Chapter 113
After their entire army returned to the military settlement, the general invited Ba Yuan to the general's mansion, but he refused. He pointed at Yao Chunnuan and called her name to entertain her.
The general had no choice but to give up. After instructing Yao Chunnuan to treat him well, he went to the training ground to supervise the soldiers' training.
Doctor Renba didn't want to ride in the carriage anymore and wanted to get off and walk around, so Yao Chunming had no choice but to accompany him. One of them got off the carriage, and the other got off the horse, and then someone came to take them away.
"Oh, the people in your military settlement are living well." Ba Yuan's eyes were never idle along the way.
He had traveled extensively, and had been everywhere, but he could count on the handful of people in so many places the residents of Yichun Military Village who lived as well as they did. This year's drought was especially severe, and the court's ineffective disaster relief efforts had left the land starving.
But it was different here. The settlers I met along the way were all fully clothed, not a single one was bare-breasted. Even those whose clothes were patched showed they had been washed very cleanly.
Furthermore, even if their faces weren't beaming with smiles, they at least weren't scowling. Such a sight was truly rare. One or two people would be fine, but when the entire military settlement was like this, it was truly something to ponder.
In addition, the entire military settlement gave people a very clean and tidy feeling, and he even saw someone sweeping the road.
Yao Chunnuan told him that they had arranged people to clean every public area.
When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette. This was the first sentence that came to Ba Yuan's mind.
"Also, your military settlement has a lot of toilets."
Yao Chunnuan replied casually, "That's convenient. We have over 100,000 people in the Yichun military garrison."
Without these public toilets, the soldiers wouldn't be able to get home in time and would urinate and defecate everywhere, making the military settlement smelly. With public toilets, they could also save fertilizer. As the saying goes, a good crop depends on fertilizer. In the absence of modern fertilizers, farmyard manure became a top priority.
"Good afternoon, Chief Secretary Yao—"
"Hello."
"Has Chief Secretary Yao eaten yet?"
"I've eaten, how about you?"
Yao Chunnuan accompanied Ba Yuan in strolling around the military settlement and met many people, who kept greeting her.
Ba Yuan looked at her and said, "You are quite popular among the people here."
Yao Chunnuan: Can she say that she can’t tell who is who at all?
Yao Chunnuan turned around and began to hypnotize him, "Actually, Doctor Ba, no one knows it's you. And if you agree to stay, you'll be loved by them even more than I am."
"Well, that's natural!" The little old man Ba Yuan raised his head like a proud rooster.
"So you agree to..." stay?
Before he could finish the last few words, he was interrupted by him, "Shut up, I didn't promise you anything!" He said, looking at Yao Chunnuan warily. This little girl was too mean, why did she like to set traps for him anytime and anywhere, causing him to almost fall into the trap accidentally, damn it!
Yao Chunnuan smiled and stopped talking as he wished.
Finally, perhaps tired, Ba Yuan asked about the accommodations she had arranged. Yao Chunnuan suggested several, and he finally chose to stay in the medical department of the Yichun military settlement.
Doctor Zhu, the military doctor from the Medical Department, was overjoyed at Ba Yuan's arrival. Both of them were fascinated by medicine, and they became close friends shortly after meeting.
********
Before dawn that day, Yao Chunnuan was awakened by Luo Suyi, who said that the doorman came to report that the general wanted to see her.
Yao Chunnuan was still confused, but when she heard this, she thought something big had happened and immediately woke up.
When she arrived at the General's Mansion, she saw that Chief Steward Wu and Yu Chen were there, but the others had not been summoned.
The general saw that they had all arrived and told them, "Zhu Yongnian is back!"
Only then did Yao Chunnuan and the other two realize that not only had he returned, but he had also brought back several large carts of sea salt!
Seeing dozens of sacks filled with sea salt piled there casually, except for Yao Chunnuan, General Wu, Yu Chen and others were somewhat moved.
Zhu Yongnian hadn't slept all night because he had to escort the sea salt back, but he was very excited. At this time, he told the general and others about the process of building the salt pond and washing the salt.
"After we took Wangya Beach, we first built fortifications and cleared out the surrounding spies and civilians. Once everything was ready, we built a small salt pond. General, you don't know how effective and labor-saving the method Yao Zhubo gave us is. A group of men, standing under the scorching sun, simply pumped seawater onto a fixed slope. Under the constant flow of the seawater, white sea salt emerged!" Witnessing this scene for the first time, they were stunned. So this is how salt is made? It's so easy!
After hearing Zhu Yongnian's words, the generals were amazed. "Is it so easy?"
Zhu Yongnian nodded vigorously. Isn't it? It really is too easy.
"I heard you say that the salt washing work is done under the scorching sun. What if it's cloudy?" Yu Chen was a little confused. Can you get sea salt this way? What's the principle behind this?
"It doesn't matter if it's cloudy. If the sun isn't out and there's a sea breeze, sea salt can still be precipitated, but the process will be slower."
If Yao Chunnuan knew his doubts, she would definitely tell him that this was the saturation principle.
After listening to this, the three of them were amazed at Yao Chunnuan. Only she could come up with such a method.
"This is just the first step. These sea salts are just coarse salts and contain some harmful impurities. They need to be further processed and purified before they can be eaten. Otherwise, people will get sick after eating such coarse salt." Yao Chunnuan arranged for the subsequent purification to be carried out in the military settlement.
Zhu Yongnian only needed to load the salt from the salt pond into sacks, and the general arranged another team to escort the crude salt back to the military settlement. Because this was the first batch, Zhu Yongnian was worried and followed them back.
The general patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Our salt fields must be heavily guarded, understand?"
Zhu Yongnian nodded. Chief Clerk Yao had already explained all of this, but the general was just explaining it again.
Next, Yao Chunnuan was busy with the sea salt processing workshop. This time, the workshop was extremely strict in selecting workers, so strict that they preferred to have no employees at all. Of course, the workers were also very well paid. Many of those lucky enough to be selected were overjoyed at the treatment and secretly determined to do their best in the job.
*****
Marshal Zhu learned that Ba Yuan had arrived in Yichun and was welcomed back by the Yichun military garrison.
Marshal Zhu was so envious. Who wouldn't want to have a great doctor with superb medical skills in his own territory?
"Why do all the good things happen to them?"
Marshal Zhu had been dealing with the Diluo tribe for so many years that he had a good understanding of them. He had a feeling that the Diluo succession dispute, sparked by the old Diluo King's serious illness, was nearing its end. The silent civil strife that had lasted for over half a year was finally coming to an end.
It was because he realized that war was about to break out that he was so envious of the Yichun military settlement. He just met Doctor Ba while accompanying a guest out for a trip. Wow, his luck was really good.
"How can I be so lucky?" Marshal Zhu sighed again.
Shi Mei suddenly said, "Maybe it's not a matter of luck?"
He'd experienced the tactics of Yao Chunnuan before. She'd always considered the next step. This time, Zhou Yushu, as host, had been accompanying two guests from the Gaoshan tribe on an outing when they happened to encounter Doctor Ba, who was being hunted by the Diluo tribe. Was it really such a coincidence? He always felt that all coincidences were the result of meticulous human calculations.
Marshal Zhu frowned, "What do you mean?"
"It doesn't mean anything. Maybe I'm mistaken."
Shi Mei suddenly didn't want to talk about how amazing Yao Chunnuan was. Although it was true, she couldn't keep saying it. Wouldn't that just boost others' ambitions and destroy her own? Besides, his Marshal was already envious of Xing Changfeng enough, so he didn't need to talk about it anymore. Tu Tian was unhappy.
"Forget it. Even if Ba Yuan goes to the Yichun military settlement, what does it matter? He can't stand being restrained. I'm afraid he'll run away soon."
By the time Yao Chunnuan finished her work at the sea salt processing workshop, she realized half a month had passed. Then, Ba Yuan came clattering to her and told her he was going to bid farewell to the general.
Yao Chunnuan quickly asked, "But how have we failed to provide such a good service?"
Ba Yuan shook his head, "Not really." Honestly, he'd been living quite comfortably in the Yichun military settlement. Every morning, he'd head to the nearest cafeteria for breakfast, then head to the infirmary to chat with the seriously injured patients there, occasionally checking the pulses of those seeking treatment, and exchanging medical advice with Zhu Kangchen. If he had some free time, he'd stroll around the settlement. In short, his life had been incredibly comfortable over the past two weeks. And it hadn't stopped him from seeing patients.
"Honestly, your medical department is doing a really good job," Ba Yuan couldn't help but praise. He still remembered when he first stepped into the medical department. Unlike the usual sick camps, filled with filth, a putrid stench, and the wailing of the sick, the rooms were neatly arranged and everything was in perfect order. The doctors and their assistants, all wearing clean white coats, were busy but calm, though the air was thick with the scent of vinegar and wormwood.
Later, he learned that the medical department would fumigate the entire house with vinegar and mugwort every morning and evening. It was said that this little girl had instructed them to do so, saying it was to eliminate subtle, invisible creatures in the world. Besides the vinegar and mugwort fumigation, they would also periodically sprinkle lime all around to eliminate poisonous insects.
He stayed there for half a month. Every morning and evening when the sun was rising or setting, there were patients lying on a strangely shaped couch to bask in the sun. There was no pain or despair on their faces, and their mentality was very peaceful.
He felt strange at first, but after asking, he found out that since they were injured and had their wounds treated by doctors, they had been recuperating in the medical department for half a month. Because they were well taken care of, their injuries healed quickly.
The wounded soldiers also told him that after being injured, they could stay in the medical department to recuperate, and the nurses there would take better care of them than at home. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay there forever, because once their wounds were almost healed, the medical department would kick them out.
Ba Yuan found it strange. It would be fine if he just needed to see a doctor and take medicine, which cost money, but he refused to leave even though his illness was cured. Could it be that there was no charge for recuperation at the medical center in the Yichun military settlement?
The wounded soldiers told him they didn't pay with silver, but with merit points, and that they were entitled to preferential treatment at the infirmary. Resting at the Yichun military settlement's infirmary also cost merit points, but they were happy to do so. They'd fought so hard, gotten sick and injured, and weren't they allowed a little luxury? From then on, Ba Yuan learned that soldiers in the Yichun military settlement could exchange merit points for items at the exchange building, while the residents could use work points.
Ba Yuan has been quietly counting the patients and injuries in the medical department during this period. No matter how serious their illness or injury is, if they can be treated and do not die on the spot, they will receive proper care and the probability of recovery is very high.
This gave him some inspiration.
Yao Chunnuan only smiled at his mention of the Medical Department. "Actually, there's still a lot of room for improvement in the Medical Department. Doctor Ba, have you ever considered that the power of one person is ultimately limited?"
Ba Yuan raised his chin and motioned for her to continue.
Yao Chunnuan said seriously, "Doctor Ba, I don't know how many people you've saved over the years. But I think that instead of traveling around saving people, you should write books and establish a systematic teaching system. Then, you can open classes to teach, pass on your experience, and teach thousands of disciples. After they become masters, won't they be able to cure more patients than you alone? Besides, medical skills need to be passed down."
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