Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Excuse me, Marshal, what is a mask?" Sun Chuanting asked quickly.

"A mask, as the name suggests, is something that covers the mouth and nose.

Most plagues are transmitted through breathing, and the air we breathe contains more than just oxygen.

In addition to oxygen, the air also contains many impurities such as dust, germs, etc.

If you wear a mask, it is like adding a layer of filter, which can block the germs outside when you breathe.

Do you understand what I mean?" Zhang Shikang said with gestures.

"My Lord, I understand now. It is an object similar to a face towel." Sun Chuanting thought for a while and said.

"It turns out that the Marshal also knows how to treat epidemics." Lu Xiangsheng looked a little surprised.

In the past two or three years, Lu Xiangsheng had lost count of how many times Zhang Shikang had surprised him. He just couldn't understand how a young man who had just turned 50 could know so many things.

"This is common sense." Zhang Shikang said seriously.

"The material of the mask must be very particular, at least three layers, and we must find the best weavers to weave the finest cloth.

The finer the material, the better it is at isolating germs.”

He thought that the protective effect of the face mask was still not enough, so he found paper and pen and sketched out the general appearance of masks in later generations.

"Prevention of the epidemic is a major matter, and it concerns the life and death of the people. Remember, no matter what, the epidemic must not be allowed to spread." Zhang Shikang frowned again.

He had even made plans to sacrifice some of the people, as the medical, transportation and other conditions at that time were far inferior to those in later generations.

Active prevention, control and treatment are necessary, and he will even try his best to transport food and do everything he thinks can save the situation.

But he also understood that it was impossible to have it all. As a superior, it was impossible for him to be the Virgin Mary. There was nothing he could do about it.

"Yes, I obey your command. May I ask, Marshal, who is Wu Youke?" Sun Chuanting asked again.

You don't even know Wu Youke? Your old partner! Zhang Shikang thought.

Of course he was just talking nonsense. In fact, the plague in Tongguan happened several years later. Zhang Shikang saw that period of history in a movie called The Great Ming Robbery.

After watching the movie, Zhang Shikang specifically looked up information about the character named Wu Youke in the movie.

If you don’t check, you won’t know. If you check, you will be shocked.

Wu Youke was an expert in medicine. He was not only an infectious disease expert in the late Ming Dynasty, but also the founder of the plague school. He believed that plague was different from general exogenous diseases.

After decades of diagnosis, treatment and observation of infectious diseases such as the plague, he wrote "On Plague", a landmark work in the history of Chinese medicine, especially in the history of infectious diseases.

Of course, the two men had not met at this time, and Zhang Shikang didn't know whether his butterfly wings had fanned this historical trajectory.

But what is certain is that finding this infectious disease expert named Wu Youke will definitely be of great help in the prevention and control of plague.

"This man is a doctor from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who has unique insights into plague.

However, this person should be a traveling doctor, so it might be difficult to find him.

Forget it, let the factory guards take care of finding the person.

I was originally planning to treat you two to dinner tonight, but it’s too late. You should hurry back overnight.

Remember, you must pay attention to hygiene, masks, and quarantine areas, and do it immediately. "Zhang Shikang repeatedly reminded.

The Black Death was extremely contagious and had a very high mortality rate. In Europe, this disease killed one-third of the population at that time.

The Ming Dynasty has a large population, and now it has to vigorously dig canals, which will require the mobilization of at least one million civilians. If the disease really spreads, it will be the end of the country.

Sun Chuanting bowed and left with great respect.

Zhang Shikang looked at Sun Chuanting's back and let out a long sigh.

"Is the Marshal too cautious?" Lu Xiangsheng said in surprise after Sun Chuanting left.

He had never seen anything that could make Zhang Shikang so upset.

"It's not that I'm cautious, it's that the plague is too vicious. What have we been busy doing in the past two years?

Isn't it for the purpose of reducing the number of casualties and allowing the people to live a good life?

Heaven and earth are cruel!" Zhang Shikang sighed again.

"No, I have to give an order to the factory guards immediately and have them conduct a comprehensive investigation to see where in the Ming Dynasty the plague has been infected. We must concentrate our efforts to eliminate it.

Commander Lu, you must also send a letter to the various military garrisons in the north, asking them to pay close attention to the situation in their garrisons. If anyone dares to conceal the situation, I will execute his entire clan if they find any abnormalities!"

Only once we find out where the disease is, we can concentrate our efforts on treatment. Even if there is no specific medicine, it can be considered a success as long as the epidemic is controlled within a small area where it occurs.

After much deliberation, Zhang Shikang asked Lu Xiangsheng to write a lot of precautions, such as detailed rules on hygiene, etc., and asked Lu Xiangsheng to distribute them to various military towns.

After this delay, Zhang Shikang's previous ambitious mood was completely gone.

He only hoped that the factory guards could find Wu Youke as soon as possible after receiving his orders.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, Zhang Shikang and Lu Xiangsheng left Yulin Town together.

Before leaving, he looked back at the city of Yulin surrounded by yellow sand.

This small town is so inconspicuous, but it still produced so many generals for the Ming Dynasty.

Not only You Shiwei, Hou Shilu, Yang Ming, Wang Shiqin and others, but even Zhang Xianzhong once joined the army here. Although life here is hard, compared to the prosperous and peaceful Jiangnan area, it is indeed a good place to train people.

When Zhang Shikang returned to Xuanfu Town again, it was already April.

The elm and willow trees on both sides of the streets in Xuanfu Town have already sprouted new buds, and the people we met along the way have also begun farming.

Although it seemed like spring was in the air, Zhang Shikang still wasn't happy.

When they arrived at Xuanfu City, Omubu, the leader of the Western Tumed tribe, had been waiting in the city for a long time.

The reason why Omubu came in person was naturally because of the news brought to him by his second son Guru.

Originally, he was still wavering between submitting to the Qing Dynasty or maintaining contact with the Ming Dynasty, but the promise given to him by the Ming Dynasty's Marshal of Arms completely dispelled his concerns.

Ombu disliked the Qing Dynasty and believed that the Qing Dynasty made them surrender just to recruit the brave warriors in his tribe and send them to the battlefield to die.

Although the Ming Dynasty looked like a doomed country before, it was not as strong as Huang Taiji. Now, the Ming Dynasty seems to have undergone tremendous changes.

Ombu, who had been paying close attention to the situation, keenly sensed the changes in the Ming Dynasty last year.

Therefore, he resisted the constant pressure from Huang Taiji and continued to secretly contact the Ming court.

Finally, his hard work paid off. After his son returned last time, he told him a series of promises made by the Marshal of the Ming Dynasty.

They gave him food, weapons, and even artillery, and also promised that his elderly and weak children who were short of money could return to the interior to save their lives.

This seemed like there might be hostages, but Omubu only thought about it for a moment before dispelling those concerns.

His entire tribe only has tens of thousands of people, and as the leader of this chaotic world, his only responsibility is to protect the entire tribe.

As the orthodox power in the world, the promises made by the Ming Dynasty were naturally more credible than those made by Huang Taiji, and his own tribal population was nothing in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty.

In this case, if the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty must choose sides, then what is there to hesitate about?

Seeing Zhang Shikang coming, Guru quickly nudged his father Khan with his elbow. Omubu immediately knew that the young man was the marshal of the Ming army, and quickly stood up and saluted Zhang Shikang:

"Borjigin Ombu greets the Grand Marshal."

……