Make France Great Again-Chapter 865 - 856: First Trial Upon Arrival in Gabon
August 5, 1856, Libreville Free Trade Zone, Gabon Region.
Since August began, Libreville, which is under a tropical rainforest climate, has been experiencing alternating extreme weather of high temperatures and heavy rain.
In such extreme weather, some members of the Croatian Foreign Legion who arrived here not long ago with Governor Jerome Patterson immediately found themselves unaccustomed to the environment.
Many soldiers started to suffer from diarrhea and vomiting, unable to work, and some couldn’t even stand up to walk.
Seeing this situation, Mirabeau Pulekovic, one of the two major commanders of the French Foreign Legion at the time, immediately rode to Libreville city. He wanted to personally report this matter to Governor Jerome Patterson.
Galloping all the way on horseback, Mirabeau Pulekovic soon stopped at the gate of a mansion with a garden located in the city center.
Indeed, this mansion was the place where Governor Jerome Patterson worked and rested.
A little over a month ago, this was the residence of the largest local merchant in Libreville. Upon the arrival of Governor Jerome Patterson, this merchant volunteered to donate his mansion free of charge for Governor Jerome Patterson to use as the Governor’s Mansion.
Governor Jerome Patterson gained a foothold, and the merchant received the friendship of Governor Jerome Patterson.
...
After dismounting, Mirabeau Pulekovic handed his horse to the soldiers guarding outside the Governor’s Mansion and walked straight in until he reached the lobby of a four-story building, where he stopped.
In the lobby, Mirabeau Pulekovic, led by an administrative officer of the Governor’s Mansion, went to Governor Jerome Patterson’s office and reported on the situation of the Croatian Foreign Legion.
After listening to Mirabeau Pulekovic’s report, Governor Jerome Patterson frowned and asked, "How many people have these symptoms now?"
"According to our statistics, nearly 100 people in the entire camp need assistance to stand up, and about 300 cannot work normally!" Mirabeau Pulekovic replied to Governor Jerome Patterson with a heavy tone.
"So, nearly one-tenth of the people cannot work normally!" Governor Jerome Patterson’s frown deepened.
"Yes!" Mirabeau Pulekovic responded to Governor Jerome Patterson with concern: "If it were only acclimatization, it would be fine. I’ve heard from merchants staying here (in Libreville) that this time of year is the peak season for malaria and cholera!
I’m afraid malaria and cholera might spread into the camp, causing incalculable damage!"
"I understand! You should return to the camp to stabilize the morale first. In a while, I will go there with the doctor!" Governor Jerome Patterson said to Mirabeau Pulekovic.
"Yes!" Mirabeau Pulekovic saluted Governor Jerome Patterson and then turned to leave the Governor’s office.
"Wait a moment!" Before Mirabeau Pulekovic could exit the office, Governor Jerome Patterson called him back.
Mirabeau Pulekovic turned and asked if Governor Jerome Patterson had any other instructions.
"When you go back, be sure to tell them not to be afraid! The Imperial Government will not abandon them!" Governor Jerome Patterson reminded Mirabeau Pulekovic once again.
Mirabeau Pulekovic also understood the importance of confidence, and he quickly replied to Governor Jerome Patterson: "Understood! I will do my best to stabilize the morale!"
"Thank you for your efforts!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded, seeing Mirabeau Pulekovic off.
Immediately after, Governor Jerome Patterson put aside the work of selecting personnel for the expedition team he was doing and called out loudly, "Rastigne, Rastigne!"
No one seemed to respond from outside, and after a while, Governor Jerome Patterson muttered softly, "Strange, where has Rastigne gone!"
Saying this, Governor Jerome Patterson pushed back his chair and left the office.
Walking through the corridor of the mansion, he searched everywhere for Rastigne’s whereabouts and finally encountered Secretary of State Rastigne at a corner at the end of the corridor. Rastigne was carrying several documents that had been screened by the Governor’s Secretariat and heading in the direction of Governor Jerome Patterson’s office, which was his destination.
"Rastigne, you came just in time! I was looking for you!" Governor Jerome Patterson said to Rastigne with a smile.
"Governor, may I ask what orders you have?" Rastigne, holding the documents, asked Governor Jerome Patterson.
"I hope you can go to the hospital in the north of the city and bring the dean over!" Governor Jerome Patterson ordered Rastigne.
"The hospital in the north of the city?" Rastigne muttered under his breath, then nodded and said to Governor Jerome Patterson, pointing to the documents in his hand, "Please wait a moment, I will deliver these documents to your office and then head over!"
"I can take these documents myself!" Jerome Patterson took the documents from Rastigne’s hand and gestured to Rastigne, saying, "You go quickly!"
"Yes!" Rastigne immediately jogged away upon hearing this.
Hugging the documents, Jerome Patterson lowered his head, flipping through the documents Rastigne had handed him, while slowly returning to the office.
When Jerome Patterson was seated again in the Governor’s Office chair, he had roughly gone through all the documents.
Apart from the demographic proportions of the Libreville region (Black, Arab, White), the documents also included the financial income and expenditure of the Libreville region, religious categories, and other information, all collected by the Secretariat over a month.
Through the documents, Jerome Patterson clearly saw the development prospects of Libreville. Besides exporting timber and slave trading (although France has officially abolished slavery, undercover trading continues), establishing a rubber plantation or expanding land seems to be the only viable leasing options.
Establishing a rubber plantation to increase fiscal revenue goes without saying, while the purpose of expanding land is better taxation of the inland tribes to meet expenditures.
Of course, Jerome Patterson was unaware that beneath him, the land not only had abundant timber resources but also vast manganese ore and small gold mines waiting for him in the inland areas.
At this moment, Jerome Bonaparte looked at the pitifully small number of francs on the financial statement and thought of the nearly 5000 more mouths under his management, suddenly feeling a headache, and whispered softly: "Expansion of power must happen quickly."
After speaking, Jerome Patterson took out the list of selected expedition members buried under the documents and continued to select names. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Approximately 10 minutes later, Rastigne and a doctor dressed in a white coat with a cotton mask on his mouth appeared in front of Jerome Patterson.
Upon seeing this, Jerome Patterson immediately put down his work, got up, and shook hands with the doctor, saying, "Dean Oster, you’re finally here!"
"Your Excellency Governor, what happened?" Dean Oster asked Jerome Patterson, puzzled.
Jerome Patterson recounted to Dean Oster what Mirabeau Pulinkovic had just told him.
"Captain Pulinkovic has thought it through thoroughly! If it’s just acclimatization, it’s relatively easy to overcome. Just quietly lie down and rest, but what’s worrying is malaria! This is the peak time for malaria and cholera outbreaks; a little carelessness can lead to issues!" Dean Oster said methodically.
"What should we do now?" Jerome Patterson pressed Dean Oster.
After thinking for a moment, Dean Oster replied to Jerome Patterson, "Let’s do this! Transport those who cannot care for themselves to the hospital, where they will be looked after by our nurses!
Those who can take care of themselves should be quarantined separately in the barracks!
Select a group of people to take care of their daily needs!
This reduces their contact with the outside world, even if infected!
It won’t spread quickly to others!"
"Didn’t we just set up a hospital? Do we really have enough beds for them to use?" Jerome Patterson asked again.
"Currently, the hospital has nearly 200 beds and more than 10 nurses! As long as malaria and cholera do not break out on a large scale, caring for them can be said to be more than adequate!" Dean Oster confidently answered Jerome Patterson, "Moreover, a batch of medical equipment and intern nurses will arrive soon!
There’s no need to worry about these issues at all!"
"That’s good!" Jerome Patterson’s heart was slightly eased.
"However, Your Excellency Governor, I must remind you!" Dean Oster said sternly to Jerome Patterson.
"Please speak!" Jerome Patterson also replied solemnly to Oster.
"I previously conducted street visits in Libreville and discovered a serious problem!" Dean Oster told Jerome Patterson, "The people here generally dislike drinking boiled water when they drink!"
Jerome Patterson immediately recalled during the Crimea Peninsula times, the French Army repeatedly ordered boiled water (mostly coffee) consumption, claiming it could prevent cholera.
Initially, no one rigorously enforced this command, and many held opposing views.
Until a small cholera outbreak occurred in Britain, frightening the French Army into implementing the order strictly.
It was precisely because of this order that the scale of cholera outbreaks during the Crimean War was much smaller in France compared to Britain and Ossman, with more affected individuals receiving treatment than in Britain.
