Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 20 Horse Dung Soup

The next day, early in the morning.

Yuanye felt okay after waking up. After all, he had a quilt and mattress to cover himself with, so sleeping in the 40-50 degree Celsius weather in late winter in Japan was not painful. It was even warm and a little comfortable.

Well, it feels like turning on the air conditioner and covering yourself with a quilt in the summer, which is just right for sleeping without being too cold or too hot.

Yayoi was still waiting obediently at the door early in the morning. She came in when she heard the noise. She was a little surprised to see a strange little girl in the room, and was even more shocked to see that one of A-man's eyes was bruised. However, she was very sensible and didn't ask anything. She simply turned a blind eye, very much like a professional maid in Japan in later generations, suspected to be a "congenital little maid holy body".

After greeting Yuanye, she brought hot water and helped Yuanye wash Meng Ziqi's head, face and body to prevent Meng Ziqi from developing bedsores from lying down all day.

Ah Man was awake at this moment. She was very curious. Seeing Yuan Ye busying around, she came over with a quilt on. She looked at the plump Meng Ziqi and asked curiously, "Who is he? Why is he sleeping all the time?"

She noticed it last night and thought that Yuanye's companions were drunk, but now it seems that is not the case.

"My son..." Today, Meng Ziqi still showed no signs of waking up, and even showed no signs of improvement. Yuan Ye was getting more and more worried, and even began to be afraid, fearing that the tragedy of a black-haired man sending an idiot child would happen to him. He almost said the wrong thing when he was perfunctory, and hurriedly corrected himself, "My friend, he fell and hurt his head, and has been in a coma for several days."

As he spoke, he turned to Aman and asked, "Have you heard of anything like this? Do you know anyone who is good at treating this kind of injury?"

Ah Man lifted Meng Ziqi's fat head and fiddled with it for a while, then said hesitantly, "There are no wounds. He has been sleeping without any external injuries... Well, I haven't heard the old man talk about such things, nor have I heard of anyone treating such injuries... But it happened after he fell, so it should be considered an external injury. Have you tried horse manure soup?"

Yuanye was stunned for a moment. "Horse manure soup?"

Could it be some local remedy that treats difficult and complicated diseases?

"It's a soup made with cooked horse manure. It can remove toxins and ward off evil spirits. It's very effective for treating long-term injuries!" Ah Man swore, and gave an example, "In the east Omi region, there was a guy named Hirato Uemon-no-jo who was injured by a cannon in a duel. After his wound healed, he fell into a coma. His family prayed to the gods but it was useless. He became a useless person. In the end, he got better by drinking horse manure soup. He woke up as soon as he drank it and was very energetic. I think your friend's situation is similar, so it should work for him too."

"Is this really the case?" Yuanye frowned slightly. "What on earth is this horse manure you're talking about? It can't really be horse manure..."

Maybe it's a magical and precious mushroom? There is a kind of mushroom in the local slang that looks like horse dung, so it's not impossible that it's called horse dung mushroom.

"It's horse shit!" Ah Man looked at me with a look of "you're really ignorant" and raised his eyebrows. He said firmly, "The fresher the better. Bring it back and tie it up tightly with straw and seal it for a few days. Cook it until it's cooked horse shit. Then put it in a pot and boil it. Boil one pot of water into one bowl and you're done! Trust me, drinking it will cure all diseases!"

I really believed you, it turns out it was really Mara's shit!

What kind of medical concept is this?!

Although Chinese medicine also emphasizes that everything can be used as medicine, horse manure can also be used as medicine...

Yuan Ye, who was always calm and composed, had a distorted expression. He looked at Meng Ziqi, and imagined the scene of him being fed golden horse manure soup. He quickly shook his head to get rid of this terrible idea. But what if it really worked...

With his last hope, he asked Aman: "Have you ever drunk it? Is it really effective?"

"Of course I haven't drunk it. I only eat shit when I'm sick. I'm not a dung beetle... Well, I mean, I haven't been seriously injured or unconscious, so I don't have the chance to drink it!"

What the hell are you...

Yuanye held back for a while before refusing to curse. He had no choice but to ask, "Do you know of a famous doctor in Owari? It doesn't matter if he hasn't treated this kind of injury, as long as his medical skills are good enough!"

"Famous doctor? Most warriors know some medical skills and Chinese medicine, and they all have some family traditions to treat injuries, but who is a famous doctor..." Aman said without even thinking, "How can there be a famous doctor in a rural area like Haidong County? You are overthinking it. You can't even find a decent doctor here!"

Yuanye sighed softly, but he wasn't too disappointed.

In his impression, Chinese medicine was officially introduced to Japan in 562 AD, when the monk Zhicong from the Southern and Northern Dynasties of China brought more than volumes of Chinese medicine books, including "Mingtang Tu", to the East, officially introducing Chinese medicine to Japan.

But what can we say about the science of Traditional Chinese Medicine? Except for the modern wonder book "Barefoot Doctor's Handbook", it is useless to only read medical books in ancient times. Many things are passed down orally between masters and apprentices. No one can tell you that there is a "window paper". You only know the surface but not the inside, and you will never become a master or cure a serious illness.

Therefore, even though they got the book, Japan did not gain much benefit in the field of TCM. They only copied and modified many prescriptions and made medicines for the royal family and nobles.

Even during the time when Japanese envoys were sent to the Sui and Tang dynasties, when they desperately searched for all kinds of Chinese crafts, cultural customs, and political classics, they also brought back many books on Chinese medicine. However, there has never been much progress in the application of Chinese medicine in Japan.

It was not until Monk Jianzhen was tricked by Japanese monks into traveling to Japan six times, bringing Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Synopsis of the Golden Chamber to Japan, and imparting his knowledge and skills of Chinese medicine to others, establishing the Vinaya School, teaching by hand, training a large number of medical monks, and even curing the so-called Emperor Shomu and Empress Dowager Kōmyō that Chinese medicine really took root in Japan. Monk Jianzhen was therefore called the "ancestor of Japanese medical officials". Even in modern times, his portrait is printed on many Japanese medicine boxes and bags, and his name has been passed down through the ages.

But until the middle and late Muromachi period, Chinese medicine was still only used by the Japanese royal family and aristocracy. It was extremely difficult for ordinary people and even samurai daimyo to find a decent doctor (except for the Ritsu sect. In terms of religious beliefs, Owari belonged to the Ikko sect, Nichiren sect, Rinzai Zen, and Soto Zen. The lower four counties in particular were almost entirely the sphere of influence of Soto Zen). If you were sick, you could only pray to the gods, or you could probably only drink folk remedies such as horse dung soup.

This situation continued until Monk Sanxi brought back to Japan the most advanced and well-established medical knowledge of the Jin and Yuan dynasties, especially the medical books written by Li Dongyuan and Zhu Danxi, two of the four great masters of the Jin and Yuan dynasties. His disciple Qu Naose Dosan then founded the "Qidiyuan", recruited students, vigorously promoted the "Li-Zhu medical skills", and trained batches of doctors, so that Japanese civilians also had a place to see a doctor.

Therefore, Naoze Dosan was called the "ancestor of the revival of Chinese medicine" in Japan in later generations, and he was also quite famous. He was a person in the 16th century who treated Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In other words, this guy probably hasn't started studying medicine yet, or has studied medicine but hasn't graduated yet, and it's even further away from founding a medical school. So it's really unlikely that you can find a so-called famous doctor in Owari.

Originally, Yuanye asked Aman with the hope that he might find a "hidden master" or "extraordinary person" who had a "secret recipe handed down from ancestors" or "magic medicine" that could cure his stupid son and give him an unexpected big surprise. But as expected, nothing happened.

As for the horse manure soup...

Forget it. It sounds so unreliable. I should study the "Barefoot Doctor's Manual" carefully and try to learn it as soon as possible so that I can save my stupid son. I just don't know if I will make it in time...

However, Yayoi had been listening attentively with her little ears perked up, and had memorized the secret of how to make horse dung soup firmly in her mind - this was precious medical knowledge and a rare insight, so it would be a good idea to remember it!
If someone gets injured in the future, give him some horse dung soup, it will cure any disease!

She learned it!

…………

After taking care of Meng Ziqi's personal hygiene problems, and rejecting A'man's "horse manure soup" treatment plan again (A'man was very dissatisfied and thought that Yuanye had let her down. She would not easily tell others about this secret recipe. If Aqing was unconscious, she would really give her horse manure soup and treat her in this way), Yuanye prepared to carry out the second daily task: go to the top of the mountain to see if there was fog in the mountain, and see if she could return to the modern era.

Seeing him put on those strange big shoes and was about to go out, Ah Man didn't think he was wasting her kindness, so she dragged the quilt over and asked curiously, "Where are you going so early in the morning?"

"Let's go for a walk in the mountains." Although they had only known each other for a day and two nights, Yuanye seemed to already know what kind of person A-man was. This guy was the legendary "self-familiar", a natural "busybody", who talked a lot of nonsense and was very curious. Yuanye was too lazy to pay attention to her and just said perfunctorily.

Ah Man was even more puzzled. "Going for a walk in the mountains" so early in the morning in the winter, isn't that crazy? She didn't want to leave the warm bed at all. Even if she woke up, she would still put on the quilt.

She thought Yuanye was a weirdo, like a psychopath, but whether Yuanye was weird or not didn't matter to her. She was surprised for a moment and then turned around and told Ah Qing, "That's perfect. Go and find the food I ate. It's in the grove west of the village entrance. There's a big bird's nest buried under a tree."

The night before yesterday she wanted to take justice against her thieves, and because the pipa was too heavy, she just buried it outside the village. But now that everything is fine, she needs to dig it back quickly to prevent it from being damaged by moisture after being buried for too long.

Ah Qing said nothing, silently stood up and put on her straw sandals, and the little monkey quickly climbed onto her shoulders and wanted to go with her.

Yuanye didn't care. He put on his shoes and walked out of the village with Aqing.

Although they were walking together, Ah Qing did not walk side by side with him. Instead, he lagged slightly behind by half a step and still said nothing.

After walking a short distance, Yuan Ye turned his head and glanced at her. The more he walked, the more he felt the air was becoming tense, so he made small talk and said to her with a smile, "It's a nice day today!"

Ah Qing raised his head and gave him a cold look, then lowered his head again, with no intention of responding.

Yuanye:......

The air became increasingly tense.

Yuanye just wanted to make friends. After all, more friends mean more paths to take. But since the other party ignored him, he had no choice but to shut up and continue walking out of the village in silence.

To be honest, he still prefers A-man's personality. Even though that girl always talks about shit, piss and fart, and is disrespectful and foul-mouthed all the time, a pure wild child, it is very relaxing to be with her, just like being with modern friends. In this strange era, there is an indescribable sense of intimacy.

On the contrary, being with someone like Aqing who kept others at a distance made him feel indescribably uncomfortable, and he didn't like it very much.

The two of them walked out of the village silently.

When they left the village, Ah Qing glanced at his waist and saw that he didn't seem to be carrying any weapon. She frowned slightly and looked up, wanting to say something, but in the end she said nothing. She glanced coldly at Yuanye, then lowered her eyes and walked towards the grove.

Yuanye was puzzled. He looked at her back, shook his head, and followed the Odaijawa River towards the mountain.

What a weird child!
(End of this chapter)