Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 378: Substituting Concepts
As early as when the names of various plants such as tomato, corn, and peanut appeared, Zhang Shou concluded that Emperor Taizu's fleet had indeed reached America. As for whether this predecessor really died in a foreign land, or returned quietly to his country and then died somewhere quietly, or simply died at sea, he could not be sure.
After all, as for the part about the whispers between Lao Xianyu and Monk Zanghai that was overheard by Liu, it can only be said that they were entrusted by someone to go out to sea, but they did not really find the whereabouts of Emperor Taizu.
However, when he heard the word "Cinchona", he could not help but be stunned. Cinchona...isn't it quinine? Although it was once a special medicine for malaria, when it was introduced to the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi treated it like a treasure and only gave it to his most trusted ministers, but the original technology for extracting quinine was extremely backward, and the most primitive method was even to dry the bark and grind it into powder...
Of course, chemical extraction was finally realized later, and by the 20th century, quinine had been successfully synthesized. But with the invention of various new drugs, especially artemisinin, this ineffective drug has basically withdrawn from the stage of treating malaria, and is only used to treat a small number of malignant malaria. Lao Xianyu just emphasized that malignant malaria was probably what the prophet said .
Seeing that Lao Xianyu was looking at him solemnly as if he was offering a treasure, Zhang Shou wanted to say that instead of going thousands of miles to introduce the not-so-effective quinine cream , it would be better to try artemisinin extract. However, after thinking it over, he decided not to discourage others and asked out of curiosity, "Oh, it can cure malaria? How is it? Tell me?"
After listening to the story of Lao Xianyu who was infected with malaria at sea, and then met and got a "magic medicine", he said with a smile: "Is there such a hidden story in the story you told me before? You didn't tell me before, but now you are willing to tell me?"
"Dr. Zhang, you took such a big risk. I really feel bad for you. Besides, we tried taking quinine cream before. It has good medicinal properties, but it is also very risky. Besides, I haven't even grown cotton yet. I'm not sure if I can grow this thing, so I didn't dare to say anything before."
Old Salted Fish was extremely thick-skinned. He didn't care about Zhang Shou's mere teasing. There was not even a trace of embarrassment on his smiling face. "Besides, I am a small person like me. I am timid and afraid of trouble. It is better to have less trouble than more. If I were not really grateful for your kindness, I would not dare to take out this kind of thing with only medicine and seeds. Really, although this medicine is effective, the medicinal properties are too strong..."
"Okay, okay!" Zhang Shou finally stopped Lao Xianyu's endless introduction, thinking to himself, how effective is quinine? Don't I know how effective it is?
Originally, cinchona frost, or quinine, was not effective in treating all malaria. Nowadays, the extraction method was backward and the purity was likely to be insufficient. Just like the extraction of artemisinin, he had read some information that said that the purity of the extraction would vary depending on the region where artemisia annua was grown, and the efficacy would also vary, not to mention quinine.
To be honest, the value of the cinchona tree is far greater than that of the natural rubber tree.
Having said that, Zhang Shou did know one thing: natural rubber has unknown effects on most people, while cinchona cream produced from the cinchona tree may very well save some people's lives. It is easy to understand which is more important.
Don’t underestimate malaria. Even among the dignitaries these days, the rate of malaria infection is quite high!
As for Artemisia annua… He remembered that this thing was originally ranked very low in the traditional Chinese medicine for treating malaria, and like quinine, it was extremely difficult to purify artemisinin, otherwise it would not have won the Nobel Prize. And he was not a chemist or a doctor, this was not something that could be cured by boiling it in water. If he rashly brought it up, he would only be criticized by today's famous doctors!
Thinking this in his heart, he still gave full approval to the old salted fish's act of offering a treasure: "If this thing can save people, it will indeed be a great merit."
However, Lao Xianyu took two steps closer and spoke almost in his ear, which made him frown.
"Doctor Zhang, I thought about the fragment of the stele you asked me to tinker with before, and finally decided not to carve the rubber tree. It's not my own decision. We have tried the cinchona cream produced by the cinchona tree on the Haidong continent, but we don't know what the rubber tree sap is good for except that it is sticky. Don't you think that if we want to borrow the virtue of Taizu, the cinchona tree will be more effective? Of course, if you disagree, Dr. Zhang, just pretend I didn't say anything."
Old Salty Fish paused for a moment, then whispered, "If you agree, I won't take credit for this. I will definitely insist that you found it from the seeds I brought back from Haidong based on the fragments of the stele, and then found the cinchona cream with unknown uses here!"
"If you don't take credit for it, how are you going to tell others that you have tried it and confirmed that it really has that effect?"
Zhang Shou didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but when he asked casually, he saw that Lao Xianyu's expression had become subtle: "The only people who have tried it and are still alive are me and Zang Hai. As long as we don't say it, no one else will know. Besides, the court will definitely find a group of civilians suffering from malaria to test the medicine. Wouldn't it be better to let them try it to see if it works?"
Seeing Zhang Shou frowning, he obviously disagreed with such a proposal. Lao Xianyu didn't know whether to be glad that he had met a nobleman who was unwilling to compete for credit, or to be annoyed that he had met a stubborn person who didn't know how to adapt. But no matter what, he would rather meet such a gentleman!
"If Dr. Zhang is afraid that your superiors will think you are selling dog meat under false pretenses, you can report to the emperor and explain that you had no choice. I acted on my own initiative and I will accept the punishment, but I really mean well. You know, those stubborn old officials in the court wish that the world would be dead forever with men farming and women weaving. How could they pay attention to overseas seeds? If they had a pioneering spirit, maybe the northern barbarians would have been pacified long ago!"
Zhang Shou had never thought that Lao Xianyu was still a radical at such an old age. He was both angry and amused. Although he was annoyed that this guy was so self-righteous and self-willed, considering that it had only been two days since the incident, and he had not informed him when the matter was already done, he pondered for a moment and finally said in a deep voice: "Okay, let's leave it as it is, but..."
He suddenly raised his tone, stared at the old man and said word by word: "There will be no next time! Besides, you'd better rack your brains to think about whether there is anything you are hiding from me. Otherwise, I don't mind using the Taizu secret box that the emperor gave me, to which only he and I know the key, to make a special report and tell the emperor the story of you, the legendary seafarer!"
He originally meant this as a threat, but after hearing it, Lao Xianyu's eyes and brows revealed an unusual look.
However, the focus of this old drama queen is different from that of anyone else: "Dr. Zhang, is this really the secret box left by Emperor Taizu? Can you let me take a look? Really just one look! As long as I take one look, I will be willing to die!"
Zhang Shou casually grabbed a teacup beside him and made a gesture to smash it. Seeing that the person did not move, he said unhappily, "Okay, if you behave yourself and don't do anything, I will teach you a lesson later! Instead of wasting your time here, you might as well go to the prison to visit your nephew and others. This case does not count if I try it here. I have to report it to the court for a response."
Old Salty Fish's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really? By the way, Dr. Zhang, you postponed the execution yesterday. Did you want them to use some medicine for his wounds and wait until he has recovered before executing him and exiling him?"
"It's not that easy! I want you to go and see him, so that you don't have to go back and lose the chance! Don't think that I have finished the trial of this case, but if the verdict and the charges are sent back to the court, I will be powerless. That's why I am delaying the execution. If they will be beaten whether they stick their heads out or shrink, there is no need to let them suffer a beating!"
"Of course, if someone in the court brings up the old rules of Taizu, I can do nothing about it." Zhang Shou saw that Lao Xianyu's face suddenly changed, so he said calmly: "This is not something I can decide on my own, so we can only leave it to fate. Okay, you follow Ah Liu. General Zhu has already made a warning to the prison, and he will definitely not let them suffer as hard as before in the palace."
Ah Liu dragged the dispirited Old Salted Fish out without saying anything. Zhang Shou, however, began to think about how he should polish this matter and send it to the emperor in a secret box.
That's right, because the previous events in Cangzhou did not involve details that needed to be kept confidential, he had never used such a powerful weapon that could be delivered directly to the emperor.
But Lao Xianyu instigated him to replace rubber trees with cinchona trees - a substitution of the concept of tree planting, which he must first clarify.
The emperor had lost a son, even if he was an unruly bear, so he had better pay attention to the anger of a father. An angry father is often completely unreasonable.
He had examined all the stone fragments before. Since Lao Xianyu guaranteed that he was good at seal carving and aging (forgery), he asked someone to use a stone tablet with no visible writing on it to carve a pattern of extracting juice from a rubber tree. Presumably, the pattern on it has now become about peeling bark from a cinchona tree to save people... He never thought that there would be a day when he would forge cultural relics!
However, it is worth it to falsify the information for the many plants that have been discovered by the "prophets" but have never been introduced to the Central Plains!
While Zhang Shou and Zhu Tingfang were racking their brains to write memorials, Zhu Ying, who traveled day and night, had already entered the outer city of the capital after two days and two nights. She always paid great attention to health preservation, never getting up early if she could get up late, and never being diligent if she could be lazy, but this time she traveled almost non-stop for two days and nights, and only took a short break at night and noon each time.
At this moment, she was tired and exhausted, but the outer city was just like the inner city, where it was not convenient to ride fast, so she could only send Zhu Hong to shout and clear the way. After entering the Xuanwu Gate, she trotted on the official road next to the Imperial Road, and under many surprised gazes, she turned directly into the street in front of the Zhaoguo Mansion, and then rode in.
The eldest daughter suddenly came back without any warning, and naturally there was a lot of commotion in the mansion. However, Zhu Ying didn't care about that. She sent someone to inform her parents and grandmother first, and then she hurried back to her room to take a bath with hot water, then changed her dusty clothes, and went to Qing'an Hall without even combing her hair.
When she entered the room, she saw her grandmother and mother were there, but her father was nowhere to be seen. Zhu Ying didn't care and briefly told her about Zhang Shou's verdict and judgment. Then she changed the subject and said, "Grandmother, mother, I have to go to the palace to see the emperor now."
The old lady wanted to stop her, but when she saw Zhu Ying's proud but stubborn eyes, she couldn't help but think of her granddaughter's childhood. When she was with her peers, if she was excluded, Zhu Ying would go out alone to make friends with the same lonely children, and would never compromise with those who excluded her. As long as Zhu Ying recognized them as relatives and friends, she would never give up, and this was an unchanging fact.
Therefore, when she saw Jiu Niang silently step forward and use a jade comb to comb Zhu Ying's hair that was not yet completely dry and therefore completely loose, she said, "Go, remember to come back early!"
"Yeah!" Zhu Ying nodded happily, and then nonchalantly let Jiu Niang tie her hair into a low bun. When Jiu Niang brought out a hooded cloak, saying it was to protect her from the dust, she put it on and then hurriedly turned around and walked out the door.
When she arrived at the gate, she saw that the horse she loved the most and was reluctant to take to Cangzhou was led out. She smiled and patted the horse's neck, then jumped on the horse's back and said, "Let's go, let's go directly to Bei'anmen!"
From the time the servant informed the emperor that Zhu Ying had entered the palace to the time he saw the beautiful young girl appear in front of him, it seemed like a matter of seconds. Although the emperor had been in a very bad mood for days, the moment Zhu Ying entered the room, it was as if the sun was unscrupulously illuminating the entire room. He couldn't help but squint his eyes out of habit before he spoke.
"Yingying, why did you bear to come back from Cangzhou?"
This might sound like a joke to others, but to Zhu Ying, it was like a greeting from the emperor after a long absence. She smiled and bowed, then said in a matter-of-fact tone: "I've stayed long enough, of course it's time to come back, anyway, Ah Shou will come back later!"
"Oh, is it that simple?" The emperor sneered, and his tone was as joking as always, "Didn't you come back to see me just for your ideal husband?"
"Your Majesty, you already know the answer, why are you asking anyway?" Zhu Ying interrupted the emperor with a slight look of annoyance. This was not the first time she had behaved so rudely. She rushed forward and suddenly put her hand on the desk in front of the emperor.
"A Shou and I found the Haidong continent that Emperor Taizu had drawn when he dreamed of Emperor Tian... No, we found people who had been to the Haidong continent, and we saw many strange plants! I heard from A Shou that many of these things can be grown in many places, but there are also many that can only be grown in specific places."
"In that case, I also agree with Ah Shou's approach of letting a group of prisoners who were originally waiting to die to try to grow crops! What's more..." She paused, as if she was organizing a sentence, and spoke word by word after a long time, "What's more, with Lao Xianyu who has been to Haidong Continent leading the way, perhaps the imperial fleet can reach there!"
