Chapter 1238: Baifeng's Frustration

Baifeng is actually feeling quite frustrated right now; since winter is approaching, the weather is dry and prone to causing internal heat, and it can be said that he hasn't seen any good news in the past few days.

Especially the matter of Yishang being seriously ill, which has made Baifeng anxious for a long time; this is his good brother, and absolutely nothing can go wrong with him. If one or two more were to die, he truly would find it hard to accept, as he had even said he would let them live to be seventy or eighty years old.

It is also because of this, and the situation of having no medicine to use, that made Baifeng wonder if he could start preparing some Chinese patent medicines. Of course, he wouldn't make anything too high-tech; he would just make them into pills.

Pills are certainly not as fast-acting as decoctions, because a decoction has already boiled out all the substances in the medicine, and one only needs to drink it for the stomach to quickly absorb it and take effect.

But as for pills, one must grind the medicine into powder, then add honey to make them into pills, so the stomach absorbs them a bit more slowly.

Moreover, Huaxia is relatively short on honey; even though they have started beekeeping and releasing bees, once they use honey to make medicine, they will immediately be stretched thin, and for a very long time, they probably won't be able to eat any honey.

However, Baifeng believes that the desire for food should yield to the safety of life; it is better to first ensure people can survive before considering eating well or solving the problem of being gluttonous. Maltose is not something one cannot eat, right?

Furthermore, looking at the current situation, the first thing is that even the simplest cold medicine must be made. If the effect is a bit poor, so be it; it is still better than having nothing at all. Carrying so many medicinal herbs and a large earthenware pot around is not a solution.

Once the pills are made and put into jars, they can be used at any time, and even if there is no Military Doctor present, they can still be used.

Colds are generally divided into several types: Wind-Cold, Wind-Heat, Qi deficiency, Summer-Dampness, Yin deficiency, and seasonal epidemics. They can be further subdivided; in this current season, the most common ones are Wind-Cold, Yin deficiency, and autumn dryness.

Also, a cold is not necessarily a single manifestation; it is very likely to be Wind-Cold with dampness, or Wind-Heat with dampness, etc. There is no Chinese patent medicine that can accurately target every symptom, so one needs to add or subtract ingredients when writing a prescription; Chinese patent medicine is mainly about convenience.

Of course, for Summer-Dampness colds, there is a very useful medicine that Huaxia can make right now, which is Agastache Righteous Qi Water, and because it contains Alcohol, it can be preserved for a relatively long time.

When the time comes, he will make some, put it in a gourd, and pour a little out when needed; it will take effect immediately.

As for what a Summer-Dampness cold is, it is when you have a headache, feel nauseous and want to vomit, and your body feels sticky, as if wrapped in wet clothes. One bottle of Agastache Righteous Qi Water down, and the problem is basically solved. Heatstroke also belongs to the Summer-Dampness category, though it is not the same illness as a cold.

The same illness does not necessarily require the same treatment, but it is also possible for different illnesses to be treated with the same medicine. As for those that are contagious, that is the seasonal epidemic cold; the two words "seasonal epidemic" clearly mean a cold that is prevalent at a certain time, while other colds are not contagious.

After Baifeng had the basic concept, he directly issued a document for the Hospital to handle it, letting them configure it and then conduct experiments in the Hospital to see how the effect was. If the effect was acceptable, they would start producing it in appropriate quantities, so that when teams go out in the future, they can carry medicine with them.

The Military Doctor following Yishang had this very idea; it can only be said that his idea was good, but since others already have the finished product, he can no longer grasp this credit, and it has nothing to do with him.

The news sent by Xiong is hard to say whether it should be considered good or bad. The good part is that they expanded a large territory this year, but it has nothing to do with Huaxia, because Huaxia had long ago said it would abandon the Shennong Clan Battlefield and did not need it. But who could have guessed that this year's returns would be so poor, and they didn't gain any benefits from the war at all.

It could even be said that this year was a loss; Huaxia sent out so many people, so much grain, and spent so much time, only to earn such a small return? Xuanyuan, on the other hand, earned a fortune.

But the treaty has already been signed, and Baifeng cannot abolish it now. After all, because of this treaty, he has gained some benefits in trade with the Xuanyuan Tribe. Although he has inexplicably brought the Suiren Clan under his jurisdiction now, he cannot use this unrelated benefit to offset the losses on the Shennong Clan Battlefield.

Xiong also reported the battle casualties. Although he had long known that as long as there is war, it is impossible for there to be no injuries or deaths—that is impossible—even with full electronic and modern warfare, there will definitely be casualties.

But seeing those numbers, Baifeng feels the pain in his heart. How long does it take to cultivate an excellent Soldier? How many years does it take for a child to grow into a Soldier? Baifeng is very heartbroken, and even now, he has not yet announced this news to everyone, only saying that Xiong is already on his way back.

He is also thinking about the trade with the Jiuli. He wonders if Chiyou, who is thousands of miles away, knows about Huaxia now, and if he has thought about trading with Huaxia.

Baifeng also feels he was a bit foolish at the time. If he had let them take some pigeons when the soldiers left, once they met their father and discussed it clearly to confirm whether they wanted to trade, couldn't they have sent the news back directly? He could have directly arranged the trade matters for Baoxi.

At the time, he only remembered that they couldn't write; now he realizes that if they couldn't write, they could have drawn a symbol or made a mark. If they were willing to trade, they could draw a circle on the paper; if not, they could just draw an 'X'. He didn't even think of such a simple thing.

Even in all of Huaxia, no one mentioned this. It would have been good if someone had suggested this idea. Of course, he cannot blame them; after all, their brains are not flexible enough. In all of Huaxia, how many people have flexible brains and can think of ways to adapt? There are not many. Sanxin suddenly proposed the land requisition policy, which even startled Baifeng, because it didn't look like something Sanxin's brain could come up with.

Baifeng also feels his own brain has become a bit slow; his thinking is not as active as it used to be, and it has begun to gradually solidify. He understands this is because his age is gradually increasing, and he is starting to become steady.

This can be said to be a common ailment for everyone; even when they get old, they will become a bit muddled. The Emperors of the prosperous ages in history basically made mistakes when they reached old age. Baifeng feels he might not be an exception.

Therefore, he had long decided that when he gets old, he will retire early and give the position to Yulong. When Yulong gets old, he will do the same, and it would be best if his descendants could all do this.

This ensures that one does big things when their energy is at its best, and when they feel they can't do it anymore, they retire early. This can also, to a certain extent, avoid competition and mutual slaughter among descendants, after all, he, this father, is still watching.

As Baifeng thought, he started coughing. He should hurry and eat a pear; for an autumn dryness cold, sometimes the effect of a pound of pears is even better than a few doses of medicine.