I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 215 The Four Plague Doctors (middle)

   I would like to use this chapter to pay tribute to all the medical workers who are at the risk of life and death, fearless retrogrades, stick to their posts, and wait for the death for our ordinary people during this epidemic and before, now and in the future!

  ——

   This Mr. Lom is most famous for the protective suit he invented, which is the one that Sidonham reminded Chambord to prepare.

In 1619, in order to avoid the plague, he invented these layers of protective clothing, which can tightly wrap doctors from head to toe. At that time, he was still a young man, but he had already served Henry IV. He has been around for several years. Although this is also related to his family, he does have real talents and practical knowledge. After that, he worked for Louis XIII, and now he has become the chief physician of Louis XIV. The real old man came to the epidemic area, not Louis' original intention. Originally, Louis only considered that Malbikey and Sidonham were both foreigners and might encounter some embarrassing situations that could not be dealt with, but Lom Unlike his students.

Chambord detested all Catholics, but when he saw this stooped, white-haired, thin old man, he couldn't help but feel a little pity: "You have students by your side, there is absolutely no need to go with us, "He said stiffly: "We are in our prime, healthy and resistant to disease."

"It is precisely because you are strong and agile that I can go with you," Mr. Lom said as a matter of course: "Do you want me to go into the epidemic area alone as an old man? Not to mention you are enough, If it is smallpox, gentlemen, then it is a great opportunity that God has given me, because I have the weapons against this devil."

   "Don't say it," Malbikey said, "I, and Mr. Lom's students, have said everything I can before."

   "Then please go and have a good rest," said Mr. Lom triumphantly. "We will leave after breakfast tomorrow."

  ——

With the king's chief physician there, the breakfast was not only rich and fresh, it was almost impossible to see that the epidemic area was within a few miles from them, but each doctor who was going to the epidemic area only took a little cheese, sausage and Bread, because once the protective clothing is put on, it cannot be put on again without the help of others, and after taking it off, it may also be infested by diseases.

A team of guards from the Château de Blois escorted them to the edge of the infested area, "just over the woods," said the officer, while the road had been barricaded and the guards were busy removing the barricades, as Chamblance watched A man's hand appeared in the rye grass by the roadside, motionless, and the officer noticed: "There's no way," he said, "someone is trying to escape."

"Well done," Lom said. "And then, Mr. Officer, increase the density and frequency of patrols, and don't let anyone leave the valley until we come back!" He nodded at the body: "Let us serve him Pray, gentlemen, and burn him, it's dangerous to put a body here."

"As ordered, sir," said the officer, and then the plague doctors walked into the barricade one after another, and the barricade closed behind them, Lom with three students, Sidonham with four, Mal Bickey and Chambrolance are only themselves, but Lom and Sidonham's pupils will serve them too—that's why they're only a few hundred feet ahead, through a wood, and Seeing the first village, the doctors dismounted first, and asked the students to serve themselves and put on protective clothing.

The innermost part of the protective clothing is a leather jacket and leather pants, which are made according to the individual's body. The leather is soft, but it is not comfortable to wear, because according to the medical theory at this time, animal fat can kill the plague and prevent the sick. The body fluids were stained on the protective clothing, so the outer layer of the leather jacket and trousers had to be smeared with butter or lard by the students. These greases were freshly taken by the castle manager. The sticky feeling is enough to make people sick. After putting on the leather jacket and leather pants, you can also put on a thick robe. The collar can be rolled up to the chin and pressed inside the mask, so as to ensure that no skin is exposed. The lower edge falls directly on the foot, and the foot is A pair of heavy leather boots.

After putting on the robe, it is time to put on the mask. This mask, just like the painting on the book, looks like a ferocious vulture. The surface is made of brass, and two pieces are inlaid at the position of the eyes. The round glass, big enough to fit in a fist, under the eyes, is a long leather beak studded on a copper frame, the long beak protruding forward at least a foot, and it is stuffed with spices. Depending on the emergency, everything from ambergris, melissa, spearmint leaves, camphor, cloves, opium tincture, myrrh, rose petals, and styrax are possible, but today's spices are borne by Mr. Lom, Therefore, the best spices are used. As soon as you put them on, there is a strong fragrance that blows your face, which has a good psychological comfort. Like this, the disease will also avoid it. Of course, the doctors at that time really thought so. of.

   Finally, put on a hat. Unlike the current wide-brimmed hat, this hat is not only made of leather, but also has no decoration at the same time. It looks like a dark and daunting piece.

In this way, after being fully armed, even under the protection of not showing a hair, it became difficult for them to distinguish each other, and even their voices became indistinct. Fortunately, they still had their walking sticks. The canes have a very strong personal style. Lom's is inlaid with a sterling silver snake head, Sidonham is a black iron tip, and Malbikey's cane has a complex pattern, which is like a delicate , and Chamblance's walking stick was made of an oak branch he had picked up from the roadside yesterday, with some unstriped bark, and a handkerchief wrapped around the top.

   "Oh, Monsieur Chamblance," Lom asked in surprise, "don't you have a walking stick? I can ask my student to give you one."

"No," said Chambord, "it's just about my height and the width of my hand." Indeed, Chambrolls was the tallest of them all. "You don't look like a doctor," Lom said. After looking at him for a while behind the mask, he said, "It's more like a warrior."

Isn't that right, Sidonham said in his heart that he was still the leader of a group of thugs, but he still didn't say it. Although he knew that this person would be bad for the king of France, he was inexplicably willing to believe it. This man, maybe because of what he said, he was saying, he was also a doctor.

   When the students of Lom and Sidonham were all dressed properly, they went to the village one by one.

It's almost noon now, three meals a day is the fashion in Paris, and some noble people will enjoy it secretly, but in the village, two meals a day is the normal situation - get up in the morning and go to work first, and do three or four There is only one meal around noon for an hour to ensure that people have the strength to continue their work. The meal at around four or five in the evening is for the purpose of perfunctory grumbling belly, but also for the morning work. Reserve, so now, you should be able to see the smoke rising above the house or shack, but just looking at it like this, the hearts of the plague doctors headed by Lom couldn't help sinking, because they only saw a dozen or so The smoke pillars came from better houses, that is to say, most houses, and almost all shacks, their owners either went to see God or ran away.

  Lome looked at it, and walked to the most tidy and tallest house, saying that it was neat and tall, but they didn't need to bend over to enter the door - except for Chambord.

   A student walked up and knocked on the door. After a long time, a weak voice asked, "Who is it?"

   "Doctor," said Mr. Lom. This surprised the other three, because they expected the king's chief physician to name a long list of tongue-in-cheek titles.

   "If I said all the titles," Lom said, "this thing will be a little more troublesome, and aren't we doctors?"

   "Oh," said Setonham, "you're right."

Even so, the people in the house took a while to finally open the door for them. This house is nothing special, just like all farmers' houses, the firepit is in the middle, and on the left is a room that can accommodate everyone to sleep on it. The big bed - that is, several wooden boards are put together, and on the right is a livestock pen, which is a few goats and chickens and ducks, maybe they meet strangers, and they keep calling.

  Luomu simply glanced around and exited the room. The only one who opened the door for them was an old woman. She was trembling with fear when she saw so many people entering at once.

   "Anyone else?" Lom's student asked.

   "They've all gone to work."

   "Did they not catch the disease?"

  The old woman stopped talking immediately, and Lom let out a sharp sneer. He raised his cane and pointed, and his student immediately blocked the old woman's path with the cane, then lifted her hood, which was covered with a circular scar covering her entire face. "Oh my God," she shouted. Arrived, while trying to cover the turban back.

   "This is a **** witch." Mr. Lom said, "and a despicable thief." At first glance, he felt that something was wrong. This old woman was in rags and did not look like someone who could live in such a house. In the villages after the plague passed, this phenomenon is very common. Some living people who survived would justly take the last bit of assets of those unfortunate people for themselves - those round scars, indicating that the old woman had been infected Smallpox, but luckily survived, that's why she lives in the epidemic area with peace of mind.

   "Our Lady of Evidence!" The old woman cried out tragically immediately: "My lord, I'm not a thief, this is a house without people, Mr. monk allowed me to live here!"

   "What about the livestock?"

"That's what the priest gave me," she said, then hurriedly, as if worried that the adults would not believe her, pointed to an ordinary house and shouted, "If you don't believe me, then ask Sir, please."

   "Of course we're going to ask," said Mr Lom.

The old woman was escorted by them to the house. The house looked ordinary and was not much different from other houses in the village. There was only a cross hanging on the wooden door. A man with similar attire walked out, but he was tied with a rope around his waist, the kind commonly seen among monks. Upon closer inspection, his mask and robe were rather rough. There was no wide-brimmed hat. Raised a deep hood.

As soon as the monk saw the old woman, he immediately understood that the old woman was indeed hired by him, because after the smallpox epidemic broke out in this village, most of the people fell down, and some people escaped. Before the doctor came, the monk who passed by occasionally took on the duties of a doctor.

   "I'm not very good at medicine," the monk confessed: "I can only pray for them, do the sacraments, and bury them."

   "Enough is enough, Mr. Friar," Lom said. "Doctors can only save their bodies, but you are saving their souls."

   "That's exactly what I should do," said the monk, "I thought you wouldn't come so soon."

   "It can only be said that it is a coincidence." Mr. Lom said: "How many days have you been here?"

   "It's been over a month," said the monk.

   "Then please tell me about the situation here."

So the friar briefly talked about what he saw and heard here. Because the villages here are desolate, even agricultural officers are rarely stationed here, and there are no churches or chapels here. Of course, There are also no priests. People here are used to having small bumps on their bodies—perhaps because of mosquitoes, or because of the sap of plants and trees, or because they sleep on the ground that is too wet. They didn't notice anything strange at all - it was the beginning of the epidemic.

When the monk passed by, he only stayed in this house used by the villagers as a chapel. Fortunately, he did not have too much contact with the villagers and contracted the disease. After that, he spread his hands helplessly: "Obviously, there may be other places. People who ran out, when I was about to leave, the road was blocked." After all, this was the ancestral land of the French royal family, and Blois Castle was always guarded by an army, and the response of the supervisors and army generals here was also quite fast. When the monk found that he couldn't leave, he went back to the village and tried his best to find some herbs and boiled them into medicinal soup for the villagers to drink, but he was really not good at medicine as he said, and people kept dying, First weak old men and children, then women, and finally strong men.

   (end of this chapter)