1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 44: Cholera strikes

The dry air was filled with a strong smell of shit, and out of caution, Robinson did not dare to touch them directly with his hands.

Just observe them from a distance.

These patients were emaciated and had symptoms of dehydration to varying degrees.

Robinson's glazed gaze fell on a mother and daughter who were suffering from the most severe symptoms of dehydration among the group.

"Doctor, please save her!"

Mother collapsed on the ground. Doctor Robinson's skill as a doctor had already spread throughout the Sacramento goldfields.

Rumor has it that there are only two people in California who can cure cholera. One is the new king of California, Liang Yao, and the other is Dr. Robinson, whose medical skills are said to be miraculous.

Liang Yao is now in San Francisco, and in Sacramento, only Dr. Robinson can treat them.

The mother and daughter ruthlessly pulled out the unbearable memory from the depths of Robinson's memory.

He thought of his wife and daughter.

In the 1840s, cholera swept across the eastern United States almost overnight, and countless people died from this horrific epidemic.

Dr. Robinson originally had a happy family, but cholera destroyed everything for him.

His wife and children died in this epidemic one after another. As a doctor, he was helpless to deal with cholera and could only watch his wife and daughter die in front of him.

His original intention of coming to California was not to dig for gold, but to escape, escape from cholera, and escape from the painful memory that he couldn't look back on.

He hopes that in this new place, he can bid farewell to his past self and start a new life.

Unexpectedly, in less than two years, the disease also invaded California.

Is this God's punishment for human greed? Like the Black Death in the Middle Ages?

"I'm sorry, I need to calm down."

Robinson turned and hid in his residence, letting countless people behind him call his name, treating him as a savior sent by God.

Boston employees kept patients out and prevented them from harassing Robinson.

Robinson was now not only their doctor, but also the leader of their Boston company.

Robinson hid in his bedroom and cried into his arms, venting his emotions to his heart's content.

After calming down, Robinson began to open his medical diary.

There had been cholera outbreaks in the Sacramento area and San Francisco before, but those were sporadic cases. He also cured several cases himself, one of which was Captain Weber.

The only relatively concentrated outbreak of cholera in California was in San Francisco during the Christmas season, but it did not last long.

This is thanks to Brannan. Although Brannan was a reckless man, he adopted the simplest and crudest way to end the cholera epidemic at Christmas in 1849.

Compared to the eastern region, cholera here seems to come at random.

The peak period of cholera in the eastern region is from June to September, and a large-scale cholera outbreak occurred in California around Christmas. Only half a year later, cholera returned again.

This left Robinson at a loss as to what to do and increasingly clueless.

Robinson carefully analyzed the cases he had treated. There were Americans, British, French, and Germans, but no Chinese.

Unlike those idiots in the mining area who thought cholera was Chinese cholera, Robinson, as a doctor, was very clear-headed and knew that epidemics spread regardless of race.

In order to treat his wife, he sought help from several British doctors.

The cholera outbreak occurred earlier in the United Kingdom than in the United States. Robinson believed that British doctors must have a way to cure the disease.

It was just that British doctors were helpless, but Robinson learned from British doctors that cholera affected British, Americans, Africans, Indians and Chinese equally.

Cases of cholera have occurred in these places.

Almost all Chinese people live under the management of Liang Yao. Perhaps Liang Yao knows more about this infectious disease than he does.

Otherwise, it cannot be explained why all the people infected with cholera are white people, but there has not been a single case of cholera among the Chinese under Liang Yao's management.

Robinson hurried to the Sacramento River Pier and bought a ticket to San Francisco.

Cholera broke out not just in the goldfields of Sacramento, but also in Old Town San Francisco due to the poor conditions.

Unfavorable remarks against Chinese immigrants have also been circulating, claiming that the epidemic was deliberately brought to California by the Chinese, deliberately intensifying conflicts between Chinese immigrants and immigrants from other regions.

Obviously, these rumors are targeting him, Liang Yao.

"Maybe it's a coincidence that this kind of conspiracy talk appeared in only one place, but to have this kind of talk appear in the gold fields of Sacramento and San Francisco at the same time, I think there must be someone behind the scenes."

Liang Yao looked at the intelligence collected by the loyalists from Sacramento and San Francisco. The words "Chinese Cholera" seemed so dazzling to him.

"Investigate, we must investigate thoroughly, especially those dishonest gold mining companies in Sacramento, keep an eye on them.

Regardless of whether it is the Loyalty Association or the Legion, once someone is found to be revolting for this reason, there is no need to show mercy, and there is no need to ask for instructions. You can shoot them directly. "

Several senior officials of the Loyalty Association and captains of the legion followed the order and left.

When Brannan was still there, Liang Yao and these white gold mining companies were still able to work together to resist Brannan's tyrannical rule in California.

Now that the common enemy is gone, it is expected that a small number of white people will have a rift with him. After all, in essence, he and these gold mining companies are also competing with each other.

Faced with these provocations, he must respond forcefully.

All the land in the Sacramento area belongs to him, and those gold mining companies have signed land lease contracts with him. According to the provisions of the contract, he has the right to take back the land at any time. This is his trump card.

When necessary, he didn't mind killing gold mining companies that opposed him.

Even if he doesn't take back the land, he can still choke them with food supplies and gold mining supplies.

There is no fundamental difference between Liang Yao and Brannan. If there is any difference, it is that his control over California is much deeper than Brannan's, and he has penetrated into every aspect of Californians' lives.

He renovated the roads, opened up the routes, provided clothes and food, and even spent money to build the public toilets for defecation.

Brannan wanted to make money in California, and Liang Yao not only wanted to make money in California for a long time, he wanted more than Brannan.

It can be said that California has reached the point where without Liang Yao, Californians would not be able to live a normal life.

The Astor family's prospecting team, the disobedient white gold mining company, cholera, and more troubles are coming one after another.

"Liang Yao, I need your help. You can keep Chinese people away from cholera. You must know a lot about this epidemic."

Robinson, who always paid attention to his image, now had messy hair and his clothes were covered in dust and mud. He stood in front of Liang Yao, hoping that Liang Yao could help.

"He is from California. We are all from California." Liang Yao stood up and said to Robinson, "Dr. Robinson, you haven't had dinner yet. Wash your hands and have dinner with me."

"I recalled my early experience fighting cholera in Boston. The peak period of cholera is from June to September, but in California, cholera outbreaks are irregular. Do you know the reason?"

After washing his hands and sitting down in the restaurant, Robinson cut off a piece of meat with a silver knife and stuffed it into his mouth. He didn't eat from noon to evening. He was really hungry.

The meat has a strong bloody smell. It is not domesticated livestock, but fresh moose meat. Liang Yao can always get something from the Indians that the white people cannot.

"It's the climate. The eastern United States is hot and humid from June to September, which is more conducive to the spread of cholera. California's climate is closer to that of southern France and Italy. The summer is hot but dry, and the winter temperature is low but rainy. Moisture.

That's why cholera appears to be irregular in California. If you want to cure cholera in California, you can't start from this aspect. "

"I don't have the ability." Robinson shook his head, "The person who can cure cholera in the entire California area is not me, but you.

Although you said that you are not a doctor and have never studied medicine, you are the person who knows the most about cholera that I have ever seen. Cholera also broke out in your hometown, and you have defeated cholera? "

Robinson had to admit that Liang Yao knew much more about cholera than his colleagues.

"Of course, don't you call cholera Chinese cholera? Chinese immigrants have a better understanding of Chinese cholera, which is also something that is being cleaned up."

Liang Yao is not just being angry. Cholera originated from India’s magical holy river, the Ganges Delta.

This kind of epidemic has a short incubation period. In the early years, due to the limited level of transportation technology, it only appeared in India.

It was not until the arrival of the British that cholera spread throughout the world with the British fleet.

Cholera in the United States originated from Europe.

If we had to put the first place name in front of cholera, we would call it "Indian cholera", just like the Spanish flu was actually the American flu.

In the war of conquest of India, the number of British soldiers who died of cholera was as high as 3,000, which was much higher than the number of British soldiers who died directly on the battlefield.

In the early years, cholera also broke out in Guangzhou, and its source was sailors from the British East India Company's fleet.

While mankind has enjoyed the convenience brought by technological progress and globalization, it has also had to bear the costs brought by globalization, and infectious diseases are one of them.

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