Chapter 15, Undercurrent s: I'm very sorry.
The system crashed last night and I can't even open the computer, let alone post. yznn hereby updates an 8,000-word chapter today to make up for it.
In the city of Marseille, there is a simple three-story building with a wooden signboard with a "snake around a goblet" hanging at the door.
The above-mentioned seemingly strange pattern was a symbol of pharmacists in the Catholic world of medieval Europe.
The building with the "snake around the goblet" hanging on it is the seat of the Pharmacists' Guild of the Port of Marseille 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 political centers, but just fixed trading places developed from rural markets, or religious centers built around churches.
Although in Italy, many nobles They have begun to live in the city and participate in industrial and commercial operations.
But in France, where the chivalry system is at its peak, the lords and nobles as the ruling class are usually more accustomed to living in castles with difficult terrain.
For them, cities built by craftsmen and merchants are just objects of taxation. .
Since rulers generally do not stay in the city and have no influence on city affairs, a power vacuum naturally forms.
Rich merchants and craftsmen quickly filled the above gap, established autonomous institutions, and established relationships with the aristocrats who owned the city's land.
A series of power struggles broke out between the lords: the lords wanted to extract the wealth of the citizens unscrupulously, while the citizens tried their best to break free from the shackles of feudalism and obtain autonomous status.
During this long struggle, although the aristocratic lords had more powerful force, the citizen class had more sufficient financial resources and powerful foreign aid.
In order to reduce the vassal and promote centralization, the monarchs of various European countries generally supported the autonomous royal family of the city.
Exceptions were made for his own direct territory, in order to bury nails in the territory of the unruly princes under his jurisdiction, and at the same time provoke both sides to fight continuously, so as to reap benefits 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 their lords.
Therefore, they were often not located in the center of a certain noble territory, but at the junction of multiple noble territories. , thus giving the city's autonomous institutions space to collaborate vertically and horizontally and carry out diplomatic mediation.
Finally, by the fourteenth century, the vast majority of French, British and German cities had achieved autonomous status.
The same is true for the port of Marseille, located on the Mediterranean coast.
In fact, until the early 13th century, it was not within the territory of France.
Instead, it formed its own small country called the "County of Provence", sandwiched between France and the Holy Roman Empire swung back and forth from time to time.
It was not until 1248, because the ruler of the County of Provence died, that the French royal family annexed the Port of Marseille through marriage.
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 even more terrible is that the royal family has spent a whole century unable to change the above situation.
In order to prevent this wealthy enclave from having a powerful ruler and regaining control of Paris, the French royal family's ruling strategy for Marseille is to make it Fragmented to the greatest extent, a man canonized in the countryside here He piled up small lords who were not related to each other, and granted the city of Marseille great autonomy, so that no one among the nobles, wealthy businessmen, and priests in this place obeyed anyone, and no one could control anyone.
Everyone had to seek arbitration from the royal family, thus This makes it impossible for the local tycoons to form a joint force and have no way to resist the authority of the royal family.
In this way, Marseille has essentially become an autonomous city-state, but it still needs to pay an annual tribute to the royal family in Paris.
In addition to the Bishop of Marseille, who represents the power of the church, the people who really rule the city are various "guilds".
In medieval Europe, which was prone to frequent wars and political divisions, there was never any talk of a free market.
In order to fight against the exploitation and oppression of feudal lords, to protect the interests of local workers from outsiders, and to prevent competition and competition among foreign craftsmen, To limit competition among local craftsmen in the same industry, citizens in the same industry often form alliances to stay together, that is, guilds.
For example, tanners form a tanners guild, jewelers form a jewelers guild, and so on.
Businessmen who travel to various cities will also form their own chambers of commerce.
Generally speaking, each guild elected its own leader on a regular basis, although many guilds and chambers of commerce eventually became hereditary, with their own clubs, strict rules, and the right to assess dues to each member.
If it is in an autonomous city, representatives of those guilds can also be elected to the municipal committee.
In different cities, the power of guilds may be strong or weak, but no matter what, one of the biggest characteristics is common, and that is the ubiquitous monopoly.
Each guild monopolizes a certain profession in a certain city.
From bakers to barbers to carriage drivers, almost every business is controlled by various guilds.
In those days, if you wanted to engage in a certain industry in a certain city and survive in the market competition, you had to go to the dock to join a guild, pay regular protection fees to the guild, and obey all kinds of reasonable and unreasonable rules.
If you don't give the order, you will have your door shut down, your shop closed, or even expelled from the city, or even your whole family may be killed directly, and there will be no way to redress your injustice.
This was the default unspoken rule at the time.
The Pharmacists Guild in the Port of Marseille is a relatively unpopular small guild in this city.
Because there are too few practitioners, how many pharmacists can there be in a city with tens of thousands of people?
There is not even a single position in the city hall.
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But no matter how unpopular it was, it still reasonably and legally monopolized Marseille's pharmaceutical manufacturing business, 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 deep friendships with many "vibrant social groups" in the city.
As long as pharmacists from other places enter the city of Marseille to open their businesses, even if they are gangsters, That's it.
If the other party is skilled in craftsmanship, then they will deliberately find someone to pretend to be a victim to cause trouble, falsely accuse the other party of selling fake medicines to harm people, ruin the other party's reputation, and then hire a gang of gangsters to break into their store to smash and loot, completely destroying them.
It drives it out of the local market.
Any outside pharmacist would not be able to establish a foothold in this city without their approval.
Especially after the outbreak of the Black Death, the biggest competitor of the Pharmacists' Guild in Marseille, the Doctors' Guild, quickly suffered a devastating blow.
No matter how overbearing the Pharmacists' Guild was, it could not prevent doctors from dispensing their own medicines, let alone get high-level treatment.
Character Support After all, it is doctors, not pharmacists, who treat dignitaries.
Because when diagnosing a disease, doctors have to face the patient directly and have close contact with the source of infection.
However, there is no good way to resist the disease.
Therefore, a large number of doctors in the city soon died, and the rest could not survive.
Don't run away.
But pharmacists can hide in their own huts, away from dangerous patients, and just resell all kinds of medicines stocked in the store through hawkers, regardless of whether they are symptomatic and effective.
Although this plague is under the current medical conditions, There is no cure, but due to people's panic mentality of grabbing a life-saving straw in despair, even those cheap medicinal powders that can only be used as placebos and are not worth a few copper coins are now on the market.
You can easily sell it for a high price of dozens of silver coins.
Some of the most unscrupulous pharmacists even went out of their way to concoct "pills" out of charcoal, dust, hay and even feces to sell after their stocks of medicinal materials were exhausted.
Sales were still booming and demand exceeded supply.
In short, during this period, some pharmacists in the Port of Marseille did die from the Black Death, but most of them successfully survived, and their business was booming and they made a fortune.
Although the haze of death is scary, But such huge profits make them wish that the plague would continue forever.
However, such exciting and pleasant days did not last long, as the Pharmacist Guild discovered an extremely powerful challenger.
Levi, an agent of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island stationed at the Mujahideen Manor on the outskirts of the city, had just inherited his uncle's title.
Baron Bacon.
This knight from the East actually obtained some medicine that can truly fight the plague through some unknown channel.
At this moment, a group of pharmacists wearing black robes were gathering in a dark room for a meeting.
Expensive incense was burning in the incense burner in the corner of the room, and hundreds of amulets were hung on the beams.
This was their common sense and the most effective way to fight the plague.
As for the various panaceas and exotic medicines they boast about when selling them to the public at high prices, at least they themselves know that they are pure nonsense.
However, according to the latest intelligence, the common sense understanding of the plague in these pharmacists' minds has begun to falter.
At the same time, the pharmacists' guild, which had maintained a monopoly on the pharmaceutical market in Marseille for centuries, was beginning to falter.
"According to the information my servant inquired about, the general situation is this.
The agent of the Knights Hospitaller in Marseille, Livy.
Baron Bacon, who has just inherited the Jihadist Manor, may have obtained a batch of medicines from unknown sources.
It was bought from Eastern pagans, and it does have amazing curative effects: in the hospitals affiliated with the Knights, more than one-third of the patients have improved significantly."
A middle-aged man with a thin body and a gloomy face tapped the table with his skinny fingers and said with a hint of anxiety, "The news has not spread yet, so the problem is not too serious.
But wait until this person The baron confirmed the efficacy of this batch of medicine and began to send people to the city When it is sold to the public, our guild's monopoly will be over.
Now please discuss how we should deal with this terrible threat that infringes on the guild's franchise, and find ways to dig out the way to obtain the medicine or find ways to compromise. , reach an agreement with them.”
"Facing this kind of enemy who interferes in our business without authorization, it is absolutely impossible to compromise blindly.
Sir, we must fight back fiercely.
Even if we have to compromise with each other in the end, after all, the source of the drug is in their hands, we must show it first."
I have to use my own strength to teach this ungrateful Lord a lesson, otherwise, this guy will definitely get rid of our exclusive financial path."
A muscular red-haired man waved his fist fiercely, his eyes flashed fiercely, and he roared in a low voice, "So what if the other party is the Knights Hospitaller?
This is not Rhodes Island, but Marseille, even if it is the Knights Hospitaller, There are not many manpower available here.
As long as we are willing to spend money and recruit a group of people to make trouble, we can make this gentleman suffer a little like we did with those foreign pharmacists before."
"The question is who should we ask to help pull people in, Mr.
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Godry.
Don't forget that there is a plague in this city."
The president glanced at the red-haired man and said with some displeasure, "The boss of the Barbarian Bull Brotherhood.
He died of illness last month, and most of the remaining leaders hid in the countryside, or The attackers locked themselves in a cellar or the like, and even if they wanted to contact them, no one could be found at the moment.
As for the Shark Brotherhood, their territory was next to the dock, which was the hardest hit area by the plague, and it was said that there were not many left.
Are you willing to go there on behalf of the guild to find someone alive?"
As soon as he heard that he had to go to the most plagued place in the city to find help from some gangsters, the red-haired man who spoke boldly immediately shrank back, while another little old man continued to interject and sneer, "Or , are you planning to let us fight with the heavily armed knights?
Hum, although the Knights Hospitallers have very limited manpower in Marseille, as long as there are two or three knights, it is probably enough to kill everyone here."
"Can't we appeal to 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, "You should be able to litigate to protect your rights."
"Of course the appeal is possible in theory, provided that there is still someone in the city hall to accept the case.
Those gentlemen have long since fled to the countryside for refuge.
Of the three judges who are still staying in the city, two have died of illness and the remaining one is still there.
I got sick two days ago and I'm afraid I don't have a few days to live."
The president spread his hands helplessly, "Under such circumstances, how can we file a lawsuit?
What's more, everyone knows in their hearts that our medicine cannot cure diseases, but Sir Levi has a soul that can truly save lives.
Medicine, this is equivalent to controlling everyone's life.
I dare to fight.
I bet, once the noble gentlemen in the city learn the truth, they will not only refuse to provide us with justice, but will rush to fall at that guy's feet and fawn over us in every possible way.
They may even charge us with a crime and deprive us directly.
Concession, turn it over to that damn Levi” He looked around at the people at the venue and sighed, "In front of your own life, neither law nor friendship are worth mentioning."
"It seems like there is no hope for the City Hall.
But what if we change our thinking and go to the Inquisition?"
A dark-faced old man 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 to ordinary people as a devil's cave.
From ordinary people to officials and nobles, countless people were tied to the stakes and burned to charcoal by this institution because of a heresy charge dropped from the sky.
But after a moment, the president of the pharmacists guild shook his head and rejected the idea, "It still won't work, Mr.
Henry.
There are countless people in the city of Marseille doing business with heretics, including ourselves. .
Even the church itself purchases a large amount of oriental spices and silks every year.
If that guy buys medicine from a heretic, it may not be enough for the Inquisition to convict him.
Moreover, this Sir Levi is not the kind of little person who has no foothold.
He is not only a member of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island, but also inherited the real estate and connections of Baron Diderot.
With our strength, there is no way Let the Inquisition break the rules and take action against such a noble man."
"Just doing business with a heretic is certainly not enough to punish him.
I understand this.
But what if he is still an evil heretic and a wizard?"
The old man said with a cold smile, "According to the information I have obtained , who was born in the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island.
Sir, not only have a large number of cursed monsters been raised in his own manor recently, but he has also performed evil witchcraft on patients.
It can be seen that the so-called elixir that can cure the plague was probably obtained by trading with the devil or evil gods.
Any Christian All believers should resist this temptation of the devil What's more, the status of Lord Livy is actually not as high as you think.
His uncle Sir Diderot died less than a month ago, and the official notification to the Paris royal family is still on the way.
His title and estate will be inherited. , and did not have time to receive the king’s approval and approval.
In the same way, his qualification as an agent of the Knights Hospitaller, which he inherited from his uncle, has not yet been officially recognized by the Rhode Island headquarters.
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Legally speaking, Mr.
Levi is just an ordinary knight now, let alone The title, even the manor, doesn't belong to him yet.
In addition, the second-in-line heir behind the Chevalier Levi, specifically his distant cousin, the Chevalier de Nice, is also in Marseille and happens to have some friendship with me.
If Livy can be brought down for heresy, he can inherit the title, manor and real estate left by Baron Diderot.
We can completely let him come forward to accuse Livy and expose the true face of the evil wizard.
At the same time, he was trying to spread rumors in the city that Livy was doing all kinds of blasphemous and disobedient things in the manor, and was offering sacrifices to the devil to ward off the plague."
"But in this way, our approach is not to show our strength to the other party, but to directly fight to the death."
Someone said worriedly, "Even if we successfully defeat that guy, we still can't do anything."
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 Nice, even if it's only temporarily, we should be able to find those heretics selling medicine to continue the trade."
The old man who proposed the above-mentioned ruthless idea stroked his beard and said disapprovingly.
Said, "Even if we fail to succeed, we at least destroyed our competitors, maintained the guild's monopoly, and gave all competitors the sternest warning.
This is enough."
"You're right.
No matter what, we can't let anyone break the rules that have been passed down for hundreds of years and take away the pharmacy business that only belongs to us."
The president hesitated for a moment, but finally made a decision, "The voting will begin now.
Those who agree to report to the Inquisition, please raise your hands."
At the same time, the traveler Levi Knight, who was unaware of the impending disaster, continued his great cause of fighting the plague.
“Before injecting, be sure to tie a tourniquet first, and then ask the patient to clench his fist.
If the blood vessels are not obvious, ask him to clench his fist and then loosen it, so that the blood vessels will be more easily shown.
Remember, you have to find the right vein to inject.
If you see bubbles in the syringe, be sure to expel them immediately.
Injecting air into the vein can really kill the patient.
In addition, penicillin can be injected intravenously, but streptomycin can generally only be injected intramuscularly, that is, spanked in the buttocks.
Otherwise, it will be too toxic and the human body will not be able to bear it.”
Shizuka Marikawa, the blond female school doctor from the world of Academy Apocalypse, was injecting antibiotics into a Black Death patient who was suffering from high fever and was unconscious while giving instructions to Sir Levi on the injection tips, "And, whether it's penicillin or Whether it is streptomycin or other antibiotics, some people will have allergic reactions.
You forgot to do a skin test before, aren't you afraid of killing people?
This is so reckless."
"Is it so serious?
I've injected this stuff into three people before and after, and nothing happened."
Levi scratched his head disapprovingly.
"That's because the proportion of people allergic to streptomycin in the total population is not high, and you only injected three people in total."
Teacher Marikawa Shizuka immediately rolled her eyes, "Compared with our time, the bacteria these days are not resistant to antibiotics, so these medicines have been diluted in advance, and they should be injected at one-tenth of the dose.
It’s enough to cure their disease.”
"Well, dear Sir, do we really have to use this syringe to inject these potions into the patient's blood vessels?
It seems very evil.
And the church has no decree allowing us to do this.
Isn't there any other ordinary way?
Do you have some methods to cure the disease?"
Although she didn't understand what she was hearing, Sister Louise still crossed herself tremblingly on her chest and intervened with some resistance to explain.
The other nuns looked at the gleaming syringe and sharp needles, and they also looked quite cowed, as if they didn't dare to try it.
Levi felt a little confused about these nuns' aversion to injection syringes.
Medical technology in the European Middle Ages was generally divided into three categories: bloodletting and inducing vomiting.
Since Europeans these days can calmly accept being cut open by doctors with a knife to bleed out blood vessels, or having a thick black hard instrument inserted into the butt and eyes to clean the intestines, why can't they tolerate the relatively less rough treatment of veins or What about intramuscular injection?
Perhaps it was purely out of resistance to new things that he didn't understand.
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Puzzled, he could only speculate like this.
But in any case, it would be difficult for medieval Europeans who lacked medical knowledge to quickly master the technique of intravenous injection.
To be on the safe side, Levi still hopes to use other less advanced treatment methods, such as streptomyces.
Isn’t there any oral potion or pill for Su?
"Oral streptomycin, of course, is available, but compared with injections, its bactericidal effect is much worse.
It may be able to deal with ordinary inflammation, but if it is to deal with such a violent Black Death, I'm afraid it's a bit unsatisfactory," Marikawa Shizuka replied.
"It doesn't matter.
Since even sulfonamides can save lives, oral streptomycin is definitely more effective.
Don't forget, the Yersinia pestis these days are not resistant to antibiotics at all.
Oral administration should be enough to deal with them, at least better than our own.
It’s better to get an injection wrong and kill someone.”
Sir Levi snapped his fingers and decided on the treatment plan, "In short, if the symptoms are mild, use sulfa, and if the symptoms are severe, use oral streptomycin.
If even oral streptomycin is ineffective and no one will do it, If it’s intravenous, then you can only pray to God for mercy.”
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a heart-rending scream coming from beside him.
Levi looked back in confusion, only to find that an aunt who had basically recovered from her condition and was waiting for her family to come to pick her up was covered in blood.
He huddled in the corner tremblingly, crying and shouting as if he had been violated.
In front of this aunt, stood a black cat with shiny fur, holding a mouse in its mouth, looking at this "stupid human" with a puzzled face.
"Oh God, who will drive this evil little thing away?
Dear Sir, why did you bring the cat here?"
The rather brightly dressed aunt kept crossing herself on her chest with her short, fat fingers while complaining to Sir Levi that she seemed to be seeing disgusting things like cockroaches or flies instead of cute cats.
Something, “To thank God for blessing me through this There is a terrible plague.
I am willing to donate ten florins to this hospital, but please get this cat out immediately.
Oh my god, look at their eyes that are shining like devils.
It sounds like She screamed like a banshee, and I felt like I was sick again."
"I'm sorry, madam, I didn't expect you to hate cats so much, but I can guarantee that these cute cats will not hurt you if you don't take the initiative to attack these little guys.
Moreover, they are also saving all living beings and resisting this plague.
Where is the great hero?"
While Levi drove the black cat out of the house, he comforted the panicked aunt and said, "This plague is caused by rats, or to be precise, by fleas on rats.
Although I The medicine can cure your disease, but if you can't eliminate the rats and cut off the source of the disease's spread, you will probably be infected with the plague again soon.
And this is why I want to raise cats."
"The bald Jewish doctor who often visits our town said that cats and dogs are the killers of infectious diseases.
Last month, all the young men in the town were mobilized, armed with wooden sticks and pitchforks to hunt down wild animals.
Dog," the aunt questioned with some disbelief.
"But even if they killed the last dog in the town, they didn't stop the invasion of the plague, right?
Otherwise you wouldn't have been sent to us."
Knight Levi spread his hands, "This shows that rats are They are the real culprit of this plague.
In order to eliminate rats, it is necessary to raise some cats.
To be honest, I really don’t understand why you hate such cute and clever little animals.”
"Because it is the pet of the legendary witch.
Listen to the hair-raising sounds of these cats, and look at their sinister eyes, you will know that they are pagan beasts allied with the devil.
Wait, Sir, you The way to cure us shouldn’t be some witchcraft that violates the commandments.”
All in all, after repeated explanations by Sir Levi and other time-travelers, and with the "miraculous" evidence that a large number of patients began to improve one after another as evidence, the vast majority of people in the hospital finally listened with half-belief and reluctantly accepted the injection therapy and treatment.
The existence of these cats.
But the problem is, not everyone is successfully convinced, especially those with the strongest beliefs.
In the city of Marseille, outside the door of a majestic cathedral, a mother and son in simple clothes were patrolling in the cold wind.
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Since it was the outbreak of the Black Death, there were very few pedestrians on the streets in the city, making the wind blowing in the face even more biting.
"Child, are we really going to report?
This seems to be a suspicion of repaying kindness with vengeance."
The young mother seemed very hesitant, "In any case, that lord also 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 human sins.
We must face it calmly in order to gain the blessing of the soul. save"
Although the boy who was holding her hand was young, what he said was very mature and decisive, "The cursed devil, although he used evil witchcraft to cure our bodies, he tainted our souls and made us die after death."
He cannot ascend to heaven, but will be thrown into the lowest level of hell. , endure the burning of fire forever and ever.
Therefore, he is not our benefactor, but our enemy.
Mother, we must expose his mask to the church, let those righteous servants of God send him to see God, and let the omniscient and omnipotent God come.
Judge him for his heinous crimes.”
"Stop talking, stop talking, my child, I understand, I understand everything."
The mother reached out to cover the child's mouth, shook her head and sighed, but a few crystal tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.
Then, she took a deep breath, and finally walked into the church, passing through rows of empty benches. , placed the child on the bench, and went straight into the confessional.
After sitting down on the armchair in the confessional, she put her hands in fists on her chest, lowered her head and said, "God, I am guilty."
"God will forgive his devout people.
As long as you sincerely confess your sins to God, then" In the dark cubicle of the confessional, a young priest said this unskilledly.
The old priest who was originally responsible for this matter had just fallen ill and passed away.
As a rookie who had just graduated from the seminary, he was not very familiar with this job.
Skillfully and curiously, he peeked 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 you can vaguely see the people opposite who are repenting devoutly.
However, the lady's next words made the young rookie priest jump in fright.
"Dear Father, I am not here to confess, but to report.
Although your place does not seem to be the place for accusations, I am a woman with limited knowledge.
I really don't know where to report this appalling heretical crime, so I can only I found the respected priest here, I want Report on Sir Levi Bacon of the Jihad Manor.
He made a deal with the devil, practiced witchcraft in the charity hospital of the Knights Hospitaller, raised monsters, and used evil potions to seduce the Lord's believers and pollute their souls.
These good Christians fell for it”oshow7: