Chapter 15 Undercurrents (I)

e: I'm very sorry, the system crashed last night, and the computer couldn't even open, let alone text. Today, the 8,000-word chapter is hereby updated to make up for it.

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In Marseille, a simple three-storey building has a wooden sign with the "snake around the goblet" hanging at the entrance.

-- This strange and strange pattern was a symbol of the apothecary in the Catholic world of medieval Europe. The building, with its "snake around the goblet", is home to the Apothecary's Guild of Port Marseille and one of the centers of power in the autonomous city.

In the darkness of medieval Europe, with the exception of the capitals of the countries, most cities were not political centers, but merely fixed trading places set up by country fairs, or religious centers built around churches - although in Italy many aristocrats had begun to live in the cities and participate in industry and commerce. But in France, where chivalry was at its peak, the lords and aristocrats, who were the ruling class, were generally more accustomed to living in castles with difficult terrain, and cities founded by craftsmen and merchants were merely objects of taxation.

Since the rulers generally did not stay in the city, and had no control over the affairs of the city, a power vacuum was created, and the wealthy merchants and artisans quickly filled the gap, established self-government, and engaged in a continuous power struggle with the owners of the urban land, the noble lords: the lords wanted to extract the wealth of the citizens with impunity, and the citizens tried to break free from the feudal yoke and obtain self-government.

In the course of this long struggle, although the noble lords had more powerful force, the burghers had more abundant financial resources and strong foreign aid - the monarchs of Europe generally supported the autonomy of the cities (with the exception of the crown's own direct domains) in order to reduce the feudal domains and centralize power, so as to facilitate the unruly under their jurisdiction! Nails were buried in the princes' territory, and at the same time the two sides were provoked to fight constantly in order to reap the benefits from both ends. Moreover, in medieval Europe, many cities were originally established in remote areas by fugitive serfs who could not bear the oppression of their lords, so they were often located not in the center of a single aristocratic domain, but at the junction of multiple aristocratic domains, thus giving the city's self-government institutions room for cooperation and diplomatic mediation...... Eventually, by the fourteenth century, the vast majority of French, English, and German cities had achieved autonomous status.

The same is true of the port of Marseille, located on the shores of the Mediterranean, which, in fact, until the early thirteenth century, was not part of the French territory, but was in its own right, creating a small state called the "Count of Provence", sandwiched between France and the Holy Roman Empire, oscillating back and forth from time to time.

It was not until 248 that the French royal family annexed the port of Marseille by guò marriage, as the ruler of the Counts of Provence became extinct, a process somewhat similar to the merger of Scotland and England. However, although the French royal family annexed the port of Marseille at that time, there were still several independent and powerful princes between Marseille and Paris, which means that the new royal territory of Marseille was equivalent to an enclave. What's worse is that it took a whole century for the royal family to change the situation...... In order to prevent the emergence of a powerful ruler in this rich enclave and regain control from Paris, the French royal family's ruling strategy for Marseille was to make it as fragmented as possible, canonizing a bunch of small lords who had nothing to do with each other in the countryside, and granting the city of Marseille great autonomy, so that the nobles, wealthy merchants, and priests in this place did not obey anyone, and no one could control anyone, and everyone had to ask for the arbitration of the royal family, so that these local tycoons could not form a joint force and had no way to resist the authority of the royal family.

In this way, Marseille became essentially an autonomous city-state, but it had to pay a small annual tribute to the royal family in Paris. And the real rulers of the city, apart from the bishop of Marseille, who represented the power of the church, were all kinds of "guilds".

In medieval Europe, where wars were frequent and politics were divided, there was never any talk of a free market, and in order to resist the exploitation and oppression of feudal lords, to protect the interests of the city's proprietors from being infringed upon by outsiders, and to prevent the competition of foreign handicraftsmen and to limit the competition between local handicraftsmen in the same trade, citizens of the same trade often formed alliances, that is, guilds. For example, tanners form tanners' guilds, decorators form decorators' guilds, and so on. Merchants who travel from various cities will also form their own chambers of commerce. In general, each guild regularly elected its own guild (although many guilds and chambers of commerce eventually became hereditary), had its own guild, had strict rules, and had the right to pay dues to each member. In the case of autonomous municipalities, representatives of the guilds can also be elected to the municipal council through guò.

The power of the guilds in different cities was strong and weak, but in any case, one of the greatest characteristics was the commonality, that is, the omnipresent monopoly, each guild monopolized a certain profession in a certain city, from bread making to a cook to a chariot driver, almost all kinds of business were controlled by various guilds. In those days, if you wanted to work in a certain industry in a certain city and survive in the market competition, you had to join the guild at the pier, pay regular protection fees to the guild, and obey all kinds of reasonable and unreasonable orders, otherwise you would be smashed and closed and even expelled from the city, and even the whole family could be killed, and there was nowhere to seek redress - this was the default unspoken rule at that time

The Apothecary's Guild in the Port of Marseille is a relatively unpopular guild in the city, due to the small number of practitioners (how many pharmacists can there be in a city of tens of thousands of people?). And not even a single position in the town hall. But no matter how unpopular, it has a legitimate and legal monopoly on Marseille's pharmaceutical manufacturing business, successfully suppressing all competitors and maintaining this monopoly for hundreds of years.

Of course, this small guild certainly can't afford to raise a group of tough thugs, but it has a deep friendship with many "dynamic social groups" in the city, as long as there are pharmacists from other places who enter the city of Marseille to open their businesses, if it is a gangster, if the other party is skillful, then they will deliberately find someone to disguise themselves as victims to make trouble, frame the other party for selling fake drugs to harm people, ruin the reputation of the other party, and then hire a gang of gangsters to rush into their shop pù to smash and rob, and completely drive them out of the local market. No foreign apothecary would want to gain a foothold in the city without their nod of approval.

Especially after the Black Death, the biggest rival of the Pharmacists' Guild in the Port of Marseille, the Doctors' Guild, was quickly and severely damaged (no matter how domineering the Apothecaries' Guild was, it could not prevent the doctors from dispensing their own medicines, let alone the support of the upper echelons - it was the doctors, not the pharmacists, who treated the dignitaries after all). Because the doctors had to deal with the patients directly and in close contact with the source of infection anyway, and there was no good way to defend against the disease, the doctors in the city soon died en masse, and the rest had to flee.

Pharmacists, on the other hand, could hide in their huts, away from dangerous patients, and simply resell all kinds of medicines hoarded in their stores to the hawkers, regardless of whether they were symptomatic and effective - although the plague was incurable under the current medical conditions, out of the panic of people in desperation to grasp a life-saving straw, even cheap powders that could only be used as placebos and were not worth a few copper coins could now be sold for dozens of silver coins in the market. Some of the most undisciplined pharmacists, after the stock of medicinal materials was exhausted, even opened their brains to use charcoal, dust, grass and even feces to concoct "pills" to sell, but they still sold hot and in short supply

In short, during this time, some of the pharmacists of the port of Marseille did die of the Black Death, but the vast majority managed to survive, and their business was booming and they made a fortune - although the haze of death was frightening, it was so profitable that they wished that the plague would continue.

However, such exciting and enjoyable days did not last long, and the Apothecary's Guild presented an unusually powerful challenger.

- Levy, an agent of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island based at the Mujahideen Manor on the outskirts of the city, who has just inherited his uncle's title. Baron Bacon.

This knight from the east, without knowing how to obtain some medicine that could really fight the plague, was obtained

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At this moment, a group of pharmacists in black robes were gathering in a dark room for a meeting. Expensive incense burned in an incense burner in one corner of the room, and hundreds of amulets hung from the beams of the room—the most effective way for them to fight the plague in common sense.

As for the various panaceas and exotic elixirs that they boasted about when they were peddling them at high prices to the citizens, at least they themselves knew that they were pure nonsense.

However, according to a new piece of information, the common sense of the plague in the minds of these pharmacists has begun to falter.

At the same time, the pharmacists' guild was beginning to falter, which had maintained a monopoly on the pharmaceutical market in the port of Marseille for centuries.

“…… According to the information from my messenger, the approximate situation is that the Knights Hospitaller's agent in Marseille has just inherited Levi of the Mujahideen Manor. Baron Bacon, who somehow obtained a batch of medicines, probably from the pagans of the East, and had an astonishing effect: in the hospitals of the Order, more than a third of the patients had improved significantly......"

A middle-aged man with a thin figure and a gloomy face said with a little anxiety while tapping the table with his thin fingers, "...... Now the news hasn't spread much, so the problem is not too strict. But by the time the baron has confirmed the efficacy of the medicines, and has begun to sell them openly to the city, the monopoly of our guild will be over, and we shall discuss how we should deal with this terrible threat of violating the guild's concessions, and find a way to get the medicines? Or try to compromise and come to a deal with them? ”

“…… In the face of this kind of enemy who interferes in our business without authorization, it is absolutely impossible to blindly compromise and retreat, and we must fight back fiercely

Even if we have to compromise with each other in the end - after all, the source of the medicine is in their hands - we must first show our strength and teach this lord who knows the height of the sky a hard lesson, otherwise, this guy will definitely get rid of our monopoly on the wealth."

A muscular red man swung his fist fiercely, his eyes lit up fiercely, and he roared in a low voice, "...... What if the other party is a Knights Hospitaller? This is not Rhodes, but Marseille, and even the Knights Hospitaller don't have much to do here. As long as we are willing to spend money and get a vote of people to make trouble, we can make this lord suffer a little like we did with those foreign pharmacists in the past."

“…… The question is, who should we turn to to help pull people? Mr. Godry. Don't forget that there is a plague going on in the city," the president said, glancing at the strong red man, with some displeasure, "...... The boss of the Brotherhood of Bulls had died of illness in the previous month, and most of the remaining leaders had gone into hiding in the countryside or locked themselves in cellars or something, and even if they tried to contact them, they couldn't find anyone at the moment. As for the people of the Shark Brotherhood...... Their territory is next to the docks, which is the hardest hit area of the plague, and it is said that there are few people alive anymore, would you like to go there on behalf of the guild to find someone? ”

As soon as he heard that he was going to go to the place where the plague was most severe in the whole city to find the thugs to help, the strong red man who had spoken arrogantly immediately shrank back, while the other little old man continued to interject and sneer, "Or are you planning to let us fight the heavily armed knights ourselves?" Hmph, although the Knights Hospitaller have a very limited number of men in Marseille, as long as there are two or three knights, it is probably enough to kill all of us here."

“…… That one...... Can't we file a complaint with the town hall? After all, we have a legal charter granted by the king. ”

A young man with a childish face raised his hand and said timidly, "...... I think I can rely on lawsuits to protect my rights and interests."

“…… Complaint? Theoretically, of course, it is possible, provided that there are still people in the city hall to accept those old men who have fled to the countryside for refuge, and the three judges who are still in the city, two have died of illness, and the remaining one also fell ill two days ago, so I am afraid that there will be no days to live......"

The president spread his hands helplessly, "...... In such a situation, how can we go to court? What's more, everyone knows in their hearts that our medicine can't cure the disease, but that Sir Levi has a real life-saving elixir, which is tantamount to taking everyone's lives in my hands, I bet that once those honorable lords in the city learn the truth, they are afraid that instead of giving us justice, they will rush to the feet of that guy in every possible way, and may even charge us with a crime, directly deprive us of the concession, and transfer it to that damn Levi."

He glanced around at the crowd in the room, sighed, and said, "...... In front of his own life, the law and friendship are not worth mentioning"

“…… In this way, I am afraid that there is no hope on the city hall side. But what if we think differently and go to the Inquisition? ”

An old man with a dark face suddenly spoke, and the term he said made everyone present couldn't help but tremble slightly.

-- In medieval Europe, the term "Inquisition" was almost as terrifying as a devil's cave to ordinary people. From the common people to the officials and nobles, I don't know how many people have been burned at the stake and barbecued into charcoal by this institution because of a heretical charge that fell from heaven......

But after a moment, the president of the Apothecary's Guild shook his head and rejected the idea, "Still no, Mr. Henry. I don't know how many people in the city of Marseille are trading with infidels, not even ourselves. Even the Church itself buys no small amount of oriental spices and silk every year. If just because that guy buys medicine from infidels, I'm afraid it won't be enough for the Inquisition to convict him.

Moreover, this Sir Levi is not one of those small characters who has no footing, he is not only a member of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes, but also inherits the estate and connections of Baron Diderot, and with our strength, we cannot make the Inquisition break the convention and do something to such a noble man."

“…… Doing business with a heretic is certainly not enough to cure him, and I understand that. But what if he's still an evil heretic and a wizard? The old man smiled coldly and said, "...... According to the information inquired, this lord from the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island has not only recently raised a large number of cursed monsters in his manor, but also performed evil witchcraft on the sick, which shows that the so-called elixir that can cure the plague is probably also obtained from trading with the devil or evil gods, and any Christian should resist this devil's temptation......

What's more, the status of this Lord Livy is not as lofty as you imagined - his uncle Sir Diderot has only been dead for less than a month, the official letter to the royal family of Paris is still on the way, and his title and inheritance have not yet received the king's approval and approval. In the same way, the qualification he inherited from his uncle as an agent of the Knights Hospitaller had not yet been officially recognized by the Rhode Island headquarters, and legally speaking, Mr. Levi was just an ordinary knight, not to mention the title, and even the manor did not belong to him

In addition, the second-in-line heir after the knight of Levi, specifically his distant cousin Knight of Nice, is also in the city of Marseille at the moment, and happens to have some friendship with the despicable people. If Levi could be brought down on charges of heresy, he would inherit the title, estate, and estate left by Baron Diderot...... We can ⊥ him to come forward and accuse him of Levi's evil sorcerer. At the same time, find a way to spread rumors in the city that Levi had committed all kinds of blasphemous rebellion in the manor, and sacrificed to the devil to ward off the plague......"

“…… But in this way, instead of showing strength to the other side, we will directly get to the point of not dying," someone said worriedly, "...... Even if we succeed in bringing down that guy, we still can't control the source of those life-saving elixirs......"

“…… As long as we can take over Levi's manor with the help of the knights of Ness, even if only temporarily, we should be able to find the heretics who sell the medicine to continue the trade. The old man who came up with the above cruel idea touched his beard and said disapprovingly, "...... Even if we don't succeed, we at least bring down our competitors, maintain the monopoly of the guilds, and give all competitors the strongest warning - that's enough."

“…… That's right, no matter what, we can't let people break the rules that have been passed down for hundreds of years and rob us of the pharmacy business that belongs only to us."

The president hesitated for a moment, but finally made a decision, "...... The vote shall now be taken to raise the ...... of those who agree to report to the Inquisition."

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At the same time, Knight Levi, a traverser who is unaware of the impending catastrophe, continues his great cause of fighting the plague.

“…… Before the injection, it is important to tie the tourniquet first, and then tell the patient to clench his fist, and if the blood vessels are not obvious, let him clench his fist and release it, so that the blood vessels will be easier to show. Remember, you have to find the right vein to get it in. If you see air bubbles in the syringe, you must expel it immediately, and injecting air into a vein can really kill the patient."

Shizuka Jukawa, a golden female school doctor from the world of "School Apocalypse", injected streptomycin to a certain Black Death patient who was unconscious with a high fever while pointing out the trick of the injection to Sir Levi, "...... Moreover, whether it is penicillin, streptomycin, or any other antibiotic, some people will have an allergic reaction. You forgot to do the skin test before, aren't you afraid of killing people, it's really reckless?"

“…… Is there such a strict zhòng? I've injected three people with this stuff before and after, and nothing happened," Levi scratched his head disapprovingly.

“…… That's because streptomycin allergy doesn't make up a large percentage of the population, and you've only injected three people in total."

Teacher Shizuka Jukawa immediately rolled her eyes, "...... Compared to our time, the germs were not very resistant to antibiotics, so these agents were pre-diluted and injected at a tenth of the dose should be enough to cure their disease......"

“…… Well, my lord, are we really going to put these potions in the patient's veins with this syringe? It seems wicked, and the church has no edict to allow us to do so, so is there no other ordinary way to cure the sick? ”

Although she didn't understand very well, Sister Louise still trembled and crossed her chest, and intervened with some resistance to persuade her. The rest of the nuns looked at the bright needle and the sharp needle, and they also looked quite cringe, as if they didn't dare to try anything.

Levi was baffled by the nuns' aversion to syringes – medieval European medical technology was usually a three-plank axe: bloodletting, enema ♂, and vomiting. If Europeans in these years can calmly accept being cut by a doctor with a knife to cut blood vessels, or stabbed into the buttocks ♂ to clean their intestines by a thick black and hard enema ♂, why can't they stand the relatively rough intravenous injection?

Maybe it's purely out of resistance to new things that I don't understand...... Puzzled, he had to speculate. In any case, it was difficult to get medieval Europeans who lacked medical knowledge to master the technique of intravenous injection, and for the sake of safety, Levi wanted to be able to use other treatments that were not so old - for example, streptomycin was not available orally in potions or pills?

“…… Oral streptomycin? Well, of course there is this thing, but compared to injections, its bactericidal effect is much worse, and it may be okay to deal with general inflammation, but if it is to deal with such a violent Black Death, I'm afraid it will be a bit insufficient," replied Shizuka Jukawa.

“…… It doesn't matter, since even sulfonamides can save lives, the effect of oral streptomycin must be better, don't forget, Yersinia pestis in these years is completely inresistant to antibiotics, and it should be enough to deal with them orally, at least it is better than killing people by mistake with our own injections"

Lord Levi snapped his fingers and decided on the treatment plan, "...... In short, if you have mild symptoms, you should use sulfonamides, and if you have severe symptoms, you should use oral streptomycin, and if even oral streptomycin is ineffective, and no one can do intravenous injections, then you can only pray for God's mercy......"

Before his words fell, he suddenly heard a heart-rending scream from beside him, and Levi looked back in confusion, only to see an aunt who had basically recovered from her condition and was waiting for her family to pick her up, who was trembling and huddled in the corner, crying and shouting as if she had been violated. In front of this aunt, there is a black cat with shiny fur and a mouse in its mouth, looking at this "stupid human" with a puzzled face......

“…… Oh God, who's going to get this wicked little thing out of the way, esteemed sir, why did you get the cat here? ”

The brightly dressed aunt, while constantly making crosses on her chest with her short and fat fingers, complained to Lord Levi that it was as if she was not seeing a cute cat, but something disgusting like cockroaches or flies," ...... In order to thank God for the blessing of surviving this terrible plague, I am willing to donate ten florins to this hospital, but please be sure to get this cat out at onceOh my God, looking at their eyes shining like devils, and listening to their banshee-like debauched cry, I feel as if I am sick again......"

“…… I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't expect you to hate cats so much, but I can guarantee that these cute cats won't hurt you if you don't attack them. Moreover, they are also the heroes who saved all living beings from this plague."

While casually driving the black cat out of the mess, Levi reassured the panicked aunt and said, "...... The plague was caused by rats, to be exact, fleas on rats. While my medicine can cure you, if you don't get rid of the rats and cut off the source of the disease, it won't be long before you get the plague again. And that's why I want a cat......"

“…… Mouse? Nonsense, the bald Jewish doctor who often came to our town had said that cats and dogs were the ones who were the ones who caused the disease, and that the boys of the town had been mobilized last month to hunt down wild dogs with sticks and pitchforks...... "The aunt questioned with some disbelief.

“…… But even if they killed the last dog in town, they didn't stop the plague from invading, right, or you wouldn't have been sent to us," Knight Levi spread his hands, "It can be seen that rats are the real culprits of this plague." In order to get rid of rats, it is necessary to have some cats...... Seriously, I really don't understand, why do you hate these cute and clever little creatures? ”

“…… Because they are the pets of legendary witches, listen to the hairy sounds of these cats, and look at their glittering eyes, and you know that they are pagan beasts allied with the devil. Wait, sir, your cure for us isn't some kind of witchcraft that violates the precepts......"

All in all, under the repeated explanations of Lord Levi and the travelers, and the "miracles" of a large number of patients who began to get better one after another, the vast majority of people in the hospital finally listened to it with half a heart, and reluctantly accepted the treatment of injections and the preservation of these cats.

The problem is that not everyone has been successfully convinced, especially the most devout ones......

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In the city of Marseille, outside the gates of a magnificent cathedral, a plainly dressed mother and son are patrolling in the cold wind.

As it was the time of the Black Death, the streets of the city were very few pedestrians, making the oncoming wind even more chilling.

“… Son, are we really going to sue? This seems to be a suspicion of revenge."

The young mother seemed hesitant, "...... In any case, that lord saved our lives......"

“…… Be strong, Mother, and don't let the devil's false mercy fool you, for earthly life is only a prelude to life on the other side. Even the most painful plagues are God's punishment for human sins, and we must take them to the comfort of our souls."

Although the boy she was holding by the hand was young, his words were very mature and decisive," ...... That cursed devil, though he healed our bodies with evil sorcery, defiled our souls so that after death we could not ascend to heaven, but would be sent to the bottom of hell, and suffer eternal life and eternal scorching fire, so he is not our benefactor, but our enemy, O Mother, we must expose his mask to the Church, and let those righteous servants of God send him to God, so that God the Knowing and Almighty may judge him for his heinous sins."

“…… Don't say it anymore, my child, I understand, I understand."

The mother reached out to cover the child's mouth, shook her head and sighed, but a few crystal tears oozed from the corners of her eyes...... Then, taking a deep breath, she finally walked into the church, walked through the rows of empty benches, placed the child on the benches, and went straight into the confessional.

After sitting down in the armchair in the confessional, she folded her hands into fists in front of her chest, bowed her head and said, "God, I am guilty"

“…… Oh, God...... God will forgive His godly people. If you confess your sins to God with all your heart, then ......"

In the dark compartment of the confessional, a young priest said this with little skill—the old priest who had been in charge of the matter had just died of an illness, and as a rookie who had just graduated from seminary, he was not very skilled in the job—and curiously peered at the lady sitting opposite him through the carved railing on the lower right side of the chamber. The grid of this place is relatively sparse, and you can vaguely see the person who is reverently confessing on the other side.

However, the lady's next sentence made the young rookie priest jump in fright.

“…… Dear Father, I am not here to confess, but to complain, although you do not seem to be the place to complain, but I am a woman of shallow knowledge and do not know where to go to report this appalling heresy, so I can only find here...... Dear Father, I would like to sue Levi of the Mujahideen Manor. Sir Bacon, who made a deal with the devil, practiced witchcraft in the Knights Hospitaller's charitable hospital, cultivated monsters, and seduced ♂ the believers of the Lord with evil potions, defiled their souls, and degraded these good Christians......"

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