Make France Great Again-Chapter 868 - 859: Malaria Strikes and Far East Intelligence
Late August 1856.
With cooperation from local forces in Libreville, the Colonial Safety and Hygiene Regulations officially began implementation.
On the first day of the implementation, almost every street in Libreville was plastered with the specific contents of the regulations, attracting residents living in Libreville to stop and watch.
After reading the specifics, many residents began to quietly complain about Governor Jerome Patterson of the Gabon Region, believing that Jerome Patterson was, in essence, controlling their freedom.
A small portion of residents also began to harbor thoughts of leaving Libreville and moving elsewhere.
A week after the implementation of the regulations, more than 200 residents of Libreville had left for other places.
The director in charge of the permanent population statistics in Libreville immediately reported this news to Jerome Patterson, who merely said indifferently, "Let them go!"
With over 200 people as the vanguard, more and more people started to move towards other outposts.
By the end of August, nearly 1,000 people had already left the Libreville base for other outposts.
This number was obviously somewhat difficult to bear for Libreville, which had a permanent population of only around 15,000.
The director of the permanent population statistics in Libreville once again came before Jerome Patterson and gritted his teeth, saying to Jerome Patterson, "Governor, I think your policy has a big problem!"
Jerome Patterson folded his hands and calmly asked, "Director, do you have any suggestions?"
"Governor, over 1,000 people have already left Libreville for the interior! If this continues, more and more people will head to other outposts! Libreville’s economy will fall into a slump!" the population statistics director told Jerome Patterson.
"And then?" Jerome Patterson raised an eyebrow lightly.
"I recommend immediately ordering the cancellation of the Colonial Safety and Hygiene Regulations!" the director earnestly said to Jerome Patterson, "It’s the only way we can truly keep those people!"
"Sir, why should I keep a group of people who don’t love Libreville!" Jerome Patterson countered, "I remember I’ve told you before, those who are meant to stay will stay, those who aren’t meant to stay can’t be kept!
I just asked them to improve their personal hygiene habits slightly, and they left Libreville!
Such people are not worth keeping!"
"But, Libreville now needs population!" the statistics director told Jerome Patterson, "Without sufficient population, our plantations may face a situation where no one can be utilized."
"Who said no one can be utilized!" Jerome Patterson again said to the statistics director, "Our soldiers stationed outside Libreville are laborers; they can completely make up for those who left!"
"Aren’t they the Foreign Legion?" the population statistics director looked at Jerome Patterson in astonishment.
"That’s right! They are indeed the Foreign Legion!" Jerome Patterson nodded in acknowledgment, "However, their identity as the Foreign Legion is different from the usual Foreign Legion!
They came through labor dispatch, so you can regard them as workers too!"
"If that’s the case, then I have no objections!" the statistics director replied to Jerome Patterson.
"Don’t worry! Those people will come back!" Jerome Patterson continued to tell the statistics director, "Other outposts are far inferior to us here!
Moreover, now is the high-incidence period for malaria and cholera!
You never know when they might suddenly appear!"
...
As expected by Jerome Patterson, after entering September, the temperature across the West Coast of Central Africa had risen further compared to August, and the nighttime mosquitoes gradually increased.
Among the mosquitoes were those female mosquitoes carrying single-celled malaria parasites, which initially were not taken seriously by residents living around Libreville, but soon they were sought out by mosquitoes carrying malaria parasites that injected the parasite into their bodies.
Malaria parasites entering the human body through the bloodstream began to recklessly destroy the human body, resulting in people suffering from malaria experiencing fluctuations between being hot and cold.
Soon, on September 3, the first death from malaria appeared, and the residents living beside him fled the outpost and returned to Libreville.
Upon hearing the news of malaria deaths at nearby outposts, Governor Jerome Patterson swiftly dispatched the army to scatter sulfur purchased from French Mainland around the entire city.
Meanwhile, the residents living in Libreville revisited the Colonial Safety and Hygiene Regulations from half a month ago in a panic, reading through them thoroughly.
Upon seeing that malaria is spread through mosquitoes, residents began eagerly purchasing mosquito tents, mosquito coils, and quinine.
Of course, mosquito coils and quinine at this period could not be mass-produced, so mosquito coils and quinine were things only the wealthy could use.
Mosquito nets naturally became a hot commodity, and many residents even bought two or three mosquito coils for each person.
And their purpose in doing so was merely to make themselves feel better.
As time passed, various bad news continued to arrive from the surrounding outposts.
Apart from malaria, a deadly disease, cholera also followed.
Cholera broke out at an outpost nearly twenty kilometers from Libreville when Dean Oster led his team of doctors and nurses to the site.
In an outpost of a hundred people, nearly 30% were infected with cholera,
Dean Oster inquired of the patients when they contracted cholera and what they ate or drank at the time!
The patients uniformly responded that they all contracted it from drinking raw water.
After asking, Dean Oster, adhering to the spirit of saving lives, ordered his men to make simple stretchers to transport cholera patients to the hospital.
When the residents of Libreville saw batch after batch of patients being carried in from outside for treatment, their hearts were filled with gratitude toward Jerome Patterson.
It was Jerome Patterson’s tireless efforts that prevented Libreville from becoming the epicenter of malaria and cholera outbreaks.
Yet even so, Jerome Patterson did not relax, and he began to announce to the residents of Libreville that the city was entering a state of emergency.
Overnight, many soldiers were stationed in Libreville, with every street guarded this time.
Under Jerome Patterson’s strict vigilance, the death toll in Libreville remained in single digits.
In mid to late September, as temperatures gradually fell,
malaria and cholera also started to decline, and Jerome Patterson began to order the lifting of the emergency state, restoring everything to its original state.
When the residents, who were affected by malaria and cholera heard Jerome Patterson was lifting the state of emergency, they hurriedly approached Jerome Patterson to plead with him not to lift it yet.
Jerome Patterson readily refused this request from the Libreville residents.
The Governor’s Mansion also began to calculate the death tolls in Libreville and surrounding outposts.
After days of statistics, it was found that within a month’s time, the total death toll in Libreville and its surrounding outposts was 120 people, with the majority dying in the surrounding outposts, and only 15 deaths in the city of Libreville.
When Jerome Patterson publicly announced the death figures, the whole of Libreville was in an uproar.
The death toll in Libreville could be said to be the lowest in recent years; just last year, the mortality rate in Libreville was around 3% (referring to people living in the city and thoroughly inland in surrounding outposts), now less than 1% had been lost.
This level is already enough to rival Paris’s disease mortality rate, but what is Paris compared to Libreville!
The gap between the medical systems of both places is simply incomparable.
Still, the fact that Jerome Patterson achieved such a feat was enough to make him feel proud.
Thus, under Rastigne’s suggestion, Jerome Patterson once again summarized the "Colonial Safety and Hygiene Regulations" and ordered them to be sent to Paris.
A steamship departed from Libreville, heading north all the way, arriving at the entrance to the Mediterranean, then headed east into the Mediterranean, and reached its destination in early October.
At this time, Jerome Bonaparte was reviewing documents submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Far East.
Even though all the matters in the document had occurred four months ago, for Jerome Bonaparte, these were still very valuable intelligence.
[PS: Intelligence from the Far East to France requires a minimum of half a year for transmission, and the fastest takes 3 to 4 months.]
The documents roughly stated: with the help of French rifles (a way of self-praise), Eastern Empire’s peasant rebels continuously defeated several Tatar armies.
And those Tatar armies similarly equipped with French equipment were simply not their opponents; the peasant rebels only needed a face-off to capture them.
It’s just that those people steadfastly refused to recognize the treaty signed by the Tatar Government, while the Tatar Government showed great enthusiasm in acknowledging the treaty. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
Thus, the Consul in Nanjing suggested immediately abandoning the Nanjing Government and supporting the Tatar Government.
Only in this way can France preserve its interests in the Far East.
Additionally, the political structure of the Nanjing Government was not stable; there were serious conflicts between their Prime Minister (Eastern King) and their King (Celestial King), with the Prime Minister keen to replace the King. Hence, the embassy in the Celestial Capital anticipated an imminent conflict between the Prime Minister and the King.
As for who will win or lose, it’s uncertain.
However, they could be certain that if either side lost, it would bring great danger to the entire regime, as one controls earthly power and the other is the spiritual Leader of the whole team. Losing either one would plunge the Nanjing Government into crisis and gradually lead to its demise.
