After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Zhang Taohua had already made up her mind, "Once I get the bow and arrow and take first place in both academic and martial classes, I’ll exchange points for a second bow for Xiaomei."

Zhang Xiaomei was squatting on the ground playing with dirt. Hearing her name, she lifted her head to look at her sister and unconsciously put her hand towards her mouth.

Seeing the dirt around her mouth, Zhang Taohua felt a chill on her scalp, reached out to slap her hand away, and said to her mother, Aunt Wang, "Mom, our teacher said to be careful about what children put in their mouths. This dirty stuff cannot be eaten."

Aunt Wang was indifferent, "A little dirt won’t make you sick; you used to eat it often when you were young."

Zhang Taohua: "...That was because I was hungry and had nothing to eat. We had a good harvest last year, and the family has surplus grain."

"We still need to eat sparingly, as it’s more than two months until the wheat harvest, and there’s only one bag of wheat left at home."

Zhang Taohua paused for a moment and said, "Once I get the bow and arrow, I’ll sell it first to exchange for food. The teacher said, grains nurture the vigor, and most illnesses are due to insufficient qi and blood."

Aunt Wang: "Who doesn’t know that? Eating enough to be full prevents sickness, but there’s none enough to go around. Last year’s grain harvest paid off a lot of the debts from the hunger of previous years, and we’re not much in debt now. This year, as long as the heavens are kind, we’ll have at least two bags of wheat by next spring, and even more the following year."

Aunt Wang had privately calculated with her husband and was delighted, "In just one more year, we’ll truly have a stock of grain."

Over her more than twenty years of life, whether at her parents’ house or her husband’s, she’d never seen stored grain.

In past years, the family had already begun to survive on thin soup, tightening their belts, and filling their stomachs with water and wild vegetables by this time of year, so she was quite satisfied with the current situation; at least there’s still a bag of wheat, more than two pecks of rice, and they can have cakes mixed with wheat bran and rice soup for two meals daily, which felt sufficient.

She scolded Zhang Taohua, "Sacrificing the belly is better than sacrificing education. Your Majesty said, you are the future; only when you learn knowledge can this world improve, and our days become better, so you can’t sell the bow and arrow, you must practice archery and be stronger than anyone else, and serve Your Majesty either in the military or court."

Because Zhao Hanzhang was born a General and fought her way to the top, there was already a trend among civilians, not thinking it strange for women to join the military.

Zhang Taohua agreed not to sell the bow and arrow, but still forbade Zhang Xiaomei from putting her hand in her mouth, continuously slapping her hand until she cried, which drew a burst of scolding from Aunt Wang.

Zhang Taohua didn’t feel she’d done wrong and argued with her mom, "The teacher said the court released a ’Manual of Folk Medicine,’ composed by many doctors gathering together. It has been handed over to the publishing houses for printing. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the school to exchange paper and copy a version for you to see. It has much knowledge, clearly stating children shouldn’t eat with their hands, especially dirty ones."

There was no need for Zhang Taohua to copy it; after the first publication was distributed to all the state prefectures and received positive feedback, Zhao Hanzhang immediately ordered each state prefecture’s publishing house to print it themselves, from state to prefecture, then county and village, ensuring every household possesses a copy, and commanded each school to have a medical course every ten-day period, specifically teaching students the ’Manual of Folk Medicine.’ Village chiefs and leaders also had to attend school and then return to teach the villagers.

This order meant the greatest pressure fell on village chiefs and leaders.

The teachers in the academy knew something about medicine.

This era emphasized governing the country as treating a person, regardless of whether one is Taoist, Confucianist, Legalist, or from the military strategist school, all related somehow to medical principles.

It stressed advancement in healing the country, retreating to healing people and cultivating oneself.

Not to mention the numerous newly graduated teachers from the academy.

They weren’t as learned as older teachers but mastered the basics. They read the ’Thousand Character Classic,’ ’The Analects,’ and ’The Book of Songs’ completely. Besides that, there’s arithmetic, moral education, and wartime trauma emergency treatment.

These subjects are fixed courses in every academy, with ’wartime trauma emergency treatment’ being a curriculum starting in the fourth year, as the name implies, aimed at wartime medical courses. Given the special circumstances then, Zhao Hanzhang invited military doctors and local physicians to lecture them.

Apart from trauma care, naturally, there would be other medical teachings, and the content of the ’Manual of Folk Medicine’ wasn’t profound.

This book began to be compiled two years ago, after Zhao Hanzhang pacified the Xiongnu invasion of Luoyang, employing folk doctors to write it and have the Imperial Physicians audit it at the Imperial Hospital, everyone together compiled this book.

To ensure it was straightforward and understandable for everyone literate or even those who aren’t but have heard, it was intentionally written succinctly, using rustic dialects, targeting common symptoms, and primarily focusing on prevention.

The introduction states, raw water is yin and contains many invisible bugs, so raw water shouldn’t be consumed, and one must drink boiled water.

Concerning major ailments, like childbirth should happen, what needs to be prepared, and how others help the mother;

Minor ones, like how to cure hiccups and recover...

As long as they’re common symptoms in life, this manual documents them all, outlining one, two, or three treatments.

After initial discomfort, village chiefs and leaders quickly adapted, eagerly studying, then taking their learned knowledge back to the villages, after evening work gathering folks in open spaces, teaching them bit by bit under firelight.

There were even herb illustrations above, specific uses, and the current herbal prices.

The villagers were more diligent, recognizing most herbs on the pages, like this plantain; wait, isn’t that what they’re stepping on now?

Everyone twisted their necks and shifted their feet, exclaiming, "This is plantain. Isn’t that cow’s grass everywhere along the path, why is it a medicinal herb?"

The village chief barked, "Why panic? Medicine is still grass, growing roadside is perfectly normal. First, study the book seriously. Once you learn, for minor sicknesses, you can solve them yourself. If necessary, picking some herbs to trade at the pharmacy could exchange for half a prescription. This is all thanks to Your Majesty’s grace."

"Which emperor in which dynasties truly loved the people so much, cared for us common folks like Your Majesty? Paying great effort to have this book compiled for us, for our children!" The village chief shouted aloud, "Children always die prematurely, firstly due to undeveloped conditions while in the mother’s womb, so if there’s a pregnant woman at home, you must treat her well, strictly according to the manual, caring for her and ensuring she eats eggs and rice, better sacrificially than letting the mother go hungry;"

"Secondly, as the child is fragile just born, at this time it’s necessary to properly care for the child, strictly raising them according to the parenting manual, only thus can we raise healthy children..."

The villagers responded loudly, following the village chief in bowing towards the west, first giving thanks for the emperor’s grace, then diligently reading the book.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!