knife

Chapter 154 Experiment
Holding a large box of official documents, Li Dachui knocked on the door of Xiao Changche's office.

Upon hearing the sound of someone entering, she smiled and pushed open the door to go in.

"We've been waiting for you to come back!" Li Dachui slammed a large box of official documents onto the desk in front of Xiao Changche. "These all need your review and seal, otherwise they can't be issued and implemented!"

Xiao Changche casually picked up one document, which was a plan for dredging the Qingshui River and Juma River and constructing water conservancy projects in Baoping Prefecture. She put it aside and picked up another document, which was a preliminary plan for various taxes in the entire controlled area. She raised her eyebrows and picked up a third document, which was about adjusting the commercial layout of Tai'an City and Baoping City and the layout of commerce, agriculture and industry in the controlled area.

"Aren't there any official documents regarding the military?" Xiao Changche asked Li Dachui.

Li Dachui rummaged through the box for a while and found a document concerning the implementation of the treatment of the soldiers, as well as the training and recruitment of soldiers, which he handed to Xiao Changche.

"These are the foundations. Once the foundations are solid, the affairs of the army will naturally fall into place!"

“I know!” Xiao Changche picked up the document and said, “I don’t have the patience to read all these thick volumes. You’re enough! Have you forgotten our division of labor?”

“You are the Protector-General, you should use the seal!” Li Dachui said.

Without hesitation, Xiao Changche grabbed a large seal from the table and threw it to Li Dachui: "Here you go!"

"Power should not be granted lightly!" Li Dachui said, gripping the imperial seal. "That would be far too hasty."

"It's only true for you!" Xiao Changche laughed. "If it were anyone else trying to get these things from me, they'd probably be dead. Do you think I don't understand the principle that power shouldn't be given away lightly?"

"I'm really touched by what you said!"

"Since you're so touched, how will you thank me?" Xiao Changche said with a smile.

Li Dachui smiled as he placed the seal on the table and reached into his robes: "You know what, I actually designed and made a little item for you the other day. Take a look and see if you like it?"

This is a gilded sachet.

The sachet is spherical and hollowed out, divided into two hemispheres by a horizontal line in the middle. The upper and lower spheres are connected by a snap fastener. Inside, there are two concentric rings connected by double axes. The outer ring is connected to the spherical wall, and the inner ring is connected to the outer ring and the gold sachet. The outer wall, the rings, and the gold sachet are connected by rivets and can rotate freely. No matter how the outer sphere rotates, the sachet can always maintain its balance, so the fragrance inside will not spill.

"I spent several sleepless nights drawing this, and then watching the craftsmen make it!" Li Dachui said proudly. "I know you are good at making incense, but the incense I make is definitely several levels higher than yours. It's just that I don't have enough time. I'll make the incense specially for you in a few months."

"As expected, you think you can take advantage of me!" Xiao Changche spat, took the exquisite sachet, and hung it on his waist. "I'll wait and see how good your fragrance is. If it's of poor quality, I'll beat you up!"

"If I really can't do as well as you, then I promise I won't fight back or talk back!" Li Dachui smiled and took out a small bottle and handed it to the other party: "I don't have incense yet, but I made some mosquito repellent pills for you. You often stay in the military camp and live in the military tent. It's hard to avoid mosquitoes, snakes and ants. Put these pills in the sachet, light them and hang them in the tent to repel mosquitoes."

"This is much more practical than incense!" Xiao Changche grabbed the small bottle and suddenly said, "Won't there be any side effects? I heard from the city lord that you once knocked out your master with a single dose of this medicine."

"Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast!" Li Dachui said with dissatisfaction, "Look how affectionate Master Fu is to me now, and there's a reason for it. Apart from this embarrassing incident, I've made a great contribution to my master's medical skills. Moreover, I asked the Valley Master to approve the medicine I gave you."

"Can they be mass-produced and distributed to the army?" Xiao Changche was relieved, but then he thought of the army being plagued by mosquitoes and even contracting diseases from them when they were stationed in the field for a long time.

“This is a high-quality product. This small bottle costs more than ten taels of silver. Mass production of this kind of thing will bankrupt us,” Li Dachui said. “However, the formula has already been given to my master and the others. Soon they will have made something suitable for military use. Then we can mass-produce it.”

"That's good!" Xiao Changche pulled out the bottle stopper, sniffed it, and said, "Speaking of which, I haven't been able to visit the masters of Changchun Valley since they moved into the Great Medical Hall. Since I have some free time today, why don't you come with me? It's been a long time since I've seen the Valley Master, so it's a good opportunity to pay my respects. How long until you set off for Yandu?"

"Soon. Once everything at the Grand Medical Hall is settled, we'll be ready to depart," Li Dachui said. "The Valley Master attaches great importance to Changchun Valley's entry into the world this time, and he's personally handling many things. Besides, we just fought a battle with the Yuan people, so there are some loose ends that need to be dealt with properly."

The two walked out of the government office and, led by Li Dachui, walked all the way to the back, eventually arriving at a high wall.

The wall was newly built, and Xiao Changche looked at Li Dachui with some confusion.

Knock on the high wall and Li Dachui said, "The big medical clinic is on the other side of the wall, but if we go out through the main gate and go around, it will take us at least the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. But if we climb over here, we'll get there in no time. Which one do you choose?"

Xiao Changche was well aware of the size of the Yan family mansion. It was now divided into three parts: one-third for government offices, one-third for a large medical clinic, and one-third for a school.

Xiao Changche snorted, "You know perfectly well why I'm asking this!"

Before he could finish speaking, he stomped his foot on the ground and shot upwards like a javelin, landing on the wall before flipping down. "As expected, I know you best!" Li Dachui smiled and rose like a willow catkin in the wind, turning in mid-air, taking a step, and then gracefully landing.

When it comes to graceful and unhurried movements, Li Dachui is miles ahead of Xiao Changche.

The two landed one after the other, startling a group of young apprentices who were drying herbs. When they saw Li Dachui, they were unfazed, smiled at the two, and went back to their own business.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Changche knew that Li Dachui must be a frequent visitor to climb over the wall, and everyone was used to it.

Just as he was about to speak, a pig-like scream suddenly came from a house not far away. The young apprentice ignored it, and Li Dachui was not surprised at all. Facing Xiao Changche's questioning gaze, Li Dachui said, "Some experiments are not dared to be conducted in advance, for fear of scaring away the patients, so they are placed near our government office."

"What test?"

"Of course, it's an experiment for treating illnesses!" Li Dachui said, "Have you forgotten how many Yuan prisoners we captured in this battle? Some of them were seriously injured, so they were all sent here!"

"experiment?"

“That’s right!” Li Dachui said, “If we don’t treat them, they will die. By participating in the experiment, they might survive. And if the experiment yields good results, it will accumulate a lot of experience for treating our own soldiers in the future.”

"The mortality rate must be very high, right?"

“Yes, that’s why we can’t use our own people! Unless that person is going to die.” Li Dachui also made no attempt to hide his feelings: “More than a hundred people were sent here after the war ended, and now more than half of them are dead!”

Xiao Changche didn't say anything more and walked straight towards the place where the screams came from, looking inside through the window.

On the long cutting board, the white cloth was stained red with blood. A tall Yuan man was tightly bound to the cutting board, and the muscles in his legs had been completely opened, exposing the bones inside. Several doctors were prying the broken bones into pieces onto a thin iron plate.

Hearing the commotion outside, one of the people watching from inside looked up. It was Fu Cheng. Seeing the two people outside the window, he smiled slightly and walked out.

"what's going on?"

"We used too little anesthetic!" Fu Cheng said. "This guy is big and heavy, so we didn't use the right amount of anesthetic, which made him wake up early. But we kept records. Now that we have enough test subjects, we can figure out the different dosages of anesthetic for different people. We will never again have the problem of using too much and killing people, or using too little and waking up early and suffering excruciating pain!"

"Yes, the more detailed the data, the better. There's no need to rush to conclusions. If we don't have enough test subjects, we'll send troops to the Black Domain. There are plenty of people we can capture for experiments there. Protector-General, what do you think?" Li Dachui turned to look at Xiao Changche.

“Of course, if necessary, I can even send people into the Yuan territory to raid for resources and capture test subjects!” Xiao Changche said without hesitation.

"Alright!" Fu Cheng laughed, "I was worried that the Protector-General wouldn't agree!"

"Why wouldn't you be willing? If you succeed, how many fewer of my men could die in the future!" Xiao Changche said calmly. "I'm not a pushover. To save one of my men from dying, I can provide you with ten or a hundred Yuan people for experiments."

"Could you please not tell the Valley Master about this, Protector-General?" Fu Cheng suddenly said. "In his eyes, all living beings are equal, and there is no distinction between Qin people and Yuan people."

Xiao Changche nodded.

After leaving this place, passing through a grove of trees, and walking along a long corridor past a large pond, Xiao Changche said, "They're not just doing this experiment, are they?"

“A lot!” Li Dachui said, “Disembowelment is commonplace here, and they’ve been experimenting with blood all along!”

What does "blood transfusion" mean?

"Many people are injured and die from excessive blood loss. What if someone else could transfer the blood?"

“Such things have been done before, but very few people have survived!” Xiao Changche said.

"Their experiments have yielded some good results!" Li Dachui said. "If it's parents giving blood to their children, or brothers exchanging blood, the survival rate is greatly improved! Therefore, Master Fu has come to a preliminary conclusion: the closer the relationship between people, the greater the likelihood that they can share blood. Although there are still cases of death, the proportion is already acceptable."

(End of this chapter)