I Am Louis XIV

I would like to use this chapter to pay tribute to all the medical workers in this epidemic, before, now and in the future for ordinary people like us - risking life and death, fearless retrograde, sticking to their posts, and fighting for the battle!

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This is a small village, and there are only 372 monks from outside. In the previous smallpox epidemic, more than 200 people died of high fever and pain, and more than 100 people fled to different villages. The dense forest in the distance is the king's hunting ground, and the people here are all infected with smallpox.

As soon as these words came out, the youngest Malbiki couldn't help but exclaimed: "Everyone? Don't you also..."

The monk smiled awkwardly. Instead of taking off his mask, he rolled up his sleeves so that the doctors could see the mottled red spots on his arms. "Oh," as the person who knew the plague best among them, Rom The husband immediately said: "The infection is not long, but you will have an attack soon."

"Yes," said the monk, "everyone, including me, of course."

The people on the side cast admiring glances at him, like this, one can tell at a glance that the monk walking on the pilgrimage road, even if he is blocked in the epidemic area, he can at least escape into the dense forest like the villagers, as a A monk with rich experience in wild survival is much more likely to survive than ordinary people, but he still stayed. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are still survivors in this village, which are inseparable from him, which is normal , The monk serves God, he can comfort the people in both soul and body, and let them muster the courage to fight the epidemic.

However, thinking that after they came in, they didn't smell the rancid smell that even the spices could not cover up. This monk not only took care of the sick, but also hid those who died unfortunately. With such frequent contact, even if he worked hard for himself He took protection, but still contracted the disease inevitably: "We will do everything possible to save you." Mr. Lom said: "I swear in the name of the king and God, you will be cured."

"I am ready to accept all the results, but if you can, please go and see those poor children," the monk said: "Some of them, although blessed by God, have scars , but still very weak."

"Because fighting the devil of the disease is an exhausting thing." Sidonham said, in this regard, he has more experience than anyone else, because he has always respected the natural healing method advocated by ancient Greek scholars. , That is to say, in many cases, the body's own resistance is better than most drugs. At this time, doctors must not intervene. As long as they provide sufficient nutrition, it is like giving weapons and supplies to soldiers. Help the sick beat the disease.

Since he had such a concept, he certainly carried a lot of "medicine" with him-sugar cubes, pepper powder and salt. The monk immediately gathered the people in the village, dissolved these in water and gave them to drink one by one. Most of the survivors were scarred. Although they were ugly, they were like that old woman. They would not have to fear the demon smallpox anymore. The monk looked at them one by one and found that there were still two or three people who could not survive. Come, he took the doctors to check, it turned out that they also started to have a fever.

Because the people left in the village have already been sick, the villagers are not afraid. They gather the monks and the feverish people in a big room, and prepare to take care of them according to the doctor's orders. Of course, if they encounter misfortune, Then the next work will also be done by these people. The doctors decided to leave two students to guide and supervise them-this is not superfluous. They also seldom accept information from outside, they are afraid that the villagers will burn these people as soon as they leave the village.

I have repeatedly explained to these scarred villagers that as long as you suffer from smallpox and then recover, you will not be harmed by this disease again, and this disease is completely a conspiracy of the devil. The more pious you are, the more pure you are After being more vulnerable to danger, Mr. Lom calmed down a little. He looked around: "Is there any cowherd among you?"

Those who escaped the torment of smallpox were all young people. The monk said that "children" were not wrong at all. The oldest survivor was no more than twenty years old-this is what the doctors speculated. Ten (that is, the number of fingers and toes), they looked at each other shyly and fearfully, and only a big boy replied cautiously: "We have no cowherds, sir." The problem became more embarrassing: "Our village is small, so when we need cattle, we go to Jura to rent cattle for farming."

"Jura?"

"From here down the stream is Turawa, which is also very small, and their cattle are all in Jura."

Jura is a very common name in France, because it means high woodland in the Gaul language, "Turava and Jura..." Mr. Lome read these two names: "Then you know How are they now? Are there any patients?"

"Maybe," said the big boy, "they just burned a witch not long ago." In these not-so-barren places, where there was no terrible famine, when people suddenly thought of burning witches, most likely it was Because suddenly someone got sick.

"It seems that we still have a long way to go." After asking about the location of Turawa and Jura, Mr. Lom opened the map and checked, and determined that these two small villages would allow them to return to Blu within the set time. Wat, so he made the decision to take a look-although the manager of Blois made the decision to block the valley when the first smallpox patient was discovered, but he didn't know the details.

This was originally the responsibility of the plague doctor. No one raised any objections. This matter has been decided in this way. After the monks and other patients have doctors and medicines, their lives are guaranteed the most. The next step is to look at their own. up.

Although Setonham and Chambrans were very curious about why Lom asked if there were cowherds here, most doctors had their own secrets, just like the "midwifery machines" of the Chambrans family. They have never lived with Mr. Lom, and of course they would not ask rashly. They walked for about two hours and arrived in Turawa. The situation in Turawa is worse than the previous village, because they There is no brave and kind monk here, and the village is filled with a terrible smell that cannot be suppressed by spices. They traveled several places before finally finding a dying survivor. His life, his relatives either went to see the merciful God before him, or ran away. He woke up after the high fever subsided, hungry, cold and thirsty, but he couldn't even drink a sip of water. If it wasn't for Mr. Plague If he came here, he must be dead.

There were three or four other people like him, and besides these, the village was completely dead. Malbigie, Chambrance, and Sidonham, as well as the students, after removing the living from the village, After placing them in an empty house, they began to collect the dead—because they were too few in number, and after praying for them, they gathered their empty bodies together and set them on fire.

Mr. Lom stared at the black smoke that was particularly visible in the clear blue sky, and shook his head, "Are all your cattle in Jura?" He asked, "Then the herd of Jura must be quite large."

Although he didn't know why the doctor cared about the cows, under their care, the survivor who recovered a little bit of strength still replied honestly: "There are more than a hundred, sir, all of them are good cows."

"The one who took care of them must be a good cowherd." Mr. Lom said, and then he found that the other person's expression was a little strange.

"Indeed," said the villager, "Anfor is a good cowherd, and his brothers and sons." Sounds like a huge family, Lom thought, and at the same time, more than a hundred cattle , no doubt made his heart beat happily, and some of his ideas might be confirmed today. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost ignored the villagers' question: "Master," the villager asked, "do you want to continue to Jura?"

"Of course," Mr. Lom said, "Jura is less than two thousand feet away from you. I suspect that the disease has taken over there too."

"But I've heard one thing, and I'm not sure, sir."

"Go ahead," said Mr. Lomm, "I won't blame you."

"I've heard that the Anfors are a bunch of Huguenots," said the villager.

"What Huguenots?" Before Mr. Lome could answer him, a voice sounded behind them. When the king's chief physician looked up, he realized that the one who cast a deep shadow was Chambrance. He thought of Chambrance. It also seemed to be the surname of a Huguenot, and his expression suddenly became inexplicable: "...I don't think there is anything about that," he said, "Don't you know the Edict of Nantes? Now Huguenots are recognized Yes, as long as they do not violate the laws of the king, they have all the rights of French citizens by decree." He shrugged his shoulders.

The villager looked at the doctor suspiciously: "Are you...the same as them?"

"No," Mr. Lome said, "I am a Catholic." This sentence is absolutely true, and Sidonham, who came later, thought that Paris would never allow Protestant people to exist, let alone Speaking of becoming the king's chief physician, he hesitated for a long time before making a decision after receiving the invitation from Louis XIV, and his friends thought he was crazy. The struggle between Huguenots and Catholics in France has never stopped.

Speaking of which, the four plague doctors are really interesting. Both Malbighi and Romme are Catholics, but Malbiki is a member of the Church of Rome, and Romme belongs to the Church of France. Sidonham and Chamborance Both are Protestants, but one is a moderate British Calvinist, and the other is a radical French Huguenot. Oh, correct me, there is probably no Huguenot who is not radical. An innocent British scholar was drawn into their plot.

Looking sideways at Chambrance, the Huguenot was actually quite calm. When Monsieur Lome proposed to go to Jura, he looked up at the sky: "I don't recommend it very much," he said: "If it is true as this gentleman said, the Anfort family is Huguenots... ..."

"As I said, the Edict of Nantes has forgiven their sins and allowed them to retain their beliefs and rights," Mr. Lome said firmly, "I have to go. If you have your own ideas, you Either stay here, or go back to Blois."

"We're bound to be with you," said Malbighi. Don't be kidding, they're three foreigners. Well, even if Chamborrance is French, he's a Huguenot, and maybe he's more foreign than he is. People are even worse. They returned safely, but lost the king's chief physician. Do you think His Majesty Louis XIV's gallows is too empty?

Sidonham shrugged: "Since the King's Chief Physician has said so, you don't have to worry." He thought it was because Chamborance was worried about those Huguenots, and if they were really .

But then, Chambrance stopped talking. After they had finished their work, the sun had already set in the west. "It seems that we will spend the night in Jura." Mr. Lome waved his stick optimistically and said. .

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At last they saw Jura before nightfall, a village larger than its neighbors, for at this hour the people were almost at rest, and the first thing these plague doctors encountered were the policemen,

After seeing the attire of the doctors, the police officers were surprised. What they didn't know was that the doctors were also surprised. They thought that Jura was also covered by the epidemic. There is some order, but considering that there are more than a hundred cows here, it is not so strange to think about it.

There is indeed an epidemic here, but it is not that serious. Plague doctors are well received—in this era, plague doctors are very respected, because plagues are often rampant at this time, and only these doctors dare to walk in cities or In the village, they treated the people infected with the plague and buried the dead. They also took on the responsibility of recording the number of deaths, and they also acted as recorders and witnesses of the will, and sometimes they had to investigate the source of the disease—like they as we do now.

And Mr. Lom once again asked about the cowherd. When he heard that the cowherd and his family here were not infected with smallpox, he couldn't help but show an unconcealable joy, but the person who was questioned As if frightened, and barely grasping his reward, the large crown fell to the ground, bounced up, turned around, and rolled all the way to Chambrance's feet.