SEC Chapter 1486 Purifying 1 Jin of Water
Chapter 1486 Purifying 1 Jin of Water
Lishui County is located southeast of Yingtian Prefecture, about forty li from the city. The journey passes through several villages, all of which are severely affected by the disaster.
After walking for about an hour, the scenery along the roadside became increasingly desolate. The crops in the fields were sparse, some already withered and dead, others uprooted. Occasionally, people could be seen lying on the ground on both sides of the road; it was unclear whether they were dead or unconscious.
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression grew increasingly grim.
He walked up to an old man lying by the roadside, squatted down, and looked at him. The old man was as thin as a stick, with cracked lips, sunken eyes, and his chest was still rising and falling slightly.
“Still alive,” Zhu Yuanzhang said. “Soup and water.”
Tang He handed over the water pouch, and Zhu Yuanzhang carefully fed the old man a few sips of water.
The old man slowly opened his eyes, saw Zhu Yuanzhang, moved his lips, and said a sentence.
"Water...give me water..."
Zhu Yuanzhang handed him the water bag, and the old man gulped down a few mouthfuls before fainting again.
Zhu Qiwu squatted down, opened the first-aid kit, took out a dose of antipyretics and a dose of anti-inflammatory herbs, crushed them, mixed them with water, and gave them to the old man.
"Seven-five, what did you feed him?" Tang asked.
"Medicine. It can reduce fever and inflammation," Zhu Qiwu said. "This old man fainted from hunger, and he also has a fever. Let's bring the fever down first, then give him something to eat; he should survive."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the medicine packet in Zhu Qiwu's hand but didn't ask where the medicine came from. He was already used to Zhu Qiwu occasionally taking out some strange and unusual things.
"Let's go, there are more villages ahead."
The four continued walking. After walking for about half an hour, a village appeared in the distance.
Unlike Liujia Village, this village still had some life. Smoke was rising from chimneys, and people were walking on the road. Although they were all thin and pale, at least they were still alive.
Several elderly people were sitting in the sun at the entrance of the village. When they saw Zhu Yuanzhang and his entourage, they did not remain indifferent like those in Liujia Village, but looked at them with curiosity.
An old man stood up, walked over, and asked, "Are you from Yingtian Prefecture?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Brother, what's the name of this village?"
"Zhoujiazhuang," the old man said. "What brings you here?"
"Just passing by, taking a look," Zhu Yuanzhang said. "Brother, how's the harvest in your village?"
The old man's face immediately fell.
"Harvest? What harvest? Most of the crops in the fields have died, and the little grain left isn't even enough to pay the taxes. After paying the taxes, the whole village will starve."
"Have you paid the taxes?"
"We paid it. We paid it last month. But after that, the county came again, saying it was some kind of 'post-disaster reconstruction fee,' and each household had to pay two taels of silver. Two taels! Our whole village couldn't even scrape together two taels of silver."
Zhu Yuanzhang clenched his fist.
Zhu Qiwu listened from the side, calculating in his mind. Two taels of silver per household, and there were at least fifty or sixty households in Zhoujiazhuang, that's over a hundred taels of silver. Where did all that silver go?
"Brother, does your village have a well?" Zhu Qiwu asked.
The old man shook his head: "The well? It's dried up long ago. It dried up last year. Now we have to fetch water from the river three miles away, a round trip takes an hour. Young people can still carry it, but the old people and children simply can't."
Zhu Qiwu took out the simple well map from his pocket, looked at it, and then asked the old man, "Brother, where in your village is the soil softest?"
The old man paused for a moment: "The land at the east end of the village used to be paddy fields; the soil is soft. But what's the point of digging a well? There's no groundwater."
“There’s water,” Zhu Qiwu said. “There’s water underground, but ordinary wells can’t reach that depth. I have a way to get the water.”
The old man looked at Zhu Qiwu with suspicion.
Zhu Yuanzhang, standing nearby, said, "Brother, take us to the east end of the village."
The old man hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
The group arrived at the east end of the village. Zhu Qiwu gestured with the blueprints for a moment, then said to Tang He, "Da Ge isn't here, so you'll take command. Dig down six zhang (approximately 33 meters) according to these blueprints, starting with a test pit. If water comes out, then expand it into a well."
Tang He took the blueprints and looked at them. Although he didn't quite understand them, he trusted Zhu Qiwu.
"Okay, I'll go get someone."
Tang He ran back to the village and soon returned with a dozen or so young men. Although they were thin, they were still strong. At Tang He's command, the dozen or so hoes began to dig.
Zhu Yuanzhang stood by and watched without saying a word.
Zhu Qiwu walked to his side and whispered, "Fourth Brother, I saw this blueprint in an ancient book. Unlike ordinary wells, it uses a special structure to bring up deep groundwater."
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him: "What other good stuff is in that old book of yours?"
"There are many." Zhu Qiwu smiled. "I'll show them to you one by one when we get back."
After digging for about an hour, the test pit reached a depth of five zhang (approximately 10 meters), but water had not yet been found. The dozen or so young men were exhausted, and some were sitting on the ground panting heavily.
"Young Master Qiwu, shall we continue digging?" a young man asked.
“Dig,” Zhu Qiwu said. “Dig another ten feet.”
The young people looked at each other, gritted their teeth, and started digging again.
After digging for another half hour, a cry of surprise suddenly came from the pit.
"Water's coming out! Water's coming out!"
Everyone gathered around. A stream of clear water gushed from the bottom of the pit, flowing more and more until it was half a foot deep in no time.
The villagers of Zhoujiazhuang were completely dumbfounded.
The old man knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face.
"Water...there's water...thank God..."
Zhu Yuanzhang stood by the pit, looking at the clear water, and remained silent for a long time.
Then he turned around and looked at Zhu Qiwu.
"Seventy-five, how many wells can be drilled with this?"
“This blueprint can be copied,” Zhu Qiwu said. “Fourth Brother, if each of the dozens of villages around Yingtian Prefecture digs a well, the people won’t have to fetch water from three miles away.”
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, then said to Tang He, "Have Zhou Dexing mobilize the people. Starting tomorrow, dig wells in the villages surrounding Yingtian Prefecture. The wages for each well will come from my private treasury."
Tang accepted the order and left.
Zhu Yuanzhang then turned to the old man.
"Hey bro, what's your name?"
"Chow Tai Fook."
"Brother Dafu, are you the village head of this village?"
"Yes." Zhou Dafu wiped away his tears. "I've been doing it for twenty years."
"Who collects that 'post-disaster reconstruction fee' in your village?"
Zhou Dafu's expression changed. He looked around, then lowered his voice and said, "It was Wang, the registrar of Shangyuan County, who sent people to collect it. It's Wang Shouyi, his younger brother."
It's Wang Shouyi again.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes turned cold, but he did not lash out on the spot. Instead, he patted Zhou Dafu on the shoulder.
"Brother Dafu, don't worry. I'll have someone investigate this matter. Once it's cleared up, you'll be paid back every single penny."
Zhou Dafu was about to kneel again when Zhu Yuanzhang stopped him.
"Don't kneel. We ordinary people don't do that."
Zhu Qiwu watched from the side, a warm feeling welling up in his heart. This was Zhu Yuanzhang. To the common people, he would always be that Zhu Chongba who had crawled out of the mud. The news that the well in Zhoujiazhuang had been dug spread quickly. People from several nearby villages rushed to see it, gathering around the well, laughing and crying.
Zhu Qiwu struck while the iron was hot, having Tang He make over a dozen copies of the simple well blueprints and distribute them to the village heads of several surrounding villages.
"Drill a well according to these blueprints, six zhang deep, and you're guaranteed to find water."
They were overjoyed, holding the blueprints and leaving with profuse thanks.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Qiwu continued towards Lishui County. After traveling about twenty li, they passed a small village called Lijiawan.
Before even entering the village, a foul odor could be smelled.
It wasn't the smell of feces, it was a putrid stench. It was like something had rotted.
Zhu Yuanzhang stopped in his tracks.
What does it taste like?
Zhu Qiwu scanned the group with his talent appraisal technique, and his expression changed.
"Fourth Brother, there's an epidemic ahead."
"An epidemic?" Zhu Yuanzhang's face immediately darkened. "What epidemic?"
"Not sure. But the smell is off. It could be the plague."
Tang He and Zhou Dexing simultaneously placed their hands on the hilt of the knife.
"Fourth Brother, shall we take a detour?" Tang He said.
"Why take the detour?" Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him. "There's an epidemic ahead. If we take a detour, what will happen to the people?"
He strode into the village.
Zhu Qiwu followed behind, his hand already clutching the first-aid kit.
Upon entering the village, the scene before them stunned everyone.
The village was deathly silent. There was no one on the road, and all the doors and windows were closed, some with white cloths hanging on them. The stench of decay grew stronger and stronger, emanating from the center of the village.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked to the door of a house and knocked on it.
No one answered.
He knocked a few more times before the door slowly opened a crack. A woman's face appeared; she looked to be in her thirties, with a sallow complexion and red, swollen eyes, clearly having been crying for a long time.
"Who...who are you? Don't come in...we have a sick person in our house..."
“Sister-in-law, we are just passing through,” Zhu Yuanzhang said. “We heard there’s an epidemic in your village, so we’ve come to take a look.”
The woman's tears fell instantly.
"What are you looking at? It's hopeless... The whole village is hopeless... More than thirty people have died... The county officials came and said it was a plague. They told us to burn the dead and then seal off the village, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving. But we have no food. Sealing off the village is just waiting to die..."
Zhu Yuanzhang's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
Zhu Qiwu stepped forward and asked, "Sister-in-law, what are the patient's symptoms?"
The woman thought for a moment and said, "First I had a fever, then diarrhea, and later it turned into bloody diarrhea. And then... I just couldn't take it anymore."
Fever, diarrhea, bloody stools.
Zhu Qiwu's mind raced. This wasn't a plague, it was cholera. Cholera was often mistaken for the plague in ancient times, but it was actually an intestinal infection caused by contaminated drinking water. It could be cured with clean water and the right medicine.
"Sister-in-law, where does your village get its water from?"
"The old well at the entrance of the village."
"Does the water from that well smell bad?"
The woman paused for a moment, then nodded frantically: "Yes, yes, yes! That water tasted bitter and had a foul smell. But we had no other water to drink..."
Zhu Qiwu turned to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Fourth Brother, it's not plague, it's cholera. It's caused by unclean water. Just change the water and give him medicine, and he'll be cured."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him: "You have medicine?"
Zhu Qiwu took out a first-aid kit from his pocket, opened it, and found three doses of antipyretics, three doses of hemostatic powder, and three doses of anti-inflammatory herbs inside.
"Is that enough?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
“Not enough,” Zhu Qiwu said. “There are at least a hundred people in the village; three doses of medicine aren’t enough. But we can save the most seriously ill first.”
He turned to the woman: "Sister-in-law, where is the most seriously ill person in the village? Take me there."
The woman hesitated for a moment, then opened the door.
"In...in the ancestral hall at the east end of the village. There are more than a dozen people lying there, all on the verge of death."
Zhu Qiwu followed the woman toward the east end of the village. Zhu Yuanzhang, Tang He, and Zhou Dexing followed behind.
The scene inside the ancestral hall made Zhu Qiwu's heart clench.
A dozen or so people lay on the ground, covered with straw mats, some old and some young. Some had fevers and were shivering; others were already motionless, their faces covered with white cloths. The stench in the air was so strong it made one want to vomit.
Zhu Qiwu squatted down, opened the first-aid kit, took out a dose of antipyretics and a dose of anti-inflammatory herbs, and began to prepare the medicine.
"Tang He, go boil some water. Boil several pots."
"Zhou Dexing, go and gather everyone in the village who is still able-bodied. Have them seal up that old well and forbid anyone from drinking the water from there."
The two men accepted the order and left.
Zhu Qiwu prepared the medicine and fed it to the most seriously ill patients first. Then he prepared a second and a third dose, asking the woman to distribute them to the other patients.
Zhu Yuanzhang stood at the entrance of the ancestral hall, watching Zhu Qiwu's busy figure without saying a word.
About an hour later, the first elderly person who took the medicine had their fever subside.
Another hour passed, and the young man who had the worst diarrhea stopped having diarrhea.
The woman knelt before Zhu Qiwu, weeping so hard she couldn't speak.
"My benefactor...my benefactor..."
Zhu Qiwu helped her up: "Sister-in-law, don't kneel. I'll save you two portions of the medicine. Prepare it according to my instructions and give it to the patient twice a day. Make sure the water is boiled before drinking it; never let the patient touch tap water."
The woman nodded vigorously, clutching the medicine packet to her chest as if it were a precious treasure.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked in, looked at the patients who were recovering, and then said to Zhu Qiwu, "Qiwu, is there enough medicine?"
“That’s not enough,” Zhu Qiwu said, “but I have a way.”
He opened the system panel to see if there were any other rewards to claim today.
*Ding!* Detection indicates the host is treating patients with an epidemic, triggering a special check-in. Claim it?
Receive.
Ding! Special check-in successful. Reward: One prescription for a special treatment for cholera, enough to prepare medicine for 500 people. Bonus: Ten bottles of water purification tablets, each bottle can purify 100 jin (50 kg) of water.
Zhu Qiwu's eyes lit up.
He took out the prescription and water purification tablets and handed them to Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Fourth Brother, this prescription can cure five hundred people. The water purification tablets can clean up dirty water. With these two things, the cholera outbreak in this village can be controlled."
Zhu Yuanzhang took the prescription and examined it, then said to Zhou Dexing, "Dexing, immediately report back to the Heavenly Palace and have Shan Chang prepare the medicine according to this prescription. Once it's ready, send it to all the surrounding villages affected by the epidemic. Send the water purification tablets along with it."
Zhou Dexing took the prescription and water purification tablets, and left without saying a word. (End of Chapter)