Chapter 276

Chapter 276

As soon as this question came out, Garrett’s heart, suspended in mid-air, dropped by half. His heart rate, which was racing fast enough to be diagnosed as sinus tachycardia at 120 beats per minute, dropped to around seventy or eighty beats per minute—

After all, he had finally taken control of the pace of the hearing.

Who wants to settle accounts with you! Who wants to argue whether you made a mistake or where the false accounts are! Who wants to meticulously calculate whether the municipal budget is enough or if there’s anything left to scrape out!

The adjudicating committee, and the Magic Council represented by them, were the rulers of this city. To persuade the Magic Council, one should look at the problem from the council’s perspective! As for where the money comes from after persuading the council...

Tax increases, issuing bonds, selling lottery tickets, selling patents, or even confiscating assets from a few corrupt officials? As the largest coercive institution locally, the council could always find a way to accomplish its goals.

Hmm, thanks to all the political classes and political economy courses I’ve taken since childhood, as well as the news I’ve listened to over the years...

Garrett calmed his mood a bit and revealed a confident smile. After all, the upcoming argument had entered his area of expertise, and he felt more confident than ever!

"Thank you for your inquiry, Archmage," Garrett bowed slightly and spoke calmly:

"The establishment of public health facilities undoubtedly contributes greatly to the lives and health of the citizens. —To prove this point, we can start by looking at a set of comparative data.

In the year 1165, a cholera outbreak occurred in Nevis City, resulting in 15,237 deaths. Among them, 3,518 were from rural areas, 8,115 from low-income areas, 2,897 from middle-low-income areas, 639 from middle-high-income areas, and 68 from high-income areas..."

The poorer the area, the more deaths. These stark numbers sent chills down one’s spine. Even though everyone is equal in the face of death, those who are less able to withstand it suffer more.

"Numbers alone are not enough." In the silence, the chief mage of the Abjuration School, sitting at the chairman’s podium, interrupted Garrett’s speech with a smile:

"The number of wealthy people is small, so naturally, the number of deaths is also small. If you want to prove that better conditions lead to fewer deaths, you need to provide some other evidence."

"Understood," Garrett nodded calmly. He didn’t even need to flip through the manuscript in his hand. With just a flick of his finger, the next section appeared, and he continued speaking:

"I divided the residential areas of the city into four parts based on the water supply method. There are garden areas with water collected using magic arrays and divine spells, residential areas with water delivered by specialized personnel or extracted from mountain springs by specialized merchants, residential areas with water drawn from wells, and areas where water is taken from nearby rivers and sewage ditches.

—It can be seen that these four areas largely overlap with the high-income, middle-high-income, middle-low-income, and low-income areas of the citizens."

He waved again at the whiteboard. Today serving as a projection screen, the whiteboard, which had been rewritten countless times, added new charts:

"In the year 1165, the proportion of residents in various areas of Nevis City who died of cholera were as follows: 35% in rural areas, 52% in low-income areas, 43% in middle-low-income areas, 38% in middle-high-income areas, and 12% in high-income areas.

Expanding the time span to 20 years, the proportions of residents in various areas who died of infectious diseases were as follows: 18% in rural areas, 31% in low-income areas, 32% in middle-low-income areas, 21% in middle-high-income areas, and 5% in high-income areas.

Among these, the proportions who died of intestinal infectious diseases such as dysentery and cholera were: 7% in rural areas, 18% in low-income areas, 17% in middle-low-income areas, 9% in middle-high-income areas, and 2% in high-income areas."

Three clusters, five colors, fifteen rectangular pillars, clearly displayed on the whiteboard. Even if one couldn’t remember the data or didn’t have time for mental calculations, just looking at the comparison of column heights made Garrett’s point clear:

Even providing clean drinking water alone can significantly reduce the mortality rate of infectious diseases and markedly decrease the number of deaths!

Garrett almost smiled wryly. It was truly his own fault. Previously, to avoid losing money, he had hastily written a plan without careful consideration. For example, regarding the water supply, he had simply followed his vague memories and casually wrote about a water treatment plant...

He had only realized this problem a few days ago. Speaking of which, what is the production capacity needed for a water treatment plant serving 500,000 people?

Garrett had no idea. He rummaged through his memories, flipping through countless miscellaneous things, until he finally found a news article in a corner:

A county with a name he had never heard of was investing in a water treatment plant with a total construction scale of 200,000 tons per day, providing safe water for 500,000 residents... with a total investment of 289 million yuan...

Uh... Sorry for the interruption.

Garrett silently crossed out the design for the water treatment plant...

He really knew nothing about modern industry... Not to mention the investment amount, does Igor Peak and the surrounding rivers even have enough flow to produce 200,000 tons of clean water per day?

Garrett could only settle for less and less. The plan was cut and slashed until, in the end, it became the most basic version from the Barefoot Doctor’s Handbook:

"Um... Regarding the provision of clean drinking water, I have two different plans. One relies more on magic, and once it’s built, it’s relatively labor-saving in the long run. The second one doesn’t require much magic, but it consumes more manpower... Don’t worry, regardless of which one, it’s cheaper than a water treatment plant!"

He hurriedly added the last sentence. The mage from the Transmutation School who had asked the question smiled, indicating for him to continue. Garrett breathed a sigh of relief and turned the pages quickly:

"For the first plan, we will build a reservoir at the source of a clean water supply, with pipelines for water diversion to supply drinking water. Calculated at 2 liters per person per day, this reservoir only needs to supply 1,000 tons of water per day.

Building the reservoir at a mountain pass and laying pipelines can utilize the natural elevation of the reservoir to ensure flow speed. As for the engineering aspect, building the reservoir can rely on magic, and laying pipelines can be done using magic or by fostering hollow plants with natural divine spells for long-distance drainage.

There’s no need for pipelines to enter each household; as long as each gathering area has a water tank. These tanks can be sealed, with manually operated water pumps installed, allowing residents to draw water themselves. Of course, the Magic Council should send people to regularly check the water quality and add disinfectants to the tanks..."

"Cough!"

A loud cough came from the audience. Garrett quickly turned around and saw Elder Wood, smiling amiably, not looking like he was going to stop him. Garrett pretended not to notice others’ expressions, faced the chairman’s podium, and continued to explain the second plan:

"For the second plan, large stoves will be set up in the poor districts to provide free boiling water. Calculated at 1,000 people per stove, a maximum of 500 large stoves can cover the entire city.

Because only boiling water is provided, the quality requirements for water sources can be relaxed, and water sources with mild pollution from nearby rivers can also be used. In addition, the water quality of wells in middle and lower-income areas should be regularly tested, and disinfectants should be added.

Or, you can also let the servants of the gods of nature be responsible for testing. They have always been sensitive to whether the water is drinkable..."

"Uh, cough!"

The coughing from the audience grew louder. The Transmutation School member raised his hand to stop Garrett’s speech, with a smile on his face, extending his hand to the opposite side:

"Your Eminence Grand High Priest?"

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