Seeking Truth with a Sword
Chapter 56 - 54 Malaria

Chapter 56: Chapter 54 Malaria

"Control...variables?"

The assembled scholars, all elites educated at the Academic Palace, furrowed their brows thoughtfully and quickly grasped the gist of what Li Ang meant.

"Is it mosquitoes, not evil miasmas, that cause malaria?"

Song Shaoyuan and Zhai Yiming’s eyes widened as they murmured to themselves.

Ji Linglang appeared pensive.

Yang Yu curiously looked at Li Ang. Regardless of whether he was right or not, the theory that mosquitoes caused malaria was novel, distinct from the conventional ideas of evil miasmas, Malaria Demons, or [illness being a consequence of] disloyalty and unfilial conduct.

The servant standing at the doorway maintained a respectful and restrained posture, showing no sign of movement. His ear merely twitched, as if he had heard a command from the next room, and he respectfully cupped his hands to ask, "So, young master, do you have any evidence?"

"Evidence, too, can be obtained through controlling variables," Li Ang considered and said, "If your master has the time and inclination, he could send people to investigate various workshops to inquire about the geographical conditions of each and find out the number of residents within the workshop who have suffered from or died from malaria.

Residential areas with high terrain, no water or grass nearby, few mosquitoes.

Residential areas with high terrain, water and grass nearby, many mosquitoes.

Residential areas with low terrain, no water or grass nearby, few mosquitoes.

Residential areas with low terrain, water and grass nearby, many mosquitoes.

As long as enough workshop areas are visited and the sample size of people is large enough, it should be easy to find out whether there is a correlation between malaria and water, grass, and mosquitoes, and what kind of correlation exists."

"This..." The servant frowned, "Isn’t that a bit too troublesome? There are one hundred and eight squares in Chang’an, with a population of three million..."

"Your master asked, and I’m just giving a suggestion," Li Ang spoke casually. "There are faster ways to get results.

As I was touring Chang’an just now, I noticed that on one or both sides of the main streets of various workshops, there are drainage ditches and small bridges. These ditches, about ten feet wide, are open ditches exposed to sunlight. The slow flow of water allows mosquitoes to easily lay eggs in them, hatch larvae, and produce more mosquitoes.

To address this issue, first select a large area of a workshop. Cover the drainage ditches with green stone slabs, converting open ditches to covered ones. Then, install hollow iron grates at intervals within the covered ditches. Between these grates, stock the ditches with Siamese fighting fish from Lingnan Road. If Siamese fighting fish are unavailable, other mosquito-eating fish like Crucian Carp are also suitable. Next, issue an order prohibiting residents from fishing in these waters, thereby reducing the number of mosquitoes breeding in the water channels.

Then distribute mosquito nets, mugwort, and Qinghao to the workshop residents. At night, hang the mosquito nets in the bedrooms of adults and children, especially those under five. Use mugwort and Qinghao to fumigate and kill adult mosquitoes. Also, send people to remove low-lying ponds and overgrown weeds within the workshop areas that breed mosquitoes.

Complete the entire process. When summer and autumn arrive with symptoms of malaria, compare this workshop area to others that haven’t created covered ditches and haven’t eradicated mosquitoes. This will show which workshop area has a lower probability of malaria. Naturally, this would reveal the connection between malaria and mosquitoes.

It is now June; if actions are taken immediately, preliminary results could be seen in about three to four months."

Li Ang spoke evenly, "By the way, when concluding the study, exclude the cultivators’ residences in the workshop."

The servant asked in surprise, "Why?"

"Because cultivators, through their breathing and energy practices, naturally repel the mosquitoes that fly around them and rarely fall ill. So, they are a factor that would interfere with the results," Li Ang said indifferently. He then picked up his chopsticks again and served Chai Cuiqiao another piece of pickled celery.

In fact, with only half a month left until the Academic Palace preliminary exams, looking for higher-end residences in North Chang’an with higher elevation is indeed troublesome. But as a doctor, the deeper Li Ang understood diseases, the more he respected and feared them.

Malaria was one of the deadliest diseases in the history of the Otherworld; one could say that the history of mankind is the history of malaria.

Some mosquitoes carry a single-celled organism known as the Malaria Parasite. When these mosquitoes bite a human, the Malaria Parasite enters the body, infects the liver, and produces tens of thousands of new Malaria Parasites. These then start to invade and infect red blood cells, further dividing, reproducing, and changing.

Indeed, merozoites derived from Malaria Parasites differentiate into male and female types, which can survive in the human body for 60 days. Once mosquitoes ingest both male and female merozoites, these reproduce within the mosquito to form gametes. The gametes subsequently transform into active zygotes. These active zygotes penetrate the mosquito’s stomach wall to create oocysts. Finally, they asexually reproduce into daughter sporozoites that actively enter the mosquito’s saliva to commence another cycle of transmission.

For humans, the waste released by Malaria Parasites in the body triggers an immune response. This response causes alternating chills and fever, continuous sweating, and, following repeated illness, can lead to anemia, splenomegaly, and organ failure.

Li Ang thought silently, Even by the most optimistic estimate of a 1% malaria incidence rate, considering the population of 400 million in Yu Country, four million people would suffer from malaria every year. A significant portion of these would be children under five who haven’t yet developed sufficient immunity. Without effective treatment, the mortality rate for severe malaria can be as high as 40%. And even if it’s not malaria, mosquito bites can also transmit Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, filariasis, and yellow fever. Chang’an City hosts visitors from All Nations, so merchants, livestock, and wild animals from all over the world could potentially be sources of disease.

Before becoming a cultivator and acquiring basic resistance to diseases, Li Ang had no desire to test his resistance to epidemic illnesses.

Seeing that Li Ang was speaking logically and systematically, the servant standing at the door became even more respectful and bowed deeply, "My master says that ’winter injuries from cold lead to spring febrile diseases; summer injuries from heat lead to autumn malaria.’ Autumn is almost upon us, and there may not be much time. I would like to ask you, young master, if there is a quicker way to detect the correlation between malaria and mosquitoes."

"Quicker?" Li Ang raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment before saying, "Then spend a hefty sum to hire cultivators specializing in talismanic Tao from the Rain Listening Realm and Cloud Patrol Realm to create Clear Wind Talismans. Distribute them among the residents of the workshop. Clear Wind Talismans can summon a breeze to drive away mosquitoes, providing a mosquito-repellent effect. However, this method is incredibly expensive. For instance, to have a Cloud Patrol Realm cultivator expend the energy to write a talisman would cost at least a hundred strings of coins."

The servant still maintained a respectful posture, "Is there an even faster method?"

"Hm?" Song Shaoyuan frowned and said, "How can your master be so insatiable? We were just having a private conversation, and it was one thing for you to knock and disturb us. But now my classmate has already suggested two strategies, and yet you’re still pressuring us. This seems somewhat inappropriate, doesn’t it?"

Song Shaoyuan, though of a forthright nature, was not foolish. He did not reveal Li Ang’s name to the stranger, referring to Li Ang only as his "classmate."

Zhai Yiming hesitated for a moment, then joined in support. Even though he was sometimes envious of Li Ang, at the end of the day, they were fellow townspeople and classmates, and it would not do to let an outsider bully one of their own.

"..." Li Ang looked at the servant, his gaze quickly turning cold as he indifferently said, "If your master already knows the answer, then why ask again? Let me remind you of one thing—humans act, heaven watches. Please leave."

With that, Li Ang flicked his sleeve and no longer looked at the servant, while the other party bowed deeply with profound respect and turned to leave.

"Hm?" Now it was Song Shaoyuan and the others who were confused, and they instinctively asked Li Ang, "What did you mean when you told that servant his master already knows the answer?"

"What else could it mean," Li Ang said indifferently. "If one wishes to ascertain the connection between malaria and mosquitoes in the fastest way possible—even before autumn arrives and malaria breaks out in the city—there is only one method..."

"Direct proof." Ji Linglang elegantly picked up a piece of pickled celery and completed Li Ang’s sentence for him, "Prove the relationship between malaria and mosquitoes through that method of controlling variables."

In the adjacent room, Imperial Medical Bureau Officer Qiu Jing looked furiously across the table at his friend and slammed his hand on the table, exclaiming, "Tantai Leshan!"

Tantai Leshan, the Academic Palace Director seated across from him, calmly faced his friend’s anger, "Mr. Qiu, why are you so angry?"

With a soundproof talisman already affixed to the walls of the private room, effectively silencing their conversation, Qiu Jing didn’t hold back his voice and shouted directly, "What on earth are you trying to do?!"