Liang Chuan put the tea cup down and said seriously: "When medicinal materials deteriorate, we must find out the cause of the deterioration, and then prescribe the right medicine to prevent the deterioration of the medicinal materials. As for the reasons, there are too many factors such as wind, sun, high temperature, humidity, rot, mold, rats, ants, insect pests, etc. Other reasons will cause the medicinal materials to deteriorate!"
Seeing that Liang Chuan said it seriously, Zhuang Xiang knew that this matter would not be easy to handle. However, since Liang Chuan said it, he must have had some concerns in his heart, otherwise why would he say this?
Liang Chuan said: "Some medicinal materials, such as prepared pieces, will easily dissipate when exposed to the air, and their efficacy will be greatly reduced. Such medicinal materials should be prepared and used immediately, and the production volume or storage time should be reduced when not in use. It’s easier to do.”
Zhuang Xiang thought so.
Liang Chuandao: "For the same reason, if some medicinal materials are processed in the scorching heat of summer and are difficult to store under severe hot weather conditions, the amount of use and storage must be reduced. If they really need to be stored for use, then they must use ventilation. A cooling location or a cool underground kiln can be used to store precious medicinal materials. You can even build an ice kiln to store precious medicinal materials, but in the south, one ounce of ice and one ounce of gold are a bit too luxurious."
Zhuang Xiang asked in surprise: "Have Brother Liang Chuan studied medicine before? Otherwise, how could he have such a deep understanding of the properties and pharmacology of medicines? When my father was still here, he only treated medicine at the level of this medicine. How could anyone be as sophisticated as Brother Liang Chuan?" What’s your understanding? And you can’t find this opinion even in ancient medical books. It’s actually true knowledge!”
Liang Chuan waved and said: "I don't have any real knowledge here. This is just a copy of the principles of doing business in your pharmacy. I usually have to take care of some goods. For example, pickles must be placed in a cool place when the temperature is high in summer. Otherwise, it will go rancid. Besides, I can’t sell the winter goods in the summer. If I can’t sell them, all the goods will be rotten. Wouldn’t this be a huge loss! Hahaha!”
Zhuang Xiang pondered for a while and said: "If you want to cool down and prevent heatstroke in summer, then you should keep warm and prevent freezing in winter, right?"
Liang Chuan said with appreciation: "It is for this reason that the medicinal properties of medicinal materials determine how to preserve them. For example, fresh medicinal materials such as dendrobium and reed root have a lot of water in them, and they will inevitably freeze in winter."
Zhuang Xiang said: "If I had met Brother Liang Chuan earlier, the money our shop saves every year would be a profit, and I would be willing to share it with Brother Liang Chuan to buy this storage method!"
Liang Chuan chuckled and said: "I have no intention of going into the medical field. Besides, I don't understand it. I only know a few superficial things. This prescription is a waste for me. It's better for you to make good use of it, Brother Xiang, to Qingyuan." There are also benefits for the people here, but I don’t know how much profit your drug store makes from operating it in a year?"
Zhuang Xiang missed the past when his father was alive. At that time, he had no worries about food and drink, and lived a good life. Now that he has taken over the pharmacy, he realizes that everything is not easy: "I can collect about ten thousand dollars every year." Bar."
Liang Chuan almost spit out his tea, and asked again with some stuttering: "How much...how much?"
"I don't have the medical skills of my late father, let alone his business acumen. You can see the situation after I took over this shop. The management was in a mess. I was losing money. I was losing money just on the medicinal materials in the warehouse. It will cost more than a few thousand strings."
Liang Chuan thought that he had only spent a few thousand yuan to build a new house, but this guy could lose money on his house in a year. It is said that when Shen Wansan of the Ming Dynasty made his fortune, he first relied on a pharmacy with an excellent commercial location, and then he became a rich man in Suzhou. Medical skills were a relatively high-level profession in ancient times. Even in later generations, doctors were really good at what they did. Popular. Zhuang Xiang's father earned millions of dollars by relying on his medical skills and selling medicines, which shouldn't be much in Qingyuan.
Liang Chuan said regretfully: "If I could save this money, it would be easier than earning it."
Zhuang Xiang said: "When visiting a patient, he first checks to see if the doctor has white hair on his head and a beard on his mouth. For a junior like me who doesn't even have hair around his mouth, no matter how good his medical skills are, he can't survive." It will take a while to get through."
Liang Chuan looked at Zhuang Xiang and heard that he seemed quite confident in his medical skills. However, Liang Chuan also believed what he said. The profession of doctor really depends on the accumulation of experience. Copying medical knowledge cannot completely cure the disease. , the same disease affects hundreds of people, and there are hundreds of treatments. Older doctors have seen more cases, and they have more natural methods.
"So I asked Brother Liang Chuan to teach me. I can't let this foundation be completely destroyed in my hands."
Liang Chuan said: "There is no need to teach or not. I am not very professional in this area of knowledge. I just talked about the influence of temperature. Let's talk about other influencing factors, such as humidity!"
Zhuang Xiang had never heard of the word humidity and was stunned for a moment. Seeing his confused expression, Liang Chuan remembered that many words were concepts from later generations, and it was normal for them not to understand them. Then he changed his mind and said, "Qingyuan doesn't have a southerly wind every year in early spring. Every time it blows on the walls and floor, there are water stains. It's because the air is too humid!"
Zhuang Xiang groaned a few times and suddenly realized: "You are talking about Shixie, right?"
Now Liang Chuan couldn't understand, and said: "I don't know if humidity is evil, but that's what it means. There isn't even a window in your medicine warehouse, so the sealing is in place, and the air circulation is not easy. As soon as the southern weather comes, I can save a lot of water in the house."
Zhuang Xiang asked anxiously: "What should we do?"
Liang Chuan said: "The medicinal materials cannot be placed directly on the ground, because the moisture on the ground is the heaviest. If possible, the medicine warehouse should be set up in the attic or the second floor of the building. This way it is isolated from the ground and the moisture cannot soak into the medicinal materials. Then above the attic Whenever the humidity is heaviest in the south, you can place moisture-absorbing objects such as quicklime, plant ash, and mountain charcoal to remove moisture from the medicine warehouse. The sun is a good helper. If it is too humid, remove the medicinal materials from the medicine warehouse. Take it out of the warehouse to dry, and bake it if necessary. Look at the materials in your warehouse, they look like stacks of arhats. They get so wet that it takes a year to dry, and a lot of them get moldy in just a few days. "
Zhuang Xiang felt ashamed and said repeatedly: "I have written it down."
Liang Chuan struck while the iron was hot and said, "And your arrangement is also very problematic. You just spent a long time looking for a few medicines for me. One day only takes so little time. Is it possible that all of it should be spent on finding medicines?"
"Then...?"
"Can't you make some shelves? Classify the medicinal materials, mark them, and write the names of the medicinal materials on the shelves. If you need a pair of names in the future, you can find them. If you can't remember them, make a list and put them on the shelf. You can compare how many racks and floors there are and you can find them. It can save a lot of time. I know a carpenter who has exquisite workmanship and a fair price. If you need it, I will tell you later!" Liang Chuan did not forget to spread knowledge. I'm here to promote my carpentry shop. I haven't introduced half of the business to Lu Liang yet. I can count on every customer I can get.
Zhuang Xiang now had no helpers, but he didn't expect Liang Chuan to offer to help him. He bowed his head and thanked him profusely.
Liang Chuan helped him up and said, "Don't be greedy for too much medicine. The medicinal materials also need their own space. Leave enough space for ventilation to prevent mold and moisture. It's too dense. Did you cover up a lot of medicine before?"
Liang Chuan looked at the few medicines he bought. They were all relatively expensive medicines, but they were stored very casually. He said distressedly: "You can pack ordinary medicines in sacks, but things like musk, deer antlers and ginseng Don’t dare to buy expensive medicinal materials so cheaply. Buy some well-sealed wooden boxes and porcelain jars to store them. The smell will not dissipate and the medicinal effect can be preserved for a long time. Even if mice and insects want to eat away at it, they will not have a chance. "
Zhuang Xiang smiled bitterly and said: "Everything else you mentioned is easy to deal with. You can improve the current environment by spending some money, but the problem of the medicinal materials being eaten by insects is a headache. We have also tried putting medicinal materials in jars before. In the box, the insects still didn’t come from somewhere and the medicinal materials were eaten out!”
Liang Chuan knows the reason. There are only two sources of insects. One is from the outside. Since it is isolated, it is not from the air. It should be the eggs in the medicinal materials themselves, but there was no sterilization in ancient times. Liang Chuan also had difficulty with the technique, but he had heard of a method, and he was not very clear about it. He just said: "I don't know much about pharmacology, but I heard that medicinal properties can conflict with each other! Insects like one medicinal material but another Planting medicinal materials will inhibit this kind of medicine. Even insects can't tolerate the two together, so they can have a mutual restraint effect. Uh... I'm a little dizzy."
Zhuang Xiang is well versed in pharmacology, so he naturally understood what Liang Chuan meant. He was overjoyed and said: "I understand what Brother Liang Chuan means. Brother Liang Chuan is indeed a master who knows the truth. He can draw inferences from one fact, just like Quan Xie and Quan Xie." When Sichuan peppercorns are stored together, agaricus and garlic are stored together, they can complement each other. This is true for many medicinal materials, and the insects will naturally disappear!"
It was getting late outside, and Liang Chuan said, "Brother Xiang, please calculate how much these medicinal materials cost. It's getting late and I have to go back."
Zhuang Xiang stuffed the medicine into Liang Chuan's arms and said: "Brother Liang Chuan, you generously taught me this mysterious medicine storage method today. Needless to say whether it has any effect, this love is worth a thousand dollars. Don't do it again." Ask me for money, otherwise you are looking down on me. According to your method, if it is really effective, my shop can save more than thousands of dollars every year. Are these medicines still worth money in comparison? I will need medicinal materials in the future. Just come to my place, I will start working on it tomorrow, and I must revive the reputation of my banker!"
