Versailles is worse than being queen

◎ Burn the devil's messenger! ◎

Because the plague was raging in Vienna, the emperor rarely watched the children more closely, and Antanya could not sneak out of the palace as before.

However, Nicholas sometimes came to the Hofburg with Dr. Sweeten.

"Have you been vaccinated with Dr. Sweeten?" Antanya asked Nicholas in surprise.

Although the current experiments on monkeys and humans are indeed all right, after all, civilians have not been vaccinated on a large scale, so is he not worried about anything?

"I am in good health. The biggest danger is that I am not vaccinated." Nicholas replied calmly. "In two days, you will know if there are small pustules on your arms."

As he spoke, he kept moving his hands, and covered Antanya's face with a strange-looking white gauze with two straps.

"Hmm." Antanya closed her eyes subconsciously, but obediently did not move, allowing Nicholas to hang the straps on both sides on her ears-there were a few locks of curly hair hanging from the right ear, and he put those locks first. Done behind her ear to complete this action.

Antanya opened her eyes, and silently looked at the neck of the little boy who was half a head taller than herself... in front of her.

Although he was still a child, he acted calmly and confidently in everything he did, and seemed to know a lot of incredible things.

She suddenly remembered that he escaped the search in her carriage the night the Winter Palace caught fire.

After that, he sat in the carriage, looking at the fire of the Winter Palace in the distance, and remained silent for a long time.

Antanya still remembers the scene at that time - the boy's plump and delicate profile outlines a golden-red outline, and there are unpredictable stars in his eyes.

At that moment, she suddenly had a feeling of déjà vu.absurd.

Where has she seen him?

"Very good, this is a mask." Nicholas looked at the little princess with a small face covered by the mask with satisfaction, and only her eyes remained. "Have you memorized the method of making it? Remember to tell Dr. Sweeten .”

Antanya came back to her senses: "Oh."

It is said that masks were first used by the Chinese. At that time, they were mainly used to prevent the breath and saliva of the person wearing the mask from splashing out.

This effect can also be used in reverse - people wearing masks are not easy to inhale the droplets and dust floating in the outside world.Of course, the most useful design is to hang on the ears or tie it behind the head, so that people don't have to hold the mask with their hands all the time.

At present, no one in the palace has been infected with smallpox, but the imperial tailors have already received this somewhat strange order——to order [-] masks.

"It was ordered by His Majesty the Emperor, saying that wearing a mask can reduce the spread of smallpox."

"really?"

The tailors were discussing curiously while rushing to make masks.They all know that smallpox is usually contracted by being close to smallpox patients. Does such a piece of cloth cover their mouths have such a magical effect?

On the other side, the firewood boiler room in the Hofburg Palace also allocated some more people to help.

"Why did the palace suddenly use so much hot water these two days? Is it popular among nobles to take three baths a day?"

"I heard that His Majesty suddenly ordered that all the tableware should be scalded with boiling water before use. Moreover, it is said that after the water is boiled and allowed to cool, you can drink it directly!"

"Ah, actually drinking water? Wouldn't that make you sick?"

"Who knows, maybe it's popular among nobles to drink water now."

Word has spread through the streets and alleys of Vienna.

"Have you heard? All the people in town who haven't had smallpox are going to get vaccinated against that cow."

"How?"

"Cut a gash in the arm, and put the water of a vaccinia pustule on the wound—"

"Hey!" Many people's faces were wrinkled, "It's really a devil's experiment!"

"Have you heard that although you won't die if you get cowpox, you will grow horns and hair! That's the devil's curse!"

"Can I not plant it?"

"No! His Majesty personally ordered..."

"But why? I don't want to take the cow's disease on me. The nobles are afraid of smallpox, so they want us civilians to be cursed? They deserve to go to hell!"

"Shhh! Be quiet."

"That's what it is. Otherwise, why didn't the emperor vaccinate his children first? Isn't it just that civilians are not human beings, so let's do experiments first."

"unacceptable!"

In the meeting hall of the emperor's suite in the Hofburg Palace, the emperor sat on a chair lined with gray velvet and ivory and white wood, and read the report presented by the palace supervisor.

His youngest daughter sat aside, looking curiously at the thick documents on the desk, while Dr. Sweeten was fidgeting.

"So, smallpox is transmitted through inhalation of droplets from patients, or direct contact." Franz said thoughtfully.

The results of this experiment were somewhat unexpected, but very encouraging.

At first, when his younger daughter brought it up, he didn't quite believe it.But it's just a matter of making a few masks with gauze. As a wealthy emperor, he still has the money to satisfy his daughter's little interest in scientific research.

After three weeks, the result seemed to be obvious-in two adjacent blocks, people in one street received masks issued by the royal family, but the other street did not. As a result, there was indeed a significant difference in the incidence of smallpox between the two streets.

The emperor thus had a new understanding of his youngest daughter.

He didn't pay much attention to Antanya at first—after all, he had eighteen children, and Antania was not his first few children, nor did he take care of them himself.

But after she came back from Russia, she suddenly had many wonderful ideas—the emperor, who was keen on scientific research, was very satisfied with this.

"How are the preparations for the vaccination?" the emperor asked Dr. Sweeton.

"Uh, Your Majesty," Doctor Sweeten nodded hesitantly, "We're basically ready..."

Franz noticed that Dr. Sweeten was hesitating, and asked strangely, "What's wrong?"

The honest doctor thought about it, and decided to tell the truth: "Well, people seem to be terrified of cowpox. They think it's a disease in cows that makes them grow hair and horns and low like cows."

"Horns? That's amazing," Franz laughed. "But it's understandable, because no one has seen it before. But people will soon know how useful cowpox is."

He couldn't help joking, "I hope we will have enough people and cattle by then."

Dr. Sweeton opened his mouth and closed it again.

The emperor was very satisfied with the implementation of the current policy as planned, but he always felt uneasy.

At this moment, the male servant sent a letter: "Your Majesty, it is a letter from the Vienna Medical Association-about the vaccine program currently being implemented by the government. In addition, Archbishop Fann is asking to see you."

The other two in the meeting hall raised their heads in unison.

"The Archbishop? What is he here for?" Franz frowned and took the letter.

"Hmm..." The meeting manager bent down and whispered cautiously: "He said that he represented the church to express his opinions on vaccine-related matters."

"Okay. Fortunately, before the church came to reprimand me, I could still hear the voice of the secular society."

Franz opened the letter with a smile, "If the vaccine works, the doctors should be able to breathe a sigh of relief—"

His voice stopped abruptly, and his expression suddenly sank.

After several seconds of silence, Antanya tentatively called out. "dad?"

"These short-sighted guys, I'm afraid they can only see as far as the tip of their nose!" Franz angrily threw the letter on the table.

Dr. Sweeten picked up the letter, and after reading a few lines, his face turned pale.

"...Your Majesty, do you think that people who have had cowpox won't get smallpox again? Is this the first time that doctors know about it?——someone has discovered it long ago, but Sweden was the first one to be so vicious The devil who dares to experiment with children!"

"He did everything he could to become famous. He was extremely vicious and perverted. Such a person who broke through the moral bottom line has lost the basic ethics of practicing medicine. We solemnly request His Majesty to revoke his medical license and immediately stop forcing people to vaccinate!"

"The vaccinia vaccine is the devil's apple!"

"Your Majesty," the meeting chief knocked cautiously on the door, "the archbishop is already in the waiting room."

There was no sound in the meeting room for a long time.

"Let him in." Franz finally said through gritted teeth.

Archbishop Vann is Cardinal of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.Since Vienna is also the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor, Archbishop Vann has a very high prestige throughout the Catholic world.

"Your Majesty." The gray-haired cardinal wore a red robe and looked serious.

"The Archbishop." Franz nodded indifferently.

He was obsessed with science and had never had much to do with the church—his wife, on the contrary, was a thoroughly devout Catholic.

"Your Majesty, I'll get straight to the point."

Archbishop Fann had never had a good impression of the emperor—he had such a loyal and pious wife, but he owed a lot of romantic debts...and he was seen yawning several times during church services.

"The church believes that His Majesty should withdraw the edict to promote the vaccine. This is against the will of God."

After speaking, he cast a meaningful glance at the fidgeting Doctor Sweeton next to him, "Moreover, the people have already made their choice."

On his way from St. Stephen's Cathedral to the Hofburg, he encountered a procession.

Angry people were marching towards the Hofburg Palace, roaring, asking His Majesty the Emperor to hand over Dr. Sweeten.

This man was rebellious against God, contemptuous of life, and associated with evil.

They are going to burn this emissary of the devil!

……

At the end of November, when Queen Theresa returned to the capital from Hungary ahead of schedule, she faced such an angry and chaotic Vienna.

"Frantz! Franz!" The queen was so angry that she didn't know what to say to her husband who had done something wrong.

"Honey," Emperor Franz approached cautiously, trying to put his arms around his wife's waist, "Believe me, the vaccinia vaccine can really prevent smallpox! People will understand this—"

"I know, I know," said the queen angrily, pushing her husband away, "you're a good man—that's a little too good. Now I have to go and solve the follow-up problems for you."

Facing the unknown, the public can often spread sensational rumors.Therefore, it became especially important for people to see experimenters who had been vaccinated before and were no longer infected with smallpox.

People always see is believing.

The queen kneaded her forehead and asked in a deep voice, "Is Kaunitz here?"

Prime Minister Kaunitz has been waiting for the queen in the chamber for a long time.

As soon as the queen walked into the meeting room, the strong smell of French perfume on the prime minister's body hit her face, and the queen immediately remembered the report of the discipline committee on herself.

In this pious Catholic country, in this holy Vienna, under her just and majestic rule-her prime minister dared to openly take his mistress to the streets!

She lowered her face: "Kaunitz, I'm sorry that I received the report—as the prime minister of the Holy Roman Empire, my right-hand man, you should understand the huge impact your misconduct will have on this country."

Prime Minister Kaunitz was a little surprised by the Queen's opening remarks.

He raised his eyebrows, bowed to the Queen, and replied gracefully: "Your Majesty, I think I'm here to discuss your important affairs, not my small ones."*

The queen stared at him coldly, while Kaunitz slowly unfolded the material in his hand: "I have some bad news for you."

"The boy Dr. Sweeton experimented with on cowpox is dead."

The author says:

British doctor Edward Jenner discovered that milkmaids were no longer infected with smallpox after suffering from cowpox. In 1796, he conducted a cowpox experiment on humans and discovered the vaccine.At that time, his discovery caused an uproar. The medical community believed that he had adopted extremely inhumane experimental methods, and once jointly demanded that his medical qualifications be revoked; there were also various terrible legends about vaccinia vaccination among the people, who called him a "liar" and "a magic stick". , it was not until several years later that the actual effect of cowpox gradually justified its name.

Pioneers of medical experimentation are often under enormous pressure from the world (and from the church in religious countries) to pay tribute to the predecessors who advanced the progress of human civilization.

*It is the original words in the history of Prince Kaunitz.All the chapters marked with * in the following chapters are references. If they are the original words of the characters, they will not be explained separately~