That afternoon, Zhao Shouzheng led officials from the entire county, as well as district and section chiefs, to the Jiangnan Hospital and awarded gold medals to Wan Mizhai, Li Shizhen, and Li Lunming. Their disciples also received silver medals.

The doctors deserved the honor. In just over two months, Jiangnan Hospital treated more than 3,200 injured and sick laborers for free, and effectively curbed the spread of several epidemics, providing a strong guarantee for the county's victory in flood control.

After being awarded the medal, Zhao Shouzheng invited Li Shizhen, deputy director of Jiangnan Hospital and director of the epidemic prevention department, to give a report on the next stage of the epidemic prevention plan to everyone.

As we all know, after a disaster comes a great epidemic, and no one could figure out why before. But with the help of a microscope, Jiangnan Hospital finally solved this problem.

Li Shizhen told everyone that it was because the floods caused the death of a large number of animals, and the garbage and feces carried everywhere by the floods could not be buried in time. In addition, the drinking water was polluted, and the victims urinated and defecated everywhere, which would breed a large number of pathogenic microorganisms, causing mosquitoes and rats to run rampant, all of which would cause epidemics.

In addition, schistosomiasis, which has plagued Kunshan for many years, will also take the opportunity to cause trouble.

Therefore, comprehensive and thorough epidemic prevention measures must be carried out in Kunshan before the disaster victims return.

For this purpose, he formulated the 16-character policy of "county government leadership, hospital guidance, national participation, and comprehensive epidemic prevention", and planned to launch a one-month "national epidemic prevention campaign", which was divided into five parts.

The first is to conduct comprehensive environmental cleaning and disinfection.

The flooded houses, streets and fields must be thoroughly cleared of silt, drained of stagnant water, filled in with potholes, weeds removed and ditches dredged.

Thoroughly clean up garbage, animal carcasses and feces, and dispose of them harmlessly by landfilling and incineration, while killing insects and rodents to cut off the intermediate links in the spread of the disease.

The second is the sanitary treatment of drinking water.

Drinking raw water is prohibited, and drinking water from rivers and lakes should be avoided as much as possible. All wells must be drained and silted, and the well walls and bottoms must be washed with clean water to remove all the dirty water, and then purified with alum before drinking.

It is prohibited to urinate and defecate anywhere to prevent water pollution. All animal and livestock feces must be collected and cleaned up in a timely manner to prevent water pollution and reduce the breeding of mosquitoes and flies.

The third is to establish an epidemic monitoring system.

All disaster victims are required to report fever and diarrhea to their village chiefs in a timely manner, and the village chiefs must also report to the doctors on site in a timely manner. After the doctors diagnose the epidemic, they will focus on isolation and prevention to nip the epidemic in the bud.

Fourth, strengthen epidemic prevention propaganda and education for villagers.

Li Shizhen composed a simple and catchy anti-epidemic song and required all village heads and headmen to memorize it and publicize it to the villagers every day.

In addition to promoting the above three points, the anti-epidemic song also educates the people to know that diseases come from the mouth, wash hands before and after meals, and do not use dirty water to rinse the mouth, wash vegetables and dishes, etc. And never eat moldy food, and try not to eat raw or cold food.

And the fifth point is to prevent big belly disease.

~~

Li Shizhen's speech was clear and full of practical information, unlike Mr. Zhao's speech which was very inflammatory. The officials and gentry of Kunshan County listened to him carefully for more than half an hour and inevitably became distracted.

But when they heard the fifth point, they all shuddered and became alert.

Big belly disease is a chronic disease that has plagued Kunshan and the entire Jiangnan water town for many years. Every year after the flood, many people die from this disease.

The patient first suffered from a weak constitution, powerless limbs, pale face and thin body, then suffered from diarrhea and bloody stools, and a swollen belly, and finally died in despair as there was no cure.

What’s even more terrifying is that as long as one person in the village gets sick, the disease will quickly spread to the rest of the area and even endanger the entire village.

Therefore, if there is a big belly disease in a village, men cannot find wives and women cannot get married. The whole village is like a ghost cave and is very scary.

There is a folk song in southern Jiangsu that goes, "When it comes to belly problems, everyone is afraid; if a man's belly is big like he's pregnant, a woman won't have children after marriage; if a girl wants to marry a man with a big belly, she will be poor and widowed." This is what it means.

So when they heard that this disease could be prevented, and that the person who said this was the world-famous genius doctor Li Shizhen, how could everyone present not be excited?

They all started shouting.

"Doctor Li, can this disease really be prevented?"

"Then you are a living Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering."

"We kowtow to you." Many gentry who had suffered greatly knelt down directly to Li Shizhen.

"Everyone, get up and be quiet, it's too noisy." Li Shizhen was still cool and serious. He only flattered Mr. Zhao in his life, and he didn't care about other people no matter how high their official positions or how rich they were.

Everyone felt that this was the style of a miracle doctor. Instead of feeling offended, they were happy to accept it. They all stood up and shut up, listening to Miracle Doctor Li say in a deep voice:

"Thank you, Mr. Zhao, and thank you for the power of science, which has solved the mystery of this disease for doctors." Li Shizhen first expressed his highest respect to his employer and science.

Then he told everyone that the disease was not a plague, but a small worm called schistosomiasis.

Human and animal feces are the main source of schistosome eggs, and Oncomelania snails are the only intermediate host for the transmission of schistosomes.

Therefore, we must first prevent human and animal feces from polluting water sources, and secondly, mobilize the entire nation to eliminate snails, which will eliminate schistosomiasis.

At the same time, we must protect susceptible people and oxen and try to avoid contact with infected water. In particular, children must be strictly prohibited from swimming, bathing, or catching fish and shrimp in infected water.

Everyone quickly took out their notebooks and wrote it down, fearing that they would miss anything.

~~

In the hospital ward, Pan Jixun sat in the bed and watched the situation outside the window quietly with his second brother.

Pan Zhongxian was also a prefect, and he was very surprised to hear this. When Li Shizhen finished his report and Zhao Shouzheng began to assign tasks, he finally couldn't help asking the fourth brother:

"Since ancient times, county officials have not visited the countryside. How can we expect these gentry to pass on such complicated requirements? And how can those lax villagers carry out the requirements according to the rules?"

I thought that in the end, this would probably turn into a farce.

“I don’t know if it will work elsewhere,” Pan Zhongcheng, who already considered himself half a Kunshan native, said confidently, “But in Kunshan, it will definitely work!”

"Why do you say that?" Pan Zhongxian became more confused when he saw the proud look on his brother's face.

"Because everyone here has the same desire and is united; here we have that amazing guy and his Jiangnan Company..." Pan Jixun said leisurely, "The right time, right place, and right people are all here, nothing is impossible."

"Oh..." Pan Zhongxian nodded, and naturally did not doubt his brother's judgment. He couldn't help but shake his head and said, "Who could have imagined that the soul of the entire Kunshan was not Magistrate Zhao, but his son?"

"You are wrong, old man. My father is certainly the soul of this county." The door of the ward was opened, and Zhao Hao walked in with a bouquet of golden jellyfish in his hands, smiling.

He came to the bedside and put the ** in the vase.

There is no way, at this time of year only the ** is still in bloom. If it were a few months later, there would still be plum blossoms.

Then Master Zhao took out an exquisite sandalwood box engraved with snow-white magnolia flowers and handed it to Pan Jixun.

Pan Jixun's first reaction was to refuse. He really didn't want to eat snacks in front of his second brother.

But Zhao Hao insisted that he open it.

Pan Zhongcheng thought to himself, whatever you want, I'm going to eat it, so what?

He gritted his teeth and opened the box, only to find that inside was not some new type of cement or rare minerals, but a golden medal.

ps. Second update, please give me your monthly votes by the end of the month!