The personal guard knelt on the ground to report back, feeling a bit bewildered himself, because he was among those initially sent to find out about the method of vaccination, and at that time, they couldn’t even gather any information about treating smallpox, let alone a method to vaccinate against it.

In the Central Plains, although there was basically no cure for smallpox, at least doctors could come up with one or two prescriptions.

But in the Western Regions, those who contracted a plague like smallpox were usually killed and burned to prevent the spread of the disease. They couldn’t even gather a single prescription, not to mention any preventative remedies.

But now...

The personal guard said, "It’s a merchant from Tingzhou who came to Xizhou to sell wolf and sheep skins. He heard that someone was inquiring about a way to treat smallpox and thought there might be a reward, so he came to claim it."

General Guo sat in his chair and asked, "Could it be made up from scratch?"

The personal guard dared not draw any conclusions.

After a pause, General Guo said, "Bring him here, I want to question him personally."

The personal guard left with the orders.

"...It’s said that in the farthest west, there is a Buddhist kingdom where people possess profound divine powers, where everyone knows medicine, and many difficult diseases can be cured, making smallpox seem easy."

General Guo instantly lost interest, leaning back in his chair thinking, so-called Buddhist kingdom—this clearly sounds made up.

The merchant continued, "I heard there’s a method there: you inoculate smallpox into cows, and when cows develop pustules, you take the matter and inoculate it into humans. People there are inoculated at birth, so they never contract smallpox throughout their lives..."

General Guo couldn’t help but sit up straight again, squinting his eyes in thought, "Is there really such a country?"

The merchant confidently said, "Of course, my lord. Only some elders know of such legends. I happened to know because I am well-connected and heard that someone was asking about this matter here. That’s why I traveled all this way..."

General Guo understood his implication and looked toward the personal guard.

The personal guard handed him a roll of silk cloth.

The merchant clutched it tightly, not expecting that such information could truly earn money.

General Guo asked, "Where is that country located?"

"In the farthest west," the merchant replied.

General Guo: ...

After taking a breath, he asked, "Do many people know about this?"

"Not many, mostly some elders who, living longer and having seen and heard more, picked it up from some passing merchants. Many people don’t know," he replied.

General Guo waved his hand, uninterested in listening further. He pointed at the personal guard and said, "Take him to the embassy and hand him over to them."

The merchant shivered in shock, clutching the silk cloth, trembling, "Gen-General, I don’t want the reward anymore."

General Guo: "...Keep it, am I such a stingy person? He will take you to another place to collect your reward; just repeat to them what you said to me."

So the merchant followed the personal guard to Mr. Zhuang and their courtyard.

Bai Erlang and his group were much more generous than General Guo. They asked more detailed questions and then gave the merchant a whole bolt of silk cloth.

After letting someone escort the merchant out, Mr. Zhuang looked at Bai Erlang, "Did you make up this story?"

Bai Erlang instinctively denied, "No!"

What they had described was a country with birds singing and flowers blooming, abundant in strength, not any Buddhist or divine country.

Mr. Zhuang, however, was somewhat suspicious, as the story sounded quite familiar to him.

He swept a doubtful gaze over Bai Erlang repeatedly but ultimately did not pursue it further, instead saying, "Since we have a lead, let’s send someone out to inquire further, see if we can get more detailed information."

After a pause, he said, "Bai Shan and his group are also in the direction of Tingzhou. Maybe they can find out more detailed information too."

Although Mr. Zhuang came with the mindset of exploring and studying, he genuinely wanted to find a method to prevent and treat smallpox. But now it seems the so-called smallpox prevention method might have been devised by a few disciples.

Mr. Zhuang frowned, but seeing Assistant General Nie and Wei Xingren arriving, he smiled and temporarily put these thoughts aside.

Assistant General Nie was very excited, "Lord Zhuang, I heard there’s news about vaccination?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled and nodded, "Indeed, thanks to General Guo, who persistently sent people to probe this matter, we now have some vague leads."

He took the merchant’s story and distilled it to only the key parts, relaying it to them.

Assistant General Nie’s eyes lit up, "If there is indeed such a method, then if we find this small country in the Western Regions, wouldn’t we obtain the formula?"

Wei Xingren and the others were less optimistic. They said, "There are so many small countries in the Western Regions. This is vague; it only says in the farthest west, without a country’s name—where do we start looking?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Moreover, the further west we go, the more unstable it becomes, and increasingly colder. Continuing ahead, we might not return for years."

Though prepared to spend two years in the Western Regions, it didn’t mean they were willing to wander among the various Western countries for much longer. No matter how affluent, they still missed the comfort of the capital city.

Mr. Zhuang, after some thought, said, "Lord Zhou also can’t stay away from the capital for too long, and Bai Er must return to the capital eventually. With the main official absent, let’s discuss this again when she returns."

Mr. Zhuang paused and said, "Perhaps they have good news as well."

Wei Xingren and the others suddenly felt reassured, reminded that Bai Cheng was also there.

After all, he was the Prince Consort of Princess Mingda. Others might wander outside for years without returning to the capital, but he could not. Once Princess Mingda’s mourning period ends next year, they can marry—he will definitely have to return to the capital for that.

Thus, Assistant General Nie, Wei Xingren, and the others left happily and at ease, deciding to wait for Lord Zhou’s return to discuss the matter further, though they would continue inquiring around the area.

Not too many people know about this news, but with Assistant General Nie’s determination, they could still gather some pieces of information.

Although the stories they heard varied, the key points remained unchanged. In the far west, there indeed seemed to be a country where people knew how to inoculate cowpox, and it’s said that those who came from that country were unafraid of smallpox.

The very notion was quite enviable.

Not only did it make Assistant General Nie and his team envious, but it also stirred envy among the people of the Western Regions and the steppe.

The nomads of the Western Regions and steppe had fine horses and strength, but why could they never dominate the Central Plains?

They certainly didn’t think it was due to limited combat skills or intelligence; they believed it was diseases like smallpox that held them back.

Invading the Central Plains was very risky for them, as they were highly likely to contract diseases like smallpox, preventing them from penetrating Central Plains territory.

Yes, that was precisely the reason.

When Assistant General Nie gathered news and heard these fragmented discussions, he was quite dissatisfied. Upon returning, he relayed to Mr. Zhuang and the others, "The Emperor has been so benevolent towards them, yet they have no gratitude and still think of entering the Central Plains. Their hearts are truly punishable by death."