Lu Tu explained to Zhang Miao in detail everything from temperature and humidity to how to extract and cultivate cowpox.
Zhang Miao, as expected of a veteran doctor who had immersed himself in medicine for decades, could understand the general steps just by listening to them, and even made inferences from them.
However, the most difficult aspect is that the temperature has never been accurately estimated.
Lu Tu knew it was 25 degrees Celsius, but it was difficult to explain this 25 degrees Celsius to Zhang Miao.
In the end, the only solution was the most basic one: Lü Tu had Ban Yingying boil a pot of water, and when it was about the right temperature, Zhang Miao felt it. This allowed him to roughly understand the temperature.
After understanding all the steps, Zhang Miao recorded everything.
"Sir, are you saying that this kind of cultivation takes more than 50 days?"
"Oh no, 50 days is a different matter. Smallpox only needs to be cultured for a few days."
Zhang Miao was greatly surprised: "Could there be something even more difficult to cultivate than the cowpox virus? What could it be?"
The importance of penicillin far outweighs that of the smallpox vaccine. Lü Tu couldn't tell Zhang Miao that if Zhang Miao were to spread this, Zhang Miao might not live much longer.
After all, penicillin is practically a magic pill in the current Great Yu Dynasty. If the high-ranking officials and generals in the court knew about it, would ordinary people still want to have it? Dream on!
Lu Tu could only make up an excuse: "That's also a type of smallpox vaccine, but I want to cultivate it for a longer period of time to test its effectiveness."
Zhang Miao then said with relief, "I see. To learn medicine, one must do as many experiments as you do, sir. I have benefited greatly from this experience and wish to follow Lord Lü from now on, constantly learning and reflecting. Please grant me your permission!"
He bowed to Lü Tu again, but Lü Tu was too lazy to help him up: "Alright, it's approved! You can stay in the village from now on, and I'll pay you wages."
"My lord, I don't need wages. The prescription you taught me is enough to earn me a place on my family's genealogy. With such kindness, why would I need wages?"
Seeing how honest he was, Lu Tu thought it made sense. He asked, "Which Chinese man can resist the temptation of having a separate family genealogy?"
He took out the syringe that Hu Delu had made, drew some smallpox vaccine, and then used the distilled water he had prepared beforehand to start making saline solution.
Zhang Miao also learned this skill. Lü Tu deliberately taught it to him, since the village was growing larger and larger, and Zhang Miao had expressed his desire to stay there for a long time. In the future, he would teach these tasks to Lü Tu, who was a professional, since Lü Tu didn't have that much time to treat the villagers.
After noting down the scene of Lü Tu mixing smallpox vaccine with saline solution, Zhang Miao asked a few key questions, such as whether this stuff could be given directly to patients.
After thinking for a moment, Lü Tu realized that he could not explain this to Zhang Miao: once the vaccine is ingested orally, it will enter the stomach and be broken down by the acidic gastric juices.
Once this topic is discussed, given Zhang Miao's thirst for knowledge, he could probably talk for three days and three nights without finishing, which would be incredibly annoying.
So Lu Tu only replied with one sentence: "No!"
Zhang Miao then wrote two words on the booklet: "Forbidden!"
After making a vial of smallpox vaccine, Lü Tu led him out of the warehouse and towards the refugee settlement outside the village. There were no more people with smallpox in the village now, only the dozen or so people who had been found here before, and it was unknown how many were still alive.
When Lü Tu brought Zhang Miao to the shack, they were surprised to find that the dozen or so smallpox patients from before were still alive, although their condition was not very optimistic.
Upon seeing Lü Tu, the patients wanted to rise and pay their respects, but Lü Tu stopped them, saying, "No need for formalities. I'm here today to try out the medicine for you; perhaps it can save you."
Upon hearing that the medicine was being tested and that there was hope, everyone burst into tears, forcing themselves to prostrate themselves on the ground and kowtow to Lü Tu: "Thank you, sir! You are truly a living bodhisattva!"
"I will never forget your life-saving grace!"
Lu Tu was also human and naturally had selfish motives. To him, these people were just one of the thousands of refugees. There had been a rebellion among them before, which killed more than a dozen of his soldiers.
Although it had nothing to do with them, Lu Tu subconsciously rejected them, which is why he had forgotten about them here for so long and hadn't given them the medicine to test immediately.
Fortunately, Zhang Miao's thirst for knowledge and Lü Tu's desire to transfer his courage to him gave them a chance to live.
Zhang Miao knew it was time for him to speak up; he couldn't let Lü Tu continue to be the bad guy, after all, he had received Lü Tu's favor.
"To be honest with you, this medicine can't guarantee it will cure you; it all depends on your fate."
These people were all refugees who had fled from Wuchuan City, so they naturally recognized Zhang Miao. When they saw that Zhang Miao had said this, they all nodded silently.
After all, they had long accepted the fact that they were going to die soon. At this point, even if there was only a sliver of a chance to live, they were willing to try. Even ants try to survive, let alone humans.
The crowd kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Lord Lü! Thank you, Doctor Zhang!"
Lu Tu made Zhang Miao stand aside, since Zhang Miao was not like himself, having already been infected with smallpox once and developed antibodies.
Smallpox was still very dangerous for someone as old as Zhang Miao.
Zhang Miao was greatly shocked to see Lü Tu disregarding the festering skin of the patients and disregarding any disgust as he stepped forward to lift up their sleeves.
A sense of reverence arose spontaneously, and when others saw this scene, they were immediately filled with unbearable shame.
Sobbing, they said, "Thank you so much, sir. We are so unworthy to have you deign to treat our illnesses personally."
Lu Tu's face hardened as he said, "Shut up, you're distracting me!"
Everyone immediately fell silent. While injecting the smallpox patient, Lü Tu explained to Zhang Miao. As an experienced traditional Chinese medicine doctor, Zhang Miao naturally knew the distribution of blood vessels, and he learned this aspect very quickly.
Before long, Lü Tu had injected more than a dozen people, since the syringes made by Hu Delu were large enough to hold the amount of vaccine for about 20 people at a time.
After doing all this, Lü Tu stood up and said, "I will not let you into the village until you are well. Don't blame me for that."
“I understand! Going into the village will only spread the infection to more people.”
Lu Tu nodded: "Good that you understand. Let me tell you, my medicine has been proven to cure smallpox, but it also depends on your own fate."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up instantly. Lü Tu was giving them enough hope, because once a person's heart is dead, even lying at home all day will cause problems.
And as long as they can see hope of survival, their chances of survival will be much greater; this is the power of human will.
During this process, Zhang Miao was filled with admiration. He was surprised to find that he had underestimated Lü Tu before. He never thought that this tall and mighty captain had a character that was even more outstanding than his appearance. This made him even more determined to stay here!
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