Chapter 616: Gauze

Chapter 616: Chapter 616: Gauze

Everything has a process of understanding. If Shen Hao hadn’t used several hundred Inspectors under his command as living proof back at the Central Army Tent, then no one present would have taken his claims about boiled water seriously. Most likely, they’d have dismissed him as just talking nonsense to defend himself.

The field physicians here still don’t believe that boiling river water makes it safe from disease, let alone the ordinary soldiers below.

At a military station, the head physician was pressed to the ground and beaten with the military staff, one strike after another, crying out loudly. It’s said that if you shout, internal injuries from the beating are less likely, but if you hold it in, you might end up with hidden damage. The rest of the physicians received half the punishment—fifteen lashes each—no one at the back of the line could run from it.

The Chief Officer at the station was treated in the same way, but he’d just been thanking Chen Zifang profusely, since Chen Zifang had said this time he wouldn’t report the incident. But only this once.

Meanwhile, large pots of water were being boiled, with Chen Zifang leading by example, downing three bowls in a row. The water had been boiled and had come from the river outside the station.

"The water from the river outside is living water—as long as there’s a corpse floating, you can’t drink it directly, but after boiling, there’s nothing to fear. From now on, you should boil water as I just instructed, let it cool, and drink it. Even problems like diarrhea will be cured! Remember! You must bring it to a true boil—just making it hot won’t do!"

That Chen Zifang could order the beating of the station’s Chief Officer was, to the soldiers, a symbol of status. Soldiers follow the herd; they’re braver in groups. Seeing someone take the first drink, most of their doubt disappeared. Besides, if there was really a problem, who would risk having people drink water that would bring plague? If an epidemic broke out, no one could escape.

So, some soldiers whose lips had long been chapped from lack of water immediately followed their decurion to the pot to scoop some up with their own bowls.

The water was sipped—a bit hot, tasted like cold water. The only nuisance was having to blow on it before drinking.

"Put the freshly washed gauze into boiling water and simmer for a full hour, then hang it to dry for later use. This can reduce the risk of wound suppuration."

Shen Hao saw far more problems than these. Even the things that seemed completely normal to Chen Zifang were glaring flaws in Shen Hao’s eyes, but he had his own considerations. Unless he really couldn’t hold back, he preferred not to speak up casually.

For example, Shen Hao noticed that dirty gauze from wounded soldiers was merely rinsed and then used to wrap wounds again—how could that be acceptable? Did they want people to die faster?

Say there was a gash on someone’s back, and they’d survived by luck. If they ended up dying from an infected wound, that would be truly bitter.

Shen Hao couldn’t explain inflammation in detail, nor did he know where to start. So he used the local term they all understood: "suppuration." Usually, people would run high fevers before pus appeared, and those most severely injured often died from fever caused by infection before the wound ever formed pus.

Chen Zifang’s face froze, then he glared at Shen Hao, voice trembling: "Lord Shen, you can’t jest about such matters!"

"I’m not joking. This method may not completely prevent it, but it can definitely reduce the risk of suppuration."

"What’s the reasoning?"

"I’m not sure—just something I picked up from others. But I think the principle is similar to ’drinking boiled water.’" Shen Hao only "knew" but didn’t really "understand."—explaining medical theory was out of the question for him, so he could only brush them off. Luckily, Chen Zifang didn’t care for root causes; he was practical and focused on results.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Zifang saw that boiling gauze wouldn’t harm the wounded, so they might as well try it. He gathered twenty seriously wounded soldiers at the station, carefully cleaned their wounds, put on Healing Medicine, then wrapped them in gauze that had been thoroughly boiled in water for a long time.

"You must keep a close eye on these twenty wounded. Handle everything exactly as I explained. Report to me daily—don’t leave out a single detail. Understood?"

The battered head physician kept nodding in response. Even though he didn’t know what was happening, he could guess at Chen Zifang’s intention, and dared not slack off.

So, after staying three days at this first station, Chen Zifang and Shen Hao set out again. Their next stop was the station where an incident had occurred recently: Fish Stone.

By the time they reached Fish Stone, three more days had passed. The group was shocked by the appearance of Fish Stone Military Station. Compared with the previous place, it was far more tragic.

The high walls had been repaired, but traces of destruction were obvious, and scorch marks were still clear on the stones. By the entrance, a large area of new graves and a monument detailed what the people buried there had gone through, warning newcomers that this was a place of life and death.

Just like before, the people here lacked water and did not believe the General Manager’s Office’s orders about drinking boiled water.

Chen Zifang was unrelenting. He didn’t care if these men were brave survivors or decorated soldiers—wrong was wrong, and mistakes would be punished. Beatings were given, then he publicly demonstrated drinking boiled water, taught everyone how to boil it, and went through the whole process to convince them to drink it safely.

Moreover, good news came from the twenty seriously wounded at the previous station. Only two developed fever and died quickly; the other eighteen were in good condition—half had even regained some awareness and were no longer unconscious.

What did this mean? It meant that Shen Hao’s proposal to "boil" the gauze for long periods really helped reduce the chance of wounds suppurating. It also supported the theory of boiling water for wound treatment. There really were some invisible "poisons" that could invade through the mouth or wounds and cause illness. Boiling in water could kill them!

This was an enormous discovery! Chen Zifang even began to believe his name would one day be immortalized on the pages of medical classics and history books...

And so... every time Chen Zifang looked at Shen Hao, it made Shen Hao nervous enough to clench his fists.

After that, Shen Hao fell silent again, no matter how Chen Zifang tried to pester him. Another three days passed amidst their bickering. Leaving half their cavalry behind, Shen Hao and Chen Zifang continued eastward. Ahead, there were no more military stations, only the front-line military camps.

"There are three front-line camps in Jianchuan: Upper, Central, and Lower. Upper holds 30,000 men, Central 20,000, Lower another 30,000. The Central Camp is the core, and that’s where we report first. General Shen, the commander-in-chief of Jianchuan, is stationed at the Central Military Camp."

Chen Zifang rode beside Shen Hao, explaining the journey ahead. He knew Shen Hao had only just joined the military and wasn’t familiar with people or protocol, so he always made things clear in advance.

"Not far now, is it?"

"Not far—at this pace, we’ll reach the Central Military Camp by dusk."