Chapter 433: In Search of a Scholar
News from Shanxi. Not only Bai Yuan, but Li Daoxuan also yearned to hear it. He quickly popped a desert-style chicken wing into his mouth, chewing as he listened to the captain's report.
The captain prattled on, recounting the events at Gudu Ferry in intricate detail for Bai Yuan.
From his vantage point in the heavens, Li Daoxuan heard everything with perfect clarity.
Bai Yuan exclaimed, "Excellent! Bu Zhan Ni's fifth company commander has fallen into our hands. *Heh*, this Bu Zhan Ni truly is an old acquaintance of ours; we've been fighting him since the first year of Chongzhen. *Tsk*, it just occurred to me, back then, when I deployed the missiles bestowed by the Heavenly Lord, I sent both Bu Zhan Ni and Wang Zuogua crying for their mothers! Hahahaha!"
Hearing Bai Yuan, Li Daoxuan's mind filled with a surge of memories. Bu Zhan Ni truly was an old foe; they'd fought so many battles. His seventh company commander, Night Scout, had been killed by Cheng Xu; his second company commander, Dian Dengzi, had been swayed over by Gao Family Village; and now his fifth company commander, Old Zhang Fei, had fallen to Lao Nanfeng. "This 'leaf' [referring to the intertwined fates/connections] just keeps growing bigger and bigger, hah."
The captain continued, "When I started my return journey, Boss Xing was still at Xie Lake dealing with the salt, but before she left, she made a request. She said the residential area at Gudu Ferry needs proper planning. We can't let the common folk just build houses wherever they please, or it'll surely turn into a complete mess later on. But the people who went to Shanxi this time are all simple-minded fighters; none of them know how to manage such a thing. We need Gao Family Village to send some scholars to handle it."
Li Daoxuan heard this and thought, *He makes a good point!*
Urban planning was indeed a crucial step.
Gao Family Village itself hadn't been properly planned in the past; they had built it rather haphazardly. Fortunately, he possessed the godlike ability to reshape the landscape, so a simple wave of his hand could correct any previous planning mistakes.
It seemed his own skills as a designer should come into play. "Goodness, it's been over three years since I opened any design software... *ahem*... three days without practice makes an artisan rusty, let alone three years. I might have forgotten how to do complex designs. Still, planning a residential area for an ancient small ferry crossing shouldn't be too difficult."
He would personally handle the design, then entrust the project to a cultured individual to lead the implementation...
The captain finished his report and returned to his ship to rest.
Bai Yuan, meanwhile, waved his hand and commanded loudly, "Logistics soldiers, move out! Shanxi is far, but not so far we can't send supplies!
They just fought a battle and used up a lot of ammunition. We need to send another batch of gunpowder and lead shot, and the warships also need their gunpowder and cannonballs restocked. Everyone, get moving, quickly, quickly, quickly... And grain! Get a few more boats of grain to them... Oh, and vinegar! The Heavenly Lord has bestowed vinegar upon us, and His Venerable Self said, 'In Shanxi, we're as tough as iron, and noodles are our steel, but go one meal without vinegar, and we'll starve ourselves crazy.' If they go too long without vinegar, the Shanxi people will rebel!"
As he spoke, he suddenly paused, a thought striking him: "Huh? This time, half or more of the Shanxi people turned to banditry... Could it be because they hadn't had vinegar for years? How terrifying, how truly terrifying! It really is true that going too long without vinegar will make Shanxi people rebel."
Bai Yuan waved at the porters, shouting, "Haul more vinegar over there!"
Gudu Ferry grew busy...
Li Daoxuan also got busy, opening his computer and launching the design software he hadn't touched in ages. Time to plan.
Given the technological limitations of the Ming Dynasty, grand skyscrapers were out of the question. A cement building reaching two or three stories would be impressive; anything taller would likely become a hazard. And a complex underground drainage system wasn't necessary; he didn't have the ability to build sewers like those for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so simple open gutters would suffice.
With that in mind, the design became remarkably simple.
With a few swift strokes, he sketched out the overall grid-like structure of a small town, leaving several wide roads in the center, then proportionally dividing it into individual residential plots...
Before long, it was finished!
He printed it onto a small piece of paper and handed it to Bai Yuan.
Bai Yuan bowed deeply, accepted the paper, and rolled it into a large scroll.
The design was settled—that was the easy part. But sending a cultured individual to manage Gudu Ferry? That was proving to be a troublesome task.
The scholars in Gao Family Village... scholars...
Li Daoxuan reached out and tapped the "Gao Family Village" inscription on the outside of the box, shifting his view back.
As his vision returned, he saw a scholar: Dian Dengzi, Zhao Sheng.
He was emerging from the main keep of Gao Family Village, a silver ingot in his hand.
This was the special bonus he had received for his external assignment.
It turned out that Dian Dengzi, Zhao Sheng, had recently been "on assignment" in Heyang County, responsible for teaching the local common folk how to use chemical fertilizer and cultivate new crops.
Such "assignments" naturally required payment, and the village treasury had approved a silver ingot as a special bonus for his dispatch, which happened to be distributed today.
Zhao Sheng cradled the silver, grinning happily as he dashed towards the Gao Family Village Commercial District.
The moment Li Daoxuan saw him run, he knew something wasn't right.
Sure enough, as the fellow scrambled up the small incline to the Gao Family Village Commercial District, he immediately started huffing and puffing.
He gasped for breath for a good while, no longer daring to run, and started to walk slowly. It took him a while longer to finally reach the entrance of the medical clinic.
Inside the clinic sat an old physician. Zhao Sheng respectfully presented the bonus he had just received with both hands. "Doctor," he said, "I've returned."
The old physician smiled and shook his head, reaching out to take his pulse. "Mr. Zhao, I've told you before not to give me silver. You never accept payment for helping the villagers, so how could I possibly take yours? You even wrote the couplet for my clinic entrance for free."
Zhao Sheng insisted, "You may choose not to take my silver for the consultation, but the herbal medicines must surely be paid for.
You bought those from herb gatherers, spending silver to acquire them. I cannot simply use them for free."
The old physician could only accept the silver. "Mr. Zhao, this shortness of breath you experience is called asthma, a chronic condition. It cannot be cured with a single dose of medicine; it requires a long-term regimen of care."
Zhao Sheng nodded obediently.
The old physician swiftly scribbled a prescription and handed it to Zhao Sheng. "Fill this prescription, take it daily, and do not interrupt the dosage."
Zhao Sheng unfolded the paper and saw... not a single character he recognized.
He collapsed dramatically to the ground. "Doctor," he wailed, "why is it that every time I read something you've written, I feel like an illiterate who can't recognize a single word?"
The old physician replied, "I write very clearly! Which character don't you recognize?"
Zhao Sheng pointed at two characters. "What's this?"
The old physician said, "Ephedra!"
Cold sweat streamed down Zhao Sheng's face. "Why do the characters for 'Ephedra' look like *that* when you write them?"
He pointed to another two characters. "And what's this?"
The old physician said, "Almond."
Zhao Sheng gasped in surprise. "If you hadn't told me these were 'Almond,' I wouldn't have recognized them in a hundred years! But now that you say it, they *do* look like 'Almond'!"
He clutched the prescription in both hands, gazing skyward at a forty-five-degree angle. "Oh, Heavens! Why? Why is a doctor's handwriting so impossible to read?"
Li Daoxuan held up a large piece of paper. "That's a question I'd like answered too."
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