Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 38 A Thousand Acres of Wasteland (Please continue reading)

"Please wait in an orderly manner. We apologize for the large number of people who have come today."

Taoyuan was bustling with noise.

Tiger Cub, along with several well-equipped guards, carefully maintained order.

We must be careful, for today's visitors are all prominent and well-known scions of powerful families in Zhending.

A rough count suggests that the number of people is no less than two hundred, which is more than the entire population of Taoyuan. This is after more than a hundred people left in the morning; otherwise, there would have been even more.

The reason they came was because of the smallpox eradication method that their brother Xian had developed a few days ago.

After repeatedly confirming that the condemned prisoners in the government office had no physical discomfort or disabilities, the wealthy young men who had been waiting for several days finally arrived.

Moreover, they always came in groups, making it impossible for the people of Peach Blossom Spring to cope.

The dirt roads of Taoyuan are now lined with carriages and horses, stretching all the way to the end of the stream.

There, on a tall wooden table with a tall stool, Zhang Xian sat steadily, flipping through the name cards.

"The Zhou family of Zhending, Zhou Hao and Zhou Ziming, right? You and your family of thirteen all need to be vaccinated against smallpox?"

Across the high table, a middle-aged man, around forty years old, surrounded by his family, smiled and nodded.

"Then I will have to trouble Mr. Zixu."

Zhang Xian waved his hand: "It's no trouble at all. Please wait a moment while I arrange treatment rooms for you."

He stood up and looked towards the dirt road in the village, which was three or four hundred meters away. There were many figures there, and he could see Huwa, Xiahou Lan and the others running back and forth to maintain order.

He exhaled a breath of stale air, turned to Zhao Yun, who was acting as his guard, and said, "Brother Yun, go and tell them that Taoyuan is short-handed and to ask them to come again tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Zhao Yun nodded, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, and strode away.

In one morning, he had already blown smallpox powder into the noses of 120 to 130 people.

Originally, the plan was to have people stay for a few days for observation, but unexpectedly, more and more people came, and the dozen or twenty thatched houses in Taoyuan could not accommodate them at all.

He had no choice but to send them back.

The cowpox vaccination program has been proven to be safe and reliable. The smallpox strain is diluted in cattle, which greatly reduces its infectivity. Moreover, even if it does infect, the infected person is infected with cowpox rather than natural smallpox, so he dared to do so.

I just gave them some instructions.

After returning to his room to prepare briefly, Zhang Xian invited Zhou Hao's family in.

The wooden chips were used to apply powder through the noses, and the vaccination of fourteen people took nearly half an hour.

After the vaccination was completed, Zhang Xian led them to the pharmacy next door.

He had set up this pharmacy a few days ago to store some herbs produced from the homestead template.

Since his medical level was upgraded to level 2, he was finally able to prescribe Chinese herbal medicine.

He now has the most suitable prescriptions for the fever, cough and itching caused by cowpox outbreaks.

Based on this method of prescription and combined with his diagnostic skills, he gave each of the fourteen members of Zhou Hao's family a slightly different prescription.

He handed the twenty-eight medicine packets to Zhou Hao and said, "You won't feel any discomfort for the first few days after vaccination, but around the seventh or eighth day, you will experience fever and cough. At that time, use this formula to boil the medicine and drink it. If your skin is itchy, use this formula to boil water and wipe your body."

He pointed out the different uses of the two medicines and thoughtfully wrote the effects on the medicine packet.

Zhou Hao accepted the gift and said, "We have long heard of Mr. Zixu's medical skills. We are grateful for your help this time. Please accept this small gift."

He took a roll of cloth from his sleeve and handed it to him.

Zhang Xian didn't say much, but simply accepted the gift, nodded slightly, and then bowed.

After taking the medicine, Zhou Hao and his family left.

In the past few days, many wealthy families from Zhengding have come. With the Guo family's reputation precedes them, each family's scion has automatically prepared a consultation fee, so he doesn't need to mention it.

However, there have been so many people coming these past few days that he hasn't even been able to fully tally up the exact contents of the consultation fees.

The money and provisions alone amounted to a large sum, and with the recovery of the first batch of wealthy young men, word spread that more people were coming to Taoyuan today than in all previous days combined.

This kept him extremely busy. "After a few more days of treatment, the smallpox vaccination method should be spread. One person's strength is ultimately too small, even with superpowers."

Exhaling a breath of stale air, Zhang Xian made up his mind.

"Master, the next number has been called."

Li Zhen ran to the pharmacy to inform them.

Zhang Xian accepted the consultation fee from the Zhou family, casually put it into a box, and then left.

"coming."

"That's how it is. In the next few days, everyone should stay in their own quarters and avoid crowded places. Once the fever and other symptoms subside, there will be no more worries about smallpox."

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Mr. Zixu. Please accept this small consultation fee."

Another company has left.

The bustling activity in Taoyuan continued until dusk.

Even with Zhao Yun's message, the noble families did not disperse. Left with no other option, they had to inoculate those who arrived first and tell those who came later to come back the next day.

"Uncle Zixu has finally finished his work today."

Guo Tang, dressed in a flowing skirt, slowly approached carrying a bowl of chicken soup.

"Hmm," Zhang Xian had just stretched when he heard a voice behind him: "Hey, it's you. Where's Tang'er?"

Leaning back in the high-backed chair crafted by the Guo family artisans, Zhang Xian reached out and took the chicken soup from the girl's hand, asking her a question.

"My younger brother pestered Xiao Hu to take him into the water to catch fish. If my father finds out that my son has been acting like a mischievous monkey these days, he will be very angry."

Guo Tang covered her mouth and chuckled, then tidied up some of the clutter on the table in front of Zhang Xian.

The two sons of the Guo family have been in Taoyuan for seven or eight days and have both recovered from smallpox vaccination.

"It's good for young children to be more active; jumping and playing more will improve their physical fitness."

Zhang Xiankuai casually sipped the chicken soup with oil floating on top of it, holding a porcelain spoon.

"Yes, yes, Uncle Zixu spoils Tang'er so much, just wait and see how Mother will discipline him when he returns home."

Guo Tang's eyes held a hint of coquettishness; over the past few days, the two had developed a good personal relationship.

"."

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. I can only hope that my sister-in-law will go easy on me."

After quickly finishing the chicken leg in his bowl, Zhang Xian gulped down a mouthful of soup and wiped his mouth comfortably.

"Since Tang'er is here, then let me do another small favor for your uncle."

He got up and brought over the box containing the money he had received for the past few days' worth of cloth and other medical fees.

"Come on, help your uncle with the counting."

"Uncle Zixu really knows how to order people around." Guo Tang gave him a reproachful look, but obediently sat down and helped Zhang Xian count the consultation fee on the cloth.

"The Li family is transferring twenty mu of wasteland. This is the land deed. The wasteland is right next to my uncle's estate, and they are connected."

Guo Tang opened a roll of cloth, on which lay a contract.

Then I checked again, and it was the same thing: wasteland around Taoyuan for transfer, but the area was smaller, only eleven or twelve mu.

In the past few days, they had received about sixty or seventy medical fees in the form of cloth. As the two of them counted them, they finally discovered that all sixty-seven of these cloth medical fees were transfer contracts for wasteland around Taoyuan, and they all had the official seal of the county government.

"Almost a thousand acres of wasteland." Even Guo Tang's mouth couldn't help but widen in surprise.

"To be precise, it's 1,027 mu," Zhang Xian added.

He put down the last piece of cloth in his hand and shook his head slightly: "I'm busy again."

(End of this chapter)