Chapter 678, Loyalty Archway
Because of hiring Ge Xun, Daohua was very happy all the way back to Taohua Village.
Looking at his cheerful apprentice, Gu Jian was speechless, but he still agreed with the girl's vision. He had communicated with Ge Xun in the past few days, and this man did have some attainments in medical skills.
He knew very well the role of a good doctor for the injured. He was also worried when Ye Yang went to the northern border. After sending the person over, he and his apprentice would feel more at ease with him taking care of him.
In early March, the group returned to Taohua Village. As soon as they came back, Daohua took Ge Xun to visit her pharmacy.
The pharmacy was newly built. As more and more pharmaceutical equipment was added, Gu Jian's pharmacy became a little small, so Daohua built a large pharmacy in the village.
Looking at the pharmacy filled with glass instruments he had never seen before, Ge Xun was a little overwhelmed: "Miss Yan, were the medicines you gave me before made with these things?"
Daohua smiled and nodded. "Yes, don't be fooled by the variety of these instruments. They're actually not complicated to use. You'll learn them after a little practice. The real difficulty lies in the experimental research of the medicine formula."
Because the Sun family's fleet was going to the north at the end of March, Daohua also wanted Ge Xun to go to the northern border earlier, so she told him so that he could be prepared. Then she stayed in the pharmacy to make medicine. She wanted to make more medicine to send to Xiao Yeyang and his two brothers.
At the same time, in the capital, the imperial palace.
Because the Eighth Prince fled to the northern border and captured three border cities, even though Xia Teng's army later recaptured one city, two cities were still in the hands of the Eighth Prince. With the city defenses and the alliance with the Tatars, the war in the northern border was deadlocked.
During this period, there were no major wars in the northern border, but small wars continued.
The hundreds of thousands of troops at the border cannot withdraw, nor can they not withdraw.
The emperor looked at the border battle report in anger and threw the memorial to the ground.
The officials who were called in to discuss matters all lowered their heads and dared not utter a word.
The Eight Kings' intention was very clear, which was to delay time. With an army of hundreds of thousands, the amount of food consumed every day was an astronomical figure. After a long time, the imperial court would definitely not be able to hold on.
The atmosphere in the hall was extremely tense. Finally, Prime Minister Yang Chenghua stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, grain was collected from various provinces last year, so the soldiers are not short of food for now. However, many soldiers have been injured in the battles, both large and small. Now, the northern border is in urgent need of life-saving medicinal herbs."
The emperor rubbed his swollen forehead. It was easy to collect grain, but medicinal herbs were precious and rare, and not many people grew them. Even if he wanted to order their collection, he was afraid that he would not be able to collect much.
Moreover, medicine is much more expensive than food.
Although the national treasury has been enriched a lot in the past two years due to the discovery of two gold mines in Ningmen Prefecture, the war has consumed too much resources and there is not much left in the national treasury now. It is impossible to use all of it to buy medicinal materials.
"What good ideas do you have?"
Yang Chenghua knew that the treasury was not well-off, and he also understood the emperor's intention. Looking at his colleagues who were silent, he sighed. This time he wanted to play the villain again: "Your Majesty, when the country is in trouble, every citizen has a responsibility. I think we can encourage drug dealers to donate."
If this news gets out, he's afraid that all the major pharmaceutical dealers will hate him to death.
Hearing this, the emperor lowered his eyes and pondered. The idea was a good one, but the major drug dealers were backed by wealthy families and were very slippery. In the end, he might not be able to obtain many medicinal materials.
Less is better than nothing.
The emperor originally wanted to appoint Prince Jiang of Cheng'en Mansion to do this. The Jiang family is the head of the aristocratic families. If the Jiang family comes forward, the other aristocratic families will definitely give them some face.
However, when he went to court the next day, Prince Jiang, who had received the news in advance, actually took sick leave.
The emperor looked at the empty seat where Jiang Zhengqing was supposed to be standing, and his dissatisfaction with the Jiang family reached its peak.
Over the years, the Jiang family has enjoyed the supreme honor brought by the emperor's uncle's family, but has never fulfilled their corresponding obligations. On the contrary, they have often opposed him and hindered him everywhere.
Good, very good!
Finally, the emperor weighed the pros and cons and appointed Wu Jingyi from the Five Military Commandery to handle the matter.
Because of Dongli and Caiju, Gu Jian knew the news from the capital.
Dong Li looked at Gu Jian hesitantly, but finally couldn't help but say: "Old Master, the soldiers in the Northern Frontier are in urgent need of medicinal materials. That...that..."
Gu Jian raised his eyes and glanced at him: "What is that?"
Dongli said with a stiff face, "Miss Yan seems to have a lot of medicinal herbs." Having said that, he didn't dare to say anything else.
The old man is very protective of his son. If he covets Miss Yan's things, he's courting death!
Gu Jian snorted and said nothing, but after Daohua sent Ge Xun and his nephew to the ship in the northern border, he still mentioned the matter casually.
As for whether his apprentice would donate or not, he had no intention of interfering at all.
After Daohua found out, her mind raced, and she looked at Gu Jian with a bit of excitement: "Master, I heard that if you donate something to the court, you will be personally commended by the emperor. Is this true?"
Gu Jian glanced at his apprentice and asked curiously, "Do you really want to be commended by the emperor?"
Daohua nodded, "Of course." He paused, "You also know that the Yan family doesn't have much background. The emperor's commendation can at least improve the Yan family's reputation among the people and officials."
Gu Jian understood what his disciple meant. To be honest, he was a little worried about marrying his disciple to Ye Yang. The good relationship between the two was one thing, but the difference in their family backgrounds was another. It would be best if the gap between the two families could be narrowed.
Needless to say, improving reputation is really the fastest shortcut.
"You have done something beneficial to the court, so you will naturally be commended."
Daohua asked again: "Master, how much do you think I should donate? It would be best if it could make the emperor reward the Yan family with a memorial archway!" She was afraid that too small a reward would be useless.
Hearing this, Dongli and Caiju both looked over.
The archway is not an ordinary reward, and Miss Yan really dared to ask for it.
Gu Jian looked at his apprentice silently, and after a while he asked, "How much can you donate?"
Daohua calculated silently and stretched out his hand to make the number "two".
Before Gu Jian could answer, Dong Li was the first to shake his head and said, "Twenty thousand shi is too little. It's not enough to get the imperial memorial archway."
Daohua glanced at him sideways and said, "Who are you looking down on? What do you mean by 20,000 dan? It's 200,000 dan." Then, she looked at Gu Jian eagerly and said, "Master, is that enough? If not, I can add some more grain."
Gu Jian stared at Daohua blankly, took a deep breath, and asked doubtfully, "Do you really have 200,000 stones of medicinal herbs?"
Daohua nodded: "Of course, we have all kinds of common medicines. Is that enough? If not..."
Gu Jian interrupted Daohua directly. His apprentice was too rich, and his heart couldn't bear it: "That's enough."
Daohua's expression lit up with joy, and she said quickly, "Then I'll go tell Yan Shouhou to prepare the herbs right away!"
Watching his apprentice run away, Gu Jian looked at Dongli and Caiju, who were still in shock, and said, "I'll write to Xiaowu myself this time."
In exchange for two hundred thousand stones of medicinal materials, Xiaowu must give the Yan family a memorial archway.
Dongli used expedited communication methods, and Gu Jian's letter arrived on the emperor's desk a few days later.
Upon seeing the Yan family donate 200,000 dan of medicinal herbs, the emperor stood up suddenly, startling Eunuch An and Yang Chenghua and Wu Jingyi who came to discuss state affairs.
The emperor walked around excitedly for several times before slowly calming down.
His uncle was truly his lucky star. Wu Jingyi had spent so long collecting tens of thousands of stones of medicinal materials, but his uncle gave him 200,000 stones at once.
As for the Yan family who donated the medicinal materials.
Two hundred thousand stones of medicinal materials were donated when the court was in urgent need. Even if my uncle didn't mention it, he would have rewarded him well.
The emperor sat back on the throne and looked at Yang Chenghua and Wu Jingyi and said, "Yan Zhigao, the prefect of Ningmen Prefecture, donated 200,000 dan of medicinal herbs. What do you think, how should I reward him?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Chenghua and Wu Jingyi were surprised at first, and then their faces were filled with joy.
With these 200,000 stones of medicinal materials, the medicine needs of the soldiers at the border can be met.
The emperor didn't wait for the two to reply. He asked Eunuch An to prepare pen and ink, and then wrote the word "loyalty and righteousness": "The Yan family donated medicinal materials when the court was in trouble. They are a family of loyalty and righteousness. I specially grant them a loyalty archway."
(End of this chapter)
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