Chapter 92 Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth
These past two days, Li San Niang has been busy practicing various sewing techniques on pork using the equipment sent by the Bad People and crafted by the palace master craftsmen. At the same time, she has been busy drawing up blueprints and tinkering with distilling spirits to obtain high-purity alcohol.
In order to better demonstrate these sewing techniques to the alliance, Li San Niang not only practiced on pork many times to get a feel for the technique and speed, but also taught these techniques to her father and second brother.
Surprisingly, Li Erlang learned the fastest!
To get a better view, Li San Niang practiced on a table in the courtyard. To avoid the glare of the sunlight, she chose a time in the afternoon when the sunlight wasn't too harsh. So, when the four little ones got out of school, they happened to run into Li Er Xiong practicing.
With a family tradition of martial arts, although only Li Dalang in the Li family is currently practicing martial arts, the others also know some martial arts skills. Of course, the four little ones can also identify some common medicinal herbs.
Father Li did not force any one or more of the four children to learn medicine, firstly because the profession does require talent;
Secondly, it also depends on whether the individual is interested in this.
Thirdly, if a doctor doesn't enter the Imperial Medical Academy, he will ultimately remain a low-ranking physician. Even someone as talented as Li's father could only gain some reputation in Chang'an by relying on his benevolence and high medical ethics, which was no easier than other professions.
Therefore, if the four juniors only have other ways to advance, then naturally they don't need to take this path.
Furthermore, judging from the current situation of the four children, Li Dalang is determined to pursue martial arts, and he will likely be given other arrangements by his elder brother in the future.
Li Erlang was the most intelligent of the four, but although he was intelligent, his ambition lay elsewhere. He loved reading more, and if he could pursue an official career in the future, it would be better than practicing medicine.
Li Sanlang is too honest and kind, and he doesn't have much talent, so he's really not suited for this path.
Li Silang was still young, and because of what happened in his childhood, no one in his family wanted to force him, and he himself wasn't very interested in it.
As for the youngest baby, Kogoro, let's wait until he grows up and can run and talk before we see.
This afternoon, Li San Niang was watching Li Erlang, who was coming home from school, and he seemed quite interested in sewing. So she took another set of instruments from another piece of pork and demonstrated it to him.
He only demonstrated the most common simple interrupted suture, and then indicated that Li Erlang could try it himself.
As a result, Li Erlang only watched it once and made it better on his first try than Li Erxiong did after watching Li Sanniang demonstrate it many times and practicing it himself many times!
What a pleasant surprise!
"Sister-in-law, if Erlang doesn't pursue an official career in the future, inheriting Father's family business is also a good option!"
Sister-in-law Li didn't quite believe Li San Niang's words. After all, in Li San Niang's eyes, none of her four nephews were bad, from the oldest to the youngest. She could praise each of them for a good fifteen minutes straight.
Seeing that Li Dasao looked unconvinced, Li Sanniang called her over to take a look. When Li Dasao came over, the difference was obvious. The two pieces of pork sewn together by Li Erxiong and Li Dalang were placed side by side, and it was clear that Li Erlang's was neater and looked more professional.
"My son is truly remarkable! He has such a great talent!"
Li Dasao's praise made Li Erlang blush. Indeed, children need more praise and recognition.
Finally, Li's father and the others suggested that it would be best to prepare more pork, as three sets of instruments would not be enough; it would be better to have ten sets so that more doctors could experience them, thus increasing their sense of participation and allowing them to appreciate the intricacies of the equipment.
Pork is easy to deal with; just pay the butcher to arrange it.
But these machines are really difficult to make. Although they don't require much technical skill, they are not something that just any craftsman can create.
"Why worry about this, little sister? Isn't this a good thing?"
"It's precisely because this weapon is difficult to use that its rarity is highlighted. Since it's both useful and rare, isn't that a perfect excuse for my aunt to make demands?"
Li San Niang looked at the cunning Li Erlang with eyes that seemed to say, "So this is the real Li Erlang." Li Erxiong, who was standing nearby, nodded in agreement with Li Erlang's words, "That's right, Erlang is right."
This weapon requires a master craftsman from the palace to forge, and it was someone the Bad Guys found for us. It's so rare; we should definitely have them beg Third Sister so we can make our demands.”
Of course, the last two pieces of pork used for practice were taken to the kitchen by Sister-in-law Li, who cut them into small pieces and stewed them. For dinner, we had stewed pork with cabbage, which was very delicious.
Li San Niang wanted to gain the approval of the surgeons at the Imperial Medical Academy, and the most suitable thing she could offer was high-purity alcohol, which has disinfecting properties and can minimize the risk of death from infection and fever after trauma.
The most suitable concentration of medical alcohol is 75%, which is the most effective for sterilizing and disinfecting wounds.
Alcohol at concentrations below this level, but above 25%, can be used to relieve fever and reduce symptoms.
However, it is difficult to produce such pure liquor using existing brewing methods. When Li Ersao gave birth, Li Sanniang applied liquor bought from the street to the episiotomy sutures she had done.
This liquor was already quite pure at this point. If Li San Niang wanted to obtain 75% alcohol with the best disinfecting effect, she would need to distill it herself.
The principle behind distilled spirits is something that high school students can understand: it utilizes the differences in the volatility of the various components in the liquor to vaporize the alcohol and then condense part of the vapor, thereby purifying it and increasing the alcohol concentration. However, the key question is how to operate it.
Li San Niang took the simple drawings she had made to Li Er Xiong and said, "Second Brother, if we want to make this tool, should we find the Bad Guys?"
"Should we go to the blacksmith's shop ourselves and find someone?"
"What is this for?" Brother Li asked, looking at the strange-looking drawing by Sister Li.
"It's the distilled spirit I talked about with Aye before. If we use the highest alcohol content liquor on the market, we can further increase the purity of the liquor and obtain alcohol that can kill evil spirits, reducing the risk of people dying from high fever caused by festering wounds."
Li San Niang pointed to the blueprints and explained the principle of distillation to Li Er Xiong. Then she looked at Li Er Xiong and waited for his answer.
"I understand what you mean. If we really go to a blacksmith to make such a tool ourselves, it will probably cause a lot of trouble."
Your blueprints are very clear, but if it were actually forged from iron, it would be quite a large piece.
Even making a pair of scissors requires registration. If you were to use such a large piece of iron, forget about it being made; the blacksmith would have to report it to the capital prefecture as soon as you arrived.
Li San Niang hadn't expected this, mainly because she had forgotten about the current regulations on metals.
"If we use a wooden barrel, it would be difficult to withstand the high temperature. Or could we try using porcelain?"
Actually, glass would be the best choice, but glass is probably more expensive than porcelain, right?
"It's hard to say. The principle you mentioned definitely requires sealing, right? Even the best craftsman would find it difficult to achieve a perfect seal."
Besides, if this thing you're talking about, called alcohol, were actually extracted and had such great uses, it wouldn't be something you, me, or our Li family could do.
It's hard to say whether there will be any disaster at that time.
"Then, second brother, what do you suggest we do?"
"Wait, let's discuss it together with our elder brother when he comes back tonight."
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