Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 94: Re-Craftsman, Liu Yangsuan [Seeking follow-up reading]

Liu Kuan said, "It's not that I'm being righteous towards the craftsmen, but they were injured in the line of duty and deserve this kind of treatment. Just like soldiers killed or wounded on the battlefield should receive compensation."

Zhu Di naturally understood the principle of providing relief to the dead and wounded soldiers, but he was still thoughtful after hearing what Liu Kuan said.

A few days ago, he inquired a lot about Liu Kuan and learned about Liu Kuan's reforms to the Liuhe Iron Works.

Combined with what he saw and heard today, he keenly grasped one thing - Liu Kuan attached great importance to craftsmen.

This shows that later generations were likely to value craftsmen and other skilled people more than they do now.

"Craftsmen are important. When I go overseas to serve as a feudal lord, I should recruit more skilled craftsmen."

Just as Zhu Di was thinking this, he suddenly heard Liu Kuan say, "Your Highness the Prince of Yan really likes to eat something raw, or drink raw water?"

Zhu Di was puzzled and asked, "Why does my brother-in-law ask this?"

"We're almost at the hospital, aren't we? I suddenly remembered something—historically, His Highness seemed to have fallen seriously ill from eating something raw. Many small worms grew in his stomach, and he was fortunately cured thanks to the treatment of Imperial Physician Dai."

Zhu Di immediately became nervous upon hearing this and said, "If we're talking about eating raw food, the most popular ones are naturally various fruits. As for raw water, it's inevitable to drink some when marching. Besides that... I also like raw celery."

Liu Kuan shook his head after hearing this and thought to himself, no wonder Zhu Di lived several years shorter than Zhu Yuanzhang in history.

Then he felt that this idea was wrong. Old Zhu's eating habits were not very healthy - it was said that he particularly liked to eat meat and rarely ate vegetables and fruits. Now, under the advice of the imperial physician, he has changed a little.

The ancients' knowledge of hygiene and diet was certainly far less than that of modern people.

"When I have time, I can help the medical school develop a brochure on hygiene and healthy eating."

While thinking about this, Liu Kuan said, "Your Highness may not know that there are many tiny insects, bacteria, viruses, etc. in this world that are so tiny that they are invisible to the naked eye."

"People who like to eat raw food often eat these things - although most of them will not cause harm to the human body, if one of them is disturbed, people will get sick."

"If Your Highness wishes to live a long life, it's best to eat less raw food, and especially avoid drinking raw water. As for fruit, soak it in salt water for a while before eating."

"The weather in Tianzhu is similar to that in Lingnan, quite hot and full of insects and miasma. If Your Highness goes there, please be especially careful about these things."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di's expression tightened, and he felt that Tianzhu didn't seem to be a very good place.

"The south is hot and the north is cold. If I really want to go to India to be a vassal, I should probably fight my way to the north as soon as possible, build a capital there, and live there."

Zhu Di was thinking about his own things and unknowingly arrived at the gate of the Medical College on Liren Street.

Although he had been back in Beijing for a few days, this was his first time here, so he followed Liu Kuan in and just took a look around.

Liu Kuan came to the affiliated hospital of the medical school and found that it was already accepting all kinds of patients, but there didn't seem to be many people.

After asking someone, I soon learned that Xiao Gao had been sent to the surgical department for treatment, so I went there directly.

When we arrived at the surgical yard and asked someone, we learned that Xiao Gao was receiving treatment in the operating room.

The concept of surgery and operating rooms naturally came to the medical school from Liu Kuan. While the current operating rooms certainly couldn't compare to those of later generations, the sanitation and lighting conditions were much better than before.

During the operation, outsiders were not allowed to disturb. Although Liu Kuan was a fifth-rank official with a special status, he would not break this rule, so he waited patiently outside.

It was already noon, and because they had eaten breakfast early, both Liu Kuan and Zhu Di were hungry, but no one left.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. In less than a quarter of an hour, two people came out of the operating room.

Zhu Di looked and saw that both men were wearing narrow-sleeved linen clothes, simple blue cloth hats, and special "masks" on their faces, which looked extremely strange.

"These must be doctors, right? When did it become popular for doctors in the capital to dress like this?"

Zhu Di looked at him strangely, and Liu Kuan was also quite surprised. He even thought that he had met other time travelers.

After the leader washed his hands and took off his mask, revealing his face with a white beard, Liu Kuan realized that this was probably a surgical gown customized for doctors by the medical school for hygiene reasons.

The similarity to later generations was simply an inevitable choice—linen was breathable, cheap, and perfect for surgical gowns. As for the choice of a blue hat over a white one, it was naturally due to custom—only those in mourning wore white.

After coming to his senses, Liu Kuan stopped the leading doctor and said, "Doctor, I am Liu Kuan, the deputy director of the Science and Technology Department. May I ask how the patient's injuries are?"

"So you're Deputy Liu. I've long heard of your great name." The doctor bowed, then frowned slightly and said, "The wound on this man's body isn't a big deal. His left arm was barely saved, but I'm afraid he won't be able to exert any strength in the future."

"The most troublesome thing is that there are too many burns. Although I followed the deputy doctor's instructions and tried my best to maintain hygiene during the operation and applied medicine in time, there is still no guarantee that inflammation will not occur."

"If inflammation occurs, it could turn into suppuration, which could be life-threatening."

Burns, especially those covering a large area, can be life-threatening if not treated promptly in later generations, let alone at this time.

Therefore, Liu Kuan was not surprised by what the doctor said.

He thought about it and suddenly remembered one thing - using salicylic acid to reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

So he asked, "Doctor, do you know that boiling willow bark in water can reduce inflammation and relieve pain?"

The doctor looked slightly puzzled upon hearing this and said, "The medicinal properties of willow branches and leaves are recorded in many medical books, such as the Tang Materia Medica. How could this humble official not know about them?"

Tang Materia Medica?
Liu Kuan was confused and a little embarrassed.

I thought to myself, it’s a good thing he didn’t boil willow bark in water to show off like in some novels, otherwise it would have been a joke.

Judging from the doctor's tone, it is likely that doctors in the Tang Dynasty discovered that willow trees have anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.

Coming back to his senses, Liu Kuan said, "There's a substance called salicylic acid in willow bark and leaves. It's this substance that gives willow leaves and branches their anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. If we could extract it, perhaps the effect would be even better."

"Vice-Law Liu truly understands medicine." The doctor's eyes lit up at first, then frowned again. "Extraction... I'm afraid it won't be easy, and it won't be in time."

Hearing this, Liu Kuan felt helpless.

Seeing this, Zhu Di came over and said, "Sister-in-law, do your best and leave the rest to fate."

Liu Kuan nodded - that was the only way.

Afterwards, after Xiao Gao was pushed out of the operating room, Liu Kuan took a look.

The young apprentice was in a coma—he did have quite a few burns, but not too many. If they had been what later generations would define as extensive burns, the doctor would have likely issued a critical illness notice.

After watching for a while and asking the two accompanying people to take good care of him, Liu Kuan returned to the Science and Technology Department - the boiler explosion would most likely bring some bad effects to the Power Research Institute and even the Science and Technology Department, so he had to go back and discuss countermeasures with Su Quan.

Zhu Di saw that Liu Kuan would not be able to finish his work in a short time, so he sent him to the gate of the Science and Technology Bureau and then said goodbye and left.

When Liu Kuan returned to the office and saw Su Quan waiting for him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Does Doctor Su know about the boiler explosion?"

Su Quan nodded and said, "Injuring three or four craftsmen isn't a big deal, but many people in the court have long been critical of the Science and Technology Department. I'm afraid they'll take advantage of this to cause trouble."

Then he sighed, "Fan Qin wasn't smart either—if he had found another excuse to cover up the boiler explosion, nothing would have happened."

Liu Kuan shook his head after hearing this. "It was an explosion, and someone needed to be sent to the hospital for treatment immediately. How could it be so easy to cover it up?"

Then the two were silent for a while.

But in my heart, I was thinking - this matter depends on how Old Zhu (Your Majesty) handles it.

　The update is late, sorry.

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(End of this chapter)