Chapter 398 A Dilapidated Taoist Temple in the Tang Dynasty: The Little Female Taoist Priest 6
After Jiang Yue came out of the house, she nodded and said, "It should be fine now. The rest depends on the midwife."
"Then leave the rest to me."
"Thank you, thank you," the pregnant woman's family members said repeatedly.
Just in case, Jiang Yue didn't go back. During labor, she found a place to sit and drink tea. The midwife, Wang, was quite skilled and delivered the baby smoothly. After the baby was born safely, Jiang Yue went back to her room to sleep. The next morning, after breakfast, she checked on the pregnant woman and, after confirming that everything was fine, Jiang Yue said goodbye.
The host family originally wanted to hire an oxcart to take Jiang Yue back, but Jiang Yue refused and said she would walk slowly herself. She felt that walking was much faster than using an oxcart, mainly because the oxcart was uncomfortable and the road was very bumpy. After arriving home, she petted the cat for a while, and since she hadn't slept well the night before, she took a nap. When she woke up, it was already afternoon.
For the next few days, no one came looking for Jiang Yue late at night. This period of the Lunar New Year was a rather novel experience for Jiang Yue, as it was the first time in her life that she had ever learned how Taoism celebrated the Spring Festival.
After the first month of the lunar calendar, Jiang Yue had been in this world for a full year. On the night of the Lantern Festival, Jiang Yue went to Chang'an to take a look. She had never seen so many people since she came to this world. The streets were lined with stalls. Jiang Yue bought a lot of food and wandered around until she arrived at the place where the protagonist ran an 'auction house'. Jiang Yue could only look at this place; she was not qualified to go in.
Especially after sensing the guards lurking in the shadows, Jiang Yue didn't linger any longer. According to the plot, this should be the first auction. Li Shimin, Empress Zhangsun, and most of the powerful figures of the Tang Dynasty were probably present. It seemed that glass was being auctioned today, and they had apparently made several million.
After wandering around for most of the night, Jiang Yue looked at a lot of things, and not only did she look, she also bought some nice clothes, jewelry, and local delicacies.
Jiang Yue also had Bai Ze record a video of the scene, and she planned to draw it in her spare time so that future archaeologists could know what this era was like, instead of guessing based on descriptions in books.
After playing until late at night, Jiang Yue went back to the Taoist temple to sleep. She woke up late the next day and punished herself by copying the scriptures several times. She didn't cook lunch, but took pictures of the food she bought yesterday and ate it. In the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, so Jiang Yue decided to go for a walk. She strolled along the path near the Taoist temple and checked the area around the temple for any damage.
After the inspection, Jiang Yue returned to the Taoist temple. Once back in her room, she began copying scriptures. As darkness fell, she stopped writing, as the oil lamp was too dim and could easily hurt her eyes. After putting down her pen, she checked the time and began her evening prayers. After finishing her prayers, she started making dinner. There wasn't much to eat this time of year, so she just grabbed a box of fruit from her spatial storage and ate it.
After the Lantern Festival, time passed much faster, and the situation developed somewhat more quickly. The biggest event was that the protagonist was granted a title of nobility, receiving a reward of 1,200 mu of land and a fief of 1,000 households. Originally, this had nothing to do with Jiang Yue, but since this 1,000 mu of land was located nearby, the 1,000 households in the surrounding area all became residents within the fief.
What does this mean? For example, if the protagonist, the founding county marquis, has a fief of one thousand households, he has the right to levy taxes on these one thousand households and use this as one of his sources of income. In other words, the owner of a fief of one thousand households can not only enjoy the taxes paid by these households, but also control their labor and other affairs.
Jiang Yue knew the inside story, so she remained relatively calm. The people who were assigned to this area were terrified. If they encountered an absurd person, their lives would be over. It was almost time for spring plowing, and everyone was fattening up at home. Then suddenly they were dragged away to build mansions. Who could stand that?
When they arrived, everyone was grumbling and complaining, but after only a few days, they started calling on their friends to join in building the house. The reason was that the protagonist provided food, money, and meat. The transmigrator protagonist still had some conscience. Don't think these things are cheap. In those days, conscripted laborers brought their own food. Moreover, the protagonist paid them money, provided food, and even meat. Although most of it was offal, it tasted delicious when cooked according to the protagonist's recipe.
Jiang Yue suddenly remembered a question on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) from later generations: If people performing corvée labor in ancient times were only provided with plain porridge and pickled vegetables, would they rebel? One answer below made a good point: When Emperor Yang of Sui was digging the Grand Canal, if he had been able to provide the laborers with plain porridge and pickled vegetables for every meal... believe it or not, he could have dug the Grand Canal all the way to Siberia without any problem!
Originally, building the house had nothing to do with Jiang Yue. She was a properly registered Taoist priest and was not required to perform corvée labor. However, after a month of building the house, the protagonist brought his sisters to check on the progress. Unexpectedly, the children played a bit too wildly, and it was a bit cold at night. As a result, they developed fevers that night without her noticing.
As the protagonist, he could easily hire even the best doctors, but the doctors were too far away to arrive in time. So, he invited all the doctors in the surrounding area. Jiang Yue was quite well-known in the neighborhood and had received many recommendations. After all, the conscripted laborers were all poor people, and Jiang Yue was the person they sought the most for medical treatment.
So, just as it was getting close to bedtime, there was another knock on the door of the Taoist temple. Jiang Yue opened the door and saw a military officer. She quickly saluted him and asked, "May I ask what business you have with me, sir?"
The other party clearly did not know that Jiang Yue was a woman. He was stunned for a moment before speaking: "Our Marquis's sister has a fever. We have heard that you are a highly skilled doctor. Please come with me."
"Wait a moment, I'll change my clothes and get something."
"Okay, I'll wait for you at the door, Master. Please hurry."
Jiang Yue changed her clothes, slung her medicine box over her shoulder, and set off. The soldier who came to deliver the message after descending the mountain rode a horse. He assumed that since she was a male Taoist priest, they could simply share a horse. However, he was caught off guard because Jiang Yue was a female Taoist priest. After a moment of silence, the soldier asked, "Taoist priest, can you ride a horse?"
"I rode a donkey when I was young, but I've never ridden a horse."
The soldiers were at a loss. Jiang Yue said, "Lord Marquis, you didn't just call me a doctor, did you? Sir, go back and report first. I know someone in my village. Let's borrow an oxcart and go there. It'll be faster than me walking."
"It's alright, I'll go with you. Someone has already gone to fetch the other doctors."
So Jiang Yue went to the village chief's house to borrow an oxcart. After learning what had happened, the village chief borrowed a mule instead. The mule was a little faster than the oxcart, but neither the oxcart nor the mule was as fast as someone riding a horse. When Jiang Yue arrived, many doctors from the surrounding villages had arrived. But how good could the doctors in the village be? Plus, with the Marquis watching, wasn't the pressure too much? No one dared to prescribe anything.
When Jiang Yue arrived, a group of people were still discussing things. Upon seeing Jiang Yue, they felt as if a savior had come, since they had all consulted Jiang Yue about medical skills to some extent.
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