Chapter 778: Poisonous Insects and Medicinal Materials

At the time, when Baifeng heard that there was a massive number of scorpions in Xiao Town, he was quite happy inside. He wasn't worried about not being able to catch them all; he only worried that if they caught them too ruthlessly, it would lead to the local extinction of the scorpions. After all, there had been precedents for such things, and the intensity of human destruction toward Nature was terrifyingly powerful.

As a medicine for dredging the meridians and relieving pain, the whole scorpion could be said to have top-tier effects. Moreover, it also had excellent effects on sores, toxins, and strokes. Throughout the long river of history, it had always been an extremely precious medicinal material. There were no small number of people who had become wealthy by catching scorpions. In the era Baifeng was familiar with, scorpions were sold by the piece, with one costing several yuan, which, when calculated, was even higher than the price of silver per gram.

That was why Baifeng arranged for Che and the others to catch scorpions, at least to finish catching the scorpions where they lived first, so that the place where they lived could be safer and suffer less disturbance.

In the future, the entire Xiao Town would raise a certain number of chickens. Chickens were the natural enemies of all kinds of poisonous insects; whether it was scorpions or centipedes, chickens could easily deal with them. In the future, the troubles of the residents of Xiao Town in this regard would basically disappear.

Of course, the current practice of raising chickens was unrealistic. Although Xiao Town had already built city walls and could be considered to have an enclosure, if they kept chickens inside, they would likely be depleted before long. It was a minor issue if people ate them, as Che was managing things and they wouldn't just kill chickens to eat at will.

The main problem was the still-massive number of various wild beasts there. Large ones were naturally hunted by people, but small and medium-sized ones like foxes, martens, and lynxes, which moved very quietly, were impossible to guard against when they caught chickens. Not to mention the birds of prey circling in the sky; they only needed one dive to catch a meal on that completely uncovered open ground. If they discovered that there was a place that could be considered a buffet, they would definitely come to hunt more frequently, so raising chickens was not suitable for now.

Baifeng was even less afraid that there would be nowhere for the scorpions to be consumed. The Huaxia people had already been suffering from rheumatism. In the past, they never had the idea of protecting themselves; they would just squat in cold and damp caves on rainy days. Even after the founding of the state, many people often got caught in the rain. In the beginning, there weren't many thick clothes to wear in Winter, so they suffered from wind and cold, and there were also various postpartum illnesses...

In any case, Huaxia alone might have a supply that couldn't meet the demand, not to mention other tribes where these diseases were equally serious. The Xuanyuan Tribe, the Suiren Clan—perhaps ordinary people wouldn't need them, but the wealthy ones would certainly have a demand.

Even if they could find scorpions themselves, they didn't have Wine. Huaxia had enough Wine and could combine it with other medicinal materials to make medicinal wine. Not only could it be used for rheumatic pain, but it could also be used for some bruises and injuries, ensuring that the Xuanyuan Tribe would find it hard to refuse.

When pain was unbearable, compared to some small costs, the Xuanyuan Tribe would certainly be willing to pay. If it could be carried out smoothly, Xiao Town would really not be poor. Lema City was still farming, while Xiao Town had already started to engage in high-value economic products. Whether they farmed or not was no longer important. In this way, the future of Xiao Town would also be better, and its scale could naturally be expanded further, because it would no longer need Huaxia City to provide it with blood transfusions.

Che and the others sat on the leather blankets that had been confirmed to be free of scorpions, and the Platoon leader asked Che again: "Besides scorpions, are there any other poisonous insects here, like centipedes or snakes?"

Che nodded repeatedly: "Many, very many. Scorpions are the easiest to find, and they are numerous. There are also many centipedes, but centipedes prefer slightly cooler and shadier places, so their harassment of us is limited, but they do exist. Why, are they also medicinal materials?"

The Platoon leader smiled brightly: "That's right, they really are. The effect is about the same as that of scorpions. As long as you can catch them, just keep the whole carcass. We want them all. In the future, our legs will all depend on the insects of Xiao Town."

Che also laughed happily: "Good, good, this is truly a great thing. I didn't expect that this problem which had me tearing my hair out would, upon your arrival, actually become a good way to cure another big trouble of mine. I am truly happy."

"That's right, what about snakes? What about snakes? There are quite a few snakes over in our Huaxia, but I haven't seen them used as medicine. Are the ones here okay?"

Regarding snakes, the Platoon leader was also unsure, and Baifeng was equally unsure. Baifeng didn't know much about snakes, and the snakes he could see in his life were extremely limited. The number of times he had seen snakes in his previous life could be counted on his fingers, and as for what kind of snakes they were, he couldn't even tell.

He had seen quite a few in this life, but unfortunately, he couldn't name them. Perhaps the variety of snakes now was even greater than in the future. He had already seen many of various patterns, lengths, and those that were poisonous or non-poisonous. There were people in Huaxia who died from snakes every year; after all, it was hard to avoid.

He knew that the ones that could be used as medicine were Wushao Snake and Golden Money White Flower Snake, but in his impression, they should only be found in more southern places. Perhaps the Xuanyuan Tribe had them, but Baifeng couldn't recognize them, nor could he distinguish them.

Fortunately, he knew that snakes had another usable part, which was the Snake Gallbladder. There were some Snake Gallbladders in the Pharmacy of Huaxia now, but the quantity was not large. Taking advantage of the fact that there were poisonous insects like scorpions and centipedes in Xiao Town this time, plus the fact that a record of being attacked by snakes had already been reported, Baifeng thought about letting Che catch some snakes from Xiao Town as well.

He couldn't research them, but Huaxia had people who could. The Ministry of Health of Huaxia was not built in vain. Supported by a large number of medical cases, some doctors had already begun to consider the dosage of medicine and the efficacy of the drugs themselves.

The knowledge Baifeng taught came from thousands of years later. Most of the medicinal materials were cultivated, so the effects were poor and the dosage naturally had to be larger. However, the current medicinal materials had immediate effects. In addition, when Baifeng identified some medicinal materials, he might have identified the same Genus but misidentified the species, leading to deviations in their effects.

At first, those doctors all thought they were wrong and wouldn't think Baifeng was wrong. Unfortunately, after everyone had the same doubts, they had to report the matter to Baifeng. After listening carefully to the accounts of the doctors, Baifeng believed that he was the one who was wrong and did not deny his mistake for the sake of face.

This was a matter of life and death, so Baifeng naturally dared not be careless. For example, for Fritillaria, the effects of Zhejiang Fritillaria and Sichuan Fritillaria were different. For Angelica, the effect of Min Angelica was the best, but Sichuan Angelica could not be used as medicine. Even the effects of the head, body, and tail of Angelica were different. The effects of Ephedra Root and its leaves were even opposite. So it was normal for Baifeng to be wrong.

But the students he taught already knew how to think for themselves; this was what made Baifeng the happiest.