Chapter 93 Chairman Zhao
The Li family members gathered in the main hall, with the three siblings as the main figures, to discuss how to best prepare Li San Niang's distilled liquor.
Night fell, at the Fang residence.
Duo Shou first threw one of the medicine packets that Doctor Liang had prescribed for Fang Chengxian into the stove. When it was almost cooked, he took out another medicine packet prescribed by Li's father from the cabinet in Fang Chengxian's inner room. He carefully followed the instructions taught by his second brother Li: how much water to use, what kind of fire to start with, when to add the herbs, how long to boil, and how long to let it boil. It took him a lot of time and effort to brew a bowl of herbal soup.
Having learned from experience, Duoshou poured the remaining dregs of the medicine not far from the bamboo grove where he had buried the medicine before. To prevent the smell from spreading, he made sure to leave it at a greater distance and dug the pit deep enough.
After he finished doing all this, the medicine was still warm and ready to drink. Duoshou took the bowl of medicine to the inner room and gave it to Fang Chengxian.
Fang Chengxian, who was reading under the lamp inside the room, heard the noise, put down his book, took the medicine bowl from Duoshou's hand, and drank the whole bowl of medicine in one gulp.
"My lord, would you like some honey to mask the smell? The old lady sent over a porcelain jar of honey today, and I think it's quite good."
Fang Chengxian didn't say anything. It was just a medicinal soup. He had drunk countless medicinal soups since he was a child. He wasn't a little kid anymore. What use was even the best honey?
He shook his head and waved for Duoshou to leave.
Duoshou was the most obedient servant of the time. Seeing that his master had no further instructions, he went forward to close the window and left.
Fang Chengxian didn't pick up his book again. Instead, he was thinking about what Li's father had said at the Li family yesterday: "How can one force fate?"
Today, when Fang Chengxian went to pay his respects to the old lady of the Fang family in her courtyard, the old lady kept saying that Fang Chengxian should, for the sake of the Fang family, find a good woman to marry into the family so that someone can take care of him and raise his half-brother properly.
But can you say that the old lady didn't love Fang Chengxian?
That's not quite true. After all, whenever the old lady receives something good, she always sends a portion to Fang Chengxian, just like the honey that Duoshou received today.
As Fang Chengxian himself said, he must have loved him, but they could only abandon him for the time being because they couldn't see any hope that he could continue to live for a long time.
Otherwise, as the eldest son of the Fang family, even if he was sickly, who would dare to scheme against his diet and poison his food year after year?
Fang Chengxian started when he was eleven or twelve years old. He first took over the shops and land of his deceased mother, and managed them quite well. Then, his father entrusted Fang Chengxian with the management of some of the Fang family's shops and land.
Until Fang Chengxian was seventeen or eighteen years old, he managed the vast majority of the Fang family's wealth.
This huge Fang family, with over a hundred people, all survived thanks to Fang Chengxian's clever and resourceful management of the family assets.
Even so, if it weren't for the fact that Mr. Fang and Mrs. Fang implied in their words that Fang Chengxian was destined to die young and that they only used him as a tool to make money, and that they secretly poisoned him in collusion with the steward and cook, then Mr. Fang and Mrs. Fang would also be at fault!
Fang Chengxian figured out the reasons in just a few days.
When a person sets aside their emotions and rationally observes from the outside, they are most likely to take action against those who are the beneficiaries of the situation.
The main hall of the Li family residence.
Led by the three Li siblings, the others also expressed their opinions. After listening to the eldest brother Li's words, they realized that since alcohol had such an important role, their family should not have any direct interest in it. Therefore, they decided to first inform the Bad People and see if they had anyone with influence in the Imperial Medical Bureau.
For example, last time Li San Niang suspected that Dr. Sun Chengren, who seemed to hold opposing views to Dr. Gao's camp, was actually one of the Bad Guys' own people.
After discussing the matter, Li San Niang took out two pages of paper and handed them to her mother. Her mother took them with surprise, and then Li San Niang spoke: "Didn't I say last time that I wanted to establish an alliance? In order to help the women in Shi Hua Lou in Pingkang Ward to be included in the secret register, I have taken the time these past two days to write a plan. Mother, please take a look at it for me."
Instead of looking directly at the plan that Li San Niang had mentioned, Li's mother continued to look at Li San Niang with a questioning gaze.
"Mother, take a look first, and then we'll talk."
No one expected that Li San Niang would write a plan and let Li's mother see it first. Although Li's mother held the highest position in the entire Li family, and sometimes even Li's father had to take a backseat, in a patriarchal society, even if the highest ruler, the emperor, was a woman, the patriarchal system still prevailed.
Therefore, in a family, no matter how big or small, matters should first be reported to the paternal elders, such as the grandfather or the father.
In the Fang family, where Fang Chengxian lived, although his grandmother was the most senior member of the family and filial piety was the top priority, if Fang's father made a decision about something, the old lady of the Fang family would generally not object, because Fang's father was the pillar of the family and the one in charge of power.
Similarly, in the Li family, the reason why Li's mother was respected by Li's father was primarily because she had accompanied him through the most difficult times and had given him a son and a daughter. This was Li's mother's contribution to Li's father. However, it was also because Li's father wanted to give Li's mother this respect. The necessary and sufficient condition was that Li's father himself was willing to respect Li's mother and give her this status.
To put it bluntly, Li's father is the one in charge of the Li family.
Therefore, when Li San Niang handed the plan to her mother first and asked her to take a look, the others found it a bit strange.
Logically speaking, even if the plan written by Li San Niang was unrelated to Li's father, it should have been given to him first, and then given to Li's mother in detail after he had read it.
However, besides being the most beloved daughter of the Li family, Li San Niang was also a talented and qualified young woman who was about to enter the Medical Alliance. Therefore, with these two factors combined, everyone was only surprised by Li San Niang's behavior. Since Li's father did not speak, no one else said anything.
Li's mother glanced at Li's father, and after seeing him nod slightly, she picked up the two pieces of paper and began to examine them carefully.
It was just two pieces of paper, and not much was written on them. Li San Niang only briefly wrote that she would establish a Women's Assistance Association and appoint Li's mother as the first president to manage all matters of the association.
Firstly, because Li's mother is Li San Niang's biological mother, she can better implement Li San Niang's will;
Secondly, Li San Niang only wants to focus on being a doctor, treating and healing people, rather than becoming an administrator. A person's energy is limited; when you devote a lot of energy to one area, you won't have time or energy for others, which contradicts Li San Niang's original intention. Therefore, Li San Niang needs her mother's help.
Thirdly, the starting point of this alliance is to start with midwives and follow the path of coming from the masses and going back to the masses. This is the best way to carry out actions to help women. Therefore, Li's mother, who is a midwife herself, is the most suitable.
With a president, there naturally needs to be directors, and Sister-in-law Li and Sister-in-law Li are the best helpers.
However, Li San Niang also wrote in the plan that it would be best to invite some noble ladies from high-ranking families to serve as honorary directors if there was an opportunity in the future, as this would be beneficial to the development of the alliance.
Li San Niang also wrote down the original intention of establishing this alliance, which was to better and more conveniently help women with medical treatment and childbirth, hoping to enable more women to receive medical assistance and to help them get through the childbirth period with greater assurance.
Li San Niang was willing to do it not for fame or fortune, but simply because she genuinely wanted to help people.
Because she was able to do it, she did it.
It's that simple.
The alliance's purpose is to help women through the alliance.
Afterwards, through proper adjustments and collaborations, such as the surgical aseptic awareness that Li San Niang previously taught to the doctors in the alliance, there will inevitably be a large demand for items such as masks, surgical gowns, head coverings, and cloths. Wouldn't this provide jobs for the women? Or, the use of outer garments that need to be washed, boiled, and dried would also be considered jobs.
With such mutual assistance and support, sustainable development can be achieved, and the alliance can grow healthily, expanding from Chang'an to the capital region and even the entire Tang Dynasty.
Of course, establishing an alliance, especially one primarily focused on helping others, involves much more than just this. The location of the alliance's meetings, the source of funding, and how to handle unforeseen circumstances all need to be discussed and decided upon.
Furthermore, in order to avoid arousing resentment among all the doctors and others, the assistance provided to the women of Pingkangfang had to be kept underground and handled secretly.
Li Sanniang initially only wrote down some basic principles, and there will inevitably be additions and subtractions later. She had also spoken with Mr. Bu Ke from the Bad Guys, and it is estimated that Mr. Bu Ke will give her an answer in the next few days as to whether the women of Shihualou can be rescued.
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