Chapter 54: Syphilis Report
Marin was sad when he sent away the 700 brothers who fought alongside him. After all, they fought together for seven or eight months. But before he could recall the past, he was summoned by the emperor urgently.
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty!" In the Royal Palace in Vienna, Marin met Maximilian I again.
"Baron Marin, I have a tricky thing to ask you."
"Please say!"
"Some of these French prisoners had strange symptoms! Nauseous abscesses began to develop on them."
"Syphilis!" Marin exclaimed. When in Italy, Marin was so excited that he forgot all about it because he had obtained a huge amount of spoils.
"Syphilis?" The emperor had never heard of it, so he was a little confused.
"Your Majesty, this is what this baron heard. The malignant disease called 'syphilis' originated in the West Indies, where Columbus discovered."
"Columbus? I know, he said that he found the westward route to India." Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, and now three years have passed, and Maximilian I knew the news.
"In fact, what Columbus discovered was not India at all, but an area where wild people live."
"Are you sure?" Maximilian I was a little skeptical. Because Western Europeans have never been to real India.
"My teacher, I've been to real India!"
"Oh, is it? What does real India look like?"
"The so-called 'India' discovered by Columbus has people with yellow skin. There are two main types of people in real India. One is a white West Asian who is similar to an Arab, and the other is black. Race ... "
"What can we do?"
"There is no way but to keep soldiers abstinent for a while. Otherwise, if the Vienna army contracted this evil and lost its combat effectiveness, it would not be able to resist the Hungarian invasion."
"I'm afraid the soldiers will rebound." Maximilian I was worried.
"It doesn't matter, Your Majesty, as long as you tell them the consequences of this evil and announce the tragic situation of the French in Naples, they will know how to choose. Life is important or pleasure is important?"
"Well, you're right. But dozens of 2000 prisoners seem to have contracted this disease. What should be good? If they die, they won't receive a ransom."
As soon as Maximilian I spoke, he exposed his inhuman nature. He was not worried about the safety of the French, but he was not worried about getting ransom.
"How old have those people been?"
"It was just a short while ago." It seems to be in the incubation period before, just broke out.
"That's okay, l may have a way to suppress this evil temporarily, but it cannot be eradicated. However, it is still okay to stick to the ransom."
"That's good, that's good!" Maximilian I opened his eyes. It is enough to get the ransom. As for the future, he cares about those French who die?
So Marin proposed a very primitive treatment method-topical mercury and sulfur. This is just a way to treat skin diseases. Among them, mercury is still very toxic. However, only for external use, as long as the amount is controlled, it is also possible. Although this method cannot be cured, it can greatly reduce the onset of syphilis and suppress syphilis to a certain extent. Some mild patients may even be cured.
Later, Maximilian I decisively found a hot spring with a strong sulfur odor, and let those dozens of French people go down to soak up the bacteria. In addition, let them apply some mercury to their affected area.
In order to prevent the outbreak of syphilis in the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I issued a scripture introducing the source of syphilis, using the formal term "syphilis" to define the disease, and strictly prohibiting any prostitute coming from Italy and France, otherwise she will be executed.
At the same time, those who go to Italy and France are not allowed to go to prostitution. Because, according to Marin's speculation, syphilis has inevitably spread in Italy and France. Unless everyone is abstinent, this stubborn disease cannot be eradicated.