Chapter 20 - Preparations

While coming back to the guesthouse, Yu Lexuan and Zhang Yi bump into Ding Qi, coming from another corridor. Ding Qi falls to the ground,:

-Hey! I apologize to his majesty!!!

-I'm fine... 

Yu Lexuan helps him to get up again:

-Ding Qi, what should we do? Should I prepare the solution for the mass testing? Are you really willing to do it, despite your counselors saying otherwise?- Zhang Yi asks.

-Of course, we will do that. I'm aware this breaks the regulations, but as I said, they are old and need to be reformed. 

-The counselors were really angry. I could feel it.

-Yes, Zhang Yi, but your arguments were much better than theirs. They had not offered a viable alternative. I know your Zhejiang will not have that problem and will fight the disease seriously, I would have been an asshole for letting the disease grow into my land, it would eventually leak and infect neighboring empires. 

-His majesty is wise. - Zhang Yi bows to him.

-You may rise. Well, we cannot start it without some coordination. Should I call the physician to help you, Zhang Yi? I think we will need a large number of flasks and other things to carry out the testing. 

-Majesty is right. I met Zhang Xiaofan in the hospital, as he was dealing with it since the beginning, he can help us too.

-Fine, I'll order him to come to the guest house in short order. I'll take my leave now.

They bow to each other:

-I think this was actually good for Ding Qi, Zhang Yi. - Yu Lexuan says.
-Do you? Why?
-Do you remember how insecure he was? I think we have given him some morale boost, so he can act more like a real leader, and throw all the bullshit told by his counselors out of the window. This was not actually our intent, at least not mine, and I think not yours either, but it somehow worked.
-Ah, yes, my prince is right! 
-We couldn't have done it better, if everything keeps that positive for us, we will win big!
-Surely, we will!

Yu Lexuan smiles:

-Let's go back to the guesthouse, and wait there for the physician.  

 
As they come back, Ding Qi orders the physician to visit the guesthouse. The physician changes his garment in the hospital for one that was not infected. Upon arrival, Zhang Yi subjects him to a test:

-Hi, Zhang Yi. Glad to see you again.

-My pleasure. I will test you before you can get to the guest house.

-Right.

The test comes out unchanged, Zhang Yi is astonished:

-I'm really impressed that you haven't been infected yet!

-We are being very diligent in the hospital. We wore a face covering, and it seems to have lowered the infection rates. So, what's the deal?

-Well, Zhang Xiaofan... We will need some flasks, needles, and a way to clean them after each use. To fasten the process, we will need several test stations, and a way to distribute the testing liquid to all of them quickly. We will also need a way to record the results of every person tested, and how the test came out. 

-It will require several flasks and needles, but can they be reused?

-I think it is possible, provided that we immerse them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. But given that the test will be ready in under a minute, we will need to have enough clean flasks, a water-detergent solution to clean hands upon testing, and also needles. The flasks need to be very small, so we can test as many people as possible. 

-That's good. How many test stations we will need? I think four flasks and four needles are enough for each. This will give enough time to clean the instruments and reuse them. 

-We should deploy as many testing stations as we can. I have a powder charge that is enough for about 1000 tests. This is not enough to test everyone, but we will send more components for you after we got home. I'll teach you how to prepare the solution, so you can do it yourself. 

-Right. I think 10 stations is a possibility. 40 flasks and 40 needles in total. I'll ask my staff to separate the required materials. 

-Perfect. Allow me to teach you how to prepare the solution.

-Sure.

Zhang Yi and Zhang Xiaofan went to another room. Ding Qi arrives next and chats with Yu Lexuan, he smiles:

-I am happy with your change in posture, Ding Qi. - Yu Lexuan get's closer to him.

-Really?

-Yes, I really do. You are making it clear who is the leader.

-Haha, Yu Lexuan. I told you before I was a better leader than you!- Ding qi laughs.

-But you lied, if it wasn't by Zhang Yi, you'd have never been that bold against your counselors! - Yu Lexuan takes his left hand.

Ding Qi smiles and pulls Yu Lexuan against him:

-You were important too, do not underestimate your value on that.

He quickly kisses Yu Lexuan on the cheek. They look deep into each other's eyes:

-Ding Qi... Do you want to visit heaven? - Yu Lexuan blushes.

-I would make a whole new level of Heaven with you if I could. - He also blushes.

-We need to spare time for it. Now it cannot be done.

-It is just a matter of getting to the palace... - Ding Qi smiles.

While they talk in a rather romantic way, Zhang Yi teaches Zhang Xiaofan how to properly mix the components:

-Firstly, you need to know the mixing ratio, which is exactly 9 grams of coarse powder and 3 grams of fine powder. You also need to add 1 gram of milled, dry orchids petals. Those are used in your local cuisine, so it is easy to get. And one liter of water. 

Zhang Yi brings a steelyard:

-This steelyard is very accurate for the small amounts I had to measure, but in practice, we will make a larger quantity, so we can increase the quantity 10 times. This will be enough to make about 100 tests.

-Right, I understood.

Zhang Yi takes a porcelain spoon and adds the coarse powder in a container tethered to the steelyard until it equilibrates in 90 grams:

-See it? Exactly 90 grams. We now can put it in a separate container, and separate the other components required, in the exact amount needed.

After separating the fine powder and the milled orchid, Zhang Yi mixes them in the same container:

-It is important that we add a small amount of water to it now. This is not critical and can be roughly two or three teaspoons. 

He adds three teaspoons of water:

-We now should mix this for about a minute. It is important that the mixture is well done. You will notice that it will turn from a very thick mixture to a very fluid one.

Zhang Xiaofan observes:

-You can now drop it in a recipient with water. As we increased the mixture by a factor of 10, we also need 10 times more water, so 10 liters, or 10 kilos of it.

Zhang Yi drops the mixture into the water, and also puts the container he used to mix halfway, so water gets inside it and washes off the remaining mixture:

-You mix again until no visible blobs are left, and that's it. The fluid is ready and can be used for testing.

-That's a simple procedure, Zhang Yi. We have the required instrumentation in our hospital to make it in large quantities, we only need more raw material to do it.

-We will come back to Zhejiang today, so we will send you another batch large enough to test your entire sector. 

-Right. I'll take this flask and store it in the hospital. 

Zhang Xiaofan takes the flask. Ding Qi and Yu Lexuan walk to the room they are in. Ding Qi sees Zhang Xiaofan leaving the room, they make eye contact:

-Did you understand the procedures Zhang Yi has shown to you, Zhang Xiaofan?

-Yes, Your Majesty. We will mobilize the staff and move the necessary structure, which is mostly already in place. It will be ready by tomorrow morning.

-Excellent. You may take your leave. 

Zhang Xiaofan has left the room:

-Well, our work is done, tomorrow, we will start testing. How long will it take for Zhejiang to send us another batch? - Ding Qi sits aside Zhang Yi.

He bows:

-It will be sent as soon as we get home, His Majesty will do everything to send the batch quickly. I was going to suggest to Yu Lexuan to leave in the morning. It takes roughly two days for us to reach our home.

-You may rise. Great, it will take some time for us to start mass testing. As you are going to send this batch to us, we will also send the results of the tests back using our pigeons. They can reach your city in about a day.

-That's nice. We can keep communications and send updates using our pigeons as well. 

-I agree to leave tomorrow morning, Zhang Yi. - Yu Lexuan nods.

-Well, I'll take my leave them. I will ask my soldiers to bring back your carriage and also a stronger horse, so you can return back home quicker.

Yu Lexuan and Ding Qi bow to him:

-We are grateful for the kindness of His Majesty.

-You can rise. 

Ding Qi smiles and leaves the room. Yu Lexuan and Zhang Yi start to pack their belongings:

-Zhang Yi, our stay was an absolute success. I'm so eager to tell His Majesty how much we have learned here.

 -Yes, I agree with His Highness. 

Yu Lexuan smiles and taps him on the shoulder:

-You are using all this formalism again, hahaha! 

-His Majesty told us this is important.

-Well, it certainly is, but we became so intimate that this is clearly not needed. - Yu Lexuan smiles.

Zhang Yi raises an eyebrow:

-Well... I mean... - He blushes.

-Just call me Yu Lexuan and it will be fine. I'm a prince, but this is just a title granted on paper, I like to be treated as a normal person. - Yu Lexuan smiles.

-Right.

...

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