I would like to use this chapter to pay tribute to all the medical workers who have braved life and death, fearlessly retrograde, stuck to their posts, and waited for us ordinary people during this epidemic and before, now and in the future!

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This Monsieur Lom is best known for his invention of the protective suit, the inventor of the protective suit that Sidonham reminded Chamborence to prepare.

In 1619, in order to avoid the plague, he invented these layered protective suits, which could wrap the doctor from head to toe, all tightly, at that time he was still a young man, but he had been serving Henry IV for several years, although this was also related to his family, but he himself did have real talents, and then he used to work for Louis XIII, and now he has become Louis XIV's chief physician, but it was not Louis's intention to let this real old man come to the epidemic area, originally Louis only considered that Malbicki and Sidonham are foreigners, and may encounter some embarrassing situations and cannot deal with them, but not with Lom and his students.

Chamborence hated all Catholics, but when he saw this old man with a rickety back, gray hair, and a thin body, he could not help but feel a little pity: "You are with the students, there is no need to go with us," he said in a stiff tone, "We are in the prime of life, in good health, and have good resistance to diseases. ”

"It is because of your strength and your swiftness of arms and feet that I am able to go with you," said Mr. Lom, of course, "do you want me to be an old man alone in the plague zone? ”

"Don't talk about it," said Malbiki, "and I, and Mr. Lom's students, have said as much as I can. ”

"Then go and get some rest," said Mr. Lom, triumphantly, "and we will depart tomorrow morning after breakfast." ”

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With the presence of the king's chief physician, the breakfast was not only rich and fresh, but it was almost impossible to tell that the epidemic area was only a few miles away from them, but every doctor who was going to the epidemic area only took a little cheese, sausage, and bread as appropriate, because once the protective suit was put on, it could not be put on again without the help of others, and after taking it off, it was possible to be infested with disease.

A group of guards from Château Blois escorted them to the edge of the plague area, "just go over the woods," said the officer, and the road, where barricades had been erected, and the guards were busy removing them, and Chamborence saw a man's hand peeking out of the ryegrass on the side of the road, motionless, and the officer noticed: "No way," he said, "someone is trying to escape." ”

"Well done," said Lom, "and so afterward, Mr. Officer, increase the density and frequency of patrols, and not let anyone leave the valley until we return!" he nodded to the corpse, "Let's pray for him, gentlemen, and then burn him, it's dangerous to leave the corpse here." ”

"Yes, sir. The officer said that the plague doctors were then walking into the barricades, and the barricades were closed behind them, with three students with Lom and four with Sidonham, and Malbicki and Chamborence with them, but the students of Lom and Sidonham would also be of their service—so to speak, because they had only gone a few hundred feet, and had passed through a wood, and they saw the first village, and the doctors dismounted first, and had the students serve themselves in their protective suits.

The innermost part of the protective clothing is a leather jacket and leather pants, which are made according to the individual's figure, the leather is soft, but it is not comfortable to wear, because according to the medical theory at this time, animal fat can kill the plague and prevent the patient's body fluids from being contaminated on the protective clothing, so the outside of this leather jacket and leather pants should be smeared with butter or lard by the students, these oils are specially taken by the castle manager, and there is no disgusting hala smell, but the slimy feeling is enough to make people sick. After putting on the leather jacket and leather pants, you also have to put on a heavy robe, the collar can be rolled all the way to the chin, pressed into the mask, so as to ensure that no skin is exposed, the lower edge falls directly on the top of the foot, and the foot is a pair of heavy leather boots.

After putting on the robe, it is time to wear a mask, this mask, as painted on a book, looks like a fierce vulture, the surface is made of brass, and in the place of the eyes are inlaid with two round pieces of glass, the kind large enough to fit into a fist, and under the eyes, there is a long leather beak attached to a copper frame, the long beak sticks forward at least a foot, and it is stuffed with spices, depending on the doctor's emergency, from ambergris, lemon balm, spearmint leaves, camphor, cloves, opium tincture, myrrh, Rose petals and Suhe incense are possible, but today's spices are all taken care of by Mr. Lom, so the best spices are used, and as soon as you put them on, there is a strong fragrance that has a good psychological comfort effect, and it is as if the epidemic will also retreat - of course, the doctors of the time did think so.

Finally, a hat was put on, which, unlike today's wide-brimmed hats, was made of leather and lacked ornamentation, giving it a daunting look of darkness and daunting.

In this way, when they were fully armed, under the protection of not even a single hair, it became difficult for them to distinguish each other, and even the voices of their voices became indistinct, but fortunately there were also their canes, and their canes all had a very strong personal style, Lom's was inlaid with a solid silver snake's head, Sidonham was the tip of a black iron cane, and Marbiki's cane had an intricate pattern on it, which was like an elaborate ornament, and Chamburance's cane was made of an oak branch that he had picked up from the roadside yesterday, and there was some bark on it that had not been peeled clean, and a handkerchief was wrapped around the top。

"Oh, Monsieur Chamborance," asked Lom in astonishment, "don't you have a cane with you, I may ask my student to give you one." ”

"No," said Chamborence, "it fits my height and the width of my palm." "Indeed, Chamborence is the tallest of them all," you don't look like a doctor," said Lom, looking at him behind the mask for a moment, "more like a warrior." ”

But isn't it, Seadonham on one side said in his heart that he was still the leader of a mob, but he still didn't say it, although he knew that this man was only afraid of being against the king of France, but he was inexplicably willing to believe this man, perhaps because of what he said, he said, he was also a doctor.

When Lom and Sidonham's pupils were all dressed, one by one, they went to the village.

At this time, it is almost noon, and three meals a day is the fashion in Paris, and some nobles will secretly enjoy it like this, but in the village, two meals a day is the normal situation- Wake up in the morning and go to work for three or four hours, before there is a meal near noon, to ensure that people can have the strength to continue working, and a meal at about four or five o'clock in the evening is for the sake of the grumbling belly, and also for the morning work to make reserves, so now, it should be possible to see the smoke rising from the houses or sheds, but just this way, the plague doctors led by Lom could not help but sink their hearts, because they saw only a dozen pillars of smoke, or from the better houses, that is, most of the houses, and almost all the shacks, their owners did not go to see God, just ran away.

Lom looked at it, and walked over to the neatest, tallest house, which was neat and tall, but it didn't require them to stoop down to enter the door—except for Chamborant.

A student walked up and knocked on the door, and after a long time, a weak voice asked, "Who?"

"Doctor. Mr. Lom said. This was a bit of a surprise to the other three, who had expected the king's chief physician to utter a long list of awkward titles.

"If I give it all the way," said Lom, "it's going to be a little more troublesome, and aren't we doctors?"

"Oh," said Seadonham, "you're right. ”

Even so, the people in the house waited for a while before finally opening the door for them, and there was nothing special about it, just like all the peasants' houses, with the fire pit in the middle, and on the left was a large bed on which everyone could sleep—that is, a few planks put together, and on the right was a livestock pen with a few goats and chickens and ducks, and they might have screamed incessantly when they saw the living.

Lom glanced around briefly, and then exited the room, and it was only an old woman who opened the door to them, and she trembled at the sight of so many people coming in at once.

"Anyone else?" asked Lom's student.

"They all went to work. ”

"Didn't they get the disease?"

The old woman immediately stopped talking, and Lom let out a sharp sneer. He raised his cane and pointed, and his student immediately blocked the old woman's path with it, and then lifted her turban, under which was a circular scar covering her face, "Oh my God," she cried, trying to put it back in her way.

"It's a damn witch. "Still a despicable thief," said Mr. Lom. He didn't think it was right at first glance, this old woman was in rags, and she didn't look like someone who could live in such a house. This phenomenon is very common in villages after the plague has passed, and some of the surviving people will rightly take the last bit of assets of the unfortunate people for themselves - those round scars indicate that the old woman was once infected with smallpox, but luckily survived, so she lived in the epidemic area in such peace.

"Our Lady proves it!" the old woman immediately cried out miserably, "My lords, I am not a thief, this is a house without people, and Mr. Monk has allowed me to live here!"

"What about the livestock?"

"That's what the priest paid me. She said, and then, hurriedly, as if fearing that the adults would not believe her, pointed to an ordinary house and shouted, "If you do not believe me, then go and ask Mr. Monk." ”

"Of course we have to ask. Mr. Lom said.

The old woman was escorted to the house, which looked unremarkable, not much different from the other houses in the village, except for a cross hanging from the wooden door, and when they knocked on it, a man in a similar costume came out, but with a rope tied around his waist, as is common among monks, and upon closer inspection he saw that his mask and robe were rather crude, without a wide-brimmed hat, but with a deep hood pulled up.

As soon as the monk saw the old woman, he immediately understood that this old woman was indeed hired by him, for after the outbreak of smallpox in the village, most of the people had fallen, and some had fled, and the monk who had occasionally passed by had assumed the duties of a doctor before the plague doctor arrived.

"I'm not very good at medicine," the monk confessed, "and I can only pray for them, do the sacraments, and bury them." ”

"Enough, Monsieur Monk," said Lom, "the doctor can only save their bodies, and you are saving their souls. ”

"That's exactly what I should do," said the monk, "and I didn't think you would come so soon." ”

"It can only be described as a coincidence. Mr. Lom said, "How many days have you been here?"

"It's been more than a month. The monk said.

"Tell me about the situation. ”

So the monk gave a rough account of what he had seen and heard here, and that the villages were so remote that even the peasant magistrates were seldom resident here, and that there were no churches or chapels, and certainly no clergy, and that the people here were accustomed to the appearance of small bumps—perhaps because of mosquitoes, or perhaps because of the sap of the plants, or perhaps because they slept on the ground so wet, and that it was not uncommon for children to die of fever and premature deaths, so they did not notice anything strange at all— It was the beginning of the epidemic.

When the monk passed by, he only stayed in the house used by the villagers as a chapel, and luckily did not have much contact with the villagers, and he contracted the epidemic, after which he spread his hands helplessly: "Obviously, there may be people running out from elsewhere, and the road was blocked just as I was about to leave. "After all, this was once the ancestral land of the French royal family, and the Château de Blois was always guarded by an army, and the supervisors and generals of the army here reacted quite quickly. When the monk found that he could no longer leave, he returned to the village, and as best he could find some herbs, which he made into a soup for the villagers to drink, but he was indeed not as good as he said, and people kept dying, first the frail old man and the child, then the woman, and finally the strong man.