Great time travel

Chapter 15, Undercurrent Surges
PS: I'm very sorry, the system crashed last night, and I couldn't even open the computer, let alone post.Today, I hereby update the [-]-character chapter to make up for it.

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In the city of Marseille, there is a simple three-story building with a wooden signboard with a pattern of "snake around a goblet" hanging at the gate.

——The above-mentioned strange-looking pattern was a symbol of pharmacists in the Catholic world of medieval Europe.And this building with the "snake around the goblet" hanging is the seat of the pharmacists' guild in the port of Marseilles and one of the power centers of this autonomous city.

In the dark medieval Europe, except for the capitals of various countries, most cities were not the location of political centers, but only fixed trading places developed from rural fairs, or religious centers built around churches—although in Italy, Many nobles have begun to live in the city and participate in industrial and commercial operations.But in France, where the chivalry system was at its peak, the lords and nobles who are the ruling class are usually more accustomed to living in castles with dangerous terrain. For them, the cities established by handicraftsmen and merchants are only objects of taxation. .

Since the ruler generally does not stay in the city and has no control over the city's affairs, a power vacuum naturally forms, and the rich merchants and craftsmen quickly fill the above-mentioned gap, establish self-government institutions, and cooperate with the owners of urban land— —The aristocratic lords, continuous power struggle broke out: the lords wanted to squeeze the wealth of the citizens unscrupulously, while the citizens tried their best to break free from the feudal shackles and obtain self-government status.

In this long struggle, although the aristocratic lords had more powerful force, the bourgeoisie had more sufficient financial resources and powerful foreign aid—the monarchs of European countries generally supported the autonomy of the city in order to reduce the vassal and promote centralization. (with the exception of the royal family's own direct territories), so as to bury nails in the territory of those rebellious princes under their jurisdiction, and at the same time provoke the two sides to continue to fight, so as to benefit from both ends.Moreover, in medieval Europe, many cities were originally established in remote areas by escaped serfs who could not bear the oppression of the lord, so they were often not located in the center of a certain noble territory, but at the junction of multiple noble territories , so that the city's self-government agencies have the space to unite vertically and horizontally, and to carry out diplomatic mediation... Finally, by the fourteenth century, most French, British and German cities had achieved self-government status.

The same is true of the port of Marseille, which is located on the Mediterranean coast. In fact, it was not within the territory of France until the early thirteenth century. Between France and the Holy Roman Empire, swinging back and forth from time to time.

It was not until 1248 that the French royal family annexed the port of Marseille through marriage because the ruler of the Provence counties became extinct. The process was somewhat similar to the merger of Scotland and England.However, although the French royal family at that time annexed the port of Marseille, there were still several independent and powerful princes between Marseille and Paris. In other words, the new royal territory of Marseille was equivalent to an enclave.What's more terrible is that the royal family has spent a whole century and failed to change the above situation... In order to prevent the emergence of a powerful ruler in this wealthy enclave and break away from the control of Paris again, the French royal family's rule strategy for Marseille is to To make it fragmented to the greatest extent, a bunch of unrelated small lords were canonized in the countryside here, and Marseilles was granted great autonomy, so that the nobles, wealthy businessmen, and priests in this place would not obey anyone, and no one would obey anyone. It doesn't matter who, everyone has to ask for the arbitration of the royal family, so that the local tyrants in these places cannot form a joint force and have no way to fight against the authority of the royal family.

In this way, Marseille has become an autonomous city-state in essence, but it still needs to pay a sum of money to the royal family in Paris every year.Besides the bishop of Marseilles who represents the power of the church, the people in power who really rule the city are all kinds of "guilds".

——In medieval Europe, where wars were frequent and political divisions were frequent, there was never any talk of a free market. In order to resist the exploitation and oppression of feudal lords, to protect the interests of the city’s owners from outsiders, and to prevent foreign handicraftsmen from invading To compete and limit competition among local handicraftsmen of the same industry, citizens of the same industry often form alliances to keep warm, that is, guilds.For example, tanners form a guild of tanners, jewelers form a guild of jewelers, and so on.Merchants who travel to and from various cities will also form their own chambers of commerce.Generally speaking, each guild regularly elects its own leader (although many guilds and chambers of commerce are eventually made hereditary), has its own clubhouse, and strict rules, and has the right to apportion dues to each member .If it is in a self-governing city, representatives of those guilds can also be elected to the municipal council.

In different cities, the power of the guilds is different, but no matter what, one of the biggest characteristics is common, that is, the ubiquitous monopoly!Each guild monopolizes a certain occupation in a certain city. From bread making to barbers to carriage drivers, almost any business is controlled by various guilds.At that time, if you wanted to engage in a certain industry in a certain city and survive in the market competition, you had to join the guild, pay protection fees to the guild regularly, and obey all kinds of reasonable and unreasonable orders. Order, otherwise, the door would be smashed and the store closed, and even expelled from the city, or even the whole family might be killed directly, and there would be no place to redress—this was the default unspoken rule at the time!

The pharmacists' guild in the port of Marseilles is a relatively unpopular small guild in this city. Due to too few employees (how many pharmacists can there be in a city with tens of thousands of people?), even one position in the city hall nor.But no matter how unpopular it is, it has legally monopolized the pharmaceutical manufacturing business in Marseille, successfully suppressed all competitors, and maintained this monopoly position for hundreds of years.

Of course, this small guild cannot afford to support a group of powerful thugs, but it has a deep friendship with many "vigorous social groups" in the city. That's all, if the other party is skilled, then they will deliberately find someone to pretend to be the victim and make trouble, frame the other party for selling fake medicines to harm people, ruin the other party's reputation, and then hire a gang of gangsters to rush into their shop to smash and loot, completely destroying It is driven out of the local market.Any foreign pharmacist would never gain a foothold in the city without their nod of approval.

Especially after the outbreak of the Black Death, the biggest competitor of the Port of Marseilles Pharmacists' Guild, the Doctors' Guild, was quickly and devastated (no matter how overbearing the Pharmacists' Guild was, it could not prevent doctors from dispensing their own medicines, let alone Possibly supported by high-ranking people—doctors, not pharmacists, treat high-ranking dignitaries, after all).Because when diagnosing a disease, doctors have to face the patient directly no matter what, and have close contact with the source of infection, but there is no good way to resist the disease, so a large number of doctors in the city died quickly, and the rest were forced to die. Do not run away.

But pharmacists can hide in their huts wretchedly, away from dangerous patients, and just resell all kinds of medicines hoarded in the store through hawkers, regardless of whether they are symptomatic and effective-even though this plague is under the current medical condition There is no cure, but because of the panic of people wanting to grab a life-saving straw in despair, even those cheap medicine powders that can only be used as placebos and are not worth a few copper coins are now on the market. The high price of dozens of silver coins can be sold casually on the Internet.Some of the most unscrupulous pharmacists, after the stocks of medicinal materials are exhausted, even go out of their way to concoct "pills" with charcoal, dust, hay and even feces to sell, and the sales are still hot and the supply exceeds demand!
In short, during this period of time, some pharmacists in the Port of Marseilles did die of the Black Death, but most of them survived successfully, and their business was booming, making a fortune—although the haze of death made people Scared, but such huge profits made them wish that the plague would continue.

However, such exciting and pleasant days did not last long, and the Pharmacist's Guild found an unusually powerful challenger.

——Levy, the agent of the Rhode Island Hospital Knights who is resident in the Jihadist Manor on the outskirts of the city, who has just inherited his uncle's title.Baron Bacon.

This knight from the east, unexpectedly through some channels, obtained some medicines that can really fight against this plague! ! !

At this moment, a group of pharmacists in black robes are gathering in a dark small room for a meeting.Expensive incense burned in a censer in one corner of the room, and hundreds of amulets hung from the beams—the most effective way they believed to fight the plague.

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

However, according to a piece of newly discovered information, these pharmacists' common sense of the plague has begun to falter.

At the same time, it began to falter, and the pharmacists' guild had maintained a monopoly position in the pharmaceutical market in the port of Marseille for centuries.

"...According to the information obtained by my valet, this is probably the case. The agent of the Knights Hospitaller in Marseilles has just inherited Levi from the Jihadist Manor. Baron Bacon obtained a batch of medicine from some unknown source. ——It is likely to be bought from the Eastern pagans, and it does have amazing curative effects: in the hospital under the Knights, more than one-third of the patients have improved significantly..."

A middle-aged man with a thin figure and a gloomy face tapped his thin fingers on the table and said anxiously, "...the news hasn't spread much, so the problem is not too serious. But wait until When the baron confirmed the curative effect of these medicines and began to sell them to the city, the monopoly of our guild will come to an end! Now, please discuss how we should deal with this violation of the guild's franchise. Horrible threats, and try to poach the way to get the drug? Or try to compromise and reach a deal with them?"

"...Facing this kind of enemy who meddles in our business without authorization, it is absolutely impossible to blindly compromise and give in! Mr. President! 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 theirs. In the hands—we must first show our strength and teach this ignorant Sir a lesson, otherwise, this guy will definitely get rid of us and monopolize the money!"

A muscular red-haired burly man waved his fist fiercely, his eyes glowed fiercely, and he growled in a low voice, "...even if the opponent is the Knights Hospitaller? This is not Rhodes Island, but Marseilles, even if It's the Knights of the Hospital, and there are not many people available here. As long as we are willing to spend money and get a group of people to make a big noise, we can make this lord suffer a little like we used to deal with those out-of-town pharmacists! "

"...The question is who should we ask for help? Mr. Godery. Don't forget that this city is suffering from a plague!" The president glanced at the red-haired strong man and said with some displeasure, "... The boss of the Brotherhood of Bulls died of illness last month, and most of the remaining leaders hid in the countryside, or locked themselves in places like cellars. Even if they wanted to contact them, they couldn’t find anyone right now. As for the sharks People from the Brotherhood...their site is next to the pier, which is the hardest-hit area of ​​the plague, and it is said that there are not many people alive! Are you willing to go there to find someone on behalf of the guild?"

As soon as he heard that he wanted to go to the most severely plagued part of the city to seek help from the gangsters, the brawny red-haired man immediately shrank back, while the other small old man continued to interject and sneer, "... Or, are you going to let us fight against the fully armed knights? Humph, although the hospital knights have very limited manpower in Marseilles, as long as there are two or three knights, it is probably enough to kill all of us here Come on!"

"...Well... can't we file a complaint with the city hall? After all, we have a legal charter granted by the king."

A young man with an immature face raised his hand and suggested timidly, "...should be able to protect our rights and interests by going to court!"

"...Appeal? In theory, of course it is possible. The premise is that there are still people in the city hall to accept it! Those gentlemen have already fled to the countryside for refuge! Of the three judges who are still staying in the city, two have died of illness. The remaining one also got sick two days ago, I'm afraid he won't live for a few days..."

The president spread his hands helplessly, "...Under such circumstances, how should we file a lawsuit? What's more, everyone knows in their hearts that our medicine can't cure the disease, but that Sir Levi has the real ability The life-saving elixir, this is equivalent to controlling the lives of everyone! I bet that once the noble gentlemen in the city learn the truth, they will not only refuse to give us justice, but will scramble to rush to us. That guy is fawning over him in every possible way, and may even charge us with a crime, directly deprive us of the franchise, and hand it over to that damned Levi!"

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

"...From this point of view, I'm afraid there is no way to count on the city hall. But what if we change our thinking and go to the Inquisition?"

An old man with a dark complexion suddenly spoke, and the term he said made everyone present tremble slightly.

——In medieval Europe, the term "Inquisition" was almost as terrifying as a magic cave to ordinary people.From ordinary people to officials and nobles, I don’t know how many people were tied to the stake by this organization because of a heresy charge that fell from the sky...

But after a while, the president of the pharmacist's guild shook his head and vetoed the idea, "...it still doesn't work, Mr. Henry. In the city of Marseilles, I don't know how many people are doing business with heretics, even ourselves No exception. Even the church itself buys a lot of oriental spices and silk every year. If that guy buys medicine from heretics, I’m afraid he’s not qualified enough for the Inquisition to convict him.

Moreover, this Sir Levi is not the kind of little character who has no footsteps. He is not only a member of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island, but also inherited the estate and contacts of Baron Diderot. With our strength, there is no way Let the Inquisition break the convention and do something to such a noble person! "

"...Just doing business with a heretic is certainly not enough to punish him, and I understand that. But what if he is still an evil heretic and a wizard?" The old man said with a sneer, "... According to the information obtained, this lord who was born in the Hospital Knights of Rhode Island not only raised a large number of cursed monsters in his manor recently, but also performed evil witchcraft on patients, which shows that the so-called cure plague I am afraid that the elixir is also obtained by trading with the devil or evil gods. Any Christian should resist the temptation of this devil...

What's more, the status of Lord Levy is actually not as lofty as you imagined—his uncle Sir Diderot died less than a month ago, and the official document to the Paris royal family is still on the way. The estate inheritance did not have time to receive the king's approval and approval.For the same reason, he inherited his uncle's qualification as an agent of the Knights of the Hospital, and he has not yet been officially recognized by the Rhode Island headquarters. From a legal point of view, the current Mr. Li Wei is just an ordinary knight, let alone The title, even the manor does not belong to him yet!

In addition, the second heir behind this Knight Levi, specifically his distant cousin Knight Nice, is also in Marseilles right now, and happens to have some friendship with me.If Li Wei can be accused of heresy, he will be able to inherit the title, manor and estate left by Baron Diderot... We can definitely let him come forward to sue and expose the true face of Li Wei, an evil wizard.At the same time, find a way to spread rumors in the city, saying that Li Wei has done various blasphemous and rebellious acts in the manor, offering sacrifices to the devil to resist the plague..."

"...But in this way, what we do is not to show strength to the other party, but to get to the point of being immortal!" Someone said worriedly, "...Even if we succeed in defeating that guy, We still can't control the source of those life-saving elixir..."

"...As long as we can take over Levi's manor with the help of the Knights of Nice, even if it's only temporarily, we should be able to find those heretics who sell medicine to continue the transaction." The old man who proposed the above-mentioned ruthless idea touched his beard, He said disapprovingly, "...Even if we didn't succeed, we at least defeated our competitors, maintained the guild's monopoly position, and gave all competitors the sternest 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 only belongs to us!"

The president hesitated for a moment, and finally made a decision, "...The voting will begin now, and those who agree to report to the Inquisition, please raise your hands..."

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At the same time, Knight Levi, the traverser who has no idea that a disaster is coming, is still continuing his great cause of fighting the plague.

"...Before the injection, be sure to tie a tourniquet first, and then tell the patient to clench his fist. If the blood vessel is not obvious, let him clench his fist and then loosen it. In this way, the blood vessel will be easier to show. Come out. Remember, you have to find the right vein to inject. If you see air bubbles in the syringe, be sure to expel it immediately. Injecting air into the vein can really kill the patient! In addition, penicillin can be injected intravenously, But streptomycin can only be injected intramuscularly, that is, spanked on the buttocks, otherwise the toxicity is too high for the human body to bear..."

The blond female school doctor Shizuka Marikawa from the world of "School of the Dead" gave antibiotics to a black death patient with a high fever and was in a coma while pointing out to Sir Levi how to get the injection. The trick, "...Moreover, whether it is penicillin or streptomycin, or other antibiotics, some people will have allergic reactions. You even forgot to do the skin test before, aren't you afraid of putting people to death? ! How reckless!"

"... Is it so serious? I have injected three people with this thing before and after, and nothing happened!" Li Wei scratched his head disapprovingly.

"...That's because the proportion of people allergic to streptomycin is not high in the total population, and you only injected three people in total!"

Teacher Ju Chuan Shizuka immediately rolled her eyes, "...Compared with our time, the germs these days are not resistant to antibiotics, so these medicines are pre-diluted and injected according to one-tenth of the dose. It should be enough to cure their illness..."

"...Well, my lord Sir, do we really need to use this syringe to inject these medicines into the patient's blood vessels? It seems very evil! And the church has no decree that allows us to do so. Is there no other common way to cure the disease?"

Although she didn't understand very well, Sister Louise still made the sign of the cross tremblingly, intervening with some resistance to persuade her.The rest of the nuns looked at the shining syringe and the sharp needle, and they also seemed quite timid, as if they didn't dare to try it anyway.

Li Wei felt a little puzzled by these nuns' aversion to syringes—medieval European medical technology usually had three tricks: bloodletting, prostration, and vomiting.Since Europeans these days can calmly accept being cut open by a doctor with a knife to bleed blood, or being stabbed into the butt♂ eye ​​by a thick black penis to clean their intestines, why can’t they bear it? What about intravenous or intramuscular injections?

Perhaps it was purely out of resistance to new things that he didn't understand... Puzzled, he could only speculate like this.But in any case, it may be difficult for medieval Europeans who lack medical knowledge to quickly master the technique of intravenous injection. To be on the safe side, Levi still hopes to use other treatment methods that are not so advanced—for example, Isn't streptomycin available in oral drops or tablets?

"... Oral streptomycin? Uh, of course there is this thing, but compared with injections, its bactericidal effect is much worse! It may be okay to deal with general inflammation, but if you deal with such a violent The Black Death, I'm afraid it's not enough to watch!" Ju Chuan Shizuka replied.

"...It doesn't matter, since even sulfonamide can save lives, the effect of oral streptomycin must be better! Don't forget, Yersinia pestis is also completely non-resistant to antibiotics these days, and oral administration should be enough to deal with them! At least it's better than our own injection mistakes and killing people!"

Lord Li Wei snapped his fingers, and decided on the treatment plan, "...In short, if the symptoms are mild, use sulfonamide, and if the symptoms are severe, use oral streptomycin. If even oral streptomycin is ineffective, and no one is If you know how to do intravenous injections, then you can only pray to God for mercy..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard heart-piercing screams from around him. Li Wei looked back in confusion, only to find that an aunt who had basically recovered from her illness and was waiting for her family to pick her up was covered in blood. Trembling, she shrank into the corner of the wall, crying and shouting as if she had been violated.And in front of this aunt, stood a black cat with shiny fur, with a mouse in its mouth, looking at this "stupid human being" with a puzzled face...

"... Oh! God! Somebody drive the wicked little thing away! My lord sir, why did you bring the cat here?"

The brightly dressed aunt kept making the cross on her chest with her short fat fingers, and complained to Lord Levi, as if what she saw was not a cute cat, but something disgusting like a cockroach or a fly. Thing, "...to thank God for blessing me through this dreadful plague, I would donate ten florins to this hospital, but please get this cat out at once! Oh Oh my god! Looking at their eyes shining like devils and listening to their wild cries like a banshee, I feel like I'm sick again..."

"...I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't expect you to hate cats so much, but I can guarantee that these cute cats shouldn't hurt you——if you don't take the initiative to attack these little guys. Moreover, they are saving all beings, The great hero who resisted this plague!"

Levi drove the black cat out of the house, and comforted the panicked aunt, "...this plague was caused by rats, to be precise, by the fleas on rats. Although my medicine can cure your disease, if you can't eliminate the rats and cut off the source of the disease, you will probably be infected with the plague again in a short time. And that's why I keep cats..."

"...Rats? Nonsense! The bald Jewish doctor who often comes to our town said that cats and dogs are the culprits of the epidemic. Fork to hunt down wild dogs..." The aunt questioned with some disbelief.

"...But even if they killed the last dog in the town, they didn't stop the plague from invading, right! Otherwise, you wouldn't have been sent to us!" Knight Li Wei spread his hands, "... It can be seen that the rats are the real culprit of this plague. In order to eliminate the rats, it is necessary to raise some cats... Seriously, I really don't understand why you hate this cute and clever Small animals?"

"...Because it is the pet of a witch in legend! Listen to the creepy meow of these cats, and look at their gleaming eyes, and you will know that they are pagan beasts allied with the devil. Wait, Sir, the way you cured us is not some kind of witchcraft that violates the precepts..."

……

All in all, under the repeated explanations of Lord Li Wei and all the time-travelers, as evidenced by the "miracles" that a large number of patients began to improve one after another, the vast majority of people in the hospital finally accepted the injection therapy and treatment with suspicion. the presence of these cats.

But the problem is, not everyone is successfully persuaded, especially the most staunchly devout...

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In the city of Marseille, outside the gate of a certain grand cathedral, a pair of plainly dressed mother and son are patrolling in the cold wind.

Due to the outbreak of the Black Death, there were very few pedestrians on the streets in the city, which made the wind blowing in front of you even more bitter.

"...Son, are we really going to report? This seems to be a suspicion of revenge!"

The young mother seemed to be very hesitant, "... Anyway, that lord saved our lives..."

"... Be strong, mother, don't be fooled by the devil's false mercy! Life on earth is just a prelude to life on the other side. Even the most painful plague is God's punishment for the sins of the world. We must face it calmly before we can Save your soul!"

Although the boy who was held by her was young, his words were very mature and decisive, "...that cursed devil, although healed our bodies with evil witchcraft, has defiled our souls! Let us After death, you cannot go to heaven, but you will be sent to the bottom of hell, where you will be burned by fire forever! Therefore, he is not our benefactor, but our enemy! Mother! We must expose him to the church Let those righteous servants of God send him to God, and let the omniscient and omnipotent God judge him for his heinous crimes!"

"...Stop talking! Stop talking! My child! I understand! I understand everything!"

The mother covered the child's mouth with her hand, shook her head and sighed, but a few crystal clear tears leaked from the corners of her eyes... Then, she took a deep breath, and finally walked into the church, passing through rows of empty and deserted streets. The bench, put the child on the bench, and went straight into the confessional.

Sitting down in the armchair in the confessional, she raised her fists to her chest and bowed her head, saying, "... O God! I am guilty!"

"...God...God will forgive his pious people. As long as you sincerely confess your sins to God, then..."

In the dark compartment of the confessional, a young priest said so inexperiencedly—the old priest who was in charge of this matter had just died of an illness, and as a rookie who had just graduated from the seminary, he was still not familiar with the job. Not very skilled - at the same time, curiously peering at the lady sitting opposite through the carved railing on the lower right side of the compartment.The grid in this place is relatively sparse, and it is possible to vaguely see the person who is piously repenting on the opposite side.

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

"...Dear priest, I am not here to confess, but to report! Although your place does not seem to be the place to accuse, but forgive me, a woman with shallow knowledge, I really don't know where to report this appalling heresy So I can only find here... Honorable priest, I want to report Levi of the Holy Warrior Manor. Sir Bacon, he traded with the devil, practiced witchcraft in the charity hospital of the Knights of the Hospitaller, raised monsters, and used evil The potion seduces the believers of the Lord, defiles their souls, and makes these good Christians fall for it..."