Wild boars, like elephants, are social animals, with female leaders who lead the herds of young piglets.
The male pigs in the herd are all driven away before they reach adulthood, leaving only the females, aunts, and cousins.
Boars that have left their herd usually live in groups of three to five or as loners. They only return to live with the sows for a period of time when the sows leave their marks during estrus.
The wild boars now see the young boars as intruders, and the young boars that rashly ran back to reunite with their kin suffered greatly.
Taking advantage of the large sow protecting her piglets as she retreated, Jiang Zhi also protected her piglets and immediately left with the wild boars.
Back at Old Cloud Cliff, when Grandpa Xiaoman looked at the little wild boar covered in bloody wounds and already treated with medicine, he was both amused and annoyed. He said, "This kid still doesn't know any better. Once your mother weans you, she won't recognize you anymore. She might even bite you to death and eat you."
The little wild boar grunted pitifully; it seemed it wouldn't dare go there again!
Xiaoman and the others discussed going again.
So many wild boars are perfect for roasting suckling pig, but once they grow up, they become a threat.
As for the sow... without a boar, as long as there are many people, just harass her without attacking, and take advantage of her cautious and protective nature towards her piglets, and you can exhaust her to death.
Hehe, whether it's animals or humans, they are invincible when they are fiercely protective of their offspring.
But having children creates a weakness; even the toughest person can't withstand the strain.
Over the next few days, the little wild boar stayed home to recover from its injuries, while Jiang Zhi, Chunfeng, and Xiaomanye, along with Li Laoshi, hurriedly replanted wheat seeds.
The others went to hunt wild boars, chasing and harassing the herd every day, making it impossible for the pigs, big and small, to eat or sleep in peace.
Once the wheat was replanted, Xu Errui and Xiaoman returned carrying two half-grown pigs weighing twenty or thirty pounds each, along with five or six still-weaned dead piglets.
"Brother Xiang and the others chased after the wild boar herd, and told us to bring these back first, clean them up, and have some barbecue."
Xiaoman was very pleased with himself. That day, the pigs were frightened and ran away. Wu Hongmao and his friends bet that the pigs would be reluctant to leave the huge pigsty.
So they quickly set up a series of snares around the area, and sure enough, the runaway pigs returned and several of them were caught in the traps on the spot.
But the big pig ran away with the half-grown piglets, so Xiang Dejin and the others chased after them and drove the pigs away from the pass.
This arrest will ensure several more months of peace.
Since Xiang Dejin and his group wanted to eat barbecue, everyone got busy, grinding chili powder to make salt and pepper dipping sauce and chopping scallions.
Tender pork slices are skewered on bamboo sticks, and then firewood is piled up in the yard to make charcoal for grilling.
Xiang Dejin and his men returned just before dark, still clutching a pheasant in their hands: "Don't worry, everyone. We've completely demolished the pigsty today. With this chase, they won't be able to come back until at least next spring's famine."
Both humans and pigs live on this mountain, encroaching on each other's territory.
It is impossible to kill a wild boar by chasing it with human power.
Humans use their intelligence to set traps with tools, while pigs rely on their ability to reproduce to win through sheer numbers. This back-and-forth tug-of-war continues.
The hair of a half-grown pig weighing several dozen kilograms is scraped off and cured into bacon, while the suckling pig is cleaned and served.
With roasted meat and roasted pheasant, the meal left more than a dozen people completely satisfied.
Li Laoshi slurped every bone clean, and he was extremely satisfied with the path he had chosen.
I haven't eaten meat like this in decades. From now on, I must cling to these big spenders and enjoy delicious food every day.
But his dream was shattered soon after.
After chasing away the wild boar, Xiang Dejin and the others prepared to leave. Because of the medicinal soup they had been taking, they had recovered completely in just one month, even though they had originally thought it would take two months.
Once they recover, they will each find their own way out.
Although Jiang Zhi had previously considered keeping a few helpers, she ultimately did not speak up.
She was still just a peasant woman. Even though she had met Magistrate Zhang at the Pingchuan County government office and received a promise to obtain a copy of the King of Zhou's handwritten letter, it was still just a pipe dream.
You can't ruin someone else's future.
In addition, Xiang Dejin and the others left the pork for the two families to eat, and refused to accept any money offered to them. So everyone wanted to give them some useful items as a token of their gratitude.
So Jiang Zhi took some medicinal herbs from the attic, and the family of three began to make the medicine.
First, make the anti-inflammatory tablets.
Source: Handbook of Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparations, 1964
Jiang Zhi used a steelyard to weigh out the amounts of the four herbs: dandelion, violet, scutellaria, and wild chrysanthemum.
Xu Errui brought over an iron millstone and ground the Scutellaria baicalensis into powder.
On the other side, Qiaoyun put the washed dandelion, violet and wild chrysanthemum into a copper pot, added 8 times the amount of water and boiled for 2 hours. The second time, she added 4 times the amount of water and patiently boiled for another 2 hours. Finally, she took the liquid, let it stand to settle, and used the clear liquid on top to boil and concentrate it into a paste.
Under Jiang Zhi's arrangement, the young couple each had something to do.
Once the medicinal juice has turned into a paste, the medicinal powder from Xu Errui's place is also ground into a fine powder. They are then mixed together, stirred evenly, dried, and finally sieved through a fine sieve. Starch is then added and pressed into sheets.
The finished product took two days to complete.
Xu Errui examined the brown pills. Although he had pressed them out himself using a bamboo tube, he was still very curious: "Mother, you said that if I catch a cold, cough, or have a fever, I only need to take these pills and won't need to boil medicine anymore?"
Jiang Zhi packed the pills into a large bamboo tube: "Yes, we have already brewed the medicine. Take five pills at a time, just like drinking a bowl of medicine. It can be used for emergencies."
Xu Errui clicked his tongue in admiration: "This is much better than drinking bitter medicine. Mother, why did you only let Father drink herbal medicine before, and never did this?"
In the past, when we didn't have money to buy medicine, we would pick herbs ourselves, without even knowing what they were.
Jiang Zhi's face darkened: "You used to have endless chores every day. Did you have time at home or were you just giving me all this stuff to do? Your father is lucky if he even has any herbal medicine to drink."
Xu Errui immediately dared not say anything more. In the past, his mother worked from morning till night every day, so she had no time to do these things.
Moreover, there were none of these steelyards, copper pots, or iron millstones.
Qiaoyun helped pack the pills, but said, "Mother, I think it's better to drink the medicine. If you catch a cold, drinking hot medicine will make you sweat and help you recover faster."
She brewed these medicines herself, but she still felt that drinking water was better than taking pills, at least it was hot.
Jiang Zhi didn't deny Qiaoyun's statement, and even praised her, saying, "Qiaoyun is right! Pills are not as good as liquid medicine!"
Having your own ideas is progress!
The fast pace of modern life makes people reluctant to even decoct medicine, opting instead for a decoction machine. While convenient, the efficacy of the medicine is questionable.
The medicinal herbs we grew were already of poor quality, and we were lazy in preparing the decoction... Sigh...
If conditions permit, the original decoction is more effective, and it's even better to prepare the medicine yourself.
Making it into pills is convenient, but the effectiveness is naturally reduced.
While making cold and fever medicine, Jiang Zhi also made other pills at the same time.
The second type is Compound Euphorbia humifusa Tablets.
Source: Handbook of Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparations, 1964
The three herbs—Euphorbia humifusa growing all over the mountains, Polygonum hydropiper growing along the ditches, and Plantago asiatica—are weighed out. A small portion is ground into a fine powder, while the majority is extracted by boiling to obtain a concentrated paste. The remaining powder is then added to thicken the juice, which is then sifted through a fine sieve and finally pressed into tablets for use in treating enteritis, dysentery, and diarrhea.
Euphorbia humifusa, also known as red silk grass, milkweed, and blood-scarring herb, is mainly used to treat dysentery, bloody stools, boils, carbuncles, and other skin conditions.
Polygonum hydropiper is mainly used to treat dysentery, enteritis, and indigestion; it can also be used as a starter culture for brewing.
We'll make two kinds of pills first, to see if everyone can accept them.
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