Chapter 1701 Epidemic
During the long sea voyage, what scares the sailors most is not only the bad sea conditions, but also the epidemic that occurs on the ship. Since the entire ship is a relatively closed environment, once an epidemic occurs, it will spread very quickly. When people start to die on the ship, there may be many people who have been infected, but they are still in the incubation period and have not yet developed an infection.
The crew members on this ship were all novices. After discovering that people were dying of illness one after another, they concluded that most of the prisoners had been infected with some kind of acute disease when they boarded the ship, and they started to attack one after another a few days after going to sea. Judging from its lethality, the lethality of this disease is undoubtedly terrifying. There is a shortage of doctors and medicines on the ship. The only doctor on board can only diagnose and treat minor problems such as headaches and fever. As for this deadly plague, he has never seen it before and can only rely on the medical skills he has learned before. Guess what happened on the ship.
Qin Huacheng learned about what happened on the ship from the guards' conversations outside, and felt even more chilled. He had heard from Spanish officers in the past that similar situations occurred in the Manila fleet at sea, and the way to deal with it was to throw all those who showed signs of illness overboard to avoid future troubles. Although this is an extremely cruel method, the effect of eliminating infection is very significant, at least ensuring that healthy people on the ship can survive. As the only prisoners on the ship who have fallen ill so far, the guards don't seem to have too many concerns about what to do with the remaining people.
Qin Huacheng didn't want to be thrown into the sea as a disease carrier just after he was freed from the disease. Even if he had to do heavy physical labor after arriving at the destination, it was better than being an unjust ghost at sea. So when he heard the guards discussing in low voices outside how to deal with the prisoners on the ship who had begun to fall ill, he became even more anxious and began to think about how to protect himself.
A more favorable condition for Qin Huacheng is that the cabin where he was detained was still some distance away from where other prisoners were, and he was the last prisoner to be taken on board. He had not had any incidents with other prisoners in the past few days at sea. With any direct contact, the chance of infection is relatively small.
However, the unfavorable conditions are also obvious. Qin Huacheng has become seriously ill after going to sea. Although his condition was quickly relieved, the guards on the ship may still think that he is also a patient of the epidemic. And with his current status, even if he defends himself, it will be difficult for the guards to listen to him. If these guards planned to take extreme measures, he might also be thrown off the ship as a hidden danger.
After four prisoners died of illness one after another, the guards on the ship finally took action. The first to suffer were the people detained in the same room as the four deceased. How many of these people had been infected with the epidemic, and how many were innocently implicated. , it is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis with the medical skills of the barefoot doctors on the ship, and can only be treated uniformly to isolate the source of the epidemic.
The guards covered their mouths and noses with cloths, put on canvas gloves, entered the two cells and dragged out all the remaining prisoners. Although Qin Huacheng could not see the situation outside in the cabin, the shouting and screaming outside when the guards took action could clearly reach his ears. The prisoners' pleadings, screams, and guards' scoldings all made him feel more and more nervous, fearing that the hatch would be opened the next moment, and a group of wolf-like guards would rush in and kidnap him. Go out and throw yourself into the sea. He didn't know how many people the guards had dealt with, but judging from the sounds they heard, there were at least ten people. After these people were dragged out, there was no sound of being escorted back.
After waiting uneasily for another night, the epidemic control on the ship did not seem to have fundamentally improved. Qin Huacheng heard the conversations of the guards and it seemed that someone had died in another cabin where prisoners were held. It seems that the guards' handling methods will not improve, and they plan to empty the cabin directly.
Qin Huacheng thought that if the situation continued to deteriorate like this, the guards might soon lose their patience and clear out all the prisoners on the ship if they had no choice but to find a way to survive on their own initiative.
So when the guard came to serve the meal, Qin Huacheng took the initiative and said: "You have a way to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Please give the adults outside a chance!"
After hearing this, the guard did not put down the tray and leave immediately as usual. Instead, he asked outside the door: "What can you do? Let's talk first."
Qin Huacheng said: "The villain knows a folk remedy for treating epidemic diseases. If you want to come on board, there will be materials available. You might as well give it a try."
The guard quickly said: "Wait a minute, I'll call the doctor."
The guard was afraid that Qin Huacheng's remedies were false, so he called the doctor on the ship over and asked him to judge whether Qin Huacheng's remedies were useful. Of course, with this dabbler's level, he can't even determine the source of the epidemic, and he may not be able to tell whether Qin Huacheng's folk remedies are effective.
When Qin Huacheng waited for the ship's doctor to arrive, he reported the folk recipe he knew: "Use ginger, green onion, and soybean, boil it thickly and drink it hot, and it is always effective. This is a prescription proven by our ancestors. I think there should be these on the ship." Ingredients, please give it a try.”
The prescription Qin Huacheng mentioned was a prescription for treating miasma mentioned by Su Shi in "A Letter to Wang Minzhong". It was mentioned by an official from the Immigration Department when he was working as a public security police officer. This prescription may not be quite right for the epidemic on the ship, but Qin Huacheng himself does not understand medicine and pharmacy, nor does he know that miasma epidemics are mostly found in mountains and forests. However, the prescriptions he knows are very limited. He just remembers this one. It is related to the epidemic, and what is needed are common ingredients and seasonings. It is probably the only recipe that can be prepared on the ship. Anyway, now that a dead horse is being treated as a living horse doctor, we can only give it a try.
Sure enough, it was difficult for the doctor to judge whether the prescription Qin Huacheng said was effective, but what mattered to him now was not the authenticity of Qin Huacheng's prescription, but the possibility of its practical application. The doctor did know a few serious prescriptions for treating the epidemic, but the medicinal materials required for the prescriptions were not available on the ship at all, so they were completely useless. However, several of the materials needed by Qin Hua to make this prescription could indeed be found on the ship. Of course, this must be tried first. Anyway, it is not poisonous to death. If it works, it will save the lives of the remaining dozens of people on the ship.
"If it works, you will be credited with it. If it doesn't work...then your fate will be the same as everyone else's!" The doctor left with a straight face and coldly dropped a few words before leaving. Although Qin Huacheng was a little frightened, he finally saw a glimmer of hope and secretly prayed that the prescription would work. If more people die, the prisoners escorted on this ship may not make it to their destination.
After getting this recipe, the people on the boat immediately got busy, found all the ginger, onion and black beans, added water to boil them. After it was cooked, the sailors and guards on the ship each had a bowl of it. Although the taste was indeed a bit weird, thinking that it might be a life-saving prescription, they all held their noses and drank it.
Then the second pot was cooked, and it was the turn of the prisoners held in the cabin. And Qin Huacheng, as the one who came up with the idea, of course got a bowl. His ability to adapt now is countless times stronger than when he first got on the boat. Although the smell of this bowl of food smelled very strange, he poured it into his stomach without hesitation, and then he felt a heat flow from his stomach. The liquid rushed down the esophagus to the throat, and the whole body became hot.
During the second meal of the day, the same potion was distributed again, and everyone had to drink every drop under the supervision of the guards to prevent anyone from deliberately seeking death with ulterior motives. Qin Huacheng thought that if this operation was still useless, then he would have no other choice and could only sit back and wait for death.
The night passed surprisingly well. Qin Huacheng felt that he just fell asleep in a daze for a short while. When he opened his eyes again, he found that the sky outside had already brightened. Then during breakfast, he finally received the good news. No more prisoners died of illness last night. Whether it was because the prescription he contributed worked or for some other reason, everyone on the ship was relieved for this. One breath.
Another day passed like this, and the outbreak of the disease on the ship finally stopped. Most people familiar with the situation believed that Qin Huacheng's prescription had worked. The meal that the guard sent him that day was actually replaced by one. A bowl of dry rice with a piece of salted fish. Although this reward was insignificant, Qin Huacheng, who had already had a bird's eye in his mouth, was overjoyed. He knew that as long as the epidemic on the ship did not break out again, he would no longer have to worry about survival until at least he arrived at his destination.
Twelve days after setting off from Manila Port, the ship arrived at Amborna Island, Haihan’s important maritime transit station in the central and southern South China Sea. After being registered at the port, the ship was allowed to stop at Amborna Island for one day to replenish food and fresh water. Of course, what is more important is to purchase some medicines to prevent and treat epidemics here to prevent the situation on the ship from recurring again.
The port side heard that an epidemic had occurred on the ship during the journey and were faced with a serious threat. In addition to temporarily prohibiting people on board from landing, they also launched an emergency plan and sent a fully armed medical team to disinfect the ship. They also diagnosed and treated everyone on board one by one to ensure that there were no other patients with the disease. Of course, no one would question the way the guards on the ship deal with prisoners who may be infected with the disease in an emergency. On the contrary, this folk remedy that turned the situation on board from danger to safety was recorded by the medical staff. This is a very rare example. It will definitely be reported to the country later, and the health department will conduct in-depth research on this prescription.
Qin Huacheng was naturally diagnosed by the medical staff, but his condition was pretty good. Apart from being weak and having fleas on his body, he had no obvious illnesses and did not need any special treatment.
The crew members were finally allowed to disembark in batches. In addition to being able to eat a decent meal, they could also take a peaceful bath in the port's bathhouse and then sleep peacefully on land. This was a great experience for people who had been wandering at sea for a long time. It’s an irresistible enjoyment. However, the prisoners held on the ship naturally did not receive such treatment. After a simple disinfection operation, they were driven back from the deck to the cabin to continue their detention. As a meritorious minister, Qin Huacheng received some special treatment here - the guard found a pillow and a relatively clean quilt for him from nowhere.
Although it is said that there is only about one-fifth of the remaining trip, Qin Huacheng is quite relieved to be able to receive such "care". At least he knows that he can live a more relaxed life in the remaining few days without having to worry about it. I no longer worry every day whether I will be mistreated by the guards.
After a night at Ambona Island, the ship set off again. Compared with the previous part of the voyage, the rest of the journey was easy and enjoyable for everyone. Encountering almost no setbacks, the fleet arrived at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula three days later.
Qin Huacheng heard the excited shouts of the sailors on the deck in the cabin, and then heard the guards outside saying that they had arrived at the sea off Xingdao. The sailors' shouts were because they encountered two patrol boats at sea. Han warship.
"We're here, we're finally here!" Qin Hua let out a sigh of relief, feeling relieved that he was about to be relieved. But he soon thought that this Star Island might not be a good place as a prisoner's place of exile. The officer who pronounced the sentence before had said that this place was an important southern border town of the Haihan Kingdom. The prisoners exiled here must have to do heavy physical labor such as building cities and fortifications. I am afraid that their hard days have just begun.
It's really disappointing to think that it will take another three years. Qin Huacheng didn't know whether he could survive it, but he had experienced life and death twice in a row this time, which made him stronger. Qin Huacheng thought that the worst he could do was to die anyway, and since he was on the verge of death, he didn't need to be afraid of anything more terrifying than death.
After another half day, we finally arrived at the port in the southern part of Star Island. When Qin Huacheng finally returned to the deck again, he was able to see the environment of this place. Compared with the Port of Manila and the Port of Cavite, the size of the Sing Tao port is not large. More than half of the pier is allocated to the navy stationed in the port, and only less than twenty berths are used for civilian ships and merchant ships. moored. Although the ship Qin Huacheng was on was transporting military supplies and prisoners, it was still led to the civilian ship dock. Soon after, people from the military boarded the ship to inspect and sign for the supplies and prisoners on the ship. .
(End of chapter)