Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan were trapped by the defeated troops and fled south for twenty or thirty miles before stopping. Liu Wenjing took a look and saw that there were only one or two hundred soldiers left beside him. He pulled the reins with a "huh-" sound, turned the horse's head, looked around, and discerned the direction.
Yin Kaishan came over with his horse. Seeing Liu Wenjing riding the horse and trying to leave, he stepped forward and grabbed his reins, shouting: "Where are you going?"
"I want to go back. The prince is still in Gaocheng City. I want to save the prince!"
"Are you crazy? If you go back now, aren't you going to die?"
"Then we can't let the prince fall into the hands of the thieves, right?" Liu Wenjing shouted at the top of her lungs.
Yin Kaishan softened his tone and said: "Calm down, we only have so few people left, and even if we go back, we can't save the prince. Besides, the prince may have left Gao'an City long ago when he heard that we were defeated..."
While the two were talking, a soldier next to them suddenly pointed with his hand and said: "Sir, look, the traitors are catching up!" Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan looked up and saw flags waving and dust flying in the distance. , bursts of rapid horse hooves came faintly. Apparently, the enemy's cavalry had caught up.
Yin Kaishan hurriedly urged: "Master Liu, leave quickly, you won't be able to leave any longer!" Liu Wenjing hesitated for a while, and finally pulled back the horse's head and fled southward with everyone.
Li Zhiyun and the others left Gaocheng City and headed east, then south, toward Chang'an. They encountered many defeated troops along the way, and the flags, weapons, and armor of the Tang army were scattered everywhere. Everyone looked grave and no one spoke. They walked for less than half an hour when they suddenly heard someone shouting: "No, the thieves are catching up!" Upon hearing this, the defeated soldiers who were crowded on the official road hurriedly left the road and fled in all directions.
Li Zhiyun turned his horse's head and looked behind him. On the distant horizon, in addition to the flying military flags, there were countless small black dots moving forward rapidly. Obviously, it was a large group of enemy cavalry. Zhang Zheng rode over and said, "Your Majesty, the enemy soldiers are catching up with us. What should we do?"
Li Zhiyun did not answer, but looked back at the team he led. There were two to three hundred people in the team. In addition to his entourage and guards, there were also the second brother's personal soldiers, less than half of whom had horses, and several soldiers had to carry the second brother's stretcher. According to their marching speed, it won't take long for them to be overtaken by the enemy's cavalry.
The yellow gelding under Li Zhiyun's crotch neighed and spun in circles, as if complaining about its owner, why didn't he get away? Li Zhiyun looked up and found a branch road not far ahead, leading to an unknown place. He pointed decisively with his hand and said: "Leave the main road and take that path. First, avoid the enemy's cavalry."
Zhang Zheng clasped his fists and said, "Yes!" Then he drove his horse to the front of the team, led the team away from the official road, stepped on the fork road, and headed southwest.
Everyone walked on the narrow dirt road, passed through a large forest, and then entered the hilly and mountainous area. The path gradually became rugged and difficult to walk, going uphill and downhill. There were endless mountains on both sides of the road. There are lush trees and green bamboo forests on the mountain, and the scenery is beautiful and the air is fresh.
The team walked for more than two hours. When they were exhausted, a village appeared in front of them. Seeing that the sun had set, Li Zhiyun asked his guards to tell Zhang Zheng that he would stay in this village tonight.
The village is not big, with about a hundred households, located in a wide valley. The east side of the village is surrounded by mountains, and the other three sides are fertile fields. There is a small river in the west of the village, with willow branches hanging on the riverside, and the scenery is pleasant. After everyone entered the village, they rented some houses from the villagers to settle down, and spent money to buy some grain and vegetables.
Li Zhiyun didn't even bother to take a breath and came to his second brother's house. The second brother lay on the bed and fell asleep. As soon as Li Zhiyun moved a stool and sat next to the bed, Doctor Jia led a soldier in, holding a coarse porcelain bowl in his hand.
"The decoction is ready. Wake up the prince quickly. It's time to take the medicine." Doctor Jia said.
Li Zhiyun quickly pushed the second brother with his hand and said: "Second brother, wake up, wake up, take medicine." The second brother opened his eyes and stared at him blankly.
"Second brother, it's time to take medicine." Li Zhiyun said and stood up, helped his second brother sit up, and took a quilt to cushion his back.
The soldiers wanted to give medicine to the second brother, but Li Zhiyun refused. He took the coarse porcelain bowl from the soldier's hand, took a spoonful of it with a spoon after sitting down, and handed it to his second brother's mouth. The second brother opened his mouth, swallowed the decoction, then turned his head, looked around the room, and said, "Fifth brother, what is this place?"
"A farmer's family." After Li Zhiyun said this, he took another spoonful and handed it to his second brother's mouth.
The second brother took the medicine and asked: "Why are we here? How is the situation on the front line?" Li Zhiyun didn't know how to answer, so he had to say: "Second brother, take the medicine first, and we will talk about other things later." Suddenly he reached out and grabbed his arm and said: "Fifth brother, tell me quickly, what's going on on the front line? Don't hide it from me, tell me the truth!"
Li Zhiyun had no choice but to say: "Zhang Zheng was late. Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan fell into Xue Ju's trick and were defeated." After hearing this, the second brother was stunned for a moment, and suddenly coughed violently.
When Li Zhiyun saw it, he quickly handed the medicine bowl to the soldier, stood up and helped his second brother to beat his back, and said: "Second brother, don't be anxious, your health is important. Victory or defeat is a common thing for soldiers. Wait until you recover. , and if we unite our troops to fight Xue Ju, we will definitely be able to defeat him!"
The second brother leaned on the quilt and panted. After a while, he murmured: "Fifth brother, you are right. When I recover, I will go to Xue Ju to settle the account!" Li Zhiyun saw it and reached for the medicine bowl. , the soldier said: "King Chu, I'll do it." Li Zhiyun agreed and exchanged places with him. The soldier sat next to the bed and began to give medicine to the second brother.
It was night, and Li Zhiyun slept soundly because of a hard day's march. He was having a sweet dream when he suddenly woke up and heard someone calling the door outside the house. Li Zhiyun got up from the bed, lit the small oil lamp, opened the door and saw that it was his second brother's personal soldier.
"King Chu, King Qin is ill again. Come and have a look." The soldier said eagerly.
Li Zhiyun quickly put on his clothes and followed the soldiers to his second brother's house. He and his second brother lived in the same courtyard. He lived in the west room and his second brother lived in the east room. Li Zhiyun walked in and took a look. There were several people in the room. In addition to the second brother's personal entourage, Dr. Jia was also there. The second brother was sitting on the bed, shivering all over. Li Zhiyun walked over and asked with concern: "Second brother, how are you?" Second brother's lips trembled: "It's cold, it's too cold, it's like falling into an ice hole..."
Malaria, commonly known as "hitting", is a disease transmitted to humans through the bites of mosquitoes infected with Plasmodium. Malaria attacks include chills, fever, sweating and intermittent periods. If the remaining malaria parasites in the blood are not eliminated, malaria will attack again, which is called relapse.
Li Zhiyun turned around, frowned and said, "Doctor Jia, why is my second brother not cured yet?" Dr. Jia sighed and said, "After we came out of Gaocheng City, we ran all the way and didn't have the conditions to cook medicine. The prince can't If you take medicine on time, you will naturally not be cured.”
Li Zhiyun was right. Fortunately, they had already settled in the village. This village has an ancient well that is hundreds of years old, so it is called Gujing Village. Gujing Village is surrounded by mountains. Although it is somewhat closed and dilapidated, it has beautiful scenery and fresh air, making it a good place to recuperate. Li Zhiyun decided to stay here for a few days and concentrate on treating his second brother. His condition could no longer be delayed.
However, after they stayed in Gujing Village for a few days, the second brother's condition not only did not improve, but became more serious, and finally fell into a coma.
Li Zhiyun was so anxious that he couldn't help but get angry at Dr. Jia: "What's going on? Didn't you say you could cure my second brother's disease?"
Seeing that his second brother's illness was improving, as a doctor, Dr. Jia was naturally very anxious. But he was at a loss what to do and stammered: "Your Majesty, maybe what you have is not the common vivax malaria or malaria malaria, but falciparum malaria..."
"I don't care what kind of malaria it is!" Li Zhiyun shouted, "Why is my second brother still not cured after taking the medicine you prescribed?"
"Jia doesn't know what's going on. Your Highness, Jia's prescriptions are all based on medical books." Dr. Jia said, taking out a yellowed book from the medicine box and flipping through it. Jia has tried all the famous prescriptions for treating malaria recorded in the book, such as Changshan, Sichuan lacquer, verbena, and white tiger plus cinnamon twig soup..."
Li Zhiyun was so furious that he stepped forward and snatched the book from his hand, threw it to the ground, and roared: "Don't mention any medical books to me. If books can cure diseases, what do you do to doctors?" Doctor Jia didn't dare to talk back. , squatting down awkwardly to pick up the medical book, patted the dust on it, and put it back in the medicine box.
At this time, Zhang Zheng on the side advised: "My lord, please calm down and let Dr. Jia think of another solution. If you keep blaming him, won't he lose his ideas?"
Li Zhiyun calmed down. He knew it was useless to get angry at Dr. Jia. After all, Dr. Jia is a doctor in the army. He may be good at treating injuries caused by swords and arrows, but treating infectious diseases such as malaria may not be his strong point. Although Li Zhiyun didn't know much about the disease malaria, he did know that there were two specific drugs for treating malaria in later generations, one was quinine and the other was artemisinin.
Quinine is extracted by Westerners from a tree called cinchona that grows in South America. In the early 15th century, Indians in South America discovered that the bark of the cinchona tree could cure malaria. They peeled off the bark, dried it and ground it into powder. They mixed it evenly with water and poured it into the patients to treat malaria. It was very effective. Therefore, the Indians strictly guarded the secret of "Cinchona Tree" and stipulated that anyone who leaked the secret of this medicine to foreigners would be severely punished.
