Chapter 190

Chapter 190

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 6: The Two Provinces Stand Firm, the Silk Road Reopens Chapter 190: Emergency Medical Book

What medical miracle?

That’s clearly the system’s enhancement function!

Qiao Yan’s current physical condition is indeed inseparable from her daily hard training, but as Hua Tuo said, her previous condition should be called a deficiency syndrome, a problem inherent in the body she inhabits.

To develop to her current state, it’s not something that could happen in seven years just through so-called exercise and dietary supplements.

It’s not an exaggeration to call this a medical miracle.

Of course, Qiao Yan cannot attribute this to some divine mercy.

Binding herself to fate in this era is not a wise move.

Just like how Emperor Ling of Han allowed her and Zhang Jiao to refute the theory of heavenly induction.

If she were to say today that her recovery is due to the gradual stabilization of Bingzhou’s governance and the peace of the people, and that heaven couldn’t bear to see her suffer, thus restoring her health.

Then, when the drought and locust plague lasting three to four years and the great epidemic during the Jian’an period come, how should she avoid public opinion?

The best way is to divert Hua Tuo’s attention with another matter.

“Perhaps it’s the environment that nurtures the people,” Qiao Yan casually replied, clearly not explaining Hua Tuo’s confusion.

But soon, he didn’t have the extra time.

He came to Bingzhou because of the rare material, pepper, in this era.

But Qiao Yan solemnly stated that inviting him here was for another important matter that required Hua Tuo’s support.

For Hua Tuo, who wished to apply his medical skills across the Central Plains, staying in one place was not his first choice.

But Qiao Yan said: “Mr. Wu’s years of medical practice in Bingzhou have recorded thousands of cases. Last year, during a summary, we found some issues. For example, with typhoid fever, the existing prescriptions are too complex. In large states and counties, it’s manageable, but in remote areas, even if they know the right prescription, gathering the ingredients is difficult.”

Hua Tuo replied: “This is because current medical texts aim for immediate cure, requiring full dosage in prescriptions.”

Qiao Yan pointed at herself: “But in reality, people have self-healing abilities. My case is special, but there are cases where recovery happens after symptoms lessen to a certain extent, or through dietary supplements aiding treatment.”

In Hua Tuo’s contemplation, Qiao Yan added: “In fact, it’s not just remote areas that can’t gather ingredients. Medicines in the world are like wheat in the north and rice in the south, each growing in specific environments. But now, during this turmoil, transportation between north and south is difficult, and finding a doctor is hard. By the time you find someone and the medicine, the person could have died three times over.”

Qiao Yan’s statement was slightly exaggerated, but Hua Tuo had no way to refute her.

He was a divine doctor, not a deity, unable to turn grass into medicine. During his travels, he could only modify prescriptions to make them easier to prepare.

But hearing Qiao Yan’s tone, it seemed she had some ideas, so he asked: “What does the Marquis mean?”

“I want to publish a book, asking Mr. Yuanhua to compile it, called ‘Emergency Prescriptions.'”

“Part of it records existing diseases, striving to document different symptoms for quick identification during emergencies.”

“The second part, as I mentioned earlier, simplifies some complex prescriptions into easy-to-obtain small ones, suitable for rural areas. Only Mr. Yuanhua can handle this task, and I trust him with it.”

In fact, a century later, a similar medical book emerged, authored by the famous physician Ge Hong, called ‘Emergency Prescriptions to Keep Up One’s Sleeve.’

Meaning it could be easily accessed from one’s sleeve.

The rampant epidemics during the Three Kingdoms period and the demand for physicians due to wars led to the creation of such a book more suited for the common people during Ge Hong’s time.

But on the other hand, such a book didn’t appear until the Western Jin period, possibly due to the great constraints on medical practice during the turmoil.

Before the emergence of institutions similar to hospitals, although clinics existed, medical practice was more individual.

But Qiao Yan had the conditions and foresight to support Hua Tuo and Wu Pu in this endeavor.

The medical tips published in the Leping Monthly Report were a preliminary attempt at promotion, now being systematically executed.

With Hua Tuo’s insight, he could see the benefits of creating such an emergency medical book.

The relatively stable situation in Liangzhou and Bingzhou was indeed suitable for him to focus on writing.

After all, Hua Tuo’s hometown, Pei State Qiao County, was currently in the midst of war due to Liu Bei’s campaign against Yuan Shu.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come at this time.

He asked: “Then, may I ask, Marquis, how should this book be promoted and used once completed?”

Although Qiao Yan didn’t use the name ‘Emergency Prescriptions to Keep Up One’s Sleeve,’ which sounds more like a readily available medical book, the term ’emergency’ in ‘Emergency Prescriptions’ clearly showed her ambition to promote it.

Simply keeping the book in Leping Academy or the provincial archives wouldn’t achieve her goal.

Of course, his question indicated his agreement with Qiao Yan’s proposal.

Hearing this, Qiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Relying on pepper, a novelty, couldn’t guarantee Hua Tuo’s long-term stay, but writing a book could.

During the writing period, he would still need to practice and teach disciples to expand case studies, ensuring Bingzhou’s core medical capabilities.

With Hua Tuo here, she could appropriately shift Wu Pu’s focus towards military emergency care without feeling guilty for overloading him.

Additionally, although Hua Tuo’s surgical skills were pioneering, his internal medicine, especially in gynecology and pediatrics, was also excellent. Once he confirmed his long-term stay, Qiao Yan had much to explore.

As for Hua Tuo’s question on promotion, Qiao Yan replied: “With the quality of Leping Marquis paper, recording and copying won’t be difficult. Then, each village, town, and neighborhood leader will hold a copy for easy reference when necessary. I will include it in Bingzhou’s administrative assessment, overseen by the assistant officers.”

This method, given her position as the governor of Bingzhou, was easy to implement, and for Hua Tuo, it was a reassurance.

As she sent Hua Tuo to meet his disciple Wu Pu, Qiao Yan thought for a moment and added: “By the way, there’s one more thing I’d like to discuss with Mr. Yuanhua.”

Hua Tuo smiled: “Now I understand why my disciple wanted to invite me for an emergency.”

Qiao Yan truly excels at exploiting labor.








The ultimate.

     The completion of the emergency medical book is already a considerable project, but she managed to think of other things at this time.

     However, upon hearing what Qiao Yan mentioned, Hua Tuo, who is always cautious in medical matters, couldn’t help but straighten his expression.

     Qiao Yan asked, “Mr. Yuanhua, have you heard of Lu Chuang?”

     Hua Tuo nodded, “This disease causes blisters on the face and then spreads all over the body, turning from red to white, and breaks upon touch. Even if one doesn’t die, it leaves purple-black scars on the skin, taking a year to heal. I have seen it while practicing medicine in the Central Plains. May I ask if someone under your command has contracted this disease? They need to be isolated immediately.”

     “Not exactly,” Qiao Yan replied.

     Lu Chuang is smallpox.

     This disease was named Lu Chuang because it originated from the Hu soldiers during the war in Nanyang during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han.

     She continued, “This time, besides bringing back sesame, I also heard a special situation in Guishuang. It was said that a family’s cow contracted this Lu Chuang and infected the cowherd, but the symptoms were much milder than usual. After recovery, when Lu Chuang spread in the area, only this person was not infected. I would like to ask Mr. Yuanhua, if you have time, to research this matter.”

     The symptoms and names of medical conditions are often not clearly defined nowadays, and large-scale infectious diseases are collectively called epidemics.

     But epidemics are divided into many types, including plague, dysentery, leprosy, etc. So during the Zhongping era, Qiao Yan could only use general methods to prevent and control them.

     This situation didn’t change until Ge Hong’s “Emergency Prescriptions Behind the Elbow,” which clearly recorded smallpox, leptospirosis, and jaundice hepatitis, which are also likely to appear in epidemics.

     Qiao Yan is helpless with other things, but she remembers cowpox.

     However, professional matters should be left to professionals, so she left it to Hua Tuo to handle.

     What she could do was rely on her people traveling the Silk Road, with information channels not limited to the Central Plains, and in specific situations, she could fabricate stories.

     After all, no one could debunk her “hearsay.”

     Even if exposed, the product benefiting the people has already appeared, who dares to say it’s not a white lie?

     Hua Tuo immediately agreed, claiming he would focus on researching this matter.

     After settling him down, Qiao Yan went to the mountain fortress to see the carrier pigeons kept there.

     The pigeons in the cages were not white but small silver-gray pigeons with white feet.

     After being raised in Bingzhou for over half a year, these pigeons have recognized this place as their home. Even when Qiao Yan, a stranger, suddenly appeared to feed them, the pigeons didn’t show any fear.

     Qiao Yan retracted her hand from spreading the feed, scanned the pigeon cages, and said to Xi Zhicai and Lu Yuan, “The last message safely sent back from Yangzhou and Yanzhou has proven the superiority of carrier pigeons. It’s about time to expand the breeding scale.”

     “However, this way, pigeons from various places need corresponding marks, and the code for deciphering pigeon messages should only be in the hands of trusted aides.”

     “I want to entrust this task to Mr. Zhicai.”

     With Hua Tuo here, and the restrictions on Xi Zhicai’s drinking over the years, plus additional dietary supplements, this extra workload is not a problem for Xi Zhicai.

     Besides, he only needs to think about optimizing the code and selecting the personnel to master it, not personally raising pigeons. No problem.

     Qiao Yan added, “Moreover, there is another drawback to the scale of carrier pigeon messaging.”

     When she said this, she looked at Lu Yuan, letting her confirm that this was a task assigned to her.

     After a moment of thought, Lu Yuan roughly knew what Qiao Yan was going to say.

     Nowadays, transportation routes across the country are hard to stabilize. If it’s discovered that pigeons can carry messages, carrying pigeons can easily expose the messenger’s identity.

     The characteristics are too obvious, and they are carrying live animals.

     So, the possibility of being discovered must be delayed.

     That means while expanding the breeding scale of carrier pigeons, a suitable way to transport them must be found.

     She replied, “I suggest Your Lordship use a merchant convoy as a cover to transport carrier pigeons, but this convoy cannot rely entirely on the Donghai Mi Clan.”

     Previously, when sending Zheng Xuan and others to Bingzhou, their power was borrowed, but it can’t be used every time.

     Since Donghai County does not belong to Qiao Yan, no one can guarantee they won’t switch sides at some point.

     So, it’s best to prepare another more reliable subordinate to spread the intelligence network.

     “This person must be eloquent, have some skill, and most importantly, be loyal to Your Lordship, or at least be completely under Your Lordship’s control.”

     This will also be a long-term project, so this person must endure not having an official position for a long time, just being a merchant.

     These constraints naturally exclude Mi Zhu.

     He can be a trading partner for Qiao Yan to exchange goods, but not someone Qiao Yan can entrust with this matter.

     Qiao Yan said to Lu Yuan, “Good, as for this candidate, I hope you can give me an answer within three months.”

     She can confirm that among her current subordinates, no one fully meets this condition.

     Relatively, Xu Shu, who meets the condition, is already almost tied to her. Suddenly making him switch to business would probably only arouse suspicion.

     Then, we can only try to find a suitable candidate from existing subordinates’ relatives and newcomers.

     Not easy…

     Although Qiao Yan said she entrusted this task to Lu Yuan, while reviewing other matters in Bingzhou, she couldn’t help but think about it a bit more.

     Until Cai Zhaoji, who came to report the progress of the Leping Monthly Report, interrupted her thoughts.

     Zhaoji, who has grown taller, reported the affairs with more momentum, making Qiao Yan focus on her, feeling the joy of nurturing a seedling.

     She said, “In the May issue of the Leping Monthly Report, the agriculture section was temporarily changed to economics, publishing Your Lordship’s arrangement to recycle defective copper coins from the market and recast standard five-zhu coins. For this, I applied to Your Lordship and went to the three officials of coinage.”

     This was something Cai Zhaoji had mentioned to Qiao Yan before.

     The standardization of currency recasting, as the currency circulation between Liangzhou and Bingzhou increases, is a matter of boosting the confidence of Bingzhou’s people.

     Compared to Dong Zhuo’s small coins, it shows Qiao Yan’s protection of economic order.

     But mentioning it again in June clearly has another purpose.

     She continued, “The three officials of coinage in Bingzhou were moved from the three officials of Shanglin, with high craftsmanship in coin mold making, and the corresponding coin value of five zhu is very clear.”

     “I am thinking about a question. If we can cast coins with molds, why can’t we mass-produce books with text molds…”

     Before Cai Zhaoji finished speaking, she saw Qiao Yan’s expression suddenly turn serious.

     She raised a finger, making a gesture for silence.