Chapter 599: Boiled Water

Chapter 599: Chapter 599: Boiled Water

Shen Hao had originally been sitting quietly in the corner, acting as an "invisible man." He followed the advice to speak less, observe more, and listen more, and even embraced a learning attitude, paying careful attention. But he never expected the topic would end up turning to him, and he couldn’t ignore it, or else he’d really cement a reputation as being "pretentious and out of place."

Shen Hao didn’t care about the "bad reputation" on himself, but he absolutely didn’t want to carry a "stigma" or a "false name." For him, that was not a good thing—and it would affect his future promotions as well.

Facing such provocation and treachery, the serious expression on Shen Hao’s face suddenly blossomed into a smile. The Evil Qi that had been dormant for days now seemed to revive instantly, his whole temperament abruptly shifting.

"May I ask this... hmm..." Shen Hao seemed to momentarily forget the other man’s name and surname, but without waiting for anyone to remind him, he grinned, waved his hand, and continued, "Never mind. To this Military Supervisor, may I ask, are you talking about me?"

Indirect criticism and direct confrontation are entirely different matters; this Military Supervisor who jumped out hadn’t expected Shen Hao’s reaction to be so intense. He instinctively glanced at Lord Liu, the supervising Military Supervisor sitting nearby, who nodded slightly in response.

"Humph. Since Lord Shen has asked, then I’ll speak plainly. That’s right, the one I’m talking about who’s used to living a meticulous life is you, Lord Shen."

Shen Hao laughed and said, "We all live in the military tents. Even if I, Shen Mou, am a bit more at ease than the generals, I wouldn’t say that my life is as ’meticulous’ as you make it out to be. Go ahead, tell me, just how am I so meticulous?"

"Lord Shen, you even insist on boiling water before drinking it—doesn’t that count as being meticulous? And I’ve heard you strictly require all your subordinate Inspectors to only drink boiled water. Isn’t this inappropriate in the military? If word spreads, frontline soldiers surely won’t have anything nice to say. Or is it that Lord Shen insists on using boiled water and can’t handle cold water?"

Shen Hao blinked twice. Two words popped into his mind: Is that it?

But Shen Hao started to see the bigger picture. Seeing the many "spectator" expressions around him, he realized that today, this "matter" really needed to be addressed properly—this was about differences in lifestyle concepts. If not handled well, it would be hard to explain.

"The southern weather is hot. I didn’t bring any tea leaves with the army, so there’s no brewing tea to speak of. The water is boiled, then placed in a cool shaded area before being ladled out to drink."

"Heh, boiled and then cooled, Lord Shen surely knows how to command soldiers to do good work." The Military Supervisor sneered; being able to openly challenge Shen Hao had given him some satisfaction. He hoped to use this excuse to let Zuo Yuliang chop Shen Hao’s head off. If not, at least it would disgust the guy thoroughly.

Shen Hao shook his head, his smile unwavering, and said, "When we drink it, the water is cool anyway. But boiled then cooled water is called ’cool boiled water,’ while well water or lake water, though also cool, should be called ’raw cool water.’"

What? Cool boiled water? Raw cool water? What in the world is that? Many present frowned. They’d thought Shen Hao’s practice of boiling water was harmless and not worth escalating, just some entertainment from the ongoing bickering between the Inspector and Military Supervisor. But upon hearing Shen Hao’s explanation, they felt it was sophistry. In the military, sophistry is a horribly bad character trait, worthy of disdain.

Even Zuo Yuliang, who had kept a neutral expression, looked at Shen Hao with a meaningful gaze several times. But he didn’t jump to conclusions. The Xuanqing Guard person sent to deal with the local Military Supervisors and complex situations—could he really lose his composure so easily and spout nonsense? He didn’t believe it. He thought Shen Hao must have more to say.

Sure enough, Shen Hao kept smiling and said, "The difference between cool boiled water and raw cool water is whether it has been boiled or not."

"Boiled? Humph, just a waste of firewood and soldiers’ time. What difference does it make?"

"When I first arrived at Wu Lake, I saw strict controls in the army over drinking water—not allowing anyone to wash clothes, relieve themselves, or pour waste in the lake. This is to keep the water clean and prevent illness from drinking dirty water. If a large-scale outbreak hits the army, it would be a disaster.

Boiling water before drinking achieves the same goal—it further prevents diarrhea, stomachache, and other illnesses due to the water. Ask my more than three hundred subordinate Inspectors if any have had diarrhea these days? Then ask the same number of ordinary soldiers if they’ve had diarrhea?"

Hearing Shen Hao’s response, everyone in the tent was first stunned, then quickly reacted, each showing a different expression. Some officers seated close together started whispering.

"Oh? Lord Shen, there are no casual words in the military." Even Zuo Yuliang, seated high at the head of the table, blinked with interest and spoke to Shen Hao to confirm.

"Reporting to Marshal, I may be following the army for the first time, but I understand that there are no casual words in the military. What I said can be verified by Marshal Zuo."

"Heh, Lord Shen is straightforward, which matches the temperament of military men. Then I’ll take your word for it." With that, he waved and called out, "Someone, go to the Inspectors’ encampment and verify. Then randomly pull—pull nine samples of three hundred soldiers each regarding their diarrhea records. Quickly and return quickly!"

It seemed a trivial matter, but after Shen Hao tossed out his explanation, most people in the tent no longer thought it was trivial. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Most present were officers and knew well: the more people, the more likely to get sick—especially diarrhea. If lucky, only a couple suffer; if unlucky, a whole swath of soldiers will go down. There were even cases where parasites were expelled by the dozens. Could all this be related to the water?

What’s the reasoning here?

The principle is actually simple: boiling water by high temperature kills most of the disease-causing bacteria, greatly reducing harm after drinking. Especially for parasites and malaria, it can be effectively prevented. Of course, these reasons Shen Hao kept to himself; if he spoke them aloud he’d be seen as an idiot. He wouldn’t even be able to properly explain what parasites and malaria were.

So, Shen Hao simply used the logic he’d heard from the army physician before—just changed the "bottle," but the contents were the same.

Outside the tent, someone followed Zuo Yuliang’s instructions and rapidly went to investigate. It’s easy to check these things in the military, so it wouldn’t take long. But before the results came in, those inside the tent were skeptical and wouldn’t continue the topic, so they resumed discussing other issues reported from the front lines.

It wasn’t until nearly noon that the Personal Guard returned to report that verification was complete.

"We checked a total of over 3,500 people, including 318 Inspectors. The rest were randomly selected from the Central Army and both wings. The period checked was from leaving Zhuo Huo Pass with the march south up to yesterday.

The results: among the 318 Inspectors, since leaving the pass, not a single person had diarrhea, stomach pain, or related issues. Among 300 randomly chosen soldiers, those who had diarrhea ranged from eleven to eighteen..."