Sun Yuanqi listened, but asked rhetorically: "Lord Yu, is the epidemic in Binjiang Hall serious now?" How many people die every day? What measures have you taken? ”

Yu Sixing didn't dare to hide it: "Back to Lord Qincha, when the epidemic first occurred, there were only one or two deaths a day, and then it was better than one day. No pop-up window update fast // Up to now, at least a dozen people have died of illness a day. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, his subordinates have reported to the Governor Xi and the imperial court, and on the advice of the Russian doctors, they rented a house in Fujiadian as a nursing home. It also instructed the patrol police station to send infected people to nursing homes to prevent infection. For those who die of illness, the government will pay for the purchase of coffins, and their families can be buried on the spot or help the souls to return to their hometowns. The Governor Xi also specially invited two Western doctors to preside over the epidemic prevention affairs in Fujiadian. ”

Sun Yuanqi frowned and said, "Didn't I send you a note demanding that the bodies of the sick and dead be incinerated?" ”

Yu Sixing's face was embarrassed: "Your Excellency, you also know that the Chinese people pay attention to the deceased and the earth for safety, and it is really ...... to burn the body."

Sun Yuanqi also understood the problems that might be encountered in the incineration of the remains, so he stopped pursuing it and asked instead: "What is your latest news about this plague?" For example, how does the epidemic spread? How long is the incubation period? What are the symptoms? ”

Yu Sixing replied: "It is not clear how long the incubation period is, but it is known that the person who got this disease first had a fever, then coughed, vomited blood, and died soon after, and his whole body skin was purple after death. Russian doctors believe that the disease was spread by fleas biting infected rats and then biting. However, Dr. Yao, who is in charge of epidemic prevention in Fujiadian, believes that the disease is not plague, but an inflammation of the lungs that spreads from person to person through droplets. What are the facts, it is not easy for the lower officials to make presumptuous assertions.

Wu Liande, who was on the side, had a solemn face, and interjected at this time: "I think Dr. Yao's point of view is more correct. After the discovery of Yersin pestis in France in 1894, the medical community generally believed that it was carried by rats and transfected by fleas. Now that it's the middle of winter, rat activity is decreasing, and the epidemic is getting worse, so where do so many fleas come from? This is not tenable in principle.

"If it is a new type of infectious disease that spreads through droplets, it is now the winter when the doors and windows are closed and the air is not circulated, and one person gets sick and the whole house is infected. It makes sense to explain the cause of the outbreak. If it is really droplet transmission, more than 10 people are dying every day in Fujiadian, which already shows that we have lost the best opportunity to control the epidemic, and a larger outbreak is coming. ”

Yu Sixing's throat was a little dry, and he said stubbornly: "The key is that most of the people living in Fujiadian are people who go to Guandong, and it is close to the Spring Festival at this time, so many people have already embarked on the road to return to their hometowns in the south, and the infected people will also scatter away." If it is true as this adult said, I am afraid that the epidemic will not be contained. Now Fujiadian has been reduced to a ghost, so please move to Alchuka and plan early! ”

The atmosphere in the carriage suddenly became tense.

Sun Yuanqi also felt that the situation was grim, but at this time he could only pretend to be calm. If even the minister of the Qincha is panicked, how can the people below work with peace of mind? He waved his hand disappreciatively: "Lord Yu doesn't need to panic, Sun Mou has been strictly deployed in the three halls of Yongping Mansion, Chengde Mansion and Koubei in Zhili before going north, and will never let a single infected person enter the customs." What we need to do now is to extinguish the epidemic in Northeast China as soon as possible. But the key to fighting the epidemic is to find out how the disease spreads, so we have to go to Fujiadian to find out. ”

"Your Excellency!" Yu Sixing was already almost pleading: if the minister died in the Binjiang Hall, there was no doubt that he would be the first to be unlucky.

Sun Yuanqi was unmoved: "Now there are two theories, one is that it is the plague, which is spread by rats and fleas, so let's catch some rats for dissection to see if they carry the virus." This proves that it is much more troublesome to prevent it, and it is necessary to catch rats and fleas everywhere, but rat fleas are elusive and cannot be prevented.

"There is also a new infectious disease that is thought to be transmitted through droplets. If this is the case, it is simpler, as long as the source of the disease is found, isolation, and the popularization of masks, I believe that the problem will be solved soon.

"In order to eliminate the hidden danger as soon as possible, we must rush to Fujiadian as soon as possible. Now that all of you are gathered together, why don't we all go and explore this Longtan Tiger's Den together? ”

The bureaucrats present immediately looked at each other, and their faces turned blue, red, black, and white.

Yu Sixing wiped the cold sweat on his head, and said in a trembling voice: "My lord, the lower official should have accompanied him, but he was busy with military affairs, and he really couldn't get out." I am afraid that I am sorry! ”

Sun Yuanqi didn't care much about himself, so he agreed: "Since Lord Yu has something to do, Sun will not force him to stay." I just hope that after you go back, you can set up checkpoints on the main roads on the Northwest Road, strictly prohibit the movement of people, and avoid the spread of the epidemic. If there is an outbreak, be sure to report it to me in time and isolate it. ”

"Yes, yes, yes, the lower officials will do it!" Yu Sixing was like an amnesty, and naturally he had no objection to the request, lest Sun Yuanqi suddenly change his words.

When other officials saw that Sun Yuanqi was so good at talking, their minds were also lively, but their families suffered: their father was seriously ill, their mother had a broken bone, his wife gave birth, and his son had smallpox, everyone fought bravely to be the first, for fear that their good ideas would be preempted by others. Sun Yuanqi did not expose them, but only asked them to do the corresponding epidemic prevention work according to the manual after they returned. The two hit it off.

Everyone was elated, but the officials of the Binjiang Hall were like dead old women, with pale faces and depressed expressions: others can hide, but they can't run away from the monk and the temple.

After Yu Sixing and the others got off the train, the train continued to move forward. At about three o'clock in the afternoon of December 14, 1910, everyone arrived at a place five miles outside Fujiadian. Due to the outbreak of the epidemic in the city, trains can only travel here, and the rest of the road can only be walked. Sun Yuanqi took a deep breath, stood up and ordered calmly: "All personnel change into protective clothing, get off the car and march in the direction of Fujiadian!" ”

Everyone looked solemn, silently put on deep leather boots, put on a white cloth coat, put on a white hat, covered their faces with large masks, only their eyes were exposed, and rubber gloves were on their hands, and they each carried their own luggage and walked off the train. As for the research equipment, disinfectants and other large materials, only after returning to the city, hired people to come and go.

Because of the surplus of protective clothing prepared, even the accompanying Binjiang Department officials were each given a set. But in their opinion, this outfit is better not to wear it: all white, isn't this a mourning dress? How unlucky!

Although the epidemic in the city is serious, more than a dozen people die every day, but there are still a large number of farmers working hard outside the city. In their opinion, in the cold winter, if you get sick, you may die, but if you don't eat, you will definitely die. So they are not afraid of the disease and are harvesting the soybeans with rudimentary tools. Along the way, you can see bags of soybeans that have just been harvested from the field. The black soil is so fertile that every soybean is the size of a finger.

From a distance, I saw a group of strangely dressed people walking on the road, and dozens of people in front and behind were carrying bright steel guns, all of them straightened their waists, and looked at the person who came in surprise: how to dress like Bai Wuchang? Could it be that a gangster came to rob it? The timid ones are already two wars, and they almost want to go first.

Fortunately, these weirdos didn't have any bad intentions, they just looked at everyone a few times, didn't even stop their footsteps, and continued to hurry in a muffled voice. After everyone walked a little farther, a junior asked, "Second Uncle Meng, what part of this group of weirdos do you look at?" ”

Second Uncle Meng didn't raise his head, and cut a few handfuls tightly, as if he was going to snatch back the time he had just delayed for half a day before he said sneeringly: "Who knows? Maybe it's a little devil, or maybe it's an old hairyman. ”

"It's not!" Hou Sheng categorically vetoed, "They all have braids, they should have been sent by the imperial court." But those steel guns are really exciting! ”

Second Uncle Meng coughed a few times: "Keren, let's hurry up and cut the beans." Besides, you can't finish cutting this ridge of beans when it's dark. ”

There was laughter around: "The Wu family has been studying private school for a few years, and I am stupid in my head!" ”

"Wu Keren, you want hot eyes, drive Ming'er to join the army!"

"In the army? It's almost the same to go to the beard! ”

Wu Keren's face was flushed, and he subconsciously clenched the sickle in his hand.

Sun Yuanqi and the others naturally didn't know about Tiantou's lotlot drama, and half an hour later they arrived at the edge of Fujiadian.

Although Fujiadian is densely populated, it was originally just a meadow near the river, where the coolies who fished and carried the work built a shack at will, and later more and more people lived there, and then the town was formed. There was no plan at the beginning, and it was only a matter of nearly ten years from scratch and from small to large, so Fujiadian seemed chaotic and unorganized.

Sun Yuanqi and others believe that they arrived at the "edge" of Fujiadian because there was a horizontal log on the bridge in front of them, and a few big characters were written on the side: "Quarantine in and out of the city." However, there was no one around. The so-called "imaginary" should refer to this situation, right?

Liu Jingren, the acquaintance of the Binjiang Hall who accompanied him, hurriedly took off his mask and explained with some embarrassment: "Maybe the medical examiner has gone back for dinner......

Sun Yuanqi's face was unswerving: "Lord Liu, how many other crossings are there in and out of Fujiadian like this?" ”

Liu Jingdao: "My lord, Fujiadian is surrounded by the Songhua River and the Majia River on three sides, and there are not many crossings in and out, only three. ”

"That's good." Sun Yuanqi instructed Cheng Ziyin, "Leave one caretaker and six volunteers to guard here, and the other two checkpoints are also arranged in the same way." From now on, everyone who enters and leaves must register their name, check their body temperature, and detain and quarantine those who have any doubts. ”

Cheng Ziyin hesitated: "There are only seven people guarding here, I'm afraid it's not a problem, right?" ”

Sun Yuanqi turned to Liu Jingren and said, "Lord Liu, please equip each checkpoint with three other medical examiners and twenty patrol policemen to ensure that nothing goes wrong." ”

"The subordinate obeys!" Liu Jingren hurriedly agreed.

After crossing the bridge, I had not walked a few steps when I saw twenty or thirty coffins piled up on the river beach, among which two corpses were exposed, and several wild dogs were feasting around one of them. Several women in the team immediately screamed, and even many male students tore off their masks and began to retch.

Seeing this, Sun Yuanqi's face was so gloomy that he was about to drip water. Liu Jingren explained dryly: "My lord, now the weather is cold, the ground is as hard as iron, and an iron pickaxe can only leave a white spot, and the coffin really can't be buried, so ......."

Sun Yuanqi was furious: "Then you won't burn it?" Don't give me any human laws! Now that the epidemic is urgent, don't you know what it means to be in a hurry? ”

Liu Jingren whispered: "Without Shangguan's order, how dare we?" ”

"I'm the minister of the Imperial Mission, and I'll order you to find wood and kerosene right now and incinerate all these coffins!" Sun Yuanqi shouted, "Cheng Ziyin, the bullet is loaded, kill these wild dogs for me!" ”

There was a rare opportunity to shoot live ammunition along the way, and as soon as Sun Yuanqi finished speaking, almost all the students took out bullets from their bodies and pressed the chambers tightly, and even those who vomited couldn't care about being nauseous. Although the students were not good at the head, they were better than having more guns and a short range, and after a burst of explosion, the wild dogs were blown to pieces, and the nearby coffins were also shot to pieces.

Liu Jingren and other Binjiang Hall officials had their eyelids jumping, cold air was rising on their backs, and their legs were trembling. As if it was not the wild dogs that were shot just now, but them. Sun Yuanqi didn't care about their feelings, and walked forward.