The most common types of plague include mild plague, bubonic plague, pneumonic plague and septicemic plague, the latter two are very dangerous types. At present, most opinions believe that the Black Death pandemic in Europe and the plague pandemic in China in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China were dominated by these two types of diseases.
Since the records of infectious diseases in Chinese historical records are very general, they are only called "plague" and "pandemic", and there are few records of the specific course and symptoms of the disease. This has given many people the impression that there were no severe infectious diseases in ancient China. . Even in the Senate, there are many senators who believe that "only dirty Europeans will get the plague" or "Chinese people rarely get infectious diseases."
Of course, the health department does not believe in this "race/civilization superiority theory": since we are human beings, we will all be attacked by diseases. Regarding plague and cholera, two Class A infectious diseases in the old time and space, they have conducted special research and read a large amount of historical and research materials. It is roughly certain that there was no "real" cholera, that is, classical cholera, in China in the 17th century. This disease was endemic in India and Bangladesh before the 19th century, and it was not introduced to Guangzhou by British traders until the beginning of the 19th century. "Cholera" mentioned in traditional Chinese medicine is mostly a collective name for various gastrointestinal infectious diseases.
As for the plague, there was also a major outbreak of plague in the late Ming Dynasty. However, studies believe that the plague is limited to the north, especially in Shanxi and Hebei. In the south and Guangdong and Guangxi, no plague infectious disease has occurred.
Why is it suddenly happening now? Liu San and Lin Motian were both lost in thought. Since D-Day, their governance has relied more or less on the historical materials provided by the Great Library as a reference - and it has indeed played a great role. However, the current situation shows that the storm caused by the butterfly of the Senate is becoming more and more fierce, and history has begun to gradually deviate from the predictions of the Great Library.
"I think the problem is likely to arise in the leather trade." Liu San said.
Before the start of the Guangdong strategy, the foreign trade department purchased a large amount of rough leather for military purposes, mainly to meet military needs such as making leather shoes, belts, and helmet suspensions. In addition, leather was also made for troops and sailing personnel sent to the north. Warm clothing such as hats, leather vests, and fur jackets.
Most of these purchases are made through agents, which greatly stimulates related trade. However, the price of coarse leather is low, and the civilian demand in Hainan Island is extremely limited except for the military and industrial use of the Senate.
Originally, the Ming Dynasty did not attach much importance to the consumption of furs. The famous list of confiscations of Yan Song's houses, "Tianshui Bingshan Lu", contained very few fur goods. But this does not mean that there is no such need. In the smuggling trade between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the largest exported cargo was ginseng, followed by fur. Due to the low temperatures of the Little Ice Age and the fashion trend led by Ziminglou, precious furs such as mink and otter began to become a fashionable choice among wealthy households in Guangdong. .
After foreign trade companies sold mink and other high-grade furs processed by modern tanning methods to the Dutch and British in order to "earn foreign exchange through exports," Guangzhou's fur export trade boomed. Huge profits attracted many traders to participate in the fur trade.
Although the trade between the Senate and the Qing Dynasty strictly restricted the import of furs from mustelids such as minks, otters, and marmots: not only were the import quantities limited, but they also needed to go through quarantine - the fear was the spread of plague. However, given the current situation in Guangzhou, it is simply impossible to implement strict health quarantine on all incoming goods. The high profits of furs made merchants take risks to enter the Liaodong trade, and many unquarantined furs entered the Guangzhou market directly or indirectly.
The bustling migrant population, poor housing construction conditions, backward hygiene awareness, and weak grassroots organizations... From a modern perspective, Guangzhou's public health system is as leaky as a sieve. Nothing happened in the old days. The plague epidemic in the plane is taking the opportunity to quietly attack Guangdong.
"Fur is only one cause. If it is fur, the disease should start among relevant workers." Lin Motian expressed dissent, "The first person to get sick should not be a beggar. He is a victim of flea infection. After all, among the people in this group Flea infestation is the norm.”
"This matter is very complicated." Liu San was a little restless.
Lin Motian said: "We must take measures immediately."
The bubonic plague currently appearing in Guangzhou is relatively not that contagious, but without intervention, bubonic plague can transform into pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. If pneumonic plague and septicemic plague broke out, the consequences would be disastrous. Therefore, Liu San agrees with Lin Motian's statement that no one knows when a real large-scale epidemic will break out.
It is said that Li Zicheng's rapid defeat had a lot to do with the fact that the army was infected with the plague when he entered Beijing. If they cannot stop the epidemic quickly, they will probably follow in the footsteps of Li Zicheng, who will have to retreat from Guangzhou in embarrassment due to the attack of the disease, and return to Hainan Island to continue hibernating. If they are even more unlucky, the plague breaks out in Hainan Island. Then all their ideals and ambitions, even if they are not destroyed, will have to be delayed for many years before they can be realized.
"Where is the body now, and where are the contacts?"
"Burn on the spot, but I have sent people to extract the blood. The dock has been ordered to be closed," Liu San exhaled. "All contacts have been isolated."
Both of them fell into silence for a while. After a while, Lin Motian opened the drawer, took out a document, browsed it briefly, and added a few words to it.
"This is my application." Lin Motian stood up seriously and gently handed the document over with both hands. "Lin Motian, the elder of the Australia Bank of the Song Dynasty, solemnly applied to the Senate to appoint me as Guangzhou Governor. Leader of the special city epidemic prevention team, responsible for fighting the plague!"
Liu San instantly choked on his tea and coughed violently.
Lin Motian was very calm and still handed over the application form humbly.
"Do you know what you are going to do?" Liu San coughed and stood up from the sofa. Although he knew that Lin Motian was not a "duty person", this request still surprised him. , couldn't help but open his eyes wide, and said something foul: "This is not a problem that you can solve by eating special meals or using disinfectant! This is the fucking plague!"
For a moment, Liu San thought he saw a sarcastic look on Lin Motian's face, "You, a Chinese medicine doctor, can understand something that I, a graduate of a major, wouldn't understand." But then he thought he might have seen it. Wrong, because when he looked at Lin Motian carefully, what he saw was the same humble and indifferent expression.
At present, the Senate does not have enough safe and effective vaccines and treatments. Unlike digestive tract infectious diseases, plague can be spread through fleas and droplets. Even as a senior leader of epidemic prevention work, it is inevitable to go deep into the front lines of epidemic areas, and even The risks involved in direct contact with patients are self-evident. The plague, which can be spread through droplets, is already a terrible lung type. Once infected, there may not even be a chance to escape. Although they still have a reserve of antibiotics to deal with plague, this is the late Ming Dynasty with primitive medical conditions after all, and it is far from ensuring the life safety of a severe plague patient - even if he is a veteran.
"Dr. Liu, you are also very aware of our current health situation in Guangzhou. We are all veterans, so I will speak out. This epidemic should be said to be within your expectation. The outbreak is just a matter of time. As for me As long as it is for the great cause of the Senate, I will naturally go through fire and water without hesitation. The so-called benefit of the country..." Lin Motian hadn't finished reciting two lines of the poem. Seeing Liu San's expression, he immediately stopped the rest, "Uh. , in short, it’s not a whim or a whim.”
"Are you clear about the epidemic?" Liu San asked, and then thought that this was nonsense. The report was still there. With Lin Motian's personality, he had read the epidemic reports in recent days. Otherwise, I would not be so rash as to propose taking charge of this aspect of work.
"At present, there is no conclusion on whether there is plague in Guangzhou. This is one; secondly, according to the current situation, even the plague is mainly bubonic plague, and the contagiousness is not that terrible." Lin Motian tried his best to put on a good face. He said confidently, "If it develops to the point where pneumonic plague and septicemic plague spread everywhere, even Daluo Jinxian will not be able to hide from us. Furthermore, if there is a plague pandemic, no one can escape. We The situation in Guangzhou that was finally created will collapse at the drop of a hat."
Liu San looked at Lin Motian speechlessly,... This can be regarded as risking his life to gain a future.
Even if we don't mention the friendship between the elders, even if there is no comradeship, it is a sad friendship. If Lao Lin gets a lunch box, he will not be able to do well when he returns as the top leader of the Guangzhou Health Center. After a long silence, he took the application and said, "I will give the application to the organization."
This matter cannot be decided by oneself, it must be submitted to the Senate: the leader is always wise, even if the leader is not wise, at least he is more suitable to take the blame.
On the way back, Liu San was still thinking that Lin Motian was different from people like him. As the saying goes, "Man is the sum of all social relationships." To travel alone into this world is to give up everything about oneself as a social person. Those who are able to leave their families and other people to take the initiative to travel back to this troubled world have some seeds of a desperado hidden in their hearts. This desire to risk their lives for the future reminds him of Lin Baiguang, who started his career by recruiting Zhu Cai Lao... Coincidentally Yes, this guy and Lin Baiguang are still from the same family.
After seeing Liu San off, Lin Motian calmed down, opened his notebook, and began to write on a piece of official document paper. Judging from the dense handwriting and redaction marks on the notebook, he had been thinking about this document for more than a day or two.
