22 Chapter 22
◎Lazy man's disease? ◎
The supply problem for the Northern Goods Company could be temporarily solved by using Tunken as a transit warehouse. Li Hengqing decided not to waste time arguing with Captain Cen and simply send the urgently needed goods as compensation next time. Tunken wasn't far away, but purchasing goods from the city did require some preparation, so this seemed appropriate.
Road construction would take some time, but after that, there would be no need to worry about transportation. As for expanding her business, the shops in Yunzhou City refused to rent to her, so Li Hengqing simply asked her agents to look at shops in other nearby cities. Since she already had a settlement as a transit point, other nearby towns could be considered. One couldn't put all their eggs in one basket, Yunzhou City.
Li Hengqing planned to use the Beihuohang signboard for all the expanded stores, making the name well-known and forming a tacit brand effect, which would facilitate expansion to other places in the future.
She had just finished writing her reply when Lang Yue came to report: "Master Qiqige wants to see you."
Today, Qiqige wore semi-formal priestly attire. To be precise, she'd been wearing this attire for a long time. The mysteriously patterned animal hide complemented the ambiguous oil paint on her cheeks, a silent testament to Qiqige's ambition. The bright summer sun accentuated the freckles on the tip of her nose. She offered Li Hengqing a slightly weary smile, "Princess, thank you."
Li Hengqing studied her. It was clear that Qiqige might indeed be a gifted shaman. Her weary smile was even more mysterious than her usual quirky demeanor, like a sorcerer capable of summoning wind and rain. She knew exactly what Qiqige was talking about: "It's just a small favor. Do you think I'm going to let them bully me outside my tent?"
"But," she frowned slightly in disapproval, "we are allies, Qiqige. You can ask me for help directly."
Qiqige smiled and didn't explain further, then changed the subject: "Urigen is truly seriously ill. Eid al-Adha will definitely require a new shaman to preside over the festival."
The Eid al-Adha Festival, also known as the Harvest Festival, is one of the most important festivals on the grasslands. It's still early summer, so it's too early to say if a sick person will fully recover. But Li Hengqing didn't object.
Even if Wu Rigen could recover, she was willing to help Qi Qige and prevent the conceited great shaman from fully recovering.
"I made a bet with the others." Qiqige drank half a bowl of milk tea before her voice regained its usual bounce, her eyes curved cunningly. "Whoever can best divine the will of the heavens will preside over the Eid al-Adha."
Li Hengqing asked, "How can we verify the will?"
Qiqige: "Predict the weather."
She looked at Li Hengqing silently.
Li Hengqing called out the system in his mind: [Do you have a weather forecast function? ]
The system quickly responded: [As an intelligent system, this is a basic function, host.]
...Then why didn’t you say it before?
A quarter of an hour later, Li Hengqing handed the note written in Chinese to Qiqige.
In her opinion, the outcome was decided. After all, as a high-dimensional intelligent system, weather forecasts were definitely much more accurate than nighttime astronomical observations.
Afterwards, we'll have to go to Silver Moon Valley. Summer is the season when all kinds of seedlings are growing vigorously. Unlike last year when the fields were filled with soybeans, this year's crops are in full bloom, and some of the transplanted windbreak fruit trees are beginning to bear fruit early.
Last year's soybean harvest was a real bumper harvest, but afterwards everyone almost ate soy products to their heart's content. Oil-pressed tofu and other products were of course popular, and a lot of fermented bean curd and bean curd sheets were also made. Small-grinded soy milk is not very popular on the grassland. Li Hengqing drank a lot of it when he was on a business trip to Yunzhou. The milk tea company at Beihuohang has also recently been discussing launching a new product line of soy milk.
Just as I was thinking, Lang Yue brought in another bowl of tofu pudding drizzled with bright red chili oil. The white, almost melt-in-your-mouth tofu pudding was saturated with an orange-red hue. Chili peppers, mixed with chili seeds and preserved mustard, formed a small hillock on the surface. There were also a few golden, crispy beans and a handful of bright green chopped green onions. The slightly pungent but very appetizing aroma filled my nose.
Li Hengqing breathed a sigh of relief and scooped a spoonful into his mouth. The hot, spicy taste immediately made him break out in a thin layer of sweat even in the summer. Fortunately, beans themselves are a crop with infinite potential, otherwise he would have become a soybean hero.
*
The crops in Silvermoon Valley no longer required meticulous day-and-night care, so more manpower was devoted to digging the cellars. Last summer, the tribe was busy battling poisonous thyme, but this year, with things gradually getting back on track, the time was much more relaxed. The cellars were painted with newly tested cement and left to air dry.
These cellars will be used for the production and storage of silage. Alfalfa, barley grass, and even an almost limitless supply of daidzein will all be chopped and crushed into compacted stacks using stone mills pulled by oxen and horses, where they will be sealed and fermented until winter.
In reality, last year's black thyme infestation affected more than just the Canglang and Black Eagle tribes, but perhaps fate had its way, with Burke alone suffering the consequences. The other tribes could exchange soybean seeds from Li Hengqing for the poisonous weeds at a low price, and most were grateful, willing to sell their unskilled mature soybeans back to the Canglang tribe for virtually nothing.
That's why Beihuohang had such a wide variety of seemingly endless cheap soy products for sale, and it also contacted several local restaurants and teahouses to supply them directly, becoming a giant in the local soy product market.
Tana had already completely taken over the remnants of the Black Hawk Tribe. Even so, upon hearing that Li Hengqing was coming, she personally led Li Hengqing to inspect several silage cellars.
Perhaps it was spring fatigue, autumn fatigue, and summer naps that made everyone around them seem somewhat languid, with only a small group of herders hurrying along. Seeing Li Hengqing's curiosity, Tana smiled and explained, "Perhaps the cattle and sheep have caught a cold again. Even a minor illness shouldn't be taken lightly."
Li Hengqing nodded and said, "Then let's go and take a look."
This team of veterinarians was actually selected from herders who were already relatively skilled in treating livestock. After a brief post-winter training, they were now able to handle most common situations. The livestock loss rate in the Silver Moon Valley area was significantly lower than in previous years. Li Hengqing watched them from afar as they treated a cold ewe. Tana, standing beside him, exclaimed in surprise, "Is your captain not here today?"
"He has a fever, and it keeps coming back. So he stays in the hut to rest." The young man who answered smiled and wiped away the sweat from his forehead.
Li Hengqing frowned upon hearing this and turned around and said, "Go get a doctor for this captain. Remember to take the same isolation measures as when we dealt with the poisonous weeds last year."
The young man looked flattered and waved his hands quickly, saying, "The captain said he's fine. Thank you Khatun for your concern. We grassland people are not so squeamish—"
"This is an order." Li Hengqing's tone hardened and he said firmly, "Go now."
The guards rarely saw Li Hengqing, who was always gentle to others, show such an expression, so they hurriedly ran to find a doctor to treat the bedridden veterinarian.
However, that cold, hard expression only lasted a moment, quickly returning to his usual gentle demeanor. Someone in the veterinary team had been slacking off at the end of the line for a while. He touched his forehead and said, "I feel a little cold, and my forehead is a little hot."
His companion jokingly said, "Your forehead is still hot from the sun."
"That's right, are you going to try to be sneaky in front of the Khatun too?"
The lazy man soon fell silent, his face drained slightly of color, and he leaned over to rub his knees.
Li Hengqing said, "You should go see a doctor later."
Then she turned around and left with Tana. It was not until they reached Tana's hut that she slightly relaxed her facial muscles, which were tense from smiling, and reached out her hand expressionlessly to rub her temples.
Tana reached out and massaged her shoulders affectionately with a gentle force, waiting for Li Hengqing to rest well before speaking.
Li Hengqing finally closed his eyes and rested for about half an hour. He opened his eyes and said slowly, "Chief Tana, please have someone investigate the recent livestock miscarriages. Who had direct contact with these miscarriages and what happened to them? Include anyone with fever symptoms and report them. If you find any who concealed the information, you can handle it."
"The princess can also look at the stars?" Tana gave a look, signaling the people around her to do it, and took over the conversation lightly.
"I'm afraid this is a plague," said Li Hengqing.
In ancient times when epidemic prevention conditions were not so perfect, especially in the grasslands where the level of science and technology was relatively backward, any raging plague could make her previous efforts go to waste and her points collection fall short.
Animals with colds, veterinarians with recurring fevers... Li Hengqing encountered such typical symptoms repeatedly, which inevitably made him suspicious and even a little angry.
For example, brucellosis can be spread by direct contact with the amniotic fluid or aborted products of infected animals, or by consuming unboiled milk or meat of infected animals.
For livestock, infection can mean stillbirth, miscarriage, or even loss of fertility, which is undoubtedly a huge blow to grasslands where animal husbandry is the fundamental industry.
For herders, the symptoms often include recurring fever, joint damage, and prolonged discomfort that can lead to laziness, often referred to as "lazy man's disease." This is a chronic condition that is difficult to cure under current conditions and, in more severe cases, can even lead to disability.
"It's best to take precautions before something happens." Tana did not question Li Hengqing, but said softly.
"Yeah." Li Hengqing always enjoyed talking to Tana. Although she was younger, she was a gentle and direct woman in private. Although her method of eliminating her brother was somewhat cruel, iron-blooded tactics were also an indispensable quality of politicians throughout history.
She continued, "The milk must be boiled, and all future miscarriages must be disinfected with lime and disposed of uniformly. I'll give you the details later, and we'll roll it out starting with Silvermoon Valley. Chief Tana, I'm going to trouble you with this."
When Tana heard the word "chief," she curved her eyes and smiled sweetly, "It's my honor to serve the princess."
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