Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1538 Deep Plowing in Brazil ([-])

It is said that the pharmaceutical production in the East Coast Republic of China has become more and more a good industry now.

From the early 108 medicinal wine, opium wine, ferrous sulfate, cod liver oil, to the later cinchona cream, aspirin, aloe oil, senna, foxglove preparations, and to the latest wind oil essence, cool oil, active oil, iodine Wait, there are more than 20 kinds of medicines produced on the East Coast in large scale.

These 20 kinds of medicines are very different from traditional herbal medicines (that is, they are not restricted by the place of origin and variety), and have stable curative effects. They are very popular in the East Coast. With the aura of "Made on the East Coast", it also sells quite well in foreign countries. In addition, its effect is not as good as 01:30 compared with European witch doctor-like medical skills and medicine, so the price is getting more and more expensive. High, the market is gradually in short supply.

In addition to these more than 20 kinds of medicines, there are also a number of workshops in Dong'an that process and manufacture traditional Chinese medicines through imported oriental medicinal materials.These small workshops supporting the well-known northern pharmaceutical factory rough-process the herbal medicines through the proven prescriptions in the "Song Medical Book Examination" and "Ming Medical Book Examination", and then sell them to the northern pharmaceutical factory at a certain price. It completes the last processing procedure, and then sells it for profit.

It can be said that if the east coast does not consume most of the annual drug production, if these medicines can be exported to the West on a large scale, it will bring huge foreign trade profits to the East China Republic every year.However, due to the shortage of raw materials, the inability to produce the whole process of industrialization, and the influence of national policies, the production of many drugs—especially Cinchona Cream, Cooling Oil, Fengyoujing, etc.—is seriously insufficient, and the priority is to meet domestic demand. Under such circumstances, we can only choose some friendly forces to sell some of them, such as Courland, the Dutch West India Company, the Doria family in Genoa, and so on.

Westerners didn’t trust these medicines very much at first, just like the east coast medicines that flowed into China through Denglai and Ningbo in small quantities, they stubbornly believed in their own views on diseases—for example, the British believed that white willow bark could cure Malaria, because this kind of tree grows in moist soil or environment, where malaria is frequent, that is, "disease is always accompanied by treatment or medicine is always not far from disease, this may be God's intention", and the Chinese "eat What makes up what" theory is quite similar.

Some doctors on the east coast can always clearly remember that there were occasional old continent doctors who wandered from the old continent to the east coast—well, let’s call these part-timers doctors—they always brought some jaw-dropping surprises. Stuff like they think orange saffron is good for jaundice like red wine is good for anemia (since wine is red...) like the white spots on the leaves of lungwort suggest the herb is good for the lungs Disease works.

For these "ridiculous views" from the Old World, the doctors on the East Coast with a strong sense of superiority have always scoffed at the fact. Through rigorous pathological analysis, chemical research and anatomical experiments, they have figured out the causes of quite a few diseases. And by producing symptomatic drugs, cultivating vaccines (such as vaccinia), and anti-venom serum, he has conquered quite a few diseases, so his mind is full of pride in "Tongyi".

Doctors are like this, and the people on the east coast are also very different, because the facts have educated many people, letting them know that only eastern medicine can give them the most sense of security, and Nanjiro, who is about to go to Xinhuaxia Island to take up his post, is one of them.

Today, he had an interview with the manager of the sales department of the newly established Brazilian pharmaceutical factory—a state-owned enterprise affiliated to the Ministry of Health, with its headquarters and factory located in Hue County—and got a report on a batch of newly released drugs from the factory. Part of the purchase quota is planned to be transported to Xinhua Island by ship together with other medicines, and distributed to the troops for use.

This drug is currently the main drug of the Brazilian pharmaceutical factory. It is called ipecac, which is a plant native to Brazil.The local Indians used this plant to induce vomiting before, and the effect was quite good. However, after a series of studies, the people on the east coast discovered that this drug can not only be used to induce vomiting, but also can be used to treat dysentery, which has always been a common disease. One of the leading killers in the tropics, perhaps second only to malaria in terms of mortality.

The shrub of ipecac can be used to treat a variety of acute diarrhea including dysentery, it can also be used as an emetic in certain food poisoning, and it even has a certain effect on eliminating phlegm and relieving cough. Medicines are especially suitable for tropical areas, so without further ado, the Ministry of Health immediately set up a pharmaceutical factory in Hue Port (where there are many such shrubs nearby) with the special funds of the Science Spring Program and the sponsorship of the Taoist Association, which is enthusiastic about medical research. Then order equipment, recruit workers, and start production in a decent manner.

"Ordinary ipecac is a herbal preparation, which is used by ordinary soldiers and junior officials." Nanjiro recalled what the middle-aged procurement manager of a Brazilian pharmaceutical factory said during the meeting. At that time, he pointed to some sealed in paper packets. The medicine said: "This is a pure herbal medicine, the effect is not so obvious, but it can save lives, but the process is not so easy and happy."

Later, he took out a part of the powdered medicine sealed in the bamboo tube, and said: "This is a chemically prepared medicine in the laboratory of the factory. It has obvious therapeutic effects on diseases such as dysentery, but you must pay attention to the usage and dosage, otherwise Potentially intoxicating symptoms. I’m not kidding, there’s a lot of data in the human trials that back it up. These drugs are produced in such small quantities that they’re only used by officers.”

Nanjiro was also a little worried when he heard about it, so he asked the sales manager carefully about the manufacturing process of the drug, and learned that they purified a compound named "emetine" from the root of ipecac.This compound has a strong emetic effect, and emetine hydrochloride treated with hydrochloric acid can well treat diarrhea diseases such as dysentery, and has a very broad effect.

Nanjiro's confidence in this drug immediately rose several geometric levels after learning about it, and he strongly demanded to buy and stockpile it in Xinhua Island, because quite a few people died of dysentery every year on that tropical island.It's just that the Brazilian pharmaceutical factory has not been established for a long time, the industrial equipment is not yet complete, and there are many shortages of personnel, so the production is still quite limited, so they can only sell part of it to them, which is very regrettable for both of them.

The isolation of emetine is undoubtedly a milestone event, because it is the first time that people on the east coast have separated, purified and finally found out the active ingredients in herbal medicine through chemical means, which is of great significance.After the isolation of emetine, the people on the east coast also made persistent efforts and began to conduct research on various things at hand, such as trying to isolate a useful substance (stychnine) from a small Indian tree called horse money. ), such as trying to separate the exciting substance (caffeine) from coffee, such as refining some substances from opium (this can’t be said, it will kill you...), such as trying to separate cinchona bark powder Quinine, etc., a series of dazzling chemical experiments were carried out in the laboratories of the Academy of Natural Sciences, the North Pharmaceutical Factory, the Brazilian Pharmaceutical Factory, and even the Ministry of Health, and a large sum of money was approved in cooperation , Sponsoring them is a "waste of money" in the eyes of many people, but it's hard to say how effective it is.

After all, the chemical level of people on the east coast is still very low, the equipment is quite simple, and their understanding of these materials is very superficial-at present they only realize that these materials can react with acids to form salts like alkalis. Chemical analysis shows that They are composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, but in different proportions of each element in different alkaloids, but they know nothing, especially nothing about the structure of these complex carbon compounds, Still in the exploratory stage.

But in any case, people on the East Coast have at least realized that the reaction between drugs and human body composition is a chemical reaction (this is a prerequisite for the promotion of pharmacology), which undoubtedly makes them on the right path.As Shao Yuanyi, a famous person of the "Eastern Medicine" school in China, said: "A doctor without chemical knowledge will only do things aimlessly, and will never get an accurate concept of the disease. He is like making a drug bomb , not only hit the disease, but also injured the patient, and he himself didn't know what was going on..."

The rapid development of pharmacology and bacteriology is a distinctive feature of Eastern Medicine that is very different from other countries in the Old World, and it is also the basis for the rapid development of the East Coast pharmaceutical industry.At present, TCM herbal medicine preparations—the prescriptions and preparations that have been confirmed to be effective after strict screening and certification, and included in "Song Medical Records" and "Ming Medical Records"—local herbal preparations (mostly American herbs and a few imported and cultivated African herbs), Chemical drugs (such as aspirin, diethyl ether, iodine, etc.) are the troika of the East Coast pharmaceutical industry.Among these troikas, some have been able to produce on a large scale and export to foreign countries for profit, some will only be able to meet domestic demand, and some will not even be able to meet domestic demand. The future development of the pharmaceutical industry still has a long way to go.

Nanjiro purchased a batch of ipecac from a pharmaceutical factory in Brazil, and also purchased the root soaking solution of the basil tree (the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture have begun to transplant this tree native to the Congo near Hue in recent years. , because its root soaking liquid has a certain curative effect on schistosomiasis), as for cinchona cream, opium wine, wind oil essence, cooling oil, carminative oil, etc., they were prepared from the beginning, although the quantity may be somewhat insufficient , but it is enough to deal with it for some time, and Nanjiro has nothing to say about it. After all, they are a reserve force and cannot be compared with the main force.

After purchasing, Nanjiro did not wait too long in Hue Port, because the ship agreed to load them to the military base in Hailing Port arrived soon. On January 1669, 1, a "Jiqi" class sail escort gunboat that returned from sea trials slowly arrived at the Hue Port Wharf. At this time, the Youguo Army's miscellaneous brands that went to the inland area to wipe out the Indians had just returned.

Nanjiro was not going to delay any longer. After discussing with some officers of the Ukrainian Army, a total of 400 people quickly left Hue City, which was under construction in full swing, and boarded this brand new frigate. Heading towards Dongfang Port, they will receive a batch of weapons and ammunition there, as well as some supplementary soldiers recruited locally.

Before leaving the port of Hue, Nanjiro took a last look at this largest city in Brazil. Foreign investors are very active in the plantation industry, Brazilian rural financial cooperatives are deeply involved in rural areas, and local investors are concentrated in timber. And the building materials industry, the economy of the whole county and even the whole region is thriving, which makes people feel relieved to see it.To be honest, the climate and environment of the Zelu area where I am going to work is somewhat similar to that of the Hue area, and in terms of planting coffee, the Zelu area with a lot of mountains may have an advantage. Well, if this is done well, it may not be possible to come up with something famous. After all, the people on the east coast today are more suitable for the coffee in New Huaxia Island.

Of course, compared to the cultivation of coffee, the most suitable economic crop for large-scale production in the Zelu area and even the entire east coast of Xinhua Island is still spices. To be precise, it is the cheapest but also the most demanded pepper.This spice is accompanied by the increasing domestic consumption of meat on the East Coast—both due to the increase in the export of live cattle by the Spaniards in La Plata, and the start of a series of hunting on the northern edge of Patagonia by the East Coasters. It is related to cattle activities—the demand for it has also increased sharply year after year. Now there are a series of large and small pepper plantations on the east coast. Investors from big cities such as Dongfang, Qingdao, and Ping’an have enclose land here and set up plantations. The momentum of doing a lot of work is very fierce. The total investment amount may have exceeded 100 million yuan, and this is the first investment, and it is estimated that there will be additional additions in the future, which shows the huge scale.

But only in this way will the two levels of government, the New China Pioneering Team and the local executive committee, pay attention, and finally set up the Zelu District (under the jurisdiction of Daze County and some independent towns) to take charge of this aspect. After all, However, there are still native forces in the mountains and on the plateau. They are not dead people. If the people on the east coast are so "nonsense", the conflict with them is bound to deepen. It is hard to say what will happen in the future.Therefore, it is quite necessary to set up the Zelu area in advance and set up a garrison to guard the area, and this is exactly what Nanjiro, a former captain who was ordered to retire from active service, will face first after taking office.

On January 1669, 1, after waiting for the last batch of materials and personnel to board the ship at the Hailing Port military base, the fleet, composed of returning merchant ships from the East African Transport Company, set sail and started the I don’t know how many times. the feat of transatlantic transatlantic.

Let me explain: I have been on a business trip recently, and it is common to work overtime until one or two o'clock in the middle of the night, so there is not much time for coding, resulting in unstable update time, please forgive me.Fortunately, I have gone home, and the next update should be adjusted slowly. Thank you for your support.

(End of this chapter)