In the castle hall, Alves shouted in surprise after hearing the news.
His already thick brows were squeezed together and his expression was exaggerated.
However, Rhodes was calm and composed. Even if he was not calm, he would pretend to be calm. Not only Alves but also others were present. The entire Black Hammer Castle high-level officials were here, including the High Priest of the Bear God Temple, Yes.
Kovic, Norska manager Celta, Chamber of Commerce representative Quareara, labor union representative Darok Hammer, Dean of the Medical School Leanna, Engineering Minister Brown and so on.
"Yes, plague. But it's unclear what kind of plague it is. According to Roberts, it's probably rat fever." Sitting at the conference table, Rhodes said with a serious expression. "Lyanna, you are a doctor.
Let me introduce this disease to everyone.”
"Well, okay. Rat fever is a common infectious disease. It is transmitted to humans through rats. As long as you are bitten by a sick rat or eat food contaminated by rats, you may get the disease. People with rat fever
Patients with the disease will have fever and general cramps. The skin will appear red, swollen and ulcerated. Although it will not be fatal, it will make people incapable of working and will not be easy to recover. Generally speaking, if the sick person wants to recover on his own,
It takes a long time, sometimes months, sometimes years. In severe cases, the disease may be left with the disease for a lifetime, leaving the body weak and weak.”
Lyanna explained carefully.
"So can this disease be spread through person-to-person contact?"
Celta asked.
"Judging from the current data, no. But this is not 100% true. You know, even the best doctors in the empire still have many things they don't understand."
Lyanna turned to answer.
"So the top priority is to cease all dealings with the Empire?"
Celta turned around and asked Rhodes.
"Well, yes. Everything!"
Rhodes answered in a positive tone.
"But if it is just a simple rat fever, it seems that a comprehensive quarantine is not needed. After all, it is only spread through rats, and the rats in Osterland will not come to our town. Cutting off trade will be a big blow to Blackhammer Castle.
A loss.”
Quareara, the representative of the Chamber of Commerce, suggested. As a noble businessman, he only cares about money. In fact, rat fever does not have a great impact on the nobles. They have enough gold to buy the antidote. Only those who do not have enough to eat.
Only the poor have to worry. Because the medicine to cure rat fever is very expensive, and if one person in a family is infected with the disease, the family is doomed. Losing their source of income will cause some poor families to collapse.
"Your Excellency Quareara, please pay attention to this issue. We are only speculating now, not certain. Plague is certain, but rat fever is just our speculation. What if the plague that broke out in Osterland is not rat?
What should you do if it is not just a fever, but other stronger infectious diseases? Also, even if it is just rat fever, there is still a risk of being transmitted to Blackhammer Castle. We cannot guarantee that rats will get on board the ships.
Ste led to Blackhammer Castle. Once these rats mix into the city and into the sewers, they may infect other rats, which is a potential risk. Moreover, this situation is still very common, and no one can guarantee that there are all rats in his cargo ship.
No sign of a mouse."
Rhodes turned his head and stared at Quareala, asking him in an almost harsh tone. The latter then calmed down. It can be said that if trade with the empire is really cut off, Rhodes and Quareala will suffer the most.
Reala. But the security of the territory is what Rhodes values most.
"Rhode, let's get to the point. How do you plan to handle this matter?"
Bogul tapped his fingers on the table and asked impatiently.
"Starting from today, all trade with the empire will be cut off. All ships that are about to leave the port will unload their cargo and seek new export routes. Or sell them to Dulong City at a low price. In short, all ships will be prohibited from leaving the port, and all ships from the empire will be blocked.
The ship has docked. Let’s wait until the storm has passed.”
“What will happen to the merchants’ losses?”
Alves asked, raising his head.
"If there is a breach of contract, compensate the parties for the losses stipulated in the contract. If not, explain the situation to them and let them choose other trading partners."
Rhodes said.
"Well, if this happens, there will probably be a lot of fake contracts."
Alves shrugged.
"This is your business, find a way to deal with these businessmen."
Rhodes looked at Alves, winked at him, and passed the blame on the little dwarf.
Alvis could only sigh and silently accepted this task. The head of Blackhammer Castle is not that easy to be...
"Next is the inspection team, Seedorf. From now on, I will double the number of people in the inspection team. You will patrol for me every day and not allow merchants to obtain a piece of meat from illegal channels. Whether it is rat fever or other plagues,
Transmission through food is their main channel of transmission. These channels must be curbed from the source. Who knows if these vendors have mixed rat meat or other unclean meat into their meat."
At the conference table, Rhodes continued to arrange tasks. Seedorf nodded and suddenly felt a huge pressure on his shoulders.
"Virgil."
"I'm here, sir."
"After the meeting, you immediately took fifty soldiers to publicize it throughout the city, telling all residents that garbage must not be thrown into the Dongquan River. All garbage must be collected and handed over to the sanitation team for disposal. There is no need to tell the residents why.
, it is said to be the latest request of the lord, in order to improve the sanitary conditions. If anyone is found dumping garbage into the Dongquan River without authorization, he will be arrested and severely punished."
"Yes, my lord."
Virgil shouted back.
"Portlem, as the captain of the sanitation team, you know what to do, right?"
Rhodes turned to stare at the captain of the sanitation team, who would be the future Minister of Health.
"Understood, I will collect them together and burn them on the same day."
The squad leader answered seriously.
Rhodes nodded with satisfaction.
"Okay, you go down first, I still have something to say to Lyanna."
After arranging the main matters, Rhodes announced the adjournment of the meeting. He left the most important person, the dean of the medical school, Lyanna. Everyone stood up with melancholy looks on their faces. Some things are easy for the lord to say, but it is another matter to do.
It's going on. Of course, this is also the time to test their execution ability. High salaries are not so easy to get...
"Lyanna."
"Um?"
The priestess turned her face sideways and responded gently.
"Are there any doctors in the medical school who are good at treating plague?"
Rhodes walked up to Lyanna and asked seriously. Speaking of fighting diseases, the most important thing is the doctor. If there was something like a modern vaccine, why should he be so nervous? He would not lose a lot of foreign trade income.
.So, the development of medicine is actually related to the revitalization of Blackhammer Castle.
"At the moment, there are none. To be honest, Blackhammer Castle is a small place, and studying plague is a very dangerous activity. Even the capital of Kislev has few experts in this field. There are some such experts in the empire.
There are not many doctors who study plague."
Lyanna answered seriously.
"Ok, I see."
Rhodes pondered for a while and continued -
"I'm wondering if we can set up a special plague research institute to study the sources of various infectious diseases and find antidotes or anti-epidemic drugs?"
"Well... it's possible, but we don't have many doctors now, and I guess there will be even fewer doctors who are willing to devote themselves to plague research. Even if it is established, we don't have enough medical equipment and research samples, and it is estimated that it will be done in a short time.
It is difficult to achieve any effective progress.”
Looking at Rhodes, Lyanna whispered back. The priestess told the truth. Rhodes knew that in this case, only doctors who have the courage to devote themselves would study the plague. After all, everyone who studies it will be infected.
The risk, and this risk is much greater than that of ordinary people, because they will be in contact with plague patients every day. In this era without good disinfection tools, the risk of infection is still very high.