Chapter 254: Artemisia annua

"This..."

"The young master, he..."

A group of people, looking at Liu Zheng like this, were all nearly choking back sobs.

"Sir, we are beyond saving!"

"Please, persuade the young master!"

The group knelt down with a thud.

Qingyang Shuo could hardly bear such a scene and smiled bitterly: "Everyone, since the young master said to live well, then listen to him and live well!"

"Military Medical Officers, do not give up, treat them one by one!"

"Everyone, you must wear a cloth strip before you can go in to help!"

Although Qingyang Shuo was in a wheelchair, he held great prestige in the army; once his order was given, no one dared to resist.

"Understood!"

"Wait for the young master!"

"We are all brothers; the young master said we would not abandon or forsake one another, so we shall not abandon or forsake one another!"

Suddenly, even those who had not contracted the illness wanted to stay behind. For a time, the entire Yinzhou Army was united in one heart; seeing that there were not enough military medical officers, some volunteered to run in and help care for the patients, while others helped decoct the medicine.

Seeing all this.

Qingyang Shuo felt a slight stirring in his heart.

Regardless of whether Liu Zheng could succeed, this cohesion of the Yinzhou Army alone would likely make the whole world tremble, would it not?

This is...

This is Malaria, can the young master really cure it?

"Giddyap!"

"Faster!"

Liu Zheng was very anxious, riding without stopping; his goal was clear: head south! Although it was still a desert Gobi at this time, if one kept heading south along this way, there should be river water.

Jiang Xuan and Pei Qianyun did not waste words either, leading a group of people behind Liu Zheng.

This run lasted for several hours; fortunately, the group had prepared enough water. When the horses were tired, they rested for a while; when the people were tired, they drank some water and continued.

The scorching sun was in the sky, and it was extremely parched.

This vicious sun even made the land of the Gobi begin to look distorted.

The team of over a hundred people was all exhausted.

However, no one complained of fatigue, and no one complained of hardship.

They did not even ask Liu Zheng where they were going.

The Yinzhou Army trusted Liu Zheng just like that.

If they had heatstroke, they drank some Agastache anti-heat water; if they felt uncomfortable, they washed their faces with water and continued forward.

"Young master, there is a river ahead!"

Just when everyone on this Gobi Desert saw not a shred of hope, Jiang Xuan suddenly shouted. The crowd was invigorated, and Liu Zheng shouted to move; the hundred-plus people ran toward that side.

Sure enough.

A winding little river appeared before everyone.

The group could not help but cheer and jump for joy.

The grown men, whose bodies were already stuck together from sweat, could not help but jump into the river, taking a cold bath in their clothes, calling it delightful.

Liu Zheng also chuckled, his mood improving along with them.

Because he saw the thing he wanted to find!

Artemisia annua!

A type of Artemisia!

Liu Zheng's luck this time was actually quite good!

By this river, there indeed grew quite a lot of the Artemisia annua that Liu Zheng wanted. It seemed his idea was correct; Artemisia annua is distributed in the Northwest region at altitudes of two thousand to three thousand meters.

Artemisia, especially Artemisia annua, is a good thing. One must know that in later generations, Tu Youyou extracted Artemisinin from Artemisia annua and won the Nobel Prize for it.

The "Bie Lu" says: Artemisia grows in the marshes of Huayin.

Hongjing says: It is found everywhere; this is the current Artemisia, and people also pick it as a mixed herb to eat. Baosheng says: When tender, it is pickled in vinegar to make pickles, which are naturally fragrant. The leaves resemble those of Artemisia scoparia but the back is not white, and it grows to about four feet tall. It is harvested in the fourth and fifth months and dried in the sun for medicinal use.

The "Book of Songs" says: "The deer cry 'you-you', eating the Artemisia of the fields." This is that very Artemisia.

Therefore, in ancient times, people had already recorded Artemisia.

However, why did Artemisinin become a Divine Medicine for treating Malaria in later generations? And yet it did not in ancient times?

First, there were too many traditional Chinese medicines for Malaria in ancient times, and Artemisia was a very inconspicuous existence among them. In fact, in orthodox medical books, there is no record of Artemisia treating Malaria at all. It was only mentioned once in the books of Ge Hong. That is to say, in the society of that time, Artemisia belonged to a type of folk remedy and was not recognized by orthodox Chinese medicine at all.

Secondly, even if there were records of Artemisia treating Malaria, what was used as medicine was only ordinary Artemisia, not Artemisia annua at all. They were not the same thing at all.

Especially in ancient medical books, the evaluation of Artemisia annua was actually not high. It was called "Stinking Mugwort"!

Shizhen says: Fragrant Artemisia and Stinking Mugwort can both be called grass Artemisia. This Artemisia is similar to Artemisia, but this Artemisia is green with a light yellow tint, and its scent is pungent and stinking; it is not for human consumption, but people pick it to ferment sauce and rice wine yeast.

Therefore, because of the stench, Artemisia annua was shunned by the ancients in all sorts of ways!

Yet Liu Zheng knew that this was definitely a good thing!

Artemisia annua is the main raw material for the anti-malaria drug Artemisinin. Artemisinin is a drug that treats Malaria; it can rapidly eliminate malaria parasites in the human body. Artemisinin and its derivatives, Artesunate and Artemether, have very good therapeutic effects on Malignant Malaria such as cerebral malaria.

"Alright, once you're done washing, start working!"

Liu Zheng was in a great mood and laughed heartily.

The group was stunned.

Work?

Liu Zheng nodded, pointed at the Artemisia annua by the river, and said, "Pull it all up for me and bring it back!"

The crowd was startled.

Jiang Xuan blinked: "Young Master, what is this for? This stuff stinks!"

"Young Master, what is so rare about this? Back in our hometown of Yinzhou, there is plenty of it!"

"Haha, when I was a kid, I used this to stink people out; it worked like a charm!"

Liu Zheng laughed: "Enough nonsense. Before it was just Stinking Mugwort, but now it is a precious thing. Remember, the lives of those brothers all depend on this thing to be saved. Everyone, take as much as you can!"

Hearing this, the group did not believe it at all.

Can this Stinking Mugwort really cure Malaria?

But since the Young Master said so, there must be a reason. There really was quite a lot of Artemisia annua along this river. At Liu Zheng's command, over a hundred people all got busy.

Cutting, piling, and bundling—in the end, everyone's horse was covered in Artemisia annua.

Only then did Liu Zheng heave a sigh of relief.

It seems that in this Northwest region, Artemisia annua is more abundant than other types of Artemisia.

"Let's go, head back!"

The hundred people mounted their horses once again.

By the time they returned to the camp, it was already dusk.

"Young Master, this is..."

Qingyang Shuo and the others came up to greet them.

Throughout the day, no other infected people had appeared. Liu Zheng also breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this; it seemed the quarantine had been implemented early enough, and the situation was under good control.

Seeing this huge pile of Stinking Mugwort, the group all covered their noses.

Liu Zheng chuckled and said: "Distribute it, wring out the juice, and drink it!"

The group had strange expressions on their faces.

A few of the severely ill were startled: "Young Master, Young Master, if you don't want to take care of us, just abandon us. Why must you stink us to death?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

The tense atmosphere eased quite a bit.

Of course, this was just a joke; they knew that the things Liu Zheng had spent the whole day running around to find must be useful.

This was the people of Yinzhou, and their unconditional trust in Liu Zheng.

Extracting Artemisinin...

Liu Zheng did not have the conditions for that yet, because Artemisinin is very sensitive to temperature. Tu Youyou of later generations used low-temperature ether to extract it. Liu Zheng could not do that and could only follow what was written in Ge Hong's book: wring out the juice and drink it.

That night.

The Yinzhou Army camp reeked.

Many people were wailing...

If I have sinned, please just kill me.

Why must you make me drink such foul-smelling stuff?

Liu Zheng did not sleep at all.

One thousand people...

He would not give up.

He stayed in this quarantine camp the whole time, observing the condition of these people.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, yet he did not want to leave.

Everyone saw the Young Master's actions today, and in private, they could not help but secretly wipe away tears.

The cohesion of the Yinzhou Army reached an unprecedented level.

Everyone was waiting.

Many people stayed outside the cordon, keeping Liu Zheng company.

Overnight, several critically ill patients died one after another, which had once plunged everyone into despair.

However...

Just at the darkest hour before dawn arrived.

Suddenly, someone roared out.

"Someone is better, Young Master, someone is recovering!"

"Another one, another one!"

"Young Master, I feel much better..."

The entire Yinzhou Army cheered with joy.

【Author's Note】

Thanks to Mr. Shen for the generous tip, thank you, thank you. Work has begun, three chapters a day as a baseline!