After Marin sent away the 700 brothers who fought side by side with him before, he was very sad. After all, they have fought together for seven or eight months. But before he had time to recall the past, he was summoned urgently by the emperor.
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty!" In the Imperial Palace in Vienna, Marin saw Maximilian I again.
"Baron Marlin, I have a difficult matter to ask you."
"Speaking!"
"Some of these French prisoners are showing strange symptoms! Disgusting abscesses have begun to grow on them..."
"Syphilis..." Marin exclaimed. When he was in Italy, because he got a lot of spoils, Marin got excited and forgot about it.
"Syphilis?" The emperor had never heard of this thing, so he was a little confused.
"Your Majesty, this is what I heard from the teacher. This malignant disease called 'syphilis' originated from the West Indies, where Columbus discovered it..."
"Columbus? I know, he said he discovered the westward route to India..." Columbus discovered the New World in 1492. It has been three years now, and Maximilian I also knew the news.
"In fact, what Columbus discovered was not India at all, but a region where a wild people lived..."
"Are you sure?" Maximilian I was a little skeptical. Because Western Europeans have never been to the real India.
"My teacher, I have been to the real India!"
"Oh, really? What is the real India like?"
"In the so-called 'India' discovered by Columbus, the people there are yellow-skinned. In the real India, there are mainly two types of people, one is white people in West Asia who are similar to Arabs, and the other is very dark-skinned race..."
"Then where did Columbus go?"
"A wild continent in the west, with a low level of civilization. Moreover, this terrible syphilis also came from the West Indies."
"How did it come?"
"According to my teacher's deduction, it was about a certain sailor in Columbus who had sex with a local native woman in the West Indies and contracted this evil disease. Then, you know, the sailor was a Spaniard and went to Sicily , and then have a relationship with local prostitutes, and then be brought by the client to Naples, which is close to Sicily, and then passed on to the prostitutes in Naples, so it spread in Naples... "
"It just so happened that the French invaded Naples. The French soldiers couldn't control themselves and went to patronize the sick prostitutes. This disease spread within the French army. It is said that tens of thousands of French people went this time, only More than 10,000 people came back intact, but 4,000 more were captured by us...”
"So powerful?" Maximilian I gasped. How powerful and terrifying is a disease that has destroyed tens of thousands of troops!
"According to the news I found in Italy, there were only tens of thousands of people who died of this disease in the French army, but it caused an unparalleled panic and depressed the morale of the French army. Otherwise, Charles VIII would not have He led the army to flee north, and was taken advantage of by the minister. You know, even in the escape, the French army suffered a big loss from the Italian coalition forces."
Maximilian I nodded, he knew the information in this regard. The hurried French army still killed and wounded 2,000 Italians, while the Italians only caused 1,000 casualties to the French army.
"We have to be grateful for this disease, otherwise, the French would not be so easy to back down, and they might fight us to the end. You know, what kind of stuff is the Italian army. If the Imperial Parliament does not support a full-scale war, we simply cannot defeat the complete French army. .”
"However, this disease is extremely easy to spread, please be careful, Your Majesty."
"What? Seriously?"
"Yes, as long as there is a relationship with this disease, there is a high chance of infecting it. Your Majesty, think about it, if a person who came back from Italy contracted this disease. Then, he went to Vienna to find a A prostitute, and passed the disease to the prostitute. Then, the soldiers in Vienna also went to this prostitute, and they all got infected... "
Before he finished speaking, Maximilian I was frightened. The Hungarians could easily take Austria again if Vienna's army was heavily infected with syphilis...
"What's Aiqing's solution?"
"There is no way but to let the soldiers abstain from sexual intercourse for a period of time. Otherwise, if the Vienna army is infected with this disease and loses its combat effectiveness, it will be unable to resist the Hungarian invasion..."
"I'm afraid that the soldiers will rebound..." Maximilian I was worried.
"It's okay, Your Majesty, as long as you tell them the consequences of this terrible disease and the tragedy of the French in Naples, they will know how to choose. Is life more important than momentary happiness?"
"Well, what you said makes sense. However, among the 2,000 captives, dozens of them seem to have contracted this disease. What should we do? If they die, they won't be able to receive the ransom..."
As soon as Maximilian I opened his mouth, he exposed his poor nature. He was not worried about the safety of the French, but worried about not getting the ransom...
"How long have those people had seizures?"
"Not long after the beginning..." It seems that it was in the incubation period before and just broke out.
"That's okay, I may have a way to temporarily suppress this evil disease, but it can't be eradicated. However, it's okay to persist until the ransom is paid..."
"That's good, that's good!" Maximilian I's eyes lit up. As long as he can get the ransom, as for the future, he will let those French people die
Therefore, Marin proposed a very primitive treatment method - external application of mercury and sulfur...
This is just a way to treat skin diseases, among which mercury is very toxic. However, if it is only for external use, as long as the dosage is well controlled, it is also possible.
Although this method cannot be cured, it can greatly slow down the onset of syphilis and suppress it to a certain extent. Some mild patients may even be cured.
Afterwards, Maximilian I resolutely found a hot spring with a strong sulfur smell, and asked the dozens of French people to soak in it to kill the germs. In addition, let them apply some mercury on their affected parts.
In order to prevent the outbreak of syphilis in the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I issued an edict, introduced the source of syphilis, used the official name "syphilis" to define the disease, and strictly prohibited any prostitutes from Italy and France. guests, or be put to death...
At the same time, those who go to Italy and France are strictly prohibited from visiting prostitutes. Because, according to Marin's speculation, syphilis has inevitably spread in Italy and France. Unless everyone practices abstinence, this stubborn disease cannot be eradicated.