37 Mycelium
◎He must have been a serious doctor before he fled◎
When Ye Yunzhao hurriedly arrived in Dongxiang, the two people who had been in conflict as mentioned by County Magistrate Han had already been pulled apart, and the injured one was lying in the corner room of the main house in Dongxiang.
Ye Yunzhao stepped into the room and asked with concern, "How is it? Is it serious? How about we find a barefoot doctor?"
But before anyone else could speak, the man sitting beside the broken bed turned around and startled Ye Yunzhao.
"Li Xianjiang? Why are you here?"
Li Xianjiang was holding a silver blade, and next to him stood the servant named Lu Yi, holding a row of fine silver needles in his hand.
Ye Yunzhao didn't give him a chance to speak: "Are you... a doctor?"
Han County Magistrate standing by was puzzled: "County Magistrate Ye, don't you know?"
This question made Ye Yunzhao a little confused. How could she know?
But Li Xianjiang spoke up in time, changing the subject: "I've already dealt with it briefly. I'll have Lu Yi boil two bowls of medicine later. I think he'll wake up by midnight tonight."
Dongxiang Lizheng wiped the tears from his eyes and said very embarrassedly: "Thank you, Doctor Li, thank you, Brother Luyi. But Huzi's family is poor, can I pay you the debt first..."
"Didn't County Magistrate Han tell you? I don't charge for my medical treatment." Li Xianjiang handed the silver blade to Lu Yi, who put it into the cloth bag with great care.
"I was living on the streets, but County Magistrate Ye placed me in the county government office. Everyone treats me like a fellow villager, so it's only natural for me to do so. Don't mention the money for the herbs.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room bowed to Li Xianjiang consciously, and Ye Yunzhao was no exception.
Doctors have always been respected, not to mention that the one in front of him is a good doctor with a heart as kind as Hua Tuo in the world.
There were originally only two or three hunters in Lingnan County. Because they spent their youth hunting in the mountains, they knew a lot about herbs. Later, they became the only barefoot doctors in Lingnan County. However, unlike Li Xianjiang, they had a complete set of acupuncture tools. Even Ye Yunzhao, a layman, knew it.
——Li Xianjiang must have been a serious doctor before he fled.
Ye Yunzhao stood by the door. After several people left, he suddenly heard a faint sound of discontent outside the house.
"My family has been practicing medicine for generations. Young Master, have you forgotten what the old lady said? You are a rare genius, a once-in-a-century phenomenon. In the past, countless daughters of noble families begged you to save their lives. How can you now stoop to such lowliness and treat illnesses with these country folk?"
Ye Yunzhao was stunned. She had never thought there were so many mysteries here. However, the Dongxiang village chief did not give her another chance to eavesdrop. He grabbed her clothes and was about to kneel down crying. Ye Yunzhao held her tightly.
"What are you doing?"
"County Magistrate Ye, I'm sorry for your trust! I didn't take good care of the people in Dongxiang—"
Han Xiancheng raised his hand and pushed him: "What are you doing! If you have something to say, just talk it over nicely! You're crying and yelling, how can you be a village head?"
Normally, County Magistrate Han was considered extremely gentle in front of the common people, but Ye Yunzhao was somewhat surprised to see him display such a bad temper today.
"Tell me what the fight was about! I've warned you repeatedly not to start a conflict, but you're being such a hassle-free village head!"
The Dongxiang village head put away his previous expression, lowered his brows and said in a gentle voice, "County Magistrate Ye, County Magistrate Han, this is really not my fault. Someone heard that every household in Xixiang had spread silkworm manure, so when it was brought to Dongxiang, they started snatching it... snatching it..."
"Didn't I tell you a long time ago? The reason why we spread silkworm manure in Xixiang is because most of the fields in Xixiang are low-quality fields, while there are so many good fields in Dongxiang! Why spread silkworm manure?" County Magistrate Han said angrily.
Ye Yunzhao didn't expect it was because of this reason. Logically speaking, even if the inferior fields in Xixiang were supplemented with silkworm manure, the wheat germination rate would be far behind that of the good fields in Dongxiang. But with this explanation, she was sure that the opportunistic Li Zheng in front of her would never believe it, and she didn't know how to publicize it.
"I know...but the people don't believe it..."
"It's not just this reason." Ye Yunzhao interrupted him.
County Magistrate Han tilted his head, his face full of confusion: "What?"
Ye Yunzhao sighed and put on an awkward look: "This matter is known to heaven and earth, you know it, I know it, and he knows it. We must not let a fourth person know about it."
Dongxiang Lizheng was immediately frightened by her mysterious look. He stopped playing around and making excuses. He stared at her with a pair of cloudy eyes:
"You must not let anyone else know, County Magistrate Ye, what is the other reason?"
"You still remember that a dozen days ago I followed you from house to house to check on the food reserves of each household."
Dongxiang Lizheng nodded.
"In fact, I not only looked at the stored grain, but also carefully examined the paddy fields and wheat fields of each family."
Dongxiang Village Chief suddenly remembered that this was the case. At that time, he thought the county magistrate was determining the grade of land owned by each family.
"I think County Magistrate Han has already given you the list of families who need to spread silkworm manure. It's not that other families are not allowed to spread it, but..."
Ye Yunzhao deliberately kept the question a secret. Before the Dongxiang Village Chief could speak, County Magistrate Han was impatient: "But what?"
"But you can't spread it."
As soon as Ye Yunzhao said this, the other two asked in unison: "Why can't we scatter?"
"It's a long story. Silkworm manure is alkaline fertilizer. I've seen the fertile fields in Dongxiang, and they all have slightly acidic soil. The two conflict. If we spread silkworm manure, I'm afraid it will harm the wheat seedlings and prevent them from growing."
What Ye Yunzhao spit out, "alkaline manure" and "weakly acidic soil", scared the two of them.
After a moment, Dongxiang Lizheng said doubtfully, "Is what the county magistrate said true? How come I've never heard of manure?"
Han County Magistrate slapped him on the back of the head and said, "County Magistrate Ye is a female official sent from the capital. Is he really going to lie to you? It must be written in the book. You are just a small village head. There are so many things you have never heard of or seen. Do you really need the county magistrate to explain them to you one by one?"
Seeing him so self-righteous, Ye Yunzhao felt a little embarrassed. She had just made up the words casually, thinking that the more bizarre the better, but she didn't expect that the village head would be criticized.
"Okay, okay, let's just leave it at that. Don't tell anyone else. Village head, can the situation in Dongxiang be handled?" Ye Yunzhao asked sideways.
"able."
Only then did Ye Yunzhao feel relieved. He gave a few more instructions, turned around and saw Lu Yi squatting and cooking medicine. He left after finding out where Li Xianjiang was.
Turning left and right along the narrow path of Dongxiang, the dilapidated cottage was out of place with the high yellow mud walls around it. Li Xianjiang was seeing a patient with an old peasant woman in the yard, while Ye Yunzhao was squatting beside the low wall and stroking the weeds in the corner.
"County Magistrate Ye, why are you here?" Li Xianjiang was holding his small medicine box and was stunned when he saw Ye Yunzhao squatting by the wall.
But he soon understood: "It's not appropriate for me to live in the county government office all day. Last time, Liu the yamen runner told Han the county magistrate that some people fell from the mountain, so I had to borrow your name to treat them."
Except for the frail Li Xianjiang in front of him, all the refugees who had followed Ye Yunzhao to settle in Lingnan County were reclaiming wasteland in Xixiang. There were indeed some rumors, but Ye Yunzhao was busy with the silkworm manure at that time and had no time to care about it.
"No wonder County Magistrate Han reacted so strongly just now." Ye Yunzhao stood up, patted the dust off his palms, and the two walked side by side.
"Doctor Li, you have the ability to be a miracle doctor, how did you become a refugee?"
Li Xianjiang's lips moved, and he just shook his head silently.
Seeing that he was unwilling to speak, Ye Yunzhao was too embarrassed to ask further and only said, "It is a great blessing for Lingnan County that you can visit the people of Lingnan County on a daily basis. You don't have to feel guilty about living in the county government office."
"Doctor Li, do you need any herbs? Of course, I can't find those expensive herbs that are worth a fortune, but if you need some common herbs or herbs for treating colds, I can send someone to help you find them."
Li Xianjiang gathered his sleeves and pondered for a moment before saying, "County Magistrate Ye, to be honest, I'm thinking of opening a clinic in Lingnan County."
"Infirmary?"
Ye Yunzhao's eyes lit up. A clinic was a good place. Lingnan County was close to the mountains, and every year many people fell and broke their feet or even their arms due to accidents. If there was a clinic, minor illnesses such as colds, dislocations, etc. could be cured early.
"Just tell me what you need, and I'll find a way to get it for you."
Li Xianjiang smiled and said, "County Magistrate Ye, aren't you too anxious? We're still a long way from the clinic. As for the herbs you mentioned... I won't hide it from you, the pills we brought with us before fleeing are almost gone. We really need some basic herbs..."
When the Li Mansion was still in existence, there were dozens of strong servants in the mansion just to go up the mountain to pick the fruits. Now, there are only him and Lu Yi left. He has been weak since childhood and breathes hard every three steps he takes. Lu Yi is also a careless person, so the pills in the porcelain jar only go down and don't fill up.
"That's easy. Draw a map of the herbs you need. I'll have the women who go up the mountain to pick wild vegetables keep an eye out for you. If they come across any, they'll be sent to the city gate, and the relief officers will bring them back at night."
Ye Yunzhao's tone left no room for doubt. She dared to promise so confidently because the common people had long been afraid and frightened by minor illnesses and disasters. She told everyone that these "weeds" were useful, and naturally they were thinking about it with all their heart, and she was probably more excited than Ye Yunzhao.
*
The golden sunset slowly retreated down the mountain, and the sky was filled with a soft sunset glow.
Ye Yunzhao squatted in her own courtyard and collected the rotten leaves and humus that had been soaked for an afternoon in a broken wooden basin. After making sure that there was not too much water in it, she brought out a burning candlestick from the house and placed a clean kitchen knife on the candle flame for a few times.
Ye Yunzhao looked ready for action, much like a modern doctor holding a knife for surgery.
Then she carefully picked up the precious morel and used a sterilized kitchen knife to gently cut off the black debris at the root of the morel.
Gently put the debris into the wooden basin and cover it easily with rotten leaves.
To be on the safe side, Ye Yunzhao cut off some of the roots of the morels and placed them under the rotten leaves one by one.
Finally, he covered the wooden basin with a rice mat. Ye Yunzhao lifted it up with great effort and took the basin to the corner room where miscellaneous items were temporarily stored.
When Ye Yunzhao was about to close the door, he reluctantly pushed it open and looked at the broken wooden basin. He didn't know whether it could produce morel mycelium, so he could only wait and see again in ten days.
After finishing all these, Ye Yunzhao did not rest. She heated up the half mixed-wheat pancake left over from the morning, cooked two boiled eggs for herself, and ate all of them into her empty stomach.
After dinner, it was already dark, and she took advantage of the remaining light to process the water chestnuts.
The water chestnut has a thick hard shell that cannot be bitten off with teeth. Ye Yunzhao used a kitchen knife to cut off the "butt" of the water chestnut, and then calmly and carefully used the kitchen knife to cut through the middle of the water chestnut.
If she used too much strength, the water chestnut would break when she tried to peel the two pointed shells; if she used too little strength, the hard shell of the water chestnut would only be damaged superficially and could not be opened no matter how hard she tried. After a few strokes with the heavy kitchen knife, her arms were tired and sore.
The dim candlelight was so bright that it almost blinded her eyes. Ye Yunzhao became more and more angry as she peeled the candles. She finally understood why the ancients had no nightlife. There were only a few candles that were lit and blown out.
Ye Yunzhao threw the kitchen knife on the table in despair:
Oh my God... Edison, can you invent the light bulb now! ! !
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