The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 73 Basics
Ma Xun was not interested in some of the struggles in the court; he was interested in other things.

Ma Xun felt refreshed when he arrived at the foot of Jiming Mountain. Although the school building here has not been fully built yet and there are only hastily built houses, it is enough for the time being.

They were originally military personnel. Not only did they have to sleep in the open air during the march, but it was also common for them to live in tents.

What's more, those who were escorted here were death row prisoners, so these people had even less treatment to speak of.

Chen Zhidong said with some concern, "My Lord, isn't it inappropriate to bring those prisoners here?"

"What's wrong?" Ma Xun asked with a smile, "Is it that Doctor Chen is kind-hearted, or is it that doctors are kind-hearted and can't stand seeing these things?"

Chen Zhidong, who was blocked for a while, said, "The way these people use drugs is indeed a bit cruel."

"Then let someone capture some Tartars next time." Ma Xun said with a smile, "Anyway, those who are not of our race must have different hearts, so Doctor Chen won't have to think too much about it then. Besides, most of these death row prisoners have committed heinous crimes."

Chen Zhidong was speechless for a moment. Although Ma Xun's words were a bit far-fetched, they did make sense to a certain extent.

Ma Xun continued, "These people are already waiting to die. If they really die here, I can still give them a thin coffin and bury them properly. If they are really executed by the court, they will definitely die without a complete body and can only be thrown into a mass grave."

Chen Zhidong suddenly felt that what Ma Xun said made sense. Thinking this way, it was a good thing for these prisoners.

Those who were sent here were the most heinous criminals. Their fate was either beheading or chopping off the waist. When they died, they didn't even get a coffin, let alone being wrapped in rags.

Now if someone is killed by medical treatment and has an intact body and a coffin and can be buried, it would be a great bargain and he can rest in peace.

This is not just to comfort Chen Zhidong, this is also Ma Xun's way of comforting himself.

Ma Xun spoke again, "Be sure to record the process of the experiment and pay attention to observing various wounds. Minor wounds, knife wounds, arrow wounds, etc., must all be recorded. Use clean water to clean, use alcohol to clean, whether it is suppurated or not, all must be recorded."

Chen Zhidong said with a serious expression, "Don't worry, my uncle. These people have been registered and their injuries have been recorded one by one. The medical officers will take care of them and record them on a daily basis. There will definitely be no mistakes."

Ma Xun nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "Leave a few people without wrapping their wounds, and make a comparison between those who bandaged their wounds with dirty cloth and clean cloth boiled in boiling water."

Chen Zhidong also nodded and wrote it down. He knew that the uncle of the emperor had taken care of the wounded during the Battle of Qingyang. At that time, he started to bandage the wounds with clean cloth boiled in boiling water.

Although there are still some shortages of cloth, and sometimes there is no time to take care of them, but we will try to save as many as possible.

Since it is an experiment, there must naturally be enough samples, and Ma Xun will definitely make more preparations.

Fortunately, he is a 'doctor'. If an ordinary monarch did these things, he might be remembered as cruel.

However, if there were to be a large number of casualties and deaths here, he might not be able to escape the notoriety of 'Doctor of Death'.

However, Ma Xun does not have too much psychological burden about this. The process of scientific and medical progress requires constant exploration, and many things still need to be continuously recognized.

In the 19th century, many Europeans drooled at the sight of mummies, ground them into powder and swallowed them in the hope of immortality.

In the early 20th century, many people believed that electric shock could cure tuberculosis. In the 21st century, some people even believed that electric shock could cure Internet addiction.

So some of the experiments that Ma Xun is doing now seem to be a step forward, but in front of some strong people, they are nothing compared to them.

In the 21st century, the development of some new drugs still requires drug testing, so Ma Xun doesn't feel any psychological burden anymore.

Chen Zhidong asked tentatively, "My Lord, I think it's not easy to make alcohol. The court is still banning alcohol, so it's not a good idea to do this, right?"

Ma Xun replied, "Of course, it's just that your Majesty has issued a ban on alcohol for more than ten years, and people still drink alcohol. And if nothing unexpected happens, the ban will be lifted soon."

Hearing what Ma Xun said, Chen Zhidong naturally breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to get into trouble.

When the prohibition was first issued, Hu Dahai's son was executed for defying the law because food was in short supply at that time. But the current situation is another matter. It seems that there is never too much food or not enough food, but the Ming army does not need much food support from the people.

This is also one of the advantages of the Weisuo system. The Weisuo and other military garrisons grew their own land and supplied their own grain, while the grain from the people was taxed or released into the market, making the market relatively active.

The questions about food and alcohol prohibition were resolved, but Chen Zhidong was still a little puzzled. "My Lord, I still don't understand. This distillation is already very good, why do we need to improve it?"

The existing distillation methods are good enough to produce some alcohol, which is basically enough. It is a luxury and waste to continue to demand higher purity.

Ma Xun looked at Chen Zhidong and asked, "Distillation only requires alcohol? Forget it, there's no point telling you this now. I'm still figuring it out."

Having said that, Chen Zhidong naturally stopped asking questions, as it was useless to ask.

Just do what you are supposed to do, train these doctors, teach them some simple medical knowledge, conduct experiments according to the methods required by the king's uncle, and take care of the wounded. That's all.

Other things are not something he, a royal physician, needs to consider. High-ranking officials like the emperor's uncle have their own way of thinking.

Looking at Chen Zhidong and others, Ma Xun felt more at ease. They had excellent execution abilities and were doing things according to his ideas, and that was enough.

It is hard to say whether results can be achieved immediately, but now it is moving in the direction he believes is right, and that is obviously enough.

"By the way, from now on, everyone must separate urine and feces when using the toilet." Ma Xun suddenly mentioned something, "Store urine and don't mix it with feces."

This is a bit out of line. There are rules for things like using the toilet in the military, and everyone knows that they cannot urinate or defecate in the barracks at will.

Ordinary households, especially those living in cities, also have toilets or urine buckets, which are also good fertilizers.

But this uncle of the emperor is thinking about distinguishing between urine and feces. Isn't this a waste of time?

It's a waste of time. It seems like a waste of time.

Ma Xun was still thinking about urea. This thing got its name because a scientist first discovered urea by directly evaporating urine.

Although Ma Xun couldn't guarantee that he could produce synthetic urea, there was no problem in doing more experiments.

Many scientific advances in history were unintentional. First of all, the synthesis of urea was intended to obtain ammonium cyanate, but who would have thought that by accident we would get synthetic artificial urea.

At this stage, things like it being difficult to mass-produce or only being used by a small number of people are not something Ma Xun needs to consider.

Solve the problems that don’t exist first, then consider other things!

Although Chen Zhidong and others were confused, they gradually got used to it. This uncle of the emperor had many strange ideas, some of which seemed unorthodox.

He shouldn't be the emperor's uncle. No wonder he doesn't like going to the court and spends all day studying some weird stuff.

Ma Xun was in a good mood, mainly because although the progress of some scientific research seemed slow, at least there was constant progress.

His school looks relatively simple now, and it does not have enough supporting facilities and subjects, but he is slowly organizing and developing it.

First lay a certain foundation, constantly seek development, and maybe one day you will break out.

These things cannot be rushed and require continuous investment of resources.

But if you think about it carefully, you should also achieve certain results so that you can get more resources and support.

Otherwise, if he just relies on his status as the king's uncle and keeps asking for resources without giving anything in return, the emperor and empress will also be unhappy.

Production, teaching and research are not that easy!
(End of this chapter)