Metropolitan Police Headquarters, Greater London, 4 Whitehall Street, Westminster, London.

Riding boots treaded on the floor, and the sound of solid, crisp footsteps resounded throughout Scotland Yard.

The hall was filled with Scotland's Yard officers trotting back and forth, from different police districts across London, facing different policing situations and regional characteristics, but today they visited the headquarters on behalf of the local police district for the same purpose.

Not from theft, robbery, arson, but from a pandemic without warning.

"Superintendent Matthews, St Thomas' Hospital and London Bridge Hospital suddenly declared full this morning. Because they could not find a bed to occupy the hospital, many family members of the patients gathered in front of the hospital to protest. The local police department requested that the headquarters be able to send an armed police force to the area to assist in maintaining order. ”

"Superintendent Klein, here's a special report from the Hackney Police Station, since yesterday evening, the local Homerton Hospital has suddenly received many patients of unknown cause, and the local police station is desperately short of transportation to transport patients, and they implore the headquarters to transfer some police force to support Hackney."

"Sir Mayne, a similar situation has occurred in the East India Docks area, where a number of sailors have suddenly become ill, and the Thames Maritime Police are currently unable to arrange more police force to be involved in water policing, and they have forwarded to us an application for assistance through the London Port Authority. The relevant documents are currently being approved by the Ministry of the Interior, and the details are explained in the appendix to the document. ”

Arthur hurried down the aisle of the hall, his hat tucked between his armpits, and a white glove in his mouth, hurrying to change his outfit as he went.

He was followed by Louis, who had rushed back to Scotland Yard to sort out the relevant documents, and he followed Arthur's steps while unfolding the document report: "According to the current feedback from various police districts, there have been major outbreaks of epidemic in the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts. London's major hospitals are at full capacity to admit patients, and almost all hospitals except the West End are already full, and the rest of the hospitals are also transferring excess patients to the West End. However, based on the current situation, it will not be long before the beds in the West End will be filled......"

Arthur took off his white gloves and put them on his hand as he walked with his head down: "Time is pressing, try to pick up the key points." Is there any update on the Cabinet's side? ”

Louis hurriedly turned a new page: "The emergency meeting of the cabinet has just ended, and according to the report of the Chancellor's Chamber, they have launched an operation to trace the origin of the epidemic. According to the reports submitted by the local government medical officers, the epidemic can now be identified as cholera, which is raging on the European continent. The source of cholera in Britain may have come from Sunderland on the shores of Durham.

A few weeks earlier, sailors in the port of Sunderland had been the first to become ill, but at the time local doctors in Sunderland misdiagnosed it as endemic and did not pay further attention to it. The Chancellor's Chamber traced that the disease had continued northward along the Tyborne River, all the way through Northumberland into Scotland, and that there were now suspected cases in Haddington and East Lothian.

At present, the Prime Minister, Earl Grey, has asked the Chancery's Hall to convene heat experts from major London hospitals to discuss the next step of prevention and treatment. The Home Office has asked Scotland Yard not to act rashly until the end of the health conference, and all police officers continue to maintain order in the area in accordance with the daily work regulations. ”

"Don't act rashly?" Arthur stopped walking, turned his head to look at Louis and said, "The cholera outbreak is already a very definite thing, is there anything to hesitate about in the Ministry of Internal Affairs now?" ”

Louis closed the file and replied: "It's not that the Ministry of the Interior is hesitating, it's that the Chancellor's Chamber has been hesitating. There is currently a conflicting view of the miasma and contagionists on the committee, many of whom have worked in cholera-affected areas. Therefore, until it is determined which school of thought prevails, the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not dare to act rashly. ”

After Louis said this, he handed over the document in his hand.

Arthur took a cursory glance and understood the current situation.

Because they found that the medical staff who treated cholera patients in India rarely contracted the disease, they naturally insisted on the fact that cholera and all diseases were not contagious, but were determined by environmental factors such as climate, temperature, and air.

Their view is further supported by the current report on cholera in India, where outbreaks are almost invariably low-lying, humid and hot. Many doctors in Sunderland, the site of the cholera pandemic in Britain, share the same view, and at a meeting this morning, representatives of the miasma faction presented a report by a local doctor, Henry Dodd.

The report claims that the cholera cases were preceded by extreme out-of-season weather that produced and spread the local accumulation of deadly gaseous substances in some areas, which was sufficient to cause an outbreak of a cholera pandemic in the local population.

While the Miasma's arguments and examples seem to be correct, its opponents have come up with a lot of evidence to disprove it. One of them is the clear path of cholera.

In fact, long before the cholera pandemic broke out in Britain, the British government was aware of this appalling disease.

As a deadly disease originating in the South Asian subcontinent, the British Army had already learned the power of cholera in 1817.

It was the outbreak of the Third Maratha War between Britain and India, and like the previous two wars, it looked like the army was about to win another hearty crushing victory without foreign aid from the Indian maharajas.

But unexpectedly, soon after the outbreak of the war, cholera quietly invaded Calcutta, and as the soldiers contracted one after another, the combat effectiveness of the army was quickly hit, and even the front-line war became difficult.

Unfortunately, although cholera is an Indian disease, it is infected regardless of nationality and obviously lacks much patriotism.

In this way, cholera soon spread its infection from the British Army to all soldiers on the battlefield.

Soon after, it followed soldiers from both warring sides to the borders of Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

By the end of the cholera outbreak in 1823, it had extended its footprint to Muscat, Tehran, and Baghdad in Central Asia.

After that, thanks to two wars between Russia and Persia and the Ottoman Empire in 1826-1829, cholera successfully crossed the Caucasus Mountains and followed Russian soldiers to St. Petersburg.

Although Tsar Nicholas I sacrificed his iron willpower, this did not prevent the outbreak of cholera in Russia in 1829.

Sick Russian soldiers were soon sent to Warsaw to suppress the Polish uprising, and with the arrival of Russian soldiers, the entire territory of Poland quickly became an epidemic zone.

With the conquest of Poland, it followed in the footsteps of the refugees all the way westward, quickly engulfing the whole of Europe.

Faced with thousands of deaths, the British government has long felt a chill down its spine, after all, no one wants another Black Death. But unfortunately, as an island nation that lives on business, Britain has not been able to escape almost every global pandemic.

In order to prevent the outbreak of cholera, the British government took advantage of the current harmonious diplomatic relations between the two countries to send a number of physicians to St. Petersburg to learn how to prevent and treat cholera.

And these doctors are now the main force in the theory of infectious diseases, and they are almost diametrically opposed to the testimonies of the doctors in India.

For some unknown reason, the Russian medical staff suffered completely differently from the doctors stationed in India, who often contracted cholera while caring for the sick, and this became the center of the battle between the miasma theory and the contagion theory.

They all accuse each other of fabricating facts and ignoring the basic ethics of being a doctor.

Faced with this situation, it is not difficult to understand the indecision of the cabinet as a non-specialist.

Arthur finished reading the report, took a deep breath, he buckled his hat and said: "I understand, of course we will implement the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, since they said that everything will be done as usual, then we will continue as usual." However, according to the principle of utilitarianism, the main responsibilities of the Police Intelligence Bureau have been temporarily changed, and the investigation of murder cases has been temporarily suspended, and our extra manpower has been assigned to the subordinate police districts to participate in the assistance work.

Since it's impossible to determine which faction is right, let's pay attention to it. Inform our police officers to wear scarves around their mouths and noses as much as possible when on duty, and not to eat local food and drinking water. Now that the whole of London is not safe, their food supply will be under the responsibility of the department during this special time. By the way, I warn them that I have no intention of adding an extra pension to this year's departmental budget quota, so they can't fall before the situation calms down. ”

"Understood, sir!"

Louis saluted, handed Arthur the papers he was holding, and trotted away.

Arthur flipped through the papers, figured out what was going on, put his white gloves on the doorknob, and pushed open the door to the conference room.

When his officer's knife and straight standing posture appeared in everyone's sight, the superintendents who were snorting clouds and slapping the table in the conference room suddenly stopped.

"Black ...... Superintendent Hastings? ”

"Why are you here?"

Arthur didn't explain much, he just took off his hat and threw it on the table, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

In the silence, Arthur struck a match and lit his pipe and took a puff.

After the smoke, there are eyes glowing red.

"Don't be too surprised, it's just a little injury, I can still breathe."

The Deputy Director of the Department, Sir Mayne, nodded slightly when he heard this, and then turned to look at Director Rowan, who was sunk in his chair and smoking a cigarette beside him.

I saw Luo Wan slowly straighten his waist and gently buckle the pipe into the teacup at hand, and the smoke dissipated, revealing his angular face and thinning hair on his forehead.

"Arthur, I won't say those polite words. Flattery or anything is false, I am a real person. Scotland needs you now and I'm very happy to have you back in time. When the cholera is over, you can take as long as you want. If there is anything to say from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I will deal with it, and you don't have to pay attention. ”

Arthur smiled and replied, "Sir, I'm a real person, too. Since you say so, let's talk about how to end cholera, shall we? ”

Superintendent Matthews, who was on the side, heard this, and asked Director Rowan with a straight face, "Sir, the word cholera has been ringing in my ears since I got up today. How is this disease different from typhus and yellow fever? Is it worth dealing with it with such fanfare? ”

When Rowan heard this, he suddenly turned his gaze to Arthur: "I don't know anything about the disease. To be honest, I'm also confused now, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs doesn't seem to plan to talk to us about anything for the time being. If any of you know about the situation, you may wish to tell everyone about it. ”

Arthur stood up and opened the document in his hand and said, "Regarding cholera, according to the information that the intelligence bureau has just obtained, it is an endemic disease that originated in the South Asian subcontinent. This time the cholera was most likely imported by a merchant ship returning from Hamburg to Sunderland.

According to the relevant doctors, the onset of cholera is violent and incurable, and once the disease is detected, it can kill the patient in as little as two or three hours or as well as two or three days. People who die of cholera are dehydrated, their body fluids are almost drained, they lose their weight severely, they lose their human form, they resemble skeletons, and their skin takes on a blue-gray color. Because of its death and rapid spread, many people have now begun to call it the Blue Death.

As we all know, cholera has been endemic on the European continent for some time. In fact, as early as a year ago, Britain launched measures to prevent cholera. The Duke of Wellington, who had been Governor of the Five Ports since 1829, ordered the ports of Hastings, Romney, Hayes, Dover Sandwich, and Rai and Winchilsey to reopen the strict quarantine of the plague under his jurisdiction. All vessels suspected by the quarantine authorities of being at risk of cholera will be quarantined outside the port for 40 to 80 days......"

When Superintendent Motherwell heard this, he couldn't help but ask, "I guess they probably didn't strictly enforce it, right?" After all, the people of the Five Hong Kong Alliance have become accustomed to being arrogant and domineering for hundreds of years, although it is no longer their mid-century that is in full swing, but that arrogance is not comparable to ordinary places. ”

Superintendent Moseley, who was on the side, also turned his pen and echoed: "After all, I can't think of any other sailors besides them who can do anything to sack their own city." At that time, their fleet was under the banner of the 'Royal Navy of the Five Ports', and was completely under the command of the naval commander. ”

Director Rowan raised his hand to signal them to stop, and said to Arthur, "Back to cholera." ”

Arthur continued: "Although the news of the discovery of cholera was only announced today, according to the feedback from all over the world, it should have been several weeks since it entered Britain. London is not its first stop, nor will it be its last. Based on the experience of India, Russia and other places, the cholera epidemic is likely to last up to a year. ”

"This ......"

"A year?"

After listening to Arthur's description, the superintendents felt that they were itching all over their bodies, as if they were about to get cholera.

As for some of the grumpy superintendents, they couldn't help but bang their pipes on the table: "Since the situation is so serious, why hasn't the Ministry of Internal Affairs given an order?" According to the previous practice, we should lock down the epidemic area and burn the corpses as soon as possible. By the way, Superintendent Hastings, do you now know exactly what this cholera is spreading? Do we need to catch another street rat or something? ”

Arthur unfolded the document and laid it out in front of the superintendents: "The question you asked is what the doctors want to know the most. And according to what I have learned, the reason why the cabinet is indecisive is because there is a disagreement among the doctors' community. ”

"Huh? Didn't we send someone to Russia to investigate before? Could it be that they investigated for a long time and then found a disagreement? ”

"The same with knives, if they drag on like this, it is estimated that the number of killings will soon exceed that of Scotland Yard and the Army."

"Sir, shall we just sit down? What exactly does the Ministry of Internal Affairs mean now? ”

Luo Wan did not answer their questions, but directly lifted the police officer's knife in his hand, put on gloves, and nodded at Arthur: "Arthur." ”

"Sir?"

Luo Wan walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder: "It's useless to expect these big bosses, in this kind of thing, only college students with formal education can come in handy." Stop sitting still, go, and accompany me to the Chancellor's Hall. ”

(End of chapter)