The test results confirmed his estimate: plague Yersinia pestis had been found in tissue cultures of rats captured on the Dongshan Ju. Tissue cultures from rats at all other locations had not detected plague Yersinia pestis.
"Damn!" He slammed the desk hard and shouted: "Someone come!"
The secretary immediately appeared at the door.
"Draft an order. Recipient: Commander of Changzhou Island Quarantine Camp. Upon receipt, he is to immediately burn the Dongshan Ju at the quarantine anchorage. Burn it completely clean—not a single plank left! Understand?"
"Yes, Chief!"
"Order the Epidemic Prevention Battalion: All confiscated goods, equipment, and clothing associated with Xingfu Mountain Goods Store and Dongshan Ju are to be sent to Liuhua Bridge for burning."
"Yes!"
After the secretary left, Lin Motian slumped back in his chair. The direct infection source had been cut off—certainly good news. However, since plague had already spread, the epidemic would by no means subside—he had a premonition that the epidemic's peak had not yet arrived.
Once the epidemic escalated, epidemic prevention measures would need further escalation. Thinking about the conflicts ahead, Lin Motian's head ached even more.
Should he abandon the policy of cremating disease victims? Lin Motian was deliberating before the map when the secretary came in again, somewhat excited, stammering: "Re... reporting, Chief. Chief Wen... Wen is here!"
Lin Motian jumped in surprise. Among the dozens of Elders in all of Guangdong, there was only one surnamed Wen—Wen Desi, Regional Governor of Guangdong, concurrently Chairman of the Military Administration Committee and Civil Administrator, additionally titled Great Song Pacification Commissioner of Liangguang. He was Guangdong's highest local administrative official.
Since arriving in Guangzhou, Wen Desi had rarely appeared at local administrative work meetings. Though he frequently appeared at various public occasions—such as the commendation ceremony for naturalized cadres, the founding assembly of the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce—on specific administrative matters, Chief Wen's presence in Guangzhou city was very faint. Including the witchcraft case that had caused citywide uproar, he had only "visited Comrade Liu Xiang afterward and reminded Comrade Liu Xiang to take care of his health and strengthen his studies." He neither participated in nor "guided" the entire case investigation and trial. His attitude was completely one of ruling without interference, to the point that Guangzhou's naturalized cadres "only knew of Mayor Liu, not of Regional Governor Wen."
In Lin Motian's view, Chief Wen's lack of involvement in Guangzhou was a good thing. Since ancient times, being a county magistrate right next to the provincial capital was the hardest job. When superiors loved to interfere, local leaders couldn't get things done. Chief Wen was supporting Liu Xiang's work through his actions.
"Please come in quickly." Lin Motian hurried to straighten his wrinkled clothes—he hadn't had a proper bath or rest in a week.
Being a doctor had its benefits—the Elders basically all knew him, and relationships were pretty good. This was naturally because no one in this timeline dared offend doctors.
"Chief Wen—" Lin Motian went to greet him.
"Old Lin, no need for formality." Wen Desi grasped his hand and studied his face. "Your complexion doesn't look good. You need to rest."
"Thank you for your concern, Chief Wen. How could I possibly sleep..." Though Lin Motian knew this was just typical leader's small talk, Wen Desi was the first person in days to ask about his health, and he couldn't help feeling moved.
"Epidemic prevention work isn't done in a day. If you ruin your health, how can we continue our epidemic prevention work?" Wen Desi said with a smile. "Sit, sit."
The two sat on the sofa—the most luxurious piece of furniture in Lin Motian's office, meant for him to catch a little sleep anytime, anywhere.
Lin Motian knew that Wen Desi had specifically passed through plague-infected streets to come to his office—naturally not just to exchange pleasantries—most likely he wanted to understand the epidemic situation. He immediately organized his thoughts and began briefing Wen Desi on the epidemic. He gave a concise introduction to the current situation, countermeasures taken, and problems encountered, especially mentioning the various obstacles encountered in cremating disease-death corpses and conducting household investigations.
"...I always used to think these old customs were merely laughable, but now I see they're really treated like golden rules in the minds of common people..." He then spoke of the elderly man who had committed suicide out of fear of being cremated after dying of illness. "I truly can't understand. Even if one is at death's door, life is still continuing. Besides, he wasn't even infected! Just to ensure having a coffin after death, he was willing to end his own life—I really can't fathom this thinking!"
Wen Desi lit a cigar, listening to his complaints with a slight smile.
"For the matter of cremating corpses, who knows how many citizens in Guangzhou are cursing me to 'drop dead'!" Lin Motian thought of the pamphlets recently confiscated by the police, depicting him as a demon or monster, and couldn't help becoming emotional. "Lu Xun really knew what he was talking about!"
Author's Note: Tomorrow's update will be Section 8 of Volume 7—Liangguang Campaign.
(End of Chapter)