Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 489: International Plague Research Society

The governors of the three provinces jointly petitioned the court, demanding that Japan and Russia stop the operation of the railway.

Under pressure from epidemic prevention, Japan finally suspended operation of the South Manchuria Railway in late winter.

The sale of second and third class carriages on the China-Eastern Railway has also been suspended. Only the first class carriages are subject to quarantine measures and have not been suspended for the time being.

In addition, the Qing court ordered that all trains from Fengtian to Shanhaiguan, except for first-class passenger trains, be temporarily suspended.

Most trains stopped running and checkpoints were set up on roads for strict inspection.

Once any abnormal situation is discovered, isolate it immediately to prevent the spread of the disease.

Although Jilin Province is the center of the epidemic, fortunately, the resources are well allocated, there are sufficient medical personnel and appropriate medicines.

The concentrated tablets of aged mustard brine are very effective in treating plague. Patients with mild symptoms can basically return to normal after taking them for three days.

For critically ill patients, penicillin or two types of microbial fermentation extracts recently developed by medical laboratories can be used.

These two drugs have significant therapeutic effects on plague and can save more than 80% of critically ill patients.

As a result, the spread of plague in Jilin Province was quickly brought under control.

In the early days, one to two hundred people died in Harbin every day. After more than half a month, the daily death toll dropped to single digits, and in less than a month, the daily death toll was zero.

Afterwards, the daily death toll in Changchun, Hulun, Shuangcheng and other places also dropped rapidly and eventually reached zero.

The situation in Heilongjiang is also better. It has a smaller population and is relatively less densely populated. The disease does not spread as quickly, and the pressure of epidemic prevention is not as great.

Chen Yunzhe had participated in plague prevention and control in Linjiang and had experience.

In addition, Doctor Chen brought a lot of his apprentices with him, and Chen Xiuyun also provided emergency support such as medicines and masks, so the epidemic in Heilongjiang Province was quickly brought under control.

Relatively speaking, the speed of epidemic control in Fengtian was much slower.

There are many reasons for this. Fengtian has a large population, not only permanent residents but also a large number of floating population. In addition, there are embassies of various countries, Japanese commercial ports, the Manchurian Railway Concession, etc., making it very difficult to control them.

Another thing is that there is a serious shortage of medical staff in Fengtian, and the relevant personnel lack experience.

Some people still don't realize the seriousness of the epidemic. They don't wear the masks given to them, but hang them around their necks, and they don't wear the protective clothing properly.

Therefore, in the early stages of the epidemic prevention, many staff members were also infected.

Coupled with the previous petition campaign of tens of thousands of people, so many people gathered together, which accelerated the spread of the disease.

Therefore, Feng Province is under considerable pressure to prevent the epidemic.

Fortunately, not long after, Qu Shaoyang allocated a large number of medical personnel and medicines from Jilin Province to provide support.

The pressure of epidemic prevention in Feng Province has gradually eased, and the number of deaths per day has also dropped significantly.

It was a freezing cold season in Northeast China at that time. The ground was frozen and the soil was frozen and could not be dug, so many bodies could not be buried.

Given that plague bacteria can survive for several months in extremely low temperatures, the governors of the three provinces jointly submitted a memorial to the court, pleading with the court to allow the corpses to be burned.

This move has aroused opposition from many people, who believe that it is disrespectful to the dead.

The governors of the three provinces argued their case and arranged for those who opposed it to go to the cemetery to see the tragic conditions of the dead. Finally, the court agreed to the cremation method.

Not only were the newly dead cremated, but even those who had been buried previously were dug out and burned.

In this way, the spread of the epidemic in the city was controlled, and the invisible source of infection was solved in the cemetery outside the city. With these two approaches, the epidemic was gradually brought under control and no longer spread.

By the middle of the twelfth lunar month, the epidemic in Fengtian was basically under control. Except for areas such as Luda controlled by the Japanese, the daily death toll in other areas was zero.

For the next seven consecutive days, the number of new deaths was zero, which proved that the epidemic was basically under control.

It took more than two months from the time the first plague death was discovered in Harbin on October 9 to the time the epidemic was brought under control in the three provinces.

When the Tsarist Russian Medical Director Malinovsky traveled all the way to Harbin, the epidemic had been completely under control.

Even the Fujia Dian area, which was the hardest hit, has lifted its lockdown and quarantine, and people have basically returned to normal life.

The medical director was dumbfounded at the time. He couldn't believe his eyes.

How is it possible that the plague, which was called the Black Death by Europeans and once killed half of Europe's population, was brought under control so quickly?

Not only Malinovsky was surprised, but Oshima Yoshimasa, the then Governor-General of Kanto of Japan, was also shocked.

You know, in places like Luda controlled by the Japanese, the epidemic has not yet been completely controlled.

That's Japan, whose medical science is many times more advanced than that of the Qing Dynasty, but they still can't do anything about the plague.

How did these people in the Qing Dynasty do it? It's simply incredible.

The battle against the epidemic in the three northeastern provinces has opened the eyes of countries around the world and allowed them to see what Chinese speed is.

Many countries were very interested in the prevention and control of the plague in the three northeastern provinces, so these people expressed to the Qing government that they wanted to go to the Northeast for field investigation and serious research.

Because the three provinces took active measures and carried out prevention, control and treatment seriously, this plague eventually killed thousands of people.

Relatively speaking, this is a very good result.

Ten days after the virus was eradicated in various places, restrictions were gradually relaxed and there was no need for lockdowns everywhere.

However, large-scale movement of people still needs to be restricted, so the railways remain suspended and states and counties cannot relax and must carefully check people coming and going.

If you have an abnormal body temperature or cough, isolate yourself immediately.

In any case, the epidemic has been brought under control, and everyone is relieved that they can finally spend the New Year in peace.

Governor Xiliang wrote a memorial on the prevention and control plans and treatment methods of the epidemic in the three provinces and submitted it to the court.

In the memorial, Xiliang emphasized the role played by Jilin Province in the prevention and control of the plague.

In particular, Governor Qu Shaoyang and his wife Chen Xiuyun were selfless and provided free support to Fengtian and Heilongjiang provinces in large quantities of masks, protective clothing, medicines and other supplies.

It is precisely because of these medicines and supplies that the plague prevention and control work in the three provinces was completed so smoothly and successfully.

Xiliang petitioned the court to commend those who had made outstanding contributions to epidemic prevention in various provinces.

At the same time, preferential pensions will be given to those staff and soldiers who have contracted the disease due to epidemic prevention.

In the blink of an eye, the second year of the Xuantong reign is about to pass.

At the suggestion of Wu Lien-teh, chief medical officer of the Fengtian Epidemic Prevention Bureau, people in the three provinces set off a large number of fireworks and firecrackers on New Year's Eve.

Dr. Wu believes that the sulfur in gunpowder has a bactericidal and disinfecting effect.

Although the epidemic has been brought under control in various places, a large-scale collective disinfection activity is still needed, which also means that all diseases will be eliminated in the new year.

So, on New Year's Eve, firecrackers roared everywhere in the three northeastern provinces, and the air was filled with the strong smell of gunpowder. In the Jilin Governor's Mansion, Qu Shaoyang led his wife, three concubines, and children to the yard to set off fireworks and firecrackers.

Looking at the children having fun in the snow and enjoying this rare warm moment, everyone had joyful and happy smiles on their faces.

"After a year of commotion, it's finally calmed down.

Please God bless us, and let everything be peaceful from now on. Please stop causing trouble and let the people live in peace and stability."

Chen Xiuyun and others looked up at the fireworks exploding in the sky and made a sincere wish.

When Qu Shaoyang heard this, he couldn't help but sigh. How could it be easy to live a peaceful life in such a turbulent time?
This year, it is destined to be impossible to be peaceful.

Of course, Qu Shaoyang couldn't say these words. After a busy year and having just experienced such a dangerous epidemic, he decided to let everyone relax.

When the midnight hour arrived, the third year of the Xuantong reign began.

Previously, Doctor Chen took people to Heilongjiang Province to assist with epidemic prevention and was unable to return to Fengtian for the New Year.

So on the third day of the first lunar month, Qu Shaoyang took Chen Xiuyun, Zhentang and Zhenxiang to Qiqihar to visit his father-in-law and his eldest brother-in-law's family.

Doctor Chen is old, and he has been worrying about disease prevention and control recently. He hasn't been eating or sleeping well, and he obviously doesn't look as energetic as usual.

However, Doctor Chen was still very happy to see his daughter, son-in-law and grandsons. He hugged his two little grandsons tightly and refused to let go, showing great love for them.

Blood relationship is a very wonderful thing. Although Zhentang and Zhenxiang have only seen their maternal grandfather very few times since they grew up, the two children are very close to Doctor Chen.

She has to eat next to her grandfather and sleep in his arms, which makes Doctor Chen very happy and he smiles from ear to ear all day long.

Qu Shaoyang found an opportunity to have a long secret conversation with Chen Yunzhe, and the two exchanged views on the current situation.

Qu Shaoyang revealed subtly that the Qing Dynasty would probably not last long. According to the current revolutionary situation, there was no guarantee that a major incident would occur at any time.

The uncle and aunt agreed that no matter whether there was unrest in the capital or anywhere else, they must act in unison, and Chen Yunzhe must obey Qu Shaoyang's command.

As the provincial government had many other things to worry about, Qu Shaoyang could not leave for too long. The family stayed in Qiqihar for four days and then set off to return to Jilin City.

As the epidemic in the three northeastern provinces has been brought under control, railway operations across the province resumed on the sixth day of the first lunar month.

The China-Eastern Railway started intermodal transport services with the Siberian Railway and the South Manchuria Railway.

The three northeastern provinces are gradually recovering, and various affairs delayed due to the epidemic are gradually returning to normal.

On the 16th day of the first lunar month, an imperial edict came from the capital.

Given that the three northeastern provinces controlled the raging plague in a very short period of time and developed a set of effective prevention and control methods, medical experts from all over the world paid close attention to this.

Therefore, the Qing government invited medical experts from various countries to come to the Northeast to hold a joint meeting to study the origin of the plague, the spread of the epidemic, the virus and pathology, as well as clinical diagnosis and specific treatment.

This was the first truly academic seminar held in mainland China in modern times.

The Qing government attached great importance to it and specially contributed 100,000 taels of silver to provide financial support for the conference.

The International Plague Research Conference is scheduled to be held in Fengtian on the sixth day of February, and will be headed by Xiliang.

Because Qu Shaoyang and his wife made great contributions in the prevention and control of this epidemic.

In particular, the medicine for treating plague came from the Qu family’s pharmaceutical factory, and it was said that it was developed by Qu Shaoyang’s wife.

Therefore, Qu Shaoyang, Chen Xiuyun, as well as the Chen father and son, all attended the meeting.

After receiving the notice from the court, Qu Shaoyang asked Chen Xiuyun to prepare in advance.

Especially penicillin, aged mustard brine concentrated tablets, as well as the information on the two drugs, various pharmacological and toxicological data, in vivo experiment records, etc., are all prepared.

These drugs played a great role in this plague and saved many lives. It is time to make them public.

Qu Shaoyang didn't expect to win any awards with these, but he wanted the whole world to know that the Chinese are not ignorant and backward, but are also ahead of the rest of the world.

Chen Xiuyun began to prepare the materials according to Qu Shaoyang's instructions.

At the end of the first lunar month, the couple, along with several doctors from the medical laboratory and an interpreter, reunited with Doctor Chen and his son and drove to Fengtian.

After the group arrived in Fengtian, they received the highest level of reception. Xi Liang, the governor of the three northeastern provinces, personally led people to the station to greet them, and people from the Fengtian business community organized a large welcoming ceremony.

These are all to thank Qu Shaoyang and his wife for their help to Feng Province during the plague prevention and control process.

Afterwards, Qu Shaoyang and his wife met with Dr. Wu, the chief medical officer of the Fengtian Epidemic Prevention Bureau, and conducted in-depth research and discussion on some prevention and control methods of the plague.

Dr. Wu originally worked at the Tianjin Military Hospital. After learning that the plague had broken out in Northeast China, he volunteered to assist in epidemic prevention.

By the time he arrived in Fengtian, the epidemic had been basically under control.

However, Dr. Wu is very professional and responsible. He leads his assistants in tracing the source of the plague and analyzing cases.

"I have carefully read the report about the plague outbreak along the Yalu River 20 years ago, and I think that the plague was very similar to this one.

I heard that Mr. Qu was the first to invent the method of isolating the epidemic area and cutting off the transmission route at that time. I admire him very much.

This time, the plague that broke out in the three northeastern provinces was completely brought under control in just two months, and Mr. Qu and his wife also made great contributions.

I am sorry to ask you many questions, Master Qu. I hope you can give me some advice." Doctor Wu asked Qu Shaoyang sincerely.

"Doctor Wu, you are too polite. You are the expert in this area."

The methods used by Qu Shaoyang were founded by Dr. Wu.

He is a pioneer of modern Chinese medicine and the founder of China's quarantine industry. During the plague in Northeast China in the late Qing Dynasty, Dr. Wu made significant contributions.

He personally performed the first pathological autopsy in Chinese medical history, was the first person in the world to propose the concept of pneumonic plague, and was the first person in China to use masks to prevent infection.

Moreover, the disease prevention and control methods he pioneered, such as zoning quarantine, graded treatment, and suspected wards, are still in use a hundred years later and are still effective.

In this life, because Qu Shaoyang traveled through time, many things have changed, and Dr. Wu did not play such a big role in this plague.

Therefore, when Qu Shaoyang faced others, he couldn't help feeling embarrassed, as if he had stolen something from someone else and now had to face the owner.

Doctor Wu didn't know what Qu Shaoyang was thinking.

He is a very pure person. He just wants to study more about the plague prevention and control process and learn lessons.

These will play a very important guiding role in future epidemic prevention work.

So, Dr. Wu discussed for a long time with Qu Shaoyang and his wife and Doctor Chen, and gained an in-depth understanding of the details of the prevention of this plague.

Dr. Wu was particularly interested in those drugs that could treat plague.

He even believes that this is a milestone achievement in medical history.

(End of this chapter)