Chapter 19 - Troubled meeting

 On the next day, Zhang Yi went to the new assemble of counselors, so he can speak about his plans to keep the disease under control. He also changed his clothes for a new set Ding Qi has given him since they become dirty when he dressed in the waterfall.
As the counselors arrive, Ding Qi and Zhang Yi arrange themselves in the highest position inside the room. Yu Lexuan is sat on the steps that lead to where his two friends are.
As everyone is present, Ding Qi rises. Everyone bows to him:

-My majesty, good morning.
-You may rise and sit.

Ding Qi waits until everyone is sat:

-As you may know, today I'll solve this matter about how we should fight this new disease. I brought with me Zhang Yi, who is the minister of health of Zhejiang, and his prince, Yu Lexuan, who is also present. The emperor of Zhejiang is willing to cooperate with us, so much that he sent his prince and his minister of health totally unguarded and in good faith, so we can eventually get this outbreak under control while minimizing the economic downturn it will cause if left unchecked.

Ding Qi looks to Zhang Yi, who is sat at his side:

-Zhang Yi, please tell my counselors about the plans you have. You can talk for as long as needed, I'll remain silent.

Zhang Yi nods:

-I first thank majesty for the heartwarming reception, our Zhejiang will retribute this kind gesture properly in the near future. As majesty allowed me to speak my heart to all your counselors, I'll keep my words simple and truthful to everyone.

Zhang Yi rises:

-We have identified a potentially dangerous disease circulating in your empire. My prince, Yu Lexuan, told us that travelers and peasants in Jixuan were talking about this disease coming from Anhui, and given that Huangshan is an important route for both Anhui and Zhejiang, our majesty, Feng Long, offered his full support and care to Huangshan, so we can beat this thing before it spreads out. Some time ago, we fought a similar disease in the small town of Lishui, and this was laid the basis of the empirical work I'm developing here. The disease seems to be very similar, but I can confidently say this disease is much more dangerous. So, my plan is to lock the city down for 18 days straight, or adopt a more flexible way, alternatively opening and closing activities as the disease spreads around.
-You must be crazy! You don't understand that the city cannot stop, people have to work so they can keep their income!- One of the counselors points out.
-You are wrong. The longer this disease stays between us, the harder it will be for the economy as a whole. It is better to fight it hard at the beginning than fighting it weakly for a full year or more.
-Nonsense, your plan worked in, as you said, a small town. The dynamics of a larger city, like ours, will prevent your plan from being successful. We have a lot of buildings, people are sometimes living with other five or six. This is an impossible issue to overcome.
-It is not, clearly. Anhui is one of the richest empires we know, all that is needed is Ding Qi asking the emperor for some money. Our preliminary calculations are pointing towards a death rate close to 3%, it may not mean much for a single person, a 97% chance of survival is pretty good, but averaging by the population, we are talking about thousands of preventable deaths if this disease is left unchecked.
-You are ignoring the deaths that will be the outcome of closing the city completely for 18 days!
-Ding Qi is aware of this challenge, and he checked that the city can stand for 18 days without any business. As I said, the problem can be either solved quickly, or you can choose to live with it for months or even years.
-You think the emperor is willing to lend money? He probably wants Ding Qi to solve this matter himself. We never asked a favor from him.
-So, you have all chosen the hard way? Well, I have something to tell: 97% of you people will survive it if you do nothing, 3% will die, certainly. But among that 97%, many will develop other health problems down the line, and ruin your state down the line. 

The counselors chat with each other:

-But I have another solution that is less drastic. I developed a new test that can tell if someone is infected or not in less than a minute, from a small blood sample. This was validated in your hospital and worked both with someone lightly infected to a person almost dying from it. We don't have enough tests for everyone, but we can test those who are more vulnerable and just lock them down. 
-And how much will it cost for us?

Yu Lexuan stands up:

-The cost is not something our majesty is concerned about. The compounds required are cheap, but they are only available in Zhejiang. As an act of mutual cooperation, we will not charge Huangshan a single tael, we will charge a median market price for everyone else interested in conducting some mass testing. Take that as a gift from us. - Yu Lexuan smiles

.
The counselors chat an unintelligible mess. They then reach a conclusion:

-Given the low death toll, and how much manpower it will take to test everyone, all the cost of keeping people who need to quarantine fed and warm, we concluded this is a baseless proposal. Anhui has always been particularly successful in fighting diseases that way, everyone gets it, and the strong survive. Most people who might die would do so anyway.

Zhang Yi is shocked:

-I... I can't believe you prefer to let people die because it may cost manpower for a couple of days and a few thousand taels to keep the infected quarantined!
-We understand people might suffer, but this is our final decision. Furthermore, this is a violation of people's freedom, they should choose to get it or not, and we can't control it, as written in our regulations. 

Ding Qi rises:

-Wrong, wrong, wrong... The regulations were written decades ago. Huangshan has changed a lot since then, it is good to have it, but we are living an exception not covered by them. And the argument that it infringes individual freedoms is wrong on so many levels, if not by Zhang Yi and Yu Lexuan, we would never know a dangerous disease was hitting our homeland, we would die without even knowing what has hit us. Personal freedoms don't cover freedom to spread diseases, this violates the very first paragraph of the regulations, as it does not cover freedom to kill whoever you want. The liberal state should keep its population free and intervene when needed, using scientific proof to do it. Zhang Yi is right about his calculations, and none of you has presented something even remotely doable to fight it, you only complained about the costs and freedoms. None of you complained about it in wartime. I'm sorry, but you are all a bunch of incompetents or are being paid by someone to defend such a preposterous position of infecting everyone so we can get out of it as quickly and cheaply as possible. I will order mass testing from tomorrow morning, lock up the infected, try to treat these people, keep them fed and warm. I don't care if there will be cost overruns on that, the emperor has the duty to pay me if I ask him. I don't care if you will tell him I broke the regulations. If the emperor is a sensible person, he will recognize our effort. This assembly is over. 

Ding Qi makes an obscene gesture against the counselors, who promptly respond:

-You... you will throw our state into disgrace!
-Zhang Yi alone has been here for two days and already knows our state better than you all combined, you can take your leave. - Ding Qi says while getting out of the room.

The counselors look at Zhang Yi. He can see the rage burning in their eyes. He smirks at them:

-You are a bunch of idiots, fortunately, Ding Qi recognized it. 

Yu Lexuan takes Zhang Yi by his arm:

-Let's get out from there, I don't like this atmosphere.

-Sure. and we have a lot of work to perform for tomorrow. 

Yu Lexuan and Zhang Yi leave the now disturbed room. The counselors look angry at them.

...

◄Previous chapter                  Next Chapter►