Chapter 47 - Zhang Yi was correct

On the following day, Zhang Xiaofan started to plot a new chart, adding the daily count of new cases from the disease, as well as the origin of the infected. He figured out that the amount of local cases has dropped, but nearly all the arrivals from Anhui tested positive:

-This disease is clearly coming from Hefei... I must tell his majesty that maybe we should find a way to divert this traffic or require sensible action from Hefei.

Zhang Xiaofan then moves to Ding Qi's room. He was playing weiqi with Wang:

-His majesty... - He bows to Ding Qi.

-Please, Zhang Xiaofan, you can rise... Any news?

-Majesty, we have a good one, and a bad one...

-Please, tell me both.

-Well... our local transmission is dropping, we have already tested almost half of the empire, and our positive cases went from nearly 25 in 100 to just 5 in 100. Your measures seem to be working. 

Ding Qi smiles:

-That's exactly what should happen.

-But... We continue to receive a large number of infected people from Hefei. Nearly 95 in 100 people arriving are infected already, many don't have any symptoms, but still being able to spread the disease. Maybe we should organize a visit to the emperor and tell him this will cause large damage to our empire as a whole, and affect our relationship with others. The travelers being quarantined cannot deliver their products, and we may receive complaints from other emperors.

-Well, this is not really our fault... If we let them go, the disease will affect other empires. We should communicate with those emperors about what we are doing and maybe tell them to apply their own protocols, so we only need to keep an eye on those travelers when they are in our empire. Can you help me to send some letters to those emperors? And, we must send some to Zhejiang too. Oh, I forget to say, we have received a letter from Zhejiang, and also another pigeon that brought a small container with a powdery substance, I think Zhang Yi may have discovered something. 

-It seems promising. Please, let me analyze it in the lab.

-It's all yours.

Ding Qi hands over the letter and the small container to Zhang Xiaofan:

-Your Majesty is wise! - Zhang Xiaofan bows. 

-You may rise. Later, if you can, please come here, and we will write together our report and the letters for the emperors. 

Zhang Xiaofan turns and moves out of the room, returning to the lab. Getting there, he analyses the powdery mix sent by Zhang Yi, and also reads the letter attached to it:

"Dear Zhang Xiaofan, this powdery mix is my attempt to create a medicine capable of preventing or curing the disease. There is enough powder to make about 10 doses, so I ask you to use it on the ill.  It uses common components and a flowery extract also found on Huangshan. Report me any progress if you see it as effective."

Zhang Xiaofan also analyses the formulae of the powdery components and the expected side effects:

-Well, I'll just have to test it then. I'll also share my formulae with him, maybe we can get a solution mixing both components. His formulae are very similar to mine.

He sets the mixture sent by zhang Yi aside and starts consolidating the information he got from the 110 testing stations around the empire. Over 25 thousand tests were applied, and the positivity rate decreased five times compared to the first 1000 tests, showing that Zhang Yi was correct when he said the high 'percent positive' was due to the large number of infected nearby the palace, a place where hotels and shops are more concentrated and where travelers were more likely to visit. 
Based on the results, Zhang Xiaofan concluded that Huangshan was not in a critical condition as he thought initially. The disease will eventually reach the countryside and spread more in the city, but given that Ding Qi imposed restrictions, the number of new infections was dropping fast. 

He spent most part of that day consolidating the results and making projections. The results seemed promising, but an uncontrolled reopening would lead to an increase in the number of infections.  

In the evening, Zhang Xiaofan meets Ding Qi again, this time with all the information he got from the testing stations consolidated. He greets Ding Qi and starts explaining what he found:

-Majesty, after looking more closely at the available information, I think that we can gradually lift the restrictions on our people, and tighten controls at the border. 

-This is good to hear. Of course, we haven't finished a full screening of the population, but almost half of the people have been already tested.

-I ask your majesty to do it carefully. Even though I dispatched over a hundred people to carry out the testing, it was still not enough to get results in less than three days. Also, a full day to manually consolidate this information in a concise way is required.

-I understand. I'll perform it very gradually, but we need to get in touch with Hefei. We are lucky Zhejiang has gifted us with so many tests, but we cannot stay in a position that all emperors can rely on us to tell them their people are being infected. 

-Zhang Yi sent us a new experimental medicine for us to test. He is willing to share this information with us, and I'll send back my formulae so he can analyze it. 

-That's great you are all set on it, I'm honored with your hard work on that. Well, let's also duplicate these letters and send them to other emperors. Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Anhui must get in touch about it. I suspect that Bai Chongye knows what's going on in his city, but does not care. If this is the case, we have a problem out of our reach to be solved. 

-Well, the good thing, if there's anything good about it, is that the disease solves itself in two weeks, people either die or survive from it, and after that, no spread occurs. I think Bai Chongye was told about that and bets natural infection as the fastest solution, but if the disease evolves somehow, and it might happen, our medicines will have to be changed too. 

-Well, as the emperor, I have to prepare for the worst, but also hope for the best. 

-Your Majesty is wise! - Zhang Xiaofan bows.

-Please, you can rise. Well, I'll write down the letters based on your report, and send them. Thank you for your effort, Zhang Xiaofan...

Ding Qi and Zhang Xiaofan handshake. Ding Qi looks deeply into his eyes, and he blushes:

-Majesty... Thank you for your recognition... I'll take my leave.

-You may leave... But rest assured I'm always close to you. 

Zhang Xiaofan bows a second time, turns and leaves the room. Ding Qi looks at him until he cannot be seen, and smiles while taking his pen to write the letters:

-Zhang Yi is really brilliant, his advice was really effective... I should try to convince other emperors to do the same thing. 

Ding Qi writes the letters and prepares them to be sent in the morning, using different pigeons:

-I hope I get a reply soon...

...

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