Chapter 50: Allicin

"Hu Langzhong, please write a blood-tonifying prescription for General Chang; as for General Chang's wounds, leave them to this Prince."

"His Highness knows medicine?"

Hu Langzhong is the premier physician in Yan Commandery.

Anyone in the families of the Rich Clan of Yan Commandery who falls ill seeks him out for treatment.

Therefore, he is extremely proud of his own medical skills.

Hearing Yan Wang say this, although he dared not show any contempt on his face, he was instantly displeased in his heart.

Zhao Xu did not notice the subtle change in Hu Langzhong's expression.

It was not that he looked down on Hu Langzhong, but that Chang Wei's life was very important.

Since Hu Langzhong was at his wit's end, he could only try using his own knowledge.

"Feng'er, go to the middle courtyard and fetch a bottle of the strongest Wine," Zhao Xu ordered.

The arrowheads in Chang Wei's body must be removed.

The soldiers dared not pull them out, fearing that Chang Wei would not be able to hold on at that moment.

But they could not remain inside forever.

Even though Feng'er was bold, she was somewhat afraid upon seeing Chang Wei's condition.

Her small face pale, she headed to the middle courtyard.

Because he was too lazy to explain what alcohol was, when he had the middle courtyard distill alcohol, he just said it was the strongest Wine.

So what Feng'er went to get was alcohol.

Hu Langzhong had intended to leave.

But hearing Yan Wang send someone to get alcohol, he stopped his steps, intending to see what Yan Wang was doing.

Before long, Feng'er came over carrying a Wine Jar.

Zhao Xu opened the Wine Jar and said to Xu Lie, "Pull the arrowheads out one by one."

Xu Lie and Chang Wei share a deep bond, so he naturally did not hesitate when it came to saving Chang Wei.

Grabbing an arrowhead, he gave a fierce pull, and Zhao Xu took the opportunity to pour the alcohol into the wound.

"Ah..."

The arrowhead was pulled out, and with the wound doused in alcohol, Chang Wei felt great pain and woke from his coma.

Perhaps he was delirious from the fever, for he kicked out, and Xu Lie was sent tumbling to the ground.

"God-damned Northern Di dogs, die!" Chang Wei cursed incessantly.

Xu Lie scrambled up, said nothing, and went to pull the second one, letting Chang Wei struggle against him.

Zhao Xu pried the wound open again and poured in alcohol, and without paying attention, he also took a few punches from Chang Wei.

With all three wounds treated, Chang Wei quieted down again, though he remained in a deep sleep.

Zhao Xu's heart sank like a stone; whether Chang Wei could survive this time depended on his physical constitution and the method he had thought of.

"You all keep watch here; Feng'er, come with this Prince."

Zhao Xu called Feng'er out of the room and instructed, "Send people to Dong Shi to buy up all the garlic on the market."

"Garlic..." Feng'er was full of confusion.

"Do not ask, just go," Zhao Xu said, walking toward the middle courtyard, "Have it delivered directly to the middle courtyard once bought."

It was the first time Feng'er had seen Zhao Xu so serious; she dared not talk back and turned to leave.

Zhao Xu arrived at the middle courtyard and had the craftsmen prepare a pot and ten Wine Jars.

Half an hour later, Feng'er returned, followed by a dozen servants.

Each servant was carrying a basket of garlic.

"Mash all the garlic," Zhao Xu ordered.

The thing he was going to produce this time was none other than Allicin.

In the modern era, many people are familiar with things like penicillin and cephalosporins, but few understand Allicin, this broad-spectrum natural antibiotic.

Besides being able to fight bacteria, Allicin is also quite effective against fungi.

There is a medication called Allicin Capsule.

It is used to treat deep bacterial and fungal infections, and it basically has no side effects.

Besides this, Allicin can also be used as an insecticide, and even more so as an animal antibiotic; it can be said to have extensive uses.

Searching through the knowledge in his mind, he felt that only this could save Chang Wei and could be produced at the moment.

Following Zhao Xu's orders, the crowd began mashing garlic.

After mashing the garlic into a paste, they let it sit for half an hour, then dried it in the large pot.

Finally, Zhao Xu had everyone pour the dried garlic paste into a vat and poured White Wine in to soak it.

These were all White Wine of about thirty-some degrees, which was most suitable.

Allicin is not easily soluble in water, but it is easily soluble in alcohol; this is the principle of extraction.

It soaked for a night.

The next day, Zhao Xu got up early and had the servants find gauze to filter out the garlic dregs, leaving the wine liquid.

After a night of soaking, the wine liquid had turned a pale yellow.

After letting it sit for a while, the yellow oily substance settled to the bottom, and Zhao Xu had the servants pour out the wine liquid on top.

He used a bowl to hold a bowl of the yellow solution and went to Chang Wei's room.

Generally speaking, one ton of garlic can extract one jin of Allicin using alcohol.

A normal person only needs to consume 100 milligrams a day.

What he used yesterday was just about one ton of garlic.

The amount of Allicin in the vat is enough for five thousand people to use.

However, Chang Wei's injuries are severe, and his extraction process was not that pure, so he ladled out a bit more.

"Your Highness."

Chang Wei's room was full of people, all waiting for him.

Hu Langzhong was there too.

Last night, he stayed at the Prince's Mansion to look after Chang Wei at any time.

At the same time, he also wanted to see what Zhao Xu had managed to produce after fussing about all night.

"Pour one part into the wound, and administer one part orally," Zhao Xu said.

Hu Langzhong sniffed, "Your Highness, why is there a smell of garlic?"

"This is a medicine I secretly concocted using garlic and other things," Zhao Xu said, half-truthfully.

Xu Lie did not hesitate; he took a bowl and poured one part into Chang Wei's mouth, and drizzled the other part onto the wound.

"Three times a day; the rest depends on Chang Wei himself," Zhao Xu sighed, as he had no other methods.

Hearing this, the crowd all hung their heads in dejection.

Zhao Xu ordered everyone to go out and let Chang Wei rest.

Outside the door, he kept Liu Fu behind.

He had not slept all night.

Besides worrying about Chang Wei, he was also worried about the threat from the Northern Di.

Judging from Chang Wei's trip, once the Northern Di begin their Autumn Hunt, it will be a disaster for Yan Commandery.

It is no wonder the commoners were so happy when he promised to resist the Northern Di.

"The Northern Di are rampant, causing death and injury to our commoners, and Yan Commandery has no elite Cavalry; even if we organize them now, it is too late. But I cannot sit idly by and watch the commoners of Yan Commandery be slaughtered. I thought about it all night and have a method to entrust to you. Order the officials to supervise its execution immediately; it may save the commoners of Yan Commandery, and perhaps even have the effect of a surprise attack." Zhao Xu rubbed his sore eyes.

Liu Fu was just worrying about this matter.

Hearing this, his heart was filled with joy, "Please speak, Your Highness. If I can save the commoners of Yan Commandery from fire and water, this subordinate will not refuse even if it means death."

Zhao Xu pondered for a moment and took out the things he had drawn during the night from his robes, "It is this."

"Tunnels!" Liu Fu was dumbfounded.

The diagram Yan Wang gave him was a complete map for digging tunnels.

Deep tunnels connected one household to another, crisscrossing, and some tunnel entrances were even inside water wells.

Moreover, there were places to store grain and facilities in the tunnels.

It could be said that living inside for ten days or half a month would be no problem.

"The strength of the Northern Di lies in their Cavalry, so we will use tunnels to neutralize their advantage. These tunnels can not only hide the people but also hide soldiers," Zhao Xu said. "If the Northern Di use scout teams to plunder villages, the commoners can hide their grain in the tunnels and use the secrecy of the tunnels to attack the dismounted Cavalry."

Liu Fu was stunned; he had never seen such a method of fighting before.

Zhao Xu continued, "Furthermore, the Northern Di are a nation of soldiers; Yan Commandery can also be a nation of soldiers. This time, besides supervising the digging of tunnels in each village, you must organize Village Soldiers in every village, give them Weapons, and let them train. When the Northern Di come, the commoners can be transformed into soldiers."

"Brilliant, truly brilliant." The more Liu Fu heard, the more excited he became.

Now that the land has been distributed, most of the commoners in Yan Commandery are attached to the Prince's Mansion, so doing this is absolutely no problem.

Implementing it this way is equivalent to making every village a fortress.

It will no longer be a place for the Northern Di to slaughter at will.