On the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, Zhang Xi hurriedly and slowly filled in three small lakes, tidied up a large tidal flat, and created twelve hectares of fields in early March.
Well, not as much land as Zhou Yu gave to Sun Shangxiang.
But there is no way. Time is really tight and there are few manpower. This is the only efficiency.
Whether the swamp can be converted into farmland depends on the results of this experimental field.
Zhang Xi once again ordered a thousand soldiers to start farming according to the season.
These days, people from aristocratic families may not necessarily know how to farm, but those who serve as top soldiers are basically farmers, and it is impossible for anyone to know how to farm.
So, spring plowing was not affected much and went on smoothly.
After the spring plowing ended and April came, Zhang Xi began to eliminate mosquitoes.
Although I had tried my best to choose a place near Yunmengze, the weather was getting warmer, and there were an astonishing number of mosquitoes, snakes, and rats in this place.
Zhang Xi now understands why the miasma in the Yunmengze area is so rampant that the environment for germs to breed is simply too good.
Not only does it have a hot and humid environment, but there are also enough parasites and intermediate hosts. It would be unscientific if diseases were not rampant in this place.
Therefore, Zhang Xi did not dare to be careless at all. On the one hand, he had to organize the soldiers to farm, and on the other hand, he had to ask the soldiers to exterminate insects, eliminate rats, and catch snakes. He was very busy.
In order to ensure safety, Zhang Xi also wrote a special letter to Guan Yu in Jiangxia, asking the second master to invite Zhang Ji.
Without such an expert, Zhang Xi would feel uneasy doing it alone.
Zhang Ji was actually not happy to come.
The turn of spring and summer is the season when water poisoning occurs frequently. Zhang Ji has done a good job in research in Jiangxia. He is observing the incidence of water poisoning in the past two years after the Jiangxia government organized people to exterminate oncomelania. Guan Yu sent two big soldiers. They were escorted to Changsha.
Zhang Ji was very angry, very angry.
Although I like medical skills and like to treat illnesses and save people, I am essentially a descendant of the Nanyang family. The current head of the Nanyang Zhang family is still my nephew.
How could you treat me so unreasonably? !
Furthermore, as long as this summer passes, Zhang Ji can verify whether water poisoning is caused or transmitted by snails. Once it is confirmed to be true, it will be of great significance for the treatment of water poisoning.
Well now, the observations in the first four months of this year are all wasted, and we have to wait another year.
So Zhang Ji is very angry, and Zhang Xi should apologize.
Regardless of Zhang Ji's identity as a medical saint or Zhang Ji's status as a descendant of the Nanyang family, just based on his age, you should respect him.
The same goes for the second master, why is he so incapable of doing things? He is over sixty after all.
Zhang Xi bowed and apologized to Zhang Ji, saying all his good things, and then talked about the purpose of inviting Zhang Ji to come - to provide guidance on the prevention and treatment of miasma.
As soon as he said this, Zhang Ji stopped being angry and quickly pulled Zhang Xi and asked him questions.
It was Zhang Xi who told Zhang Ji that water poisoning was spread through snails, so Zhang Ji immediately believed Zhang Xi when he said he wanted to prevent and control miasma.
After some interrogation, Zhang Ji found that Zhang Xi was still the same as before. He might know how to prevent it, but he really didn't know how to cure it.
But this is enough.
Zhang Ji is a real doctor with abundant medical ethics. If he can prevent everyone from getting sick, he will naturally be happy to write books and not care about worldly affairs.
But for miasma or viruses, no matter what era, it is impossible to completely prevent and control them. All we can do is try our best.
So, Zhang Xi contributed all his meager knowledge on virus prevention and control, and Zhang Ji also used Zhang Xi's knowledge to start studying the possible ways in which the miasma could spread and how to prevent and control it more effectively.
With Zhang Xi's unsystematic knowledge of a hammer and a stick, it was not that easy for Zhang Ji to figure out the principles of miasma generation and transmission channels.
Many things can only be known as they are, but not why.
For example, miasma, Zhang Xi explained, is a kind of small bug that is invisible to the naked eye. These small bugs are transmitted to humans through some animals. But Zhang Ji can't understand why there are small bugs that are invisible to the naked eye. How big are they? It's small, and why can't it make people sick on its own, so it has to spread it through some animals? !
Anyway, as long as Zhang Ji asked this question, Zhang Xi would become silent and regret why he didn't study medicine in his previous life.
Whenever this time comes, Zhang Ji will continue to look at Zhang Xi with the eyes of a prodigal son, and then sigh and go to study by himself.
Really, Zhang Xi is seriously considering whether to get a microscope to open the eyes of the medical sage. Think about it and forget it.
Zhang Xi didn't even burn out the glass shards, let alone a qualified and usable magnifying glass lens.
Besides, now is not the time to burn glass. It is not easy for Liu Bei to have a stable territory. He should first climb the agricultural technology tree.
Although the microscope cannot be used, Zhang Xi can still make a weapon to prevent mosquitoes.
In other words, it was not created by Zhang Xi, but existed these days.
Mosquito nets, lush grass.
Mosquito nets existed in the Spring and Autumn Period, but at this time the mosquito nets were made of silk and could only be used by nobles, but ordinary middle- and low-level officials could not afford them, let alone ordinary people.
In this regard, Zhang Xi could only use a later method, using linen fibers to make mosquito nets.
Although the finished mosquito net is not very good-looking, and the weaving technology these days is not up to par, resulting in the mosquito net having a bit big holes, it is still better than nothing.
And linen is cheap, so if that doesn’t work, you can use straw mats, but they’re a bit airtight.
As for the insect repellent method, this is also a very old method. It was also used in the pre-Qin period, but the origin cannot be traced specifically.
This method was proposed by Zhang Ji because this is the ancient method.
It's just that when burning grass, the smoke is very strong and very choking. Although it can kill snakes, insects, rats and ants, it is also quite toxic.
Zhang Ji also knew this, but there was nothing he could do. It was not very toxic, so how could it possibly kill snakes, insects, rats, ants, etc.
As for being harmful to humans, there is no way. If it is true that miasma is spread through these animals according to Zhang Xi, then this poisonous gas is better than getting miasma.
As for Zhang Xi's suggestion of using mugwort, Zhang Ji also tried it.
It is true that the smoke is much less, and it does not feel as choking as grass. However, there is no problem with mugwort in repelling mosquitoes and flies, but its effect on snakes, insects, rats and ants is very average.
The biggest enemy in developing Yunmengze these days is not mosquitoes or flies, but poisonous insects, poisonous snakes, rats, ants, etc.
Finally, Zhang Xi and Zhang Jiyi discussed and decided to use both.
In the soldiers' camp, it was just mosquito nets and mugwort.
After all, the sergeant still has to work. In addition to taking care of the crops, he also needs to continue to build fields around the lake. He must sleep well at night.
As for the roadside fields outside the camp, extensive use of lush grass is used to fumigate snakes, insects, rats, and ants and improve the living environment.
Fortunately, no people come to these places for the time being, so there is no need to worry about prevention and control issues in residential areas.
With Zhang Ji providing guidance, Zhang Xi became more confident in doing things. These things were arranged and implemented quickly.
At that point, Zhuge Liang wrote to Zhang Xi, asking him why he wanted a large amount of grass and mugwort, even to the point where local materials were not enough, so he asked him to find a way to collect them.
In response to this, Zhang Xi wrote back to Zhuge Liang and explained the whole story clearly. Then Zhuge Liang had a headache.
It's all money, and it's a lot of money.
Transforming tidal flats into fertile land is more expensive than imagined.
Moreover, Zhang Xi also said that the prevention and control of snakes, insects, rats and ants is not a one-time deal, but needs to be carried out over a long period of time.
The current mugwort and lush grass are enough, but over time, if there is no preparation, those snakes, insects, rats, and ants will come back.
After all, this is Yunmengze, and there are many more snakes, insects, rats, and ants than people. If a batch of them were expelled today, a new batch might arrive tomorrow.
It can only be considered over when the entire Yunmeng Ze is developed and snakes, insects, rats and ants have no place to live.
But the question is, can snakes, insects, rats, and ants these days have nowhere to live? !
Two days ago, Zhuge Liang saw two mice in his kitchen. Officials' homes cannot avoid the presence of these guys. In that place with dense mountains, forests and rivers, it will take until the year of the monkey to be free of snakes, insects, rats, and ants? !
Besides, are snakes, insects, rats and ants that important? !
Zhuge Liang really didn't understand this issue and wrote to Zhang Xi again.
This time Zhang Xi did not answer, but directly handed over a letter from Zhang Ji to Zhuge Liang.
Zhang Ji scolded Zhuge Liang in the letter.
Unlike Hua Tuo, Zhang Ji was from a noble family, he just didn't want to be an official.
Therefore, he is qualified to scold Zhuge Liang, and as an elder, let alone scolding him in letters, even if he scolds him in person, Zhuge Liang will have to listen to his instructions.
Of course, Zhang Ji wouldn't scold people too harshly, as it would be disrespectful to him.
After scolding him, he had to tell Zhuge Liang that after doing this, only eleven of the thousand soldiers sent to transform the farmland were poisoned by the miasma, and the symptoms were quite mild, and they recovered after a little treatment.
Zhuge Liang instantly realized what this meant. The four counties in Jingnan basically had the same environment, and when summer came, people would inevitably suffer from miasma.
This is also the reason why the four counties in Jingnan have been facing difficulties in development.
Although there are some home-made methods to avoid the epidemic, they still don’t work.
If what Zhang Ji said is true, then if the four counties in Jingnan follow the law, can the miasma epidemic be greatly reduced? !
If there were no miasma and epidemics, would the four counties in Jingnan still be as sparsely populated as they are now? !
If okay, there is no if, this matter must be taken seriously.
Zhuge Liang decided to go to Changsha himself to see the situation on the ground.
(End of chapter)
