Chapter 1182 – Cutting Down Xu Pei, The First Kill of the Lords (Fifty-Two)
Jiang Pengji said, “The lives of soldiers are important. If necessary, use boiled clean water instead of pure water…”
In ancient times, medical technology was rudimentary, and people were ignorant and backward. They didn’t know that outdoor water sources were contaminated; they judged the cleanliness of water based solely on its clarity. Soldiers mostly drank river water without any concerns; boiling it first seemed like such a waste of firewood!
When cleaning wounds, soldiers often used nearby water sources from the military camp…
However, Jiang Pengji had established rules early on—she would rather spend military funds and manpower to ensure that the drinking water for her troops was boiled before consumption.
For washing wounds, they used either boiling water or distilled water, which was what Nong Qin had referred to as pure water.
The weapons used by soldiers were not clean either, many bore the stench of copper and rust. Poking these into a wound could easily cause infections.
Pure water was not easy to extract, which meant it was mostly used for large-scale dirty wounds.
For light injuries or wounds in optimistic condition, they would use boiled water, reducing the likelihood of infections and pus forming significantly.
No matter what, the processes involved required significant amounts of firewood and charcoal.
Nong Qin nodded after considering it. “I understand.”
They couldn’t make sutures on the spot, but they could use coarse hair temporarily as an emergency substitute.
This had been their coping strategy during past battles when they faced material shortages.
The only headache was the external wound medicine—
Perhaps the heavens heard Nong Qin’s troubles; the medical supplies scheduled for delivery today arrived on the third day.
However, their situation looked a bit shabby, appearing as if they had been ambushed.
Jiang Pengji couldn’t help but inquire.
The officer responsible for the delivery was in a panic, sweating profusely.
He had climbed from a regular soldier to a squad leader, then promoted to a section leader due to military achievements, and now had become a leader over a hundred men.
Though he had risen through the ranks, he never expected to converse with the lord, leaving him flustered and speechless.
Jiang Pengji noticed his embarrassment and kindly said, “Take your time.”
The officer stammered, “Re-reporting to the lord, we encountered a small wave of enemies on the road and had to detour to ensure the safety of the supplies.”
Fortunately, he was a local from Hujun, having been a traveling merchant before enlisting, familiar with all routes.
Of course, while he felt proud, he was also extremely anxious.
In his haste, he accidentally bit his tongue, and his dark face was filled with anxiety.
Though they had successfully reached the front lines, when the enemies ambushed them, they stole a cart of supplies that included two boxes with a total of two hundred rolls of sutures, a box of external wound anesthetics, and two boxes of distilled water stored in large glass bottles. The fakes were worth more than several carts of ordinary supplies!
Jiang Pengji asked, “Enemies? Whose soldiers?”
“They disguised as bandits, it’s hard to tell their origins, and their weapons bore no marks.” The officer thought for a moment and added, “But those weapons were well-made, no ordinary bandits could have those. They must be some feudal lord pretending…”
Jiang Pengji said, “Not bad, where are you serving now?”
Meeting bandits and still staying calm enough to make the best choice to protect the bulk of supplies—though it cost them time, at least they saved what they could, making the effort commendable.
Jiang Pengji was not short on scholars, but she lacked military generals. She should promote some newcomers to avoid future gaps in succession.
If this officer could maintain his composure, he might even get promoted further.
Jiang Pengji planned to overhaul the military organization once her forces stabilized and clarify military positions.
Most countries in the realm largely inherited the military system from the previous Great Xia dynasty—names and ranks often overlapped, leading to confusion and lack of clear division of labor.
Without order, chaos ensued; if left unchecked, trouble was inevitable.
This was one reason. The other was that Jiang Pengji didn’t know how to reward her followers.
She couldn’t keep using housing contracts or jewelry to settle people, could she?
Once or twice was fine, but over time, it might give people the impression of insincerity.
The officer excitedly said, “I’m currently serving under the Deputy Captain.”
“Mm, well done. Keep working hard.”
“Yes!”
This little officer left with a silly grin, floating as he exited.
They lost one cart of supplies, but the remaining medical items were still plentiful; with some frugality, they could last a while.
“Make a note of this; we’ll have Huang Bergao pay us back later!”
Jiang Pengji said with a cold smile. There was no one else in the tent to respond, only the lazy ones in the live stream knew she was talking about them.
As the “temporary secretary” for the live broadcaster, the lazy ones proudly puffed out their chests, their red scarves looking even brighter!
Meanwhile, the bandits had moved their goods away.
“What a shame there weren’t enough people; otherwise, we could have taken down that hundred men.”
With only a two hundred size transportation team, it was obvious that the goods they were escorting weren’t too precious.
But when they opened the boxes, everyone was dumbfounded.
“Women’s sewing thread?”
Picking up a carefully wrapped roll and opening it revealed… a roll of fine thread.
“Doesn’t seem like—”
Due to limited technology, the raw materials for sutures were sheep gut, tendon, or silk, and at first glance, it resembled rough embroidery thread.
“Look how neatly arranged these are; they must have some special use, right?”
If the sewing thread confused them, then the distilled water in the large glass bottles left them utterly speechless.
“Could it be harmful medicine?”
Bringing their noses close to sniff, they couldn’t detect any foul odor.
In the end, they could only put everything back where it was and send it back up the chain, all the way to Huang Song.
Just as Jiang Pengji had anticipated, the small-scale thefts and interruptions of supply lines were indeed Huang Song’s doing.
Having learned from previous defeats, he dared not send out a large army this time. Instead, he heeded the advice of his strategists, opting for guerrilla tactics. This way, he could confuse Qi Guanrang’s spies while gathering more intelligence about Hujun.
If they encountered significant prey, they could even attempt an offensive.
Huang Song employed a shameless and deceitful strategy, leading to several losses for Qi Guanrang.
Fortunately, the losses were minimal; otherwise, Qi Guanrang would have been furious.
“According to our planted spies, this seems to be medical supplies used by the military doctors treating the wounded under Liu Xi,” Cheng Jing, who had previously been to Wanzhou, mentioned, “They should be medical logistics; what a pity—”
Jiang Pengji managed her military strictly, finding it difficult to plant spies for long without being discovered.
Nevertheless, Huang Song gathered considerable information, though most of it was basic military news with little practical use.
With these spies, Huang Song realized that the casualties under Jiang Pengji’s command were consistently low.
They didn’t understand the intricacies behind it and initially thought it was because female soldiers acted as medics, thus reducing casualty numbers.
After investigating, they discovered the real reason, wanting to emulate it but finding no pathway, leaving them to explore on their own, with results not as pronounced as Jiang Pengji’s.
Unexpectedly, they had ended up stealing her medical supplies this time.
