Well, a wheelbarrow is easy to make. All you need is wood, and the rest is manual labor.
There were carpenters on the dragon boat. These carpenters were all boat builders, and a mere cart was an easy task for them.
The lives of the indigenous people may seem backward and barbaric, but they are actually quite rich. The scenes of them singing and dancing around the campfire at night are particularly lively.
What made Zhao Li even more envious was the friendship among the natives, because this tribal cluster life made them simple and without too many scheming.
Unlike the prosperous and civilized Song Dynasty, where everyone vie for fame and fortune and schemes against each other, life here is much simpler, with people working from sunrise to sunset.
They planted, hunted, and fished, and everything they did was done collectively, truly sharing the same clothes and food.
Beside the campfire, Zhao Li looked at the natives singing and dancing and said, "I'm a little envious of them. Look how simple and happy their lives are."
Pan Bufeng looked at him strangely: "Are you bewitched by that chief's daughter, Gali?"
Zhao Li smiled and didn't deny it: "It's not entirely because of this. I just think their lives are simple. If it weren't for the mission I'm carrying, I really want to stay here."
Pan Bufeng was shocked. "You're not serious, are you? What's so good about this place? There's nothing here. To put it bluntly, there's no medicine to cure any illness here."
What is a crow's mouth? It was perfectly embodied in Pan Bufeng. As soon as he finished speaking, a girl sitting by the campfire fell to the ground.
Everyone was shocked, and the natives were also in a panic. They were mumbling something and gathered around the girl.
The girl looked to be eight or nine years old, with her eyes tightly closed and her face pale.
There was a clanging of bells, and the natives made way. The tribal shaman arrived, his body adorned with jingling rings and various accessories designed to ward off evil. He held a wooden cane and spread out among the crowd. The natives placed their hopes on the shaman.
The wizard touched the girl's body and felt it burning hot. It must be a high fever caused by some bacteria or virus.
Not here, even in the Song Dynasty, the average life expectancy at this time was only in the 30s. A flu outbreak could kill many people, and if it were a disease like the plague, the death toll would be even higher.
The Song Dynasty still had doctors. While the natives had some herbal remedies, they were only superficial. Usually, a wizard would perform a spell, and the patient would rely on their own resistance.
But the indigenous people all believed that witchcraft cured the disease, and if it didn't, it was just a coincidence. If someone wanted to be taken away, the witch doctor couldn't do anything.
The wizard touched the girl's forehead and took off something hanging from his waist. It was a bottle. The wizard poured some liquid from the bottle into his hands, then sprinkled the liquid on the girl and jumped away.
Then the natives joined in the dance, muttering something as they went along, praying to God for protection and for the wizard's magic to drive away the disease.
Zhao Li frowned. This definitely wouldn't work. If this continued, the girl would surely die.
Pan Bufeng, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but say, "This isn't right. This isn't a cure. This girl is going to die. Old Zhao, think of a solution."
Zhao Li waved his hand and said to his men, "Bring the ship's doctor here."
Soon, the doctor came with a medicine box on his back. The natives were still jumping up and down, and Zhao Li led the doctor over.
When the messenger arrived, the natives spontaneously made way for him, and even the wizard stopped dancing.
Honestly, the wizard wasn't sure what to do. This situation was common in the tribe, with only one out of ten surviving, and most eventually dying.
Zhao Li parted the crowd and picked up the girl himself. The ship's doctor, carrying a medicine box, first felt the girl's pulse. Zhao Li asked anxiously, "How is it?"
The ship's doctor stroked his beard. "He's caught a cold. We'll do our best. It's just that we're not familiar with plants, so we can't make medicine. We don't have much on board."
"Saving people is important, hurry up!" Zhao Li ordered.
The ship's doctor didn't dare to neglect the matter. He hurriedly wrote a prescription and handed it to his medicine boy: "Go back to the ship and get the medicine according to this prescription."
The medicine boy took the prescription and smoked a cigarette. The doctor opened the medicine box and took out the silver needle. Then he took out a candle from the medicine box, took out a tinder to light the candle, and warmed the silver needle over the candle flame to disinfect it.
Then a needle was inserted, and the natives nearby screamed loudly. With such a long needle inserted, there was no way the people would survive.
The natives immediately panicked, but fearing the divine power of the emissaries, they dared not attack, and some of them already revealed malicious expressions.
The ship's doctor was a little frightened and didn't dare give the second injection. Zhao Li said, "Don't pay any attention to them. Just continue."
The natives had already gone to call the chief, and at this time Chief Corn came over and the ship's doctor was giving him an acupuncture.
The chief was startled and looked at the girl who was pricked like a hedgehog, and asked a lot of questions.
Zhao Li stood up and glared at him: "You bastard, you know nothing, shut up!"
The chief didn't understand either, but seeing Zhao Li's angry expression, he shrank his neck and dared not say anything.
After the injection, the girl's complexion improved a little, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, and the doctor breathed a sigh of relief.
After a while, the herbalist returned with a pot in his hand. He brought the pot to the campfire, picked up a few stones, and built a stove. He placed the campfire wood in the stove, added the herbs to the pot, poured water into it, and began to boil.
The medicine boy's technique was clean and efficient. Pan Bufeng and the others cheered, "Well done! He didn't bring shame to the Song Dynasty."
Half an hour later, the medicine was ready. After filtering out the residue, the medicine boy brought the prepared soup over.
When the herbal medicine was warm, the doctor gave it to the girl. Zhao Li carried the girl into the cabin and laid her on the bed.
The so-called bed was nothing more than a woven fabric of many branches and grass. Zhao Li asked the ship's doctor beside him: "How sure are you?"
The ship's doctor said, "I'm not 100% sure, but it should be fine."
Zhao Li felt much more at ease. At this time, Jiali got the information from somewhere and rushed in in a hurry.
Jiali hugged him, and Zhao Li immediately felt embarrassed again: "Well, it's okay, everyone can go home."
Pan Bufeng shook his head and walked out muttering, "Why haven't I encountered such a good thing?"
As soon as he walked out the door, Pan Bufeng met an old lady who was carrying a clay plate with some meat on it.
Perhaps provoked by Zhao Li, Pan Bufeng blurted out, "Are you interested in finding a place to meet up tonight?"
The old lady had no teeth left. She smiled at Pan Bufeng, who was so scared that he shrank back and ran away.
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