Shadow of great britain

Munro's Tavern, 92 Duke Street, Liverpool, Georgia.

If there's one thing you should do when taking the train from London to Liverpool, a visit to a pub and a few glasses of good gin and wine would surely top the British referendum.

Although the quality of drinks in London pubs may not be worse than those in Liverpool, when it comes to price, London, which is at the foot of the king and the root of the imperial city, is definitely not as cheap as Liverpool, where regulations are relatively relaxed.

Although Arthur has no special hobby for drinking, during this special period, drinking has become an excellent way to prevent himself from getting seriously ill.

Sitting on the seat facing the street, Arthur could smell the pungent smell coming from the street with a slight flick of his nose.

In the cholera prevention guidance issued by the Central Health Commission to local governments, the need to use lime water, hot lime water, bleach to clean streets, and to paint and fumigate crowded and dirty areas was emphasized.

In related suggestions, the committee also euphemistically stated that it would be better if the owner of the house could be required to repaint all the walls inside the house from floor to ceiling with lime.

However, since the government did not have the legal power to mandate the cleaning of private places, most of the newly established local health committees came up with the idea of ​​distributing free brushes, buckets and disinfecting materials to the poor so that people could paint their own houses.

This zero-dollar purchase-style disinfection promotion method soon achieved unprecedented success all over Britain. In the spirit of not taking advantage of the bastard, it went up to the luxurious Buckingham Palace where the king lived, and down to the leaky shelter of the poor.

In just a few weeks, at least a third of the houses in Britain have been given a new look.

However, not everyone will respond to the government's call. There are still quite a few people in Britain who do not take cholera seriously.

Due to a lack of knowledge about this unfamiliar disease, many people believe that cholera is just a hoax created by the government in collaboration with doctors and businessmen.

Arthur noticed a piece of news published in the Newcastle Morning News a while ago.

According to reports, cholera has become almost as synonymous with irony in Newcastle. If you told a Newcastle man that he was at risk of contracting cholera, you would probably be greeted with punches the size of sandbags, or the spit of women.

When a local reporter from Newcastle visited an all-night pub for an interview, an alcoholic holding a bottle of wine even claimed: "I'm not worried about this little problem, sir. As you can see, drinking can cure all diseases. I I've been doing this for half my life, and I've never had any problems. The only thing I'm worried about is that I don't fall into any smelly ditch after getting drunk."

Although the judgments of drunkards are usually inaccurate, as far as cholera is concerned, Arthur has to admit that this old boy is rarely right.

Arthur originally wanted to try to suggest this to the Health Committee, but because he did not have a good reputation in the medical community, and the fact that alcoholism could prevent and cure diseases was really contrary to the medical common sense of the 19th century, he was worried that his words would make him Arthur, who had a rebellious attitude towards the doctors, could only shut his mouth temporarily.

But just because Arthur didn't speak, it didn't mean that other half-informed laymen didn't speak.

As the earliest barefoot doctors in the entire Christian world, but in modern times they have been reduced to practicing medicine without a license. After discovering that cholera was coming, the priests began to use their same rhetoric that had been passed down for more than ten centuries.

Cholera is not a physical disease, but a spiritual and moral defect!

This is God’s punishment for society falling into darkness!

The Bishop of Exeter's previous criticism of London's descent into a sinful hell is coming true!

During this difficult period, we must strengthen our faith and insist on going to church to listen to sermons and read the Bible to effectively reduce the probability of illness.

Generally speaking, when Arthur sees news headlines like this, he always thinks that this is another disease among the priests.

But he had to admit that the priests still provided some help in preventing and controlling cholera.

For example, the Bishop of Exeter, who just criticized the problem of prostitutes in London not long ago, not only did not flee from his diocese after a large-scale epidemic broke out there, but instead took to the streets to call on believers to raise donations for the poor who could not afford medical treatment. During this period He also insisted on conducting funerals for patients who died of cholera.

The bishop's leading charge also stabilized the turbulent situation in Exeter to a certain extent. In the past, whenever such a large-scale epidemic occurred, Britain's middle class would definitely flee the city with their families and their families.

But this time, cholera did not break social order. Shops are still open, factories are still producing, and ports are still operating.

After listening to the sermon, a small shop owner even burst into tears and expressed regret for his past sinful behavior. From now on, he will give up drinking, smoking and other bad habits, and change his ways to be a good person.

Not only that, he also called on everyone in his industry association to stand up bravely in the face of difficulties. They, the middle class, gain wealth from the city, so they should not just watch it fall into ruins when the city falls into trouble.

Under this gentleman's call, Exeter raised more than 300 pounds in just a few days. Although this may not sound like much, for Exeter, which has a population of only a few thousand people, this is definitely an achievement to be proud of.

Although Arthur didn't know whether it would be wise for this gentleman to give up drinking during cholera, if he could survive this cholera epidemic, Arthur felt that he would definitely be able to make a lot of money in the future, because he was a good person and good deeds. Within days it had spread through newspapers to every corner of Britain.

Arthur flipped through the various newspapers he bought from the newsstand this morning page by page. The good people and good deeds in Exeter were certainly touching, but more news made him unhappy.

The various special treatments for cholera in medical journals look like a battle between gods and mighty powers.

Even though Arthur had not systematically studied medical knowledge and could not express professional opinions, he felt that the reliability of these various methods was doubtful.

Neither an enema of saline, turpentine, and aromatics nor an emetic of magnesium oxide, rhubarb, and castor oil seemed to work.

However, these methods are not what puzzles Arthur the most. What he finds most puzzling is the use of medicines such as dripping boiling water, nitric acid, or applying cantharides ointment on acupuncture points of the body and special parts such as the heart and abdomen on dying patients. Blistering Therapy.

Doctors insist that irritating the skin to form blisters can achieve the effects of dredging meridians, promoting qi and blood circulation, regulating internal organs, and eliminating toxins, thereby achieving the purpose of external treatment of internal diseases.

However, although it seems a bit appalling, compared with the priests' reading of the Bible, the old British doctors in Britain can at least make Arthur initially accept it.

However, among the papers, Arthur was most concerned about a new treatment proposed by The Lancet. This group of authoritative doctors from the London College of Physicians emphasized: hot air baths, canned or bottled hot water, will always be Desirable therapy.

They strongly recommend that hospitals that have the conditions simply give patients a hot steam bath. After the bath, it is best to use some massage techniques that relax the muscles, activate blood circulation, and cause friction to cause heat.

And they also cited a case of recovery using this therapy. Dr. Dutton of Birmingham published an article claiming that an eight-year-old child named Barratt was already dehydrated, moaning continuously, and was in a critical state that could die at any time.

In response, Dutton immediately gave the patient a soda water spiked with brandy and laudanum. At the same time, an assistant placed about six gallons of water and three ounces of nitric acid in the tub.

Dutton said: "I asked someone to lift him into the bathtub and let his body be completely immersed in the water, with the water level reaching his chin. While bathing, I asked my assistant to rub his whole body for 20 minutes. "

And when Barat soaked in the bathtub for about ten minutes, before he was taken out, his pulse was already beating very hard, and although his dry and cold tongue had not yet reached normal temperature, it had become moist and warm. . Bharat himself said he felt much better and wanted to lie down in bed and rest.

Dr. Dutton, who saved a life, could not help but express joyfully in his paper: "My little patient now seems to have recovered from that endangered state of collapse."

Closing the medical magazine in front of him, Arthur put one hand on his head and took a sullen sip of wine.

Although he felt that his ability was not enough to dictate medical work, perhaps it was because the Chancery Chamber felt that since lawyers could do forensic work in court, it was reasonable to send a police officer who studied history to guide medical and health work.

At the very least, someone with an academic gold medal from the History Department of the University of London must have a good understanding of how the Black Death was prevented and treated in the Middle Ages.

So this time Arthur came to Liverpool not only to do his anti-smuggling work, but also to supervise the work of the local health committee.

In order to be able to give relatively reasonable advice in health meetings, he must select relatively reliable ones from a variety of treatments.

From Arthur's point of view, this job was much more important than his responsibilities at Scotland Yard. The Criminal Investigation Department could only solve one murder case for several weeks. And if cholera is not dealt with in time, Scotland Yard's decades-old KPIs can be blown out of the water in minutes.

Just as he was thinking about how to carry out his work, the door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open.

Louis Bonaparte held a thin document in his hand and looked around. He quickly found Arthur's position and walked to sit opposite him.

"Arthur, Mr. Mill and the others have roughly sorted out the information on the customs declaration. There are many errors and omissions in it. Preliminary statistics should involve at least more than six thousand pounds in taxes."

"Huh?" Arthur did not reach for the document, but looked up at Louis: "You found the mistake so quickly?"

Louis smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's much better than we expected. Mr. Mill and the others didn't expect that the investigation would go so smoothly."

Upon hearing this, Arthur put his arms on the table and muttered slightly: "Six thousand pounds... Liverpool's annual customs revenue is about 400,000, and an error of 1.5% is not unacceptable."

"No, no, no." Louis waved his hand and said, "Arthur, Mr. Mill said that the six thousand pounds is just a preliminary estimate. If everything is settled, it will be more than doubled."

Arthur pushed another glass of wine in front of Louis: "Then triple it, 4.5%, which is reasonable. But being able to find these errors and omissions from the customs declaration at least shows that Liverpool Customs The Administration and Customs Administration did not give us a white list for special supplies. Do you know what this means?"

Louis took a sip from his cigarette and said, "They are willing to cooperate."

"That's right." Arthur nodded: "Since they are willing to cooperate, let's play with the chips on the card table first."

When Louis heard this, he took out another document from his arms and put it on the table: "Since it is on the card table, you should put this document away first. It should be used when you increase your bets in the future."

Arthur glanced at the document and said, "Is this about the port authority's expansion of the port?"

Louis nodded slightly: "Liverpool is not like London. We don't have reliable informants here, so I can only go to the pier to ask around. This morning I pretended to be a French tourist at the pier and had a brief chat with the local shopkeepers. .

They mentioned a very interesting thing to me. The upper class in Liverpool are very fond of buying real estate, whether they are wealthy businessmen or administrators of government agencies. Oh, maybe I can't say that, after all, administrators and wealthy businessmen are almost equal here. According to those shopkeepers, about 30% of the real estate in Liverpool is held by these guys.

Moreover, these talkative guys swore to tell me that the most powerful institution in Liverpool is neither the Municipal Council nor the Port Authority and Customs Department, but a private business organization called the Liverpool Association.

The Liverpool Society is an organization with a history of two centuries. How can I describe its power in Liverpool? It is said that seven mayors of Liverpool were born in the Liverpool Association. At its peak, 90% of the members of the Liverpool City Council were members of the Liverpool Association. To this day, it still controls more than 70% of the city council seats. "

Arthur twirled the wine glass, his red eyes staring at the clear purple-red wine: "Like buying land, members of the Liverpool Association..."

He suddenly leaned back in his chair: "Members of Congress don't buy so much real estate just for the sake of looking good. Let me guess, they must also like to speculate in land, right? And they are quite successful in doing so. Real estate If you don’t buy it, that’s it. If you buy it, you’ll buy it in the planned area for port expansion.”

A mysterious smile appeared on Louis' face: "Arthur, you are really imaginative."

Arthur picked up the glass and sipped the wine: "How much did the four new ports in Liverpool cost?"

Louis replied: "On average, each one is about 30,000 pounds. The construction cost of each port is about 6,000 to 8,000 pounds, and the remaining 20,000 pounds are used to acquire land to build new warehouses and supporting facilities. ."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Louis smiled and asked: "What's wrong?"

Arthur swung the glass and replied: "It's nothing, I just think the wine from Liverpool tastes a bit harsh on the throat. The brandy from London already feels quite heavy to me, but compared with the wine from Liverpool, it is simply too light." "

Upon hearing this, Louis also raised his glass and took a sip: "Well... although the wine tastes a bit strong, the water of the Mersey River is cleaner than the water of the Thames River!"

Arthur raised his eyebrows, put down his glass and nodded slightly: "That makes sense. I asked why the Liverpool Port Authority asked the Parliament's Public Works Committee for money three times. It turned out to be because the water quality was different, so the cost of building the port was different. I have to keep adding more. When I rented a house to a friend of mine, he thought the price I paid was too high and said that my house was made of gold. Now it seems that he must have never been to Liverpool. Gold The house I built was originally here."

Louis also joked: "Arthur, you must have never read "Marco Polo's Travels". What's so strange about a house made of gold? Marco Polo said that in the easternmost part of the continent, even the streets are paved with gold. Oh. , by the way, the small island to the east uses silver."

When Arthur heard this, the wine near his mouth was almost sucked into his nose.

He quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth to hide his embarrassment: "I'll note down the port matters first. But this aspect is not within the scope of my supervision, and we don't need to get into trouble with them for the time being. At least from the customs declaration form It seems like they still show some sincerity.”

Louis replied: "I also think that we have crossed the line by interfering with this matter. There is no need to talk about it unless it is absolutely necessary. And it is not just Liverpool who does this. There are many people who make a fortune from this. If we rashly If the matter is revealed, it will definitely cause a scandal."

Arthur adjusted his mood, smoothed his hair and asked, "Are there any new discoveries besides this?"

Louis recalled for a moment, and then added: "Apart from the Port Authority, the Dock Committee should also be unclean. I briefly checked their directory. This place has been controlled by several families for a long time, and it provides public services for the Dock Committee. The service company is quite single, and the supply company for most of the purchase lists is a company named Grindrod. If we continue to investigate, there will definitely be problems here."

When Arthur heard this, he had a basic understanding of the local ecology of Liverpool. He raised his hand and interrupted: "We just have an idea of ​​​​this matter. Let's give them a note first, but these things It can't be played on the table. I need something a little subtle, but not so much that it blows up the entire Liverpool turf."

After hearing this, Louis put on his hat and nodded: "Okay, then I'll go find out more."

Arthur warned: "Be careful to dress up well, and remember to carry a gun when traveling. When you are not wearing a police uniform, you are really just an ordinary foreign tourist. If you are suffocated by someone with a stick somewhere, you will be stunned for a moment. For a while, I really didn’t know how to get you out.”

Louis put a hand on his chest and bowed slightly: "Of course, don't worry, sir."

Arthur watched him go out, planning to study the medical journal at hand.

Suddenly, the door of the tavern was pushed open again.

A man walked into the tavern and looked around for a while. Suddenly he saw the clothes on Arthur. He immediately came to Arthur with a smile and asked: "Excuse me, is this Mr. Arthur Hastings?"